Blast Radius introduced XMetaL 4.5 to simplify the creation of reusable business content. The new “Smart Customization Generator” automatically generates style sheets and behavior customizations from a DTD or schema. These are instantly usable in XMetaL Author and XMAX (XMetaL for ActiveX). When a customization file is updated and saved in XMetaL Developer, XMetaL Author and XMAX (XMetaL for ActiveX) now automatically update themselves to use the new version of the file. Developers can now create application-level customizations that apply to all DTDs and schemas. This simplifies the development of customizations, such as CMS integrations, that are independent of any particular document type. Authors now have the flexibility to move or copy content, including multiple cells, within and among tables using a click, drag-and-drop method. CALS, HTML and XHTML table models are supported. The CSS editor has been streamlined and simplified. Completely revamped project wizards in XMetaL Developer are simpler to use and have an improved workflow. www.xmetal.com, www.blastradius.com

RedDot Solutions announced the release of the RedDot Extended Content Management Solution (XCMS), Version 6.0. RedDot XCMS 6.0 offers a single, scalable solution, tailored to meet the growing demands of mid-market organizations. The company also announced the release of RedDot CMS 6.0, a core component of XCMS. New in RedDot XCMS 6.0 is a collection of optional modules tailored to each organization’s needs, a redesigned user interface, enhanced security features providing broader support for LDAP and a new module addressing web compliance. RedDot XCMS 6.0 offers a range of ECM Manager modules, providing: web content management, document management, asset management, collaboration and business process management. Each module aligns to a functional area, allowing customers to purchase only the modules they need and incorporate additional modules as their needs change. The new Web Compliance Manager module addresses compliance issues within the staging environment, before the content reaches the public. Pre-configured libraries, including the Section 508 and W3C accessibility standards, are available with the module. www.reddot.com

Vignette Corp. announced the initial availability of Vignette Application Builder 7.0, the company’s composite application solution that now leverages the Web Services for Remote Portals (WSRP) standard. Vignette partners now have the opportunity to augment other portal vendors’ technologies by leveraging Vignette Application Builder’s WSRP production capabilities to deliver targeted solutions for specific business needs and vertical industries, regardless of the underlying architecture. With support for the production of WSRP, Vignette Application Builder now enables application designers to create federated portal applications that can be centrally deployed but consumed by multiple, distributed portals. Vignette Application Builder 7.0 will be generally available in the third quarter of 2004. www.vignette.com

CambridgeDocs announced WordML to XSL:FO capabilities for the upcoming release of its xPublish Framework / Software Development Kit (SDK). With this capability, solution integrators and developers will be able to direct the CambridgeDocs servers to convert WordML documents into XSL:FO. (WordML is the XML format in which Microsoft Word 2003 saves content.) Users will be able to generate of PDF files on a Java-based server, using content authored in Microsoft Word 2003 and saved as WordML. Applications can also manipulate that content programmatically before generating the PDF files. The WordML to XSL:FO functionality is available immediately as part of CambridgeDocs xCTS – the xDoc Content Transformation Server. A future version of these products will also support rendering of XSL:FO into WordML, allowing for two-way transformation between the formats. It also allows Word to be used as an editor for generating XSL:FO templates. Pricing for CambridgeDocs xDoc Content Transformation Server and the Java Word API begins at $10,000 per deployed server. The xPublish Framework begins at $20,000 per deployed server. www.cambridgedocs.com

Ontopia, creator of the Ontopia Knowledge Suite, the Topic Maps-based information integration technology, and Index Information Technologies, a Finnish company specialized in building professional content creation and knowledge management systems, have announced a partnership to bring the capabilities of Topic Maps technology to the Finnish market. Topic Maps offer an approach, based on an international standard, to describe the meaning of information. www.index.fi, www.ontopia.net

Actuate Corporation announced Actuate 8, a real-time Enterprise Reporting Application Platform with integrated EII. The on-demand data access capabilities of EII in combination with the new version of Actuate’s Enterprise Reporting Application Platform allow organizations to gain real-time operational visibility. Actuate leverages EII technology that the company acquired through its acquisition of Nimble Technology to provide the ability to deliver dynamic information to users in the formats they expect — dashboards for executives and line managers, real-time web reports for customer service employees, spreadsheets for sales representatives and finance professionals, and personalized cubes for business analysts. Actuate 8 extends the data warehouse by providing users with on-demand access to information integrated from varied and disparate sources including ERP and CRM applications, data warehouses, legacy systems as well as XML and ODBC-based data sources. Actuate 8 includes a unified metadata layer which improves the overall accuracy of information analysis and is accessible by all products within Actuate’s platform. Actuate 8 will be available as a limited production release on June 30th and will be generally available in July. Pricing for Actuate 8 starts at $500 per named user. www.actuate.com

Sarvega, Inc. announced the Sarvega XML Context Router, a product to enable loosely coupled multi-point XML Web Services across wide area networks (WANs). The Sarvega XML Context Router is an XML appliance to route XML content at wire speed based on deep content inspection, supporting publish-subscribe (pub-sub) models while providing secure and reliable delivery guarantees. With Sarvega XML Context Routers, users can create complete overlay XML mesh networks, as the XML Context Router provides secure delivery of asynchronous messaging for web services within and outside of the enterprise. It also delivers “Gigabit performance” for XPath-based routing driven by XML routing tables based on support for both XPath 1.0 and XPath 2.0 and, in future, XQuery. The Sarvega XML Context Router is currently in trials with carrier and government customers and will be commercially available in the fall. Additionally, Sarvega will offer PCI/PCI-X cards with Gigabit-level performance in the fall. www.sarvega.com

Adobe Systems Incorporated announced that it is collaborating with the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) to extend the capabilities of IPTC metadata through use of the Adobe XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform). XMP is a specification expressed in XML that provides a standardized framework to capture and manage metadata. Photographers and news services use IPTC metadata schemas to embed identifying characteristics such as captions, credits, location and time and dates within digital photos and scans. This information can be read by content management systems to review and identify photos they want to publish to accompany a story. Adobe and IPTC also announced plans to develop future implementations that will be accessible via the Adobe Creative Suite and related point products through a customizable metadata user interface. The XMP software development kit, which allows software developers and system integrators to build support for XMP into their products free-of-charge, is available under Open Source license from Adobe. The SDK and additional information about XMP is available at www.adobe.com/xmp.