Progressive Information Technologies announced that its Vasont content management software applications and service offerings will now operate under the name “Vasont Systems,” a sister division of Progressive Information Technologies. The new name better reflects Vasont’s range of applications and services and is a result of the product’s growth and brand recognition in the content management software market. Since Vasont was initially developed, it has evolved into several applications including: Vasont Client/Server, Vasont Web Application, Vasont ASP, and Vasont SG (a low-cost version designed for small editorial groups). Additionally, Vasont Systems markets a variety of services, including data analysis and modeling, document type definition (DTD) writing, and Vasont software training services. www.vasont.com

Macromedia announced that Macromedia RoboHelp X5 has added support for Microsoft Word 2003. RoboHelp X5 customers will now be able to utilize Word 2003 as their authoring environment, import Word 2003 documents into help projects, and generate printed documentation using Word 2003. www.macromedia.com

W3C announced the advancement of three Candidate Recommendations for the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) language. A snapshot of CSS usage, CSS 2.1 adds a few highly requested features, fixes errata and brings CSS2 in line with implementations. CSS Print Profile works with XHTML-Print for printing to low-cost devices. CSS3 Paged Media Module adds pagination, page margins, headers and footers, footnotes and endnotes, and cross-references with page numbers. Comments are welcome through 25 August. www.w3.org/Style/CSS

Global Moxie released Big Medium 1.3, a major update to the company’s web content management system. New features include WYSIWYG text editing, document uploads, 20 new widgets for webpage templates, and fixes for a number of reported issues. The new WYSIWYG editor requires Internet Explorer 5.5+ (Windows only), Mozilla 1.4+ (Windows, Mac OS X and Linux) or one of many Mozilla-based browsers, including Mozilla Firefox 0.6.1+, Netscape 7.1, and AOL for Mac OS X. Users of other browsers can still continue to use Big Medium, but without the WYSIWYG editing features. The new “download” article type allows documents to be added to websites. (A tabbed interface allows users to select from four article types: Text, Link, Download, Raw HTML). Twenty new template widgets provide enhanced control over the design of Big Medium’s custom page templates. New settings in the Big Medium Setup and Site Setup dialogs allow administrators to set max-size limits on document uploads. Big Medium 1.3 is available now from the Global Moxie website. The suite of Perl scripts is $129 for web servers running Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, BSD and other Unix-flavored operating systems. (A beta preview version is also available for Windows servers.) www.globalmoxie.com

Hummingbird Ltd. and Venetica announced a strategic technology partnership. The integration with Venetica will allow Hummingbird users to integrate Hummingbird business solutions with third-party content management systems, enabling a real-time virtual view of content from within their business applications. With VeniceBridge, Hummingbird will provide its customers with an integration platform that connects Hummingbird solutions with their existing content management systems, providing the capability to either access content in place or move selected information to a specific Hummingbird business-focused repository. As part of the announcement, Venetica will create a Content Bridge to Hummingbird Enterprise 2004 – DM, so customers can incorporate Hummingbird-stored content into applications built upon the VeniceBridge platform. www.venetica.com, www.hummingbird.com

THINQ Learning Solutions, Inc. announced the availability of the THINQ Learning Content Management System (LCMS), a browser-based tool to create, deploy and manage content for training and learning programs enterprise-wide. Available as an optional module of the THINQ TrainingServer Learning Management System (LMS), THINQ Module enables organizations to develop and aggregate new and existing content, while supporting strategies for adaptive learning, scenarios and simulations. All users within an organization can post content – notes from a seminar or outside class, diagrams or web resources – to a single THINQ LCMS repository for content delivery. In addition, users can translate content into other languages. The THINQ LCMS is designed to support both a “push” and “pull” approach to learning. Learners can pull desired content from a searchable database mapped to specific coursework. Alternatively, organizations can push pre-defined content to learners based on job performance, required training and career goals. www.thinq.com

Davisor has released its new Offisor 2.0 with improved Microsoft Word import features, including the ability to convert images and drawings in Word documents into XML in a pure Java computing environment. With Offisor 2.0, users can now turn their non-XML documents into easy-to-index XML text and SVG and PNG images. The main application areas for Davisor Offisor 2.0 include searchable central storage of data, content management, dynamic electronic and printed publishing, and processing of e-mail attachments. Offisor 2.0 converts Word and HTML content into XML, which can then be accessed, searched and indexed. In document management and publishing systems, Offisor enables e.g. banks, insurance or health care companies to access data in central databases and embed it in Word forms and documents. Davisor Offisor 2.0 can be either embedded into any pure Java application or used independently. Offisor 2.0 does not require proprietary external support software or services. It supports all Word and HTML versions, and is also very tolerant for common document syntax errors. The image formats supported include Word Drawing, Windows Metafile, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and BPM. Davisor Offisor 2.0 is available today. www.davisor.com

CrownPeak Technology announced an integrated program of unified onshore software service offerings aimed at providing companies with a U.S.-based alternative to offshore outsourcing. With service partners that include NTT Verio, EmailLabs, DoubleClick, PicoSearch, MondoSoft and Lionbridge, CrownPeak provides a unified offering, along with a full API and SDK, which third-party developers or client IT groups can use to manage their solutions or implement new projects. In this domestic outsourcing alternative, the risk of project failure can be minimized in part because software services firms are paid monthly. If the system isn’t being used, it can be shut down. www.crownpeak.com