SPC plans Active return

In January next year, the firm which made its name with Harvard Graphics and recently agreed to merge with fellow US software developer Allegro New Media, will ship Active Office (about £40 + VAT), a tool for quickly converting documents created in Office into graphs and other slide types.

Following in February will be ActivePresenter, a package that will let users create presentations with moderated audio and video conferencing. The presentations can be downloaded from, or be viewed over, the Web.

"The strategy is really to comply fully with [ActiveX] and fit in with Microsoft Office," said John Harris, international product manager for SPC.

Separately, the firm said it plans to retain its own identity and office space in the Bracknell, Berks. area despite the fact that Allegro also owns Nottingham-based Serif which developed the PagePlus DTP and DrawPlus illustration packages.

SPC can be contacted by telephone on 01344-867100.