Compiled by Anne Lindner
Companies Pair to Offer Alternative Online Payment System
ClearPay and Safewww have partnered to offer both merchants and customers a
secure electronic payment method. Safewww's authentication software, called IDshield, will now be integrated into ClearPay's ClearChex electronic payment product.
IDshield pledges to give users a secure online account that they can fill directly from their checking account. This service, provided by the Web merchant, will help companies avoid problems connected with identity theft and e-commerce fraud. On the consumer side, the product will open up e-commerce to users who prefer not to use credit cards on the Web. ClearPay Inc. notes that there are 75 million Americans who do not have credit cards.
Robert Madden, ClearPay's vice president of sales and marketing, said the combination of IDshield and ClearChex is ideal for the Internet gambling market because it will allow users to immediately collect their winnings and casinos to offer a secure payment method to their players.
"With credit card issuing banks shying away from online gaming," said Kenneth Rob, CEO of Safewww, "those Web merchants and online consumers can rely on ClearPay to provide secure, fraud-proof payment methods."
Scandinavian Wireless Companies Launch Pilot Program
Nokia and Finnish wireless operator Sonera said Wednesday that they have begun what they refer to as the world's pilot program to test multimedia-messaging technology on a live wireless network. Pekka Salonja, Nokia's vice president for mobile Internet applications, said the concept is built on the success of Short Message Service and will be one of the key services leading the market to third generation systems. He expects the service to be available to consumers through wireless operators in 2002.
StarDot Builds Low-Priced Indoor/Outdoor WebCam
StarDot Technologies today released NetCam, a digital camera with an integrated Web server. NetCam was built to offer high image quality but also contains a Linux PC inside the apparatus, freeing the user from the need to attach the camera to a separate computer. NetCam claims to offer a combination of lowest price and best image quality for an indoor and outdoor Web camera. The suggested retail price is US$599; the complete outdoor package is available for less then $750.
Europe Gets New Tool to Monitor Web Sites
Web analytics and online auditing company Internet Profiles Corporation (I/PRO) will now offer its NetLine and I/AUDIT products in Europe, thanks to a partnership with TropicalNet Europe.
TropicalNet joined with Bertelsmann Company to form TropicalNet Europe. Ray
Kingman, CEO of TropicalNet, said the products will allow Europeans to more
fully understand their sites.
According to the Aberdeen Group, Europe is the site of 20 percent of the projected $425 million global Web analytics market, which is expected to reach $4 billion by 2004. The growth is estimated for the market because of the need for tools that allow businesses to monitor, analyze and leverage their Web site traffic. The combination of products now available to Europeans through this venture includes tools to help Web businesses better
understand visitor activity. Customers, on the other hand, will be able to more easily identify what parts of the Web page they are interested in.
IBM Introduces XML Registry Tool
IBM recently announced a new, free extensible mark-up language resource on
its alphaWorks website that will enable developers to more quickly store, search and manage XML-based applications. The aim is to foster the adoption of XML standards.
Using the XML Registry/Repository data management system, developers will be
able to manage their XML schemas, style sheets and documents. The system is available for download from the alphaWorks site.
The registry tool enables people to search or browse for an XML document and then automatically insert it in their application. XRR enables users to search XML documents by content, task, metadata, classification and association.
New Browser Offers Faster Interface, Enhanced Security
The first public beta test of Glenview, Ill.-based inventor R. Lee Heath's new Internet desktop browser has just been released. Called ActivatorDesk, the product is the first Windows desktop with its own built-in personal portal system run by a free SQL database server system.
ActivatorDesk allows users to migrate their Windows start button menus and Internet favorites or bookmarks into a programmable desktop portal interface that runs faster, easier and with enhanced safety and security. The system is designed to read built-in data and then makes its own Web pages in seconds. Instant access to maps of the Internet and personal links is available without waiting for a portal to load.
ActivatorDesk's features include an Internet browser and Web portal with 16,000 popular links, multi-site tabbed window browsing, advanced meta-searching and privacy enhanced advertisement-free or pop-up free browsing.
Isle of Man KPMG Offers Executive Briefing Service
The accounting and consultancy firm KPMG International recently announced the launch of its Offshore Executive Briefing Service, which will be offered through its Isle of Man branch. The service aims to keep finance professionals in the jurisdiction aware of international issues and is directed at executive and non-executive directors, senior managers and compliance officers.
KPMG said it hopes to provide an understanding of local regulatory developments - ever essential for the financial professional to have when judging how to react to regulatory changes. The service comes in newsletter format with yearlong subscription rates.