Send Text E-Mails from Any Phone
A new service offered by WeType4U.com enables users to send text e-mails from any phone. Users of the new service, an addition to the cyber typing service the company launched in May, can send all-text e-mails without having to deal with file attachments. WeType4u.com records the author's voice and transcribes it into an e-mail that can be read. This is an advance over commonly available voice-based e-mail services which send voice file attachments with e-mails. WeType4u.com accounts are established instantly and the e-mail service can be accessed via any phone immediately. Users sign up for a WeType4u.com account at www.wetype4u.com. After an account has been established, to access the e-mail service, customers simply dial WeType4u.com's 800-number from any phone in the United States, including cellular phones. The cost per e-mail is just $0.99 for up to 100 words and a penny for each additional word.
PhoneMeNow Delivers New Options for B2B Relations
iDial Networks, Inc., a rapidly growing application service provider (ASP) of communication technologies, announced today the U.S. launch of a business-to-business phone-to-phone service called PhoneMeNow. The new service is designed to be a simple-to-use business-to-business solution providing customers the ability to connect directly to any online business's support team or customer service department eliminating the need to wait for answers to their pressing questions or concerns. It also improves a business's e-commerce offering by providing the necessary tools to create promotional banners, emails and other promotions of their products and services, better enabling the growth of online business by increasing traffic and realization of increased sales. PhoneMeNow can be tailored to meet individual business needs, be used with any ISP and it has no special browser requirements beyond being able to support Javascript. For more information on this service, visit www.phonemenow.com.
Trackball Optical and Explorer
Microsoft continues to be a trendsetter in the world of the wireless mouse. When the company launched the IntelliMouse Explorer input device nearly a year ago, dozens of competitors took off after it through the maze of mouse innovation. Replacing the rolling ball that gums up with desk muck, this new breed of "rodent" features a sensor like the ones found in digital cameras and a perpetually glowing red light.
Move an optical mouse, and its location is digitally tracked approximately 1,500 times per second. No moving parts. No mouse pad needed. Microsoft is already rolling out its second generation of IntelliEye-based input devices. The upgraded IntelliEye technology, the company says, takes 500 more "snapshots" of the mouse's position every second, improving speed and accuracy. Targeting the anti-mouse market, both the Trackball Optical and the Trackball Explorer incorporate IntelliEye technology into trackball form factors. The Trackball Optical has the same space-age aesthetic as its forefather, the IntelliMouse Explorer. Smooth, silver plastic contours comfortably support your hand while your fingertips rest on a patterned red ball that's highlighted by a glowing red ring of light. Two customizable buttons on each side of the device and a third built into the scroll wheel are easily programmable for click, double-click, cut, paste or other automated functions through the included IntelliPoint software (PC or Macintosh). Price: Trackball Optical $44.95, Trackball Explorer $74.95 System Requirements: Macintosh with USB port or PC running Windows 95/98/NT/2000 with USB or PS/2-compatible round mouse port: CD-ROM
Internet Benchmarking Conference, Nov. 14-16, 2000, Chicago
Is your company's e-business strategy lagging behind that of your competitors? Attend IQPC's Internet Benchmarking conference November 14-16, 2000 in Chicago and learn how to improve the competitiveness, performance and efficiency of your e-business to thrive in the new economy. Hear valuable strategies, tools and techniques on how to best conduct benchmarking from such leaders as Xerox, Boeing, Chase Manhattan Bank, PSE&G, Sun Microsystems and more. For further information, visit http://www.iqpc.com/EZ01C/i-bench or call (212) 885-2692.
Another Third-Party Customer Service Option
Finali.com is adding virtual characters to its online workforce to provide routine assistance to e-shoppers and pass the tough questions on to a live, breathing, knowledgeable human. The move brings a non-human element to the privately held company that has provided online retail clients with live customer service agents. But, Finali.com has just merged with photo-realistic character creator NetSage Inc. to handle mundane customer service tasks and free up live help for more complex interaction. Terms of the merger were not released. The customer data is used to help the character-- Sage--to engage with a shopper by, for example, promoting an item that relates to a previous purchase. The live agent is armed with customer relations management tools including chat, Web callback, phone, and e-mail capabilities. Finali says its clients can improve their bottom line by driving sales, cutting support costs and adding a little fun to the online shopping experience.
10T Storage Could be Ready Next Year
A "hyper-CD-ROM" drive with 10T of storage capacity could be commercially available within a year, its inventor said Thursday. The drive allows the recording of data on fluorescent photosensitive glass discs 10 millimeters thick and 120 millimeters in diameter, said independent Romanian scientist Eugen Pavel. The technology is based on the phenomenon of "controlled extinction of fluorescence." In order to record a bit of data, a selected area of the photosensitive glass is exposed to radiation, which changes the level of its fluorescence. Unlike conventional CD-ROMs, which are written only on the surface, data can be written on over 10,000 levels within the "hyper-CD-ROM" disk, meaning a single disk can hold the equivalent of 10 million standard printed books. He called the "hyper-CD-ROM" drive a very stable storage medium over time, capable of withstanding high temperatures and surviving the lifetime of the glass, or at least 5,000 years. Initially developed for military purposes, the drive could be increasingly useful for both commercial and private users, said Pavel, who demonstrated the device at the Brussels Eureka Fair in November 1999.
He said he has made arrangements with a manufacturer to distribute his technology, but declined to give details.
Fusion Launches Suite of ICRM Software
Fusion Networks, a leading provider of Internet software and applications, announced that it is launching a suite of modular software applications designed to provide Internet customer relationship management (ICRM) solutions to businesses worldwide. Fusion currently features its user Administration & Profiling Server and integrated Report Generator, Portal Server, Advertising Server, e-Commerce Server, Content Server and Direct e-mail Server within its integrated ICRM/V2 portal software solution. The company will deliver each application for individual uses by VARs, Internet solution consultants and business IT departments to meet the increasing demand for ICRM solutions. The projected increase in demand for ICRM and ASP solutions within the CRM and portal solution categories reflect the growing market that Fusion intends to serve. IDC estimates that the current CRM market as a whole will grow from 1999's estimated $3.3 billion to $12.1 billion in 2004. In addition, the Gartner Group expects the ASP industry to grow from 2000 estimates of $3.6 billion to $25.3 billion by 2004. Fusion Networks believes this industry growth should strongly support Fusion’s delivery of ASP-based portal solutions through its current ICRM/V2 portal software.
Quios Expanding Text Messaging Market
Quios, Inc., a leading mobile Internet company, has announced a major corporate initiative to make its popular mobile instant text-messaging infrastructure and applications available to Internet portals, wireless carriers, consumer companies and corporations in the United States. Quios has over the last year rolled out wireless data solutions to more than 10 business partners in Europe--including MSN and Excite--and will leverage this experience to better serve its U.S. partners. As part of its business solutions strategy, Quios will release turnkey solutions throughout the fourth quarter that enable companies to quickly and seamlessly integrate wireless applications into their existing IT infrastructure. The wireless text-messaging applications available from Quios' Business Solutions are designed to improve the performance of
customer acquisition and retention programs as well as increase employee productivity and communication.
Quios will license its messaging engine and infrastructure, build private-label or co-branded applications, and offer hosting services to its business customers. The first three products to emerge from this initiative-- PlanetQuios, Q-Messenger and Q-Caster--will be available in November.