Forum Offers 'New Economy' Survival Tips
"Survival in the New Economy" is the theme of the Jupiter Communication, Inc.'s Consumer Online Forum Europe, Oct. 30 and 31 at QEII Conference Centre in London. The forum will feature regional executives, including David Wetherell, chairman and CEO, CMGI; Michael Lynton, president, AOL International; John Hollar, president, Pearson Broadband; and Robert Lynch, CEO, Excite Chello. Tim Jackson, managing director, The Carlyle Internet Partners, will keynote the event.
"Pronouncements of the death of digital commerce may be premature, but the harsh wind of reality blowing through Europe's markets will cause companies to take stock, reread their business plans, and reassess their business models," said Phil Dwyer, managing director of Jupiter in Europe.
Jupiter research shows European online commerce revenues will skyrocket to 64 billion Euros by 2005
from 8 billion Euros currently, and online buyers will quadruple to reach 85 million in the same period. Amidst this backdrop, intense competition to garner market share, remain afloat, and profit has set the stage for partnerships, mergers and acquisitions. Jupiter's Consumer Online Forum Europe is a chance to hear how traditional and Internet start-up businesses should respond to the growing complexity of on-line commerce in Europe and how they should approach Pan-European and global market expansion. To register for the forum, contact Jupiter at +44 207 747 0566 or by e-mail at customerservice@jup.com. For information about sponsorships and exhibiting, call Richard Regan at +1 917 534 6138 or e-mail at rregan@jup.com.
New service helps analyze high volume websites
WebSideStory, Inc. (www.websidestory.com), a provider of real-time Internet intelligence and Web audience analysis, announced an application service provider (ASP) approach to Web audience analysis with the launch of HitBox Enterprise Version 6. Armed with a faster, more robust engine, the new release has tested capable of monitoring traffic at a rate of billions of page views per month per account, giving high-volume sites an alternative to costly, in-house measurement solutions. HitBox Enterprise's Web- based analysis solution minimizes initial costs, requires no extensive training or ongoing support, and usually can be implemented within hours. It monitors site activity in real-time, giving marketing and
e-commerce professionals vital customer intelligence on demand. "As the Internet grows, the strain on in- house efforts to measure and understand online visitor and customer behavior increases," said Meyar
Sheik, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for WebSideStory. "We aim to eliminate that problem by offering a real-time solution with abundant speed, scalability, and level of reporting."
FleetBoston and Visa Debut 'Fusion Card'
Fleet Credit Card Services, a FleetBoston subsidiary, has launched the Fusion smart Visa card, one of the first and the most powerful Visa-branded smart cards available in the U.S. Consumers can begin applying for the Fusion card today online at www.fusioncard.com. The card combines benefits of a traditional Visa card with a 32K microprocessor. Using the smart chip and card reader, consumers have access to a variety
of pre-loaded applications including: advanced digital security, single pin e-shopping, pre-loaded promotions and discounts and a host of evolving applications.
"The Fusion card is cool, and it's powered by possibilities," said Warren Wilcox, executive vice president of planning and development at Fleet Credit Card Services. "We are introducing it with a host of
value-added features, and it will only get better from here."
E-commerce has increased demand for payment products offering enhanced technology and applications, Visa officials said. Smart cards are widely used in Europe and in parts of Asia, and both
MasterCard and American Express have introduced their own smart-card technologies, according to the Boston Globe.
Start-up Unveils IM Software for Handhelds
Start-up Ecrio earlier this month unveiled instant messaging software that uses handwriting recognition and will work on handheld computers from Palm and Handspring, as well as on Microsoft Pocket PC devices and WAP-enabled cell phones. Ecrio's system, called Rich Instant Messaging Platform, tailors messages according to the destination device's display and bandwidth capabilities. The company plans to strike deals with wireless carriers, Internet service providers and Web portals to offer its technology to customers as a software download. For the system to work, the sender, recipient and instant messaging service would have to have Ecrio's system software.
Palm's Trojan Horse Spurs Anti-Virus Makers
The arrival of the first known Trojan horse for Palm pushed anti-virus software makers to begin targeting handheld devices, CNET News reported. Symantec released a beta version of an anti-virus application stored directly on the Palm. The download, which takes up 12K of memory, is available at Symantec's Web site. The software, which Symantec says is the first of its kind, sits on the Palm itself. McAfee.com and Trend Micro have announced similar products, but the software resides on a PC. These anti-virus programs protect Palm users every time they synchronize their devices with their PCs and protect against viruses
that get spread to Palms via PC networks. By storing the software directly on the Palm, people will be protected against potential viruses or malicious code that spreads through a wireless connection or through "beaming" via the infrared port, Symantec said.
Audio Banner Ad, Email Services Debut
MessageBay last week launched new Java audio banner advertising and email marketing services. MessageBay, with more than 40 million plug-ins downloaded worldwide, has expanded its audio portfolio into non-plug-in Java territory in anticipation of the demand by advertisers for new ways of more effectively getting their messages seen and heard. Demos new technology can be found at www.messagebay.com/demos.