From: Adam Rifkin (Adam@KnowNow.Com)
Date: Wed Aug 30 2000 - 14:17:25 PDT
[Rohit, since you're a Forbes subscriber you'll be getting one of these
"cat"s in the mail soon... Greg Bolcer's "stupid FoRK idea" to save people
the tedium of typing in URLs, brought to 10 million users near you... -- A]
http://www.digitalconvergence.com/news/20000829.html
Digital:Convergence Deploys Millions of :CueCat™ Devices and :CRQ™ Software
Free to American Consumers
First Class Roster of Partners Link Traditional Media to Relevant Web Content
Dallas, TX, August 29, 2000 — Digital:Convergence today announced the
national deployment of its proprietary technology that links traditional
print and broadcast media to specific, relevant pages on the Internet.
Along with its partners — including Forbes and Wired magazines, Parade,
RadioShack, NBC, Belo and Scripps Howard — Digital:Convergence will
distribute more than 10 million of its new :CueCat™ devices and :CRQ™
software free to consumers by the end of this year.
"In our research, consumers told us they want a way to instantly link from
stories they read and programs they watch to corresponding information on
the Internet," says J. Jovan Philyaw, Chairman and CEO of
Digital:Convergence. "So we built an easy-to-use technology that does just
that. :CRQ and :CueCat technology will revolutionize the way people
interact with the World Wide Web."
Forbes magazine is the first partner to integrate the technology in its
September 11th "Best of the Web" edition, which will feature
Internet-enhanced editorial and advertising applications. In tandem with
the issue, Forbes will distribute free "convergence" kits that include a
:CueCat device and :CRQ software to its more than 800,000 subscribers.
Consumers can also pick up free copies of :CRQ software and :CueCat devices
through partner RadioShack's more than 7,000 stores nationwide.
Digital:Convergence plans to have more than 50 million :CueCat devices on
consumers' desktops by the end of 2001.
"Forbes readers are a sophisticated group with a wide range of interests,"
says Jim Berrien, President of Forbes magazine. "Now, through the :CRQ
software and :CueCat device, our readers are able to choose which stories
and advertisements they have a high degree of interest in and directly link
to relevant web content on only those topics. It provides a new level of
flexibility and personalization to our readers."
:CRQ Software — The Key to Finding Relevant Web Content
The core of Digital:Convergence's technology is its :CRQ (See Our Cue)
software, which acts as an Internet navigation system by directing
consumers to relevant Web content without the need to type in lengthy URLs
or hunt through a typical search engine. The software links all products
and forms of media — including broadcast and cable television, newspapers
and magazines, videotape, CDs, DVDs and radio — to the Internet through
printed UPC-like codes and/or audio signals known as cues.
:CueCat — The Eyes of :CRQ Software
Approximately the size of a PC's mouse, the :CueCat device is an optical
reader with light emitting diode (LED) technology. The :CueCat device gives
consumers the power to swipe any existing product codes (e.g., UPC, ISBN)
or the company's proprietary cue codes to link to relevant content on the Web.
BrightPlanet, a Sioux Falls, South Dakota start-up, recently reported that
while approximately 550 billion documents are stored on the Web, search
engines only index one billion Web pages. The Digital:Convergence
technology will enable consumers to access unwieldy deep Web content that,
until now, has been difficult to access. "If you think of a search engine
as a compass that guides you on the Web, think of our :CRQ software as GPS
for the Internet," says Philyaw.
Initially, consumers will receive the :CRQ software and :CueCat devices
nationally through two main channels: print media outlets and retail outlets.
· Print Media Outlets — In addition to Forbes, Wired magazine will
distribute convergence kits to its 350,000-plus subscriber base in
conjunction with its October edition, and AdWeek publications will
distribute the technology to subscribers of Adweek, Mediaweek, Brandweek
and Marketing & Computers magazines in early fall. The Dallas Morning News
will be sending kits to a select mailing of its wired subscribers in tandem
with its October 1 launch.
· Retail Outlets — The :CueCat devices and copies of :CRQ software
will be available for free at more than 7,000 RadioShack locations. On
August 16th, RadioShack became the first consumer electronics store to
market a fully interactive catalog using :CRQ technology.
Other publications planning cue-enhanced editorial and advertising content
this fall include Forbes' sister magazines Forbes ASAP and Forbes FYI, and
Parade magazine, which reaches 37 million American homes each week.
Newspapers include East Valley Tribune (AZ), The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(WI), Providence Journal (RI), Scottsdale Tribune (AZ), Sun City Daily News
Sun (AZ) and Riverside Press Enterprise (CA).
Several broadcast media partners will be launching broadcast-cued
programming later this fall and early next year, including NBC, Belo,
Pappas Telecasting and Benedek Broadcasting Corporation stations.
About Digital:Convergence
Digital:Convergence is a privately held Internet technology company
headquartered in Dallas with offices in New York and London. Working in
conjunction with industry-leading partners such as Forbes magazine, Young &
Rubicam Inc., Belo, and RadioShack Corporation, the company's proprietary
technology can link almost all media or products instantly and easily with
the Internet, allowing users to obtain relevant information or conduct
e-commerce activities. The company's management team includes a roster of
industry veterans from Time Warner, AT&T, GE, ING Barings and Disney.
---- Adam@KnowNow.Com.sig summer music doubleplay
I take seven [----] from [---------], stand 'em all in line Add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine a Mack-11 and it oughta solve the problem of mine and that's a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time -- Eminem, "I'm Back", a line so vile even his own record label censored it
Music makes the people come together [ never wanna stop ] Music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel [ never wanna stop ] -- Madonna, "Music"
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