Agents, Inc. Working with Strategic Partners to Deliver "Breakthrough" Technology and Community to the Web; Intelligent software helps users find and purchase entertainment they'll enjoy.CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 29, 1996--Agents, Inc. today announced it has formed several strategic partnerships to deliver truly interactive and community-driven entertainment recommendation services to the World Wide Web. In addition, the company has announced that beginning this week users of its Internet-based Firefly firefly or lightning bug, small, luminescent, carnivorous beetle of the family Lampyridae. Fireflies are well represented in temperate regions, although the majority of species are tropical and subtropical. music recommendation service will be able to securely purchase CDs on-line through Newbury Comics, one of the most successful music retailers in the Northeast. Agents will exhibit Firefly (www.ffly.com) at the Internet Home and Office Expo (booth No. 522) at the Jacob Javits Center in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , February 2-4. Originating from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's world-renowned Media Lab, Agents, Inc. was incorporated in March 1995 and earnestly ear·nest 1 adj. 1. Marked by or showing deep sincerity or seriousness: an earnest gesture of goodwill. 2. Of an important or weighty nature; grave. See Synonyms at serious. began the deployment of a proprietary artificial intelligence or "agent" technology to the World Wide Web in the form of Firefly. Firefly is the first community-driven information service which allows participants to freely express and share their tastes with others, and provides automated au·to·mate v. au·to·mat·ed, au·to·mat·ing, au·to·mates v.tr. 1. To convert to automatic operation: automate a factory. 2. and personalized per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. recommendations for music and other consumer products. These recommendations are generated directly from the participants themselves. This free service currently offers a place on the Internet for people to exchange information and opinions about music, artists and albums, and also chat with and send e-mail to other members of the Firefly community. Agents will soon offer additional services for other entertainment categories such as movies, books and Web sites. To provide a total solution for users -- from customized information-gathering to purchasing products on-line -- Agents has entered into strategic partnerships with a variety of high-profile entertainment and marketing companies, content providers and retailers who lead their respective markets. These include: Newbury Comics; The All Music Guide, a definitive reference guide with reviews of every musical recording in print and thousands more out-of-print; Hitsworld, purveyors of the Internet Music Charts; Ogilvy & Mather, a leader in digital communications Transmitting text, voice and video in binary form. See communications. and marketing; and Muzak's Enso Audio Imaging Division, which provides audio and music support to businesses on the Internet. "1996 will be the year of the intelligent agent, but many of these agents will be smoke and mirrors surrounded by hope and promises," said Allen Weiner, principal analyst of Online Strategies, Dataquest. "Agents, Inc. is entering the market with a product that not only will set the standard for agents technologically, it tackles the associated sociologic and marketplace issues such as privacy and effective database marketing. Few Internet and online products can be dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. breakthrough, but Agents, Inc. clearly fits the bill." Firefly users will be able to securely purchase CDs by thousands of artists, whether newly-discovered or old favorites. Users make purchase requests directly on Firefly. Newbury Comics will process the requests and ship the CDs directly to the user. The CDs are competitively priced and delivered within a week. "Our mission at Agents is to provide intelligent agent technology for personalized, unbiased product recommendations in the electronic marketplace, while transforming retailing into a richer, customized experience," said Nick Grouf, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Agents, Inc. "Working with the leading content providers and retailers in the entertainment industries will ensure that we deliver the most comprehensive and customized services that the Web community demands. We see Firefly as having the potential to enable intelligent communication among all our participants -- both the users and our business partners." Firefly went live on the Web in October 1995 and has since attracted a cult following This article does not discuss cultist groups, personality cults, or "cult" in its original sense of "religious practice". See cult (disambiguation) for more meanings of the term "cult". of approximately 40,000 members. The Firefly service offers members a variety of features including: music reviews, audio samples, chat rooms, personal home pages and Flypaper, an online magazine. Agents has received several accolades for the Firefly service including: Top 10 Best Multimedia Products, Entertainment Weekly, December 1995; The 50 Best Web Sites, NetGuide, September 1995; Top Pop Culture Web Sites, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). , December 1995; the Interactive Multimedia Festival Award in 1995; and the 1995 Ars Electronica Ars Electronica is an organization based in Linz, Austria, founded in 1979 around a festival for art, technology and society that was part of the International Bruckner Festival. Herbert W. Franke is one of its founders. It became its own festival and a yearly event in 1986. Award. Agents, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., is a privately-held company. The company's investment partners include Atlas Venture Atlas Venture is an international early-stage venture capital firm that invests in communications, information technology, and life sciences companies. Atlas Venture has investing offices in Boston, London, Munich, and Paris, and its investments are evenly divided between the , an international venture capital firm based in Boston, focusing on information technology and life sciences investments; and Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. , a leading financial management and advisory company based in New York. CONTACT: Agents, Inc. Nick Grouf, 617/277-4435 x687 nick@agents-inc.com or Cunningham Communication, Inc. Susan Earabino, 617/494-8202 x248 sue@ccipr.com or Ted Kamionek, 617/494-8202 x216 ted@ccipr.com |
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