Lycos leaps into Intranet market: Launches Intranet spiders with Inmagic.WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1997-- Next generation spiders introduce first intranet "word wheel" index browser, knowledge management approach with "meta data" customization Making its first play for the burgeoning intranet market, leading Internet exploration company Lycos, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) A technology used to make microdisplays for rear-projection TVs and head-mounted displays (HMDs). Each LCoS chip hosts a grayscale LCD shutter sandwiched between a cover glass and a mirror. ) has joined with Inmagic, Inc. to launch two Windows NT-based corporate intranet spidering products that integrate Lycos' spidering technology with Inmagic's search and publishing engine. While intranets are rapidly becoming the standard for providing desktop access to internal corporate information, the lack of standards for organization and categorization of content often hampers effective use of valuable corporate resources. Spiders are server software products that gather and index information about documents residing on an intranet, automatically building a catalog database that corporate personnel can search from any location using a standard Web browser The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field; for example, www.computerlanguage.com, and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. . The next generation spiders produced from the Lycos-Inmagic partnership are the first intranet search engines to include a "word wheel" Java applet A Java program that is downloaded from the server and run from the browser. The Java Virtual Machine built into the browser is interpreting the instructions. Contrast with Java application. . The word wheel eliminates trial-and-error searching by enabling users to preview indexes. Unique "index streaming" technology provides searchers with chunks of the index on a random access basis. In a move toward knowledge management, the Lycos-Inmagic team provides the ability to add and search on "meta data" such as document concepts, thus enabling access beyond simply document content. The companies announced the availability of 45-day free trial versions of the spiders via open download at Inmagic's site, www.inmagic.com, under Try It! "Lycos and Inmagic have brought together our keen understanding of consumers and businesses' needs," said Robert J. Davis, Lycos' president and 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. . "Lycos' ever-advancing spider technology is a key component to our success toward becoming the most widely used guide for finding information. Together with Inmagic's indexing and database management software, we have created best of breed product for the intranet marketplace." "For users of the corporate intranet, the Lycos-Inmagic intranet spiders deliver rapid and precise searching that is simply unmatched," said Phillip Green, president and CEO of Inmagic, Inc. "For Webmasters, what's especially noteworthy is the high degree of control over spider operations." "By its very nature, the contents of a corporate intranet can be fairly chaotic," said Geoffrey Bock Noun 1. bock - a very strong lager traditionally brewed in the fall and aged through the winter for consumption in the spring bock beer lager beer, lager - a general term for beer made with bottom fermenting yeast (usually by decoction mashing); originally , a senior consultant with the Patricia Seybold Patricia B. Seybold, CEO of Patricia Seybold Group, is the author of Customers.com, The Customer Revolution, Outside Innovation, and co-author of Brandchild. Her books, (particularly Customers. Group in Boston. "Individual workgroups or departments are able to publish all kinds of information, categorized by the criteria that best fit their business processes and maintained in ways that best suit their operational procedures The detailed methods by which headquarters and units carry out their operational tasks. . Inmagic together with Lycos provides the essential capabilities for creating corporate-wide views of these distributed information resources, providing important business benefits with relatively low management overhead." Lycos-Inmagic Features/Benefits The first of the two products offered is the Lycos Intranet Spider. Designed for basic intranet navigation, the Lycos Intranet Spider crawls HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. and non-HTML documents, including PDF files and other popular application formats such as Microsoft Office, Lotus 1-2-3, WordPerfect and others. The spider follows HTML links and walks the file directory structures on Windows NT intranet servers, as well as UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). and other servers connected to NT servers throughout an organization. Information about documents is gathered, indexed and cataloged in real-time for quick searching in a version of Inmagic's Web search and retrieval software. The spider returns three types of information for indexing: content information (title, keywords, referenced URLs, etc.); HTTP HTTP in full HyperText Transfer Protocol Standard application-level protocol used for exchanging files on the World Wide Web. HTTP runs on top of the TCP/IP protocol. properties (date, size, URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. , MIME type); and Microsoft Office properties (author, title, description, etc.). Information is cataloged in multiple fields, providing precise access points for searchers. Highlights of the Lycos Intranet Spider include: -- Unique "word wheel" Java applet index browser that eliminates trial-and-error searching and utilizes advanced "index streaming" technology -- Searching on multiple fields simultaneously (eg. user can request documents by keyword, date range, and author simultaneously) -- Multiple views of search results -- Real-time indexing -- Highlighted search criteria On the administrative side, the Lycos Intranet Spider allows the Webmaster to specify where, when and how often it crawls, and reports back high-quality statistics (eg. dead URLs, domains linked to but not spidered). Network traffic is minimized, because the spider can be trained to run during off-peak hours. The second product, the DB/Text Intranet Spider, includes all the functionality of the Lycos Intranet Spider with increased customization options for the Webmaster, including the ability to: -- Customize search screens and search results views for users in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) Pronounced "wiz-ee-wig." It refers to displaying text and graphics on screen the same as they will print on paper or display on a Web page. drag-and-drop environment. Users can choose how to view results from among multiple formats -- Completely customize the spider catalog (deleting URLS and otherwise modifying spider results) via the fully editable text database back-end -- Add "meta data" (document concepts, department, project client, etc.) to the document index to further classify documents on the intranet. The ability to search on meta data increases the precision of search results. -- Spider the full text or abstracts of documents -- Re-spider only new or changed documents Beta reports positive The Lycos-Inmagic intranet spiders are currently in beta testing (programming) beta testing - Testing a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software by making it available to selected users. This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout the at several client sites. At Westinghouse Savannah River Company, Databank Manager Ken Wellmaker notes the spiders' value in optimizing access to and maintenance of corporate information. "Basically, the intranet spider from Lycos and Inmagic helps us link all of our information resources together, makes it easy to search accurately, and helps us keep the information up-to-date, all very cost-effectively and without programming," said Wellmaker. "We definitely think it's going to be a big benefit." Pricing, Availability and Distribution The Lycos Intranet Spider is priced at $995, and the DB/Text Intranet Spider is available for $7500. Both products are set to begin shipping in July. The spiders are available through Inmagic's direct sales force and worldwide network of value-added resellers, systems integrators and Web content developers. About Lycos Lycos, Inc., an Internet exploration company, was founded specifically to find, index, and filter information on the Internet and World Wide Web. The Lycos services can be found on the Internet at http://www.lycos.com . CMG CMG Coastal & Marine Geology (USGS) CMG Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (stock symbol) CMG Companion (of the Order Of) St Michael and St George CMG Computer Measurement Group Information Services See Information Systems. , Inc. (NASDAQ: CMGI CMGI Commonly Maintained Grounds Infrastructures CMGI College Marketing Group Information (Services) ) is a majority shareholder in Lycos, Inc. through its strategic investment and development business unit, CMG@Ventures. CMGI is a leading provider of direct marketing services investing in and integrating advanced Internet, interactive media and database management technologies. About Inmagic Privately held, Inmagic, Inc. is a leading developer of text database management systems for use in Web, intranet, CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). , LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. , and WAN environments. Inmagic's extensive product line supplies text management solutions for individuals, workgroups, departments, and enterprises. Textbase technologies enable companies to manage vast amounts of textual data and images quickly and easily. Visit Inmagic's web site at www.inmagic.com (Click Try It!) to see the company's Web publishing technology in action. -0- Inmagic and DB/Text are registered trademarks of Inmagic, Inc. Lycos is a trademark of Lycos, Inc. All other trademarks or tradenames are the property of their respective holders. CONTACT: Inmagic Ann Shannon, 617-938-4442, ext. 236 marketing@inmagic.com or Lycos Sarah Garnsey, 508-424-0400, ext. 453 sgarnsey@lycos.com |
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