SOFTNET SIGNS THIRTEEN E-COMMERCE PARTNERS.SoftNet Systems Inc has established relationships between its ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. Channel and thirteen e-commerce partners. The resulting broadband product, described as a branded online e-commerce and community information service, is to be called Locale (programming) locale - A geopolitical place or area, especially in the context of configuring an operating system or application program with its character sets, date and time formats, currency formats etc. Locales are significant for internationalisation and localisation. . SoftNet hopes the services will generate three revenue streams: one from ad sales, another from transactions and a third in the shape of subscription fees for premium services. The company says it will share these revenues with its partners. It works like this. The first 100 Locale communities will be deployed in areas where 27 cable companies have already signed exclusive multi-year agreements to get their high-speed net access through SoftNet's ISP Channel. Coverage is estimated at around 1.5 million homes. The local merchants are to get a free directory listing and basic web page. Inktomi and CityAuction will provide online shopping and auction services respectively. Inktomi and the ISP Channel will split ad revenues with the local cable affiliate and the three will take a cut of any transactions. Broadband content partners include AccuWeather, Prevue for TV listings and pay-per-view services, Spinner.com for streaming music and Jam TV/Rolling Stone for live concert webcasts. SegaSoft will provide access to its online gaming See gaming. service, Heat.net. Through a Communications Center An agency charged with the responsibility for handling and controlling communications traffic. The center normally includes message center, transmitting, and receiving facilities. Also called COMCEN. See also telecommunications center. , Locale will offer free web-based email Web-based email or webmail is a term referring to an e-mail service intended to be primarily accessed via a web browser, as opposed to through an application such as Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, Mozilla's Thunderbird or Apple's Mail. , free web pages and web-based calendars. Author Howard Rheingold Howard Rheingold (born July 7, 1947) is a critic and writer; his specialties are on the cultural, social and political implications of modern communication media such as the Internet, mobile telephony and virtual communities (a term he is credited with inventing). , who helped create Locale, has assembled a teaching team called "Community U" to educate users in the intricacies of Locale's advanced services. Tribal Voice's PowWow is another part of the mix, adding online community with voice- based chat. SoftNet needs a compelling differentiator. Its rivals in a tough market include @Home and Time Warner's Road Runner road runner: see cuckoo. Road Runner thrives on outwitting Wile E. Coyote. [Comics: “Beep Beep the Road Runner” in Horn, 105] See : Cunning Road Runner . Whether localized e-commerce services will be compelling enough to give SoftNet the edge remains an open question. The model is unproven, and among Microsoft's many notable failures in online content are its costly Sidewalk city sites (CI No 3,522). Still, Sidewalk's latest incarnation is as online malls. Maybe SoftNet is onto something after all. |
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