OS/2 Shareware BBS: 16 Announce/16-Announce.zip/696002.zip/696002.ANN

Text File | 1996-02-24 | 20KB | 495 lines

IBM infoSage Delivers Personalized News and Business Information Directly to Your Desktop via the Internet

Announced on February 20, 1996
Services Announcement 696002


In Brief . . .

With IBM infoSage you no longer need to spend valuable time poring
over periodicals on the chance that you may find a worthwhile
article.  IBM infoSage helps you stay on top of the latest breaking
news in your field by automatically delivering the information you
need when you need  it.  The following are additional features and
benefits of this service.

o  Lets you design your own news clipping service using leading-edge
   profiling technologies to help you stay competitive

o  Gives you over 2,300 topic categories to choose from

o  Screens thousands of articles to pinpoint information that best
   matches your profile

o  Delivers up to 30 of the most relevant stories to you twice each
   business day

o  Includes an alert function that quickly delivers articles you have
   classified as essential information

o  Delivers your news through either a personal Web page, e-mail or
   (by mid-year 1996) Lotus Notes

----------------------------------------


In the business world, information is power.  Until now, business
professionals have had to comb a multitude of newspapers, magazines
and trade publications to find the bits of relevant information that
keeps them up-to-date and competitive in their field.  The advent of
online sources has enriched this process but has also made it more
complex and, in some cases, less efficient.  Since the volume of
information that must be filtered has grown, the task of staying on
top of the latest industry developments and trends has become more
and more difficult.  Enter IBM infoSage.

IBM infoSage has harnessed the power of the information age and
tailored it to fit the needs of today's business professionals.  This
personalized electronic news service searches thousands of content
sources and delivers the most relevant information right to your
desk.  Using leading-edge profiling technologies, IBM infoSage finds
the news that you need to stay competitive.

Every business day, IBM infoSage screens thousands of articles and
evaluates their importance to you based on your personal profile.
Twice each business day, up to 30 of the most useful stories are
delivered to your desk.  You are able to constantly stay abreast of
the latest breaking news in your field without the struggle of
searching for it.

IBM infoSage offers you the flexibility to set priorities within your
profile so that the most important stories come through.  The service
even has an "alert" function that will quickly notify you when a
story that is considered critical to your business hits the news
wires.

While business may be your primary reason for using the service, IBM
infoSage recognizes that even the most diligent executive might have
some  outside interests, so your IBM infoSage delivery will also
contain top news headlines and articles on your favorite arts, sports
and leisure topics.  The service will also track your personal stock
portfolio, and planned by year-end 1996, provide automated links to
related documents.

All these features will now be available in one service that comes to
you either through your own personal Web page on the IBM infoSage Web
site or through e-mail.  (IBM infoSage is also planned to be
available through Lotus Notes by mid-year 1996.)  The information you
need is out there, and IBM infoSage can bring it to you.

Planned Availability Date:  April 9, 1996

      Trademarks and registered trademarks are the properties of
      their respective owners.



DESCRIPTION

General Features

Profile Tool

The IBM infoSage Profile Editor is an easy-to-use tool that helps
each member sculpt their own ideal news service.  Members draw from a
list of more than 2,300 topics to select information that is relevant
to their specific business and leisure interests.  If you cannot find
the topic you are looking for, IBM infoSage gives you the power to
create your own topic.  After topics are chosen, they are modified
with words and phrases that further shape the service to fit your
needs.

Your choice of topics and modifiers will directly determine the type
of stories that are delivered in the daily updates.  IBM infoSage
uses sophisticated software techniques to detect similarities in news
stories and to reduce the chance of receiving duplicate stories.
Based on your selections, IBM infoSage will filter thousands of
stories daily to pinpoint articles that best match your preferences.

After the profile is completed and sent, the twice-daily news
deliveries are conveniently delivered either through e-mail or a
personal Web page on IBM's infoSage Web site or, by mid-1996, through
Lotus Notes.

Daily Delivery

Each day, IBM infoSage members will receive news deliveries in the
morning and the afternoon (eastern time), with up to 30 stories in
each shipment.

Features Unique to Personal Web Page Delivery

With Web delivery, IBM infoSage creates a news and information-rich
Web page just for you.  Twice every business day, the Web page will
be updated with the latest stories affecting your world.  Detailed
information on the news that matters most is just a mouse click away.
Here's how it works:

o  Using a Web browser, members connect to the IBM infoSage Web
   server and, using their ID and password, log onto their personal
   Web page on the IBM infoSage Web site
o  Each personal Web delivery includes the following sections:

   -  Member's customized news stories

      -- Business news (up to 20)
      -- Personal (up to 10)

   Planned by year-end 1996, headlines from magazines, newsletters,
   and other publications which match your personal profile will be
   added to your daily delivery.  You will be able to obtain the full
   text on a pay-per-view basis.

   -  Top news summaries

      -- National/world
      -- Business
      -- Sports

   -  U.S. common stock closing updates for personal portfolio of
      companies (morning edition only).

o  The full text associated with a member's customized news can be
   retrieved by simply clicking on that headline.
o  Planned by year-end 1996, some stories in the business news
   section will have hypertext links from company names to related
   documents.  For example, the first instance of a company's name in
   a story may be set as a hypertext link which leads to premium
   sources such as S&P corporate profiles and company reports from
   Hoover's Reference Press.
o  Five days worth of deliveries (a total of 10 editions) will be
   archived, with the oldest scrolling off as the new ones are
   received.
o  Members can retrieve documents, reports and other information from
   the database using a search function.  The price of each document
   will be displayed and billed on a per-document basis.

Features Unique to E-Mail Delivery

o  E-mail users automatically receive their twice-daily deliveries
   without having to log onto the Web.  They receive a headline and
   the beginning of each story.  By year-end 1996, it is also planned
   that up to four prompts will be displayed that provide access to
   related documents.
o  E-mail users can obtain the complete text of a story by simply
   placing an "x" in the brackets next to the prompt and returning
   the list to IBM infoSage.
o  Each full-text story requested will be sent as a separate e-mail
   message.
o  Members receive stock updates as part of their morning delivery.
o  By year-end 1996, it is planned that members will receive
   headlines and a brief description of articles from a variety of
   magazines and newsletters that are of special business and
   personal interest.  The full text of these articles will be
   available for a fee.

Features Unique to Lotus Notes Delivery

o  Lotus Notes users automatically receive their twice-daily
   deliveries without having to log onto the Web.
o  Members click on the IBM infoSage icon for their customized
   business news delivery or personal news delivery.  By clicking on
   a headline, the member instantly receives the full text.
o  Members receive stock price updates as part of their morning
   delivery.

Retrospective Searches

Members accessing IBM infoSage through the Web can perform
retrospective searches for articles and reports from a rich set of
content providers including Comtex, Reuters and Information Access
Company.  Selected articles will be billed on a per-document basis.

Content Providers

IBM infoSage accesses many of the most extensive and trusted news
sources in the world.  The basic IBM infoSage subscription presently
includes the following premium information sources:

Comtex - As an aggregator of electronic news and information
agencies, Comtex will be providing content from the following 21
sources:

o  A & G Information Services
o  African News Agency
o  American Banker
o  Bond Buyer
o  Business Wire
o  Cineman Syndicate
o  Comtex Newsroom
o  FedNet Government News
o  Futures World News
o  Inter Press Service
o  ITAR/TASS
o  Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service
o  Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News
o  Pan-Africa News Agency
o  PR Newswire
o  South American Business Information
o  The Sports Network
o  United Press International
o  U.S. Newswire
o  Xinhua News Agency
o  Ziff-Davis Wire Highlights

Information Access Company (IAC) - Provides a collection of databases
that is recognized for its breadth and depth of content.  Members of
the IBM infoSage service will have access to information from the
following IAC databases:

o  PROMT
o  Trade and Industry Database
o  Newsletter Database
o  Magazine Database
o  Computer Database
o  Health Periodicals Database
o  Industry Express

The Reference Press

o  Hoover's Company Database

Reuters - As one of the world's largest news wire organizations,
Reuters will be providing the following news wires:

o  Corporate World News
o  News Reports
o  Business Reports
o  Online News Reports
o  Reuter World Service
o  Variety Reports
o  Photo Library

Security APL - Providing price quotes for the U.S. equity markets.

Standard & Poor's

o  Register of Corporations

Customer Responsibilities:  In addition to completing the
registration, new members will be required to indicate their
acceptance of the Member Agreement.  This agreement describes IBM's
obligations to members and the member's responsibilities in using the
service.

PUBLICATIONS

The following publications are available.  To order, contact your IBM
representative.

IBM infoSage Sales Kit (ZK2T-1174) containing the following:

o  IBM infoSage Sales Brochure (G510-1072) (available separately)
o  IBM infoSage Spec.  Sheet (G510-1073) (available separately)
o  Content Provider List
o  Press Release


USER SUPPORT

With IBM infoSage, you not only receive the best in information
management but it is also backed by IBM's reputation for outstanding
customer service.  Member Support representatives will be available
nine hours a day in each of the four U.S. time zones during weekdays
from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (major holidays excluded) and can be
reached by phone at 800-210-5857 or via e-mail at
[e-mail]

These representatives will be available to help new members complete
their registration and their member profiles, to answer questions
regarding billing, to provide technical support for the IBM infoSage
software and to assist members in understanding how to best modify
their profiles.

For assistance with communications, networking or Internet related
issues, members should contact either their Internet access provider
or the creator of their Web browser.

Members may change their password at any time through the IBM
infoSage Home Page.  The support representatives can reset passwords
but cannot view an existing password.

SERVICE DELIVERY AND HOURS

IBM infoSage keeps you up-to-date with the latest breaking news
stories affecting your world.  Twice each business day (by 6:00 a.m.
and 3:00 p.m. eastern time), IBM infoSage will draw from the most
current global sources and deliver a set of up to 30 headlines that
best match the topics chosen in your profile.  These daily updates
will be sent to members either through e-mail, through a personal Web
page on the IBM infoSage Web site, or through Lotus Notes (by
mid-year 1996).

If there are any developments in a field or topic you have marked as
an "alert", IBM infoSage will e-mail the story to you shortly after
it hits the news wires.  Alerts are included in the basic
subscription.

Except for scheduled downtime for maintenance, the IBM infoSage
system will always be available for registration, profile editing,
full text retrieval, and retrospective search.

OPERATING ENVIRONMENT

Hardware and Software Requirements

In order to run the Profile Editor software and receive IBM infoSage
deliveries, you must have the following:

o  At least a 386 IBM compatible PC (486 or higher recommended)

o  VGA resolution or better (XGA(R) video drivers are limited to
   640x480, 16 colors)

o  At least 8MB of RAM

o  At least 8MB of free hard disk space (3MB on the drive that
   contains your operating system)

o  An Internet e-mail address

o  Microsoft Windows+ 3.1 or Windows 95 or OS/2(R) Warp Version 3
   with WIN-OS2

To receive the daily update via e-mail, members must have access to
Internet e-mail software.  Since the e-mail version of the daily
updates will be sent as a straight ASCII text file, any major
commercially available e-mail package should be able to view
headlines and request full text.

To receive daily updates to a personal Web page on the IBM infoSage
Web site, members must have access to an Internet connection capable
of supporting a Web browser compatible with HTML 2.0 standards.

Complementary Offerings for Individual Members

Internet Connection Services

Dial-up and direct Internet Connection Services in the U.S. may be
obtained from Advantis, the U.S. provider of the IBM Global Network.
For more information, call 800-888-4103 or see Advantis Customer
Bulletin CB95-02.

Software Browser

IBM WebExplorer(TM) Version 1.03, an OS/2 Web browsing application,
can be used to access the daily information updates on your personal
Web page.  The WebExplorer is included with IBM OS/2 Warp Version 3
(see Programming Announcement 294-667) and IBM OS/2 Warp Connect
Version 3 (see Programming Announcement 295-199).  These products are
available from IBM authorized remarketers or by calling IBM Direct at
800-426-2255.

IBM Internet Connection Version 4 for Windows is an IBM solution for
Internet access from the Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 platforms.  This
product is available from your computer retailer or from IBM Direct
at 800-342-6672.

In addition, IBM Internet Connection services for Windows includes
Netscape Navigator which can also access IBM infoSage.  This service
and software is available by calling 800-684-1444.

Hardware

IBM's full line of personal computing products, including PC's and
modems, can be ordered from IBM PC Direct at 800-426-2968.

Complementary Offerings for Enterprise Members

IBM offers a full range of services that incorporate both custom and
off-the-shelf components to enable your organization to securely,
efficiently and productively access the Internet.

The solutions that IBM provides range from single-user hardware and
software packages that run over a dial-up analog phone line to an
integrated global network of LAN's, e-mail servers and gateways
connected through high-speed fiber optics that serve hundreds of
thousands of users.

IBM can help your firm implement a wide variety of Internet services
including:

o  Custom, seamless integration of your firm's e-mail system with the
   Internet
o  Internet accounts for e-mail and Web browsing
o  Web Browsers, Servers and home pages
o  Internet Security firewalls
o  Online Directory Assistance
o  List Servers
o  Anonymous FTP archives
o  News Servers
o  Discussion and Usenet News groups
o  UNIX(1) shell accounts

These services are offered by ISSC(R), a wholly owned subsidiary of
IBM.  For more information, call ISSC at 800-873-4772.  The IBM
Internet Connection Family (G325-3460) brochure, available from your
IBM representative, is a helpful resource for enterprise customers
who want additional information about accessing the Internet.

Obtaining the Software

The software necessary to create a profile can be obtained by simply:

o  Downloading it from the IBM infoSage home page on the Internet
   (http://www.infosage.ibm.com);

o  Calling 800-210-5857 and requesting that the diskette package be
   shipped;

o  Using diskettes ordered in response to targeted direct mailings or
   magazine inserts.

Enterprise customers who desire to order the software or obtain
additional information may contact their IBM representative or Member
Services at 800-210-5857.

Registering and Completing a Member Profile

Getting up and running with IBM infoSage is easy.  Prospective
members register with the service through the Web or by calling
Member Services at 800-210-5857, and then obtain the software to
complete their profile.  Once a member profile has been completed and
sent, IBM infoSage service should begin within two business days.

If you are concerned about transmitting unencrypted credit card
information electronically over the Internet, you can call Member
Services at 800-210-5857 during business hours and process this
information by telephone.

New members who are part of an organization that has filed an IBM
Customer Agreement Attachment for IBM infoSage Service will be able
to enter the specific account code and contract number instead of a
credit card so that their charges will be billed directly to the
enterprise account.

BILLING

Individuals may bill their subscription and pay-per-view charges to
any of the following charge or credit/debit cards:  American Express,
MasterCard, Visa, Discover, Diner's Club, and Carte Blanche.

Individual members will be billed monthly subscription charges as
well as any "pay-per-view" document charges via their credit card for
as long as the membership is in effect.  The prices of the premium
"pay-per-view" documents will be clearly posted so that the member
will know the price of an extra charge document prior to ordering.

Enterprise members who are included under an ICA Attachment for IBM
infoSage Service (Z125-5360-01) will be charged in accordance with
the terms and conditions of that agreement.

CHARGES

Contact your IBM representative for charges information for this
announcement.

(R)   Registered trademark of International Business Machines
      Corporation in the United States or other countries or both.
(TM)  Trademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the
      United States or other countries or both.
+     Trademark of Microsoft Corporation
(1)   Registered trademark in the United States and other countries
      licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited.