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Big day for JAVA all around! Here's another Press Release:
E-COMMERCE GETS A BOOST FROM RICH MEDIA
IBM Adds Java-Based Interactive Media to E-Commerce Servers and
Announces Public Beta of Toolkit
SOMERS, NY, September 30, 1998 - - IBM today announced the
adoption of IBM HotMedia, its Java**-based rich media toolkit,
by the industry's leading merchant servers, including IBM Net.
Commerce*. In addition, the IBM HotMedia toolkit beta is now
available for creative new media professionals to download
free-of-charge at http://www.software.ibm.com/net.media.
IBM HotMedia Software for the Java Environment is a set of
ultra-lightweight Java applets and a set of simple-to-use tools
for content creators. IBM HotMedia makes it possible to enhance
commercial Web sites with rich media, without burdening Internet
users with lengthy data download times, and without any special
server requirements. As a result, e-businesses will be able to
easily incorporate rich media experiences into on-line catalogs
and other e-business applications, such as on-line advertising
and interactive Web presentations.
"The future of e-business depends on making the user
experience as natural as possible - - media without excuses will
be a necessity," said Armando Garcia, vice president, Internet
media, IBM. "IBM HotMedia provides a more realistic, natural
environment for Internet shoppers that will help drive sales
through on-line storefronts and facilitate the buy decision.
And Web content creators can now use this same technology to
their advantage."
IBM HotMedia gives end-users an intuitive and efficient
way to navigate through a variety of rich-media effects,
including:
- animated GIFs
- panning and scrolling images
- multi-track animations
- 3D object movies
- zoomable, multi-resolution images
- audio and video clips
- 360 degree panoramas
IBM HotMedia also provides powerful spatial and temporal hot
links across all of these content types, as well as to other objects
and Web sites. Using IBM HotMedia, content is assembled into one
easy-to-use file, which is simple to add to standard Web servers and
efficiently delivered through a browser. Also, to effectively deal
with today's low-bandwidth connections to the Internet, IBM HotMedia
content is "smart" and it retrieves applets just-in-time to deliver
media progressively.
IBM HotMedia and Authoring Tools
The IBM HotMedia tools are simple to use and are designed to
complement existing media-authoring tools. To facilitate seamless
content creation, IBM HotMedia will be distributed with upcoming
releases of Macromedia** Dreamweaver** and Director**.
Additionally, IBM has created versions of HotMedia specifically
for use as an Xtra** and Object in Dreamweaver.
"We're pleased to partner with IBM to advance our mission of
adding life to the Web," said David Mendels, general manager of
Macromedia's Web Publishing Division. "By supporting IBM HotMedia
in future versions of Dreamweaver and Director, the leading tools
for Internet multimedia and Web site development, we're further
enabling rich media authoring for e-commerce and interactive
advertising applications."
IBM HotMedia and Commerce Servers
In 4Q98, IBM HotMedia will be available with IBM Net.Commerce
to further enrich the on-line shopping experience. Combining
Net.Commerce's Product Comparison capability with IBM HotMedia
creates a personalized shopping experience that presents the
shopper with customized product selections that can be fully
inspected, manipulated, and examined to facilitate the buy decision.
iCat**, INTERSHOP**, Interworld**, and OpenMarket** have
indicated that they each plan to provide offerings that support
IBM HotMedia, giving on-line merchants persuasive new ways to
present their products. The IBM HotMedia toolkit is available
for immediate use in commerce server software packages at
http://www.software.ibm.com/net.media.
IBM Net.Commerce is part of the expanded IBM WebSphere*
family of application servers and will assume WebSphere branding
in 1999. As a result, current Net.Commerce customers will
benefit from the broad range of functionality of the WebSphere
family, which integrates the Web commerce, Web server,
transaction processing and distributed component technologies
from IBM.
IBM HotMedia Benefits
IBM HotMedia is a powerful rich media technology for the Web
that fully harnesses the power of Java. The IBM HotMedia player
is separated into tiny Java applets (typically less than 10
kilobytes in size), which are delivered to the user on an
as-needed basis. This "smart content" technology allows IBM
HotMedia files to determine which applets are needed on-the-fly.
In this manner, an applet is only downloaded once, and then it
remains in the browser for the duration of the session, which
speeds playback of subsequent content. This effectively deals
with today's typical low-bandwidth (28.8 Kbps) Internet connections,
which have been one of the limiting factors in the wide use of
rich media for e-commerce.
Since IBM HotMedia is delivered progressively, it is possible
to send only the "tip of the iceberg" when a page containing an IBM
HotMedia file is loaded. This is typically a lightweight static
image, animated GIF, or scrolling image that is stored in the initial
portion of the IBM HotMedia file. Should an end-user desire
additional content, the click of a mouse enables additional content
to begin playing.
This approach makes it possible for on-line shoppers to browse
quickly through many pages of an IBM HotMedia-enhanced catalog with
minimal download time, and spares the merchant's Web server the
burden of serving content that is not of interest to the consumer.
This approach also makes IBM HotMedia ideal for other applications,
such as interactive advertising.
Live IBM HotMedia Customer Sites
During an initial pilot program many IBM customers added IBM
HotMedia to their Web sites, including:
- PGA Interactive, a joint venture of IBM and the PGA of
America, has a series of interactive golf lessons called
"Lesson Tee" at http://www.pga.com
- Intellicast enhances the delivery of interactive weather
maps at http://www.intellicast.com
- Einzig Interactive Photographers displays 3D product movies
and virtual tours at http://www.einzig.com/ibmhotmedia.htm
- The Jim Henson Company offers "Virtual Muppeteering" at
http://www.henson.com
IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company,
with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM
software offers the widest range of applications, middleware and
operating systems for all types of computing platforms, allowing
customers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business.
The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is
through the IBM software home page at: http://www.software.ibm.com.
For more information about IBM HotMedia please visit:
http://www.software.ibm.com/net.media Information on the WebSphere
product line may be found at http://www.software.ibm.com/websphere.
####
IBM HotMedia Testimonials
iCat
"Selling on-line will increasingly require merchandising that
presents a complete and compelling view of the products being sold,
and that means merchants will want to add high quality audio, video,
images, and other rich media to their stores," said Craig Danuloff,
president and CEO of iCat. "Those on-line stores that embrace these
capabilities can expect site visitors to spend more time - and more
money."
INTERSHOP
"Internet merchants strive for compelling product presentation
and visualization as an integral part of their store solution,"
stated Petra Vorsteher, vice president of business development and
strategic alliances at INTERSHOP Communications. "IBM's HotMedia
technology provides the tools to leverage the power of electronic
commerce by making products more accessible to shoppers with 3D,
animation, audio and video. IBM HotMedia takes on-line catalogs
to the next level."
InterWorld
"A powerful way to attract and retain customers is through
effective product presentation and merchandising capabilities.
IBM's Hot Media toolkit, coupled with InterWorld Commerce Exchange,
provides a visually-rich shopping experience," Susan Fairty,
vice president of marketing, InterWorld Corporation.
Open Market
"Rich media products will help drive the acceptance and
success of e-commerce in the coming years," said Cliff Utstein,
Open Market's director of commerce service provider marketing.
* Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International
Business Machines Corporation.
** All product and brand names are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
- Subject: IBM Press Release: E-Commerce Gets a Boost from Rich Media
- From: Kathleen Koblosh <koblosh@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 17:10:34 -0400
IBM Consultant Relations DATE: September 30, 1998 SUBJECT: IBM Press Release: E-Commerce Gets a Boost from Rich Media Today IBM announced IBM HotMedia, its Java**-based rich media toolkit. This toolkit is now available for media professionals to download free-of-charge. See the following press release for details. If you have any questions, please contact our Consultant Relations Response Center at (800) IBM-4046 / (416) 383-5153 or via e-mail: consrel@us.ibm.com. PRESS RELEASE Contact: Consultant Relations Response Center Phone: (800) IBM-4046 Internet: consrel@us.ibm.com E-COMMERCE GETS A BOOST FROM RICH MEDIA IBM Adds Java-Based Interactive Media to E-Commerce Servers and Announces Public Beta of Toolkit SOMERS, NY, September 30, 1998 - - IBM today announced the adoption of IBM HotMedia, its Java**-based rich media toolkit, by the industry's leading merchant servers, including IBM Net. Commerce*. In addition, the IBM HotMedia toolkit beta is now available for creative new media professionals to download free-of-charge at http://www.software.ibm.com/net.media. IBM HotMedia Software for the Java Environment is a set of ultra-lightweight Java applets and a set of simple-to-use tools for content creators. IBM HotMedia makes it possible to enhance commercial Web sites with rich media, without burdening Internet users with lengthy data download times, and without any special server requirements. As a result, e-businesses will be able to easily incorporate rich media experiences into on-line catalogs and other e-business applications, such as on-line advertising and interactive Web presentations. "The future of e-business depends on making the user experience as natural as possible - - media without excuses will be a necessity," said Armando Garcia, vice president, Internet media, IBM. "IBM HotMedia provides a more realistic, natural environment for Internet shoppers that will help drive sales through on-line storefronts and facilitate the buy decision. And Web content creators can now use this same technology to their advantage." IBM HotMedia gives end-users an intuitive and efficient way to navigate through a variety of rich-media effects, including: - animated GIFs - panning and scrolling images - multi-track animations - 3D object movies - zoomable, multi-resolution images - audio and video clips - 360 degree panoramas IBM HotMedia also provides powerful spatial and temporal hot links across all of these content types, as well as to other objects and Web sites. Using IBM HotMedia, content is assembled into one easy-to-use file, which is simple to add to standard Web servers and efficiently delivered through a browser. Also, to effectively deal with today's low-bandwidth connections to the Internet, IBM HotMedia content is "smart" and it retrieves applets just-in-time to deliver media progressively. IBM HotMedia and Authoring Tools The IBM HotMedia tools are simple to use and are designed to complement existing media-authoring tools. To facilitate seamless content creation, IBM HotMedia will be distributed with upcoming releases of Macromedia** Dreamweaver** and Director**. Additionally, IBM has created versions of HotMedia specifically for use as an Xtra** and Object in Dreamweaver. "We're pleased to partner with IBM to advance our mission of adding life to the Web," said David Mendels, general manager of Macromedia's Web Publishing Division. "By supporting IBM HotMedia in future versions of Dreamweaver and Director, the leading tools for Internet multimedia and Web site development, we're further enabling rich media authoring for e-commerce and interactive advertising applications." IBM HotMedia and Commerce Servers In 4Q98, IBM HotMedia will be available with IBM Net.Commerce to further enrich the on-line shopping experience. Combining Net.Commerce's Product Comparison capability with IBM HotMedia creates a personalized shopping experience that presents the shopper with customized product selections that can be fully inspected, manipulated, and examined to facilitate the buy decision. iCat**, INTERSHOP**, Interworld**, and OpenMarket** have indicated that they each plan to provide offerings that support IBM HotMedia, giving on-line merchants persuasive new ways to present their products. The IBM HotMedia toolkit is available for immediate use in commerce server software packages at http://www.software.ibm.com/net.media. IBM Net.Commerce is part of the expanded IBM WebSphere* family of application servers and will assume WebSphere branding in 1999. As a result, current Net.Commerce customers will benefit from the broad range of functionality of the WebSphere family, which integrates the Web commerce, Web server, transaction processing and distributed component technologies from IBM. IBM HotMedia Benefits IBM HotMedia is a powerful rich media technology for the Web that fully harnesses the power of Java. The IBM HotMedia player is separated into tiny Java applets (typically less than 10 kilobytes in size), which are delivered to the user on an as-needed basis. This "smart content" technology allows IBM HotMedia files to determine which applets are needed on-the-fly. In this manner, an applet is only downloaded once, and then it remains in the browser for the duration of the session, which speeds playback of subsequent content. This effectively deals with today's typical low-bandwidth (28.8 Kbps) Internet connections, which have been one of the limiting factors in the wide use of rich media for e-commerce. Since IBM HotMedia is delivered progressively, it is possible to send only the "tip of the iceberg" when a page containing an IBM HotMedia file is loaded. This is typically a lightweight static image, animated GIF, or scrolling image that is stored in the initial portion of the IBM HotMedia file. Should an end-user desire additional content, the click of a mouse enables additional content to begin playing. This approach makes it possible for on-line shoppers to browse quickly through many pages of an IBM HotMedia-enhanced catalog with minimal download time, and spares the merchant's Web server the burden of serving content that is not of interest to the consumer. This approach also makes IBM HotMedia ideal for other applications, such as interactive advertising. Live IBM HotMedia Customer Sites During an initial pilot program many IBM customers added IBM HotMedia to their Web sites, including: - PGA Interactive, a joint venture of IBM and the PGA of America, has a series of interactive golf lessons called "Lesson Tee" at http://www.pga.com - Intellicast enhances the delivery of interactive weather maps at http://www.intellicast.com - Einzig Interactive Photographers displays 3D product movies and virtual tours at http://www.einzig.com/ibmhotmedia.htm - The Jim Henson Company offers "Virtual Muppeteering" at http://www.henson.com IBM IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM software offers the widest range of applications, middleware and operating systems for all types of computing platforms, allowing customers to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. The fastest way to get more information about IBM software is through the IBM software home page at: http://www.software.ibm.com. For more information about IBM HotMedia please visit: http://www.software.ibm.com/net.media Information on the WebSphere product line may be found at http://www.software.ibm.com/websphere. #### IBM HotMedia Testimonials iCat "Selling on-line will increasingly require merchandising that presents a complete and compelling view of the products being sold, and that means merchants will want to add high quality audio, video, images, and other rich media to their stores," said Craig Danuloff, president and CEO of iCat. "Those on-line stores that embrace these capabilities can expect site visitors to spend more time - and more money." INTERSHOP "Internet merchants strive for compelling product presentation and visualization as an integral part of their store solution," stated Petra Vorsteher, vice president of business development and strategic alliances at INTERSHOP Communications. "IBM's HotMedia technology provides the tools to leverage the power of electronic commerce by making products more accessible to shoppers with 3D, animation, audio and video. IBM HotMedia takes on-line catalogs to the next level." InterWorld "A powerful way to attract and retain customers is through effective product presentation and merchandising capabilities. IBM's Hot Media toolkit, coupled with InterWorld Commerce Exchange, provides a visually-rich shopping experience," Susan Fairty, vice president of marketing, InterWorld Corporation. Open Market "Rich media products will help drive the acceptance and success of e-commerce in the coming years," said Cliff Utstein, Open Market's director of commerce service provider marketing. * Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. ** All product and brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
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