ervices that deliver news to the desktop are taking on new
dimensions. Push technology pioneer PointCast Inc. has started to offer news channels customized for specific industries, and Desktop Data Inc. this week will announce tools to permit the delivery of news into desktop applications.
PointCast last week announced the creation of news channels for health-care professionals, using content supplied by InteliHealth Inc., a compiler of information from medical periodicals. Like PointCast's standard service, the health channels will be free-thanks to ads accompanying the news articles.
PointCast also announced an alliance with Dallas systems integrator Perot Systems Corp. to set up extranets for health-care organizations. In addition to delivering health news, the extranets will letusers perform business tasks.
The first such extranet is being set up at the Health First Health Plan, a health maintenance organization in Melbourne, Fla. The 500 physicians who contract with the HMO will use PointCast's client software on their PCs to access the extranet to
check patient eligibility, refer patients to specialists, submit claims, and check lab results.
The health-care venture is PointCast's second move into a vertical market. In June, the Cupertino, Calif., company and BTG Inc., a systems integrator for government agencies, rolled out a government news service. The company says it plans to develop channels for other industries, including real estate, petroleum, banking, and telecom.
Desktop Data, whose NewsEdge service offers content from 650sources, this week will unveil NewsObjects, a toolkit that will let developers build objects to push news content directly into applications.
For example, a salesperson checking a calendar with a customer could obtain news updates within the scheduling application about that person's company. Or an application for securities traders could deliver an alert when trading in a stock becomes volatile.
The toolkit is aimed at corporate developers as well as software vendors. It will be available for Java and HTML in
August and for ActiveX in the fourth quarter. The Burlington, Mass., company says pricing will typically range from $10,000 to $20,000.
Back to News in Review
Send Us Your Feedback
Top of the Page
ervices that deliver news to the desktop are taking on new
dimensions. Push technology pioneer PointCast Inc. has started to offer news channels customized for specific industries, and Desktop Data Inc. this week will announce tools to permit the delivery of news into desktop applications.
