[BusinessTeam] New IR service

Message-ID: <6B75EF096AE0BE428B8CEDEA89C5F632782295@exchange01.lab49.com> · Tue Oct 03 18:30:11 2000 UTC

Deep Six Your Search Engine
With HALiBOT, Email is No Longer Just for Messaging

I had a lunch appointment today and needed directions. So did I log on to
the Web and give MapQuest a whirl? Not a chance.

Instead, I emailed directions@halibot.com with the subject listing my
origin and the destination: "Washington, DC - 1301 Beverley Road, McLean,
VA". Within seconds, I was emailed back a list of turn-by-turn directions
-- and yes, they actually worked. (The spinach fettuccine was excellent.)

The service I used is HALiBOT. This mind-blowing application, which was
recently launched by San-Francisco-based ivolio, lets you get instant
access to answers and information just by sending email messages. It's
really cool!

  _____  

HALiBOT, however, pushes email into search engine territory, where
information retrieval is the name of the game.

  _____  

ivolio developed HALiBOT in order to showcase its keyword-based
information retrieval agent technology -- which essentially means
technology that uses email to pull information from various Web sites and
databases on the Internet. Until now, email has been the killer app of
communication; when you send an email message, you usually expect another
person at the other end of your message. HALiBOT, however, pushes email
into search engine territory, where information retrieval is the name of
the game.

Here's how it works. To check an airfare, compose a message to
airfare@halibot.com with the subject, "SFO-LAX", and send. ivolio's
proprietary answer engine intelligently interprets the query, harvests,
formats, and delivers results from various Web-based or private database
information sources. Within seconds an answer is delivered to your inbox:
$130 is the cheapest fare right now.

HALiBOT provides information for 80+ broad-based topic areas -- everything
from golf to hospitals, movies to taxicabs. (For a complete list of
topics, email topics@halibot.com with no subject or message. You can also
experiment with the system online at www.halibot.com
<http://www.halibot.com/> ) The software architecture unifies hundreds of
content sources to eliminate the need for surfing numerous web sites. 

  _____  

HALiBOT spares you from having to surf the wireless Web entering long and
difficult URL's, hopping from site to site in search of different types of
information.

  _____  

Which is precisely the reason it is so well-suited for wireless. HALiBOT
spares you from having to surf the wireless Web entering long and
difficult URL's, hopping from site to site in search of different types of
information. In other words, it saves time and hassle. Plus, it is widely
accessible since it leverages the one thing that is on every Internet
device regardless of device type, platform, or protocol: email.

I have to admit, thinking about email as an information retrieval tool
takes some getting used to. And frankly, I don't see HALiBOT supplanting
search engines on the desktop Internet any time soon. However, when you
are on the road and need specific information -- let's say your flight
status and the distance from the airport to your hotel -- there is no
faster and easier way to find it than by shooting an email or two using
HALiBOT. And heck, you don't even have to type a message.

Luke Flemmer
VP Strategic Ventures
nano
phone: (212) 402-7870
fax:      (212) 430-6374
www.nano.com <http://www.nano.com/> 