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May, 1998 |
  
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Futuristic Opps & AppsMobile Location Systems Offer Revenue OpportunitiesAccording to a report just out from Ovum, by the year 2005, there will be more than 188 million cellular subscribers across Europe.This represents 30 percent of the total world market, the report suggests — the total number of cars equipped with mobile location devices will also continue to increase and reach a total of eight million in Western Europe by the year 2005 or 56 percent of the total world market. The report, entitled "Mobile Location Services: the Business Opportunity," suggests that increased competition between network operators, coupled with regulatory pressures, is now driving the growth of mobile location services. Ovum anticipates that the user demand for greater personal security and more personalized services will lead to substantial growth in the mobile location service market. As Thomas Blonz, a consultant at Ovum and coauthor of the report explains, "Network operators are actively searching for new types of product and services which can leverage their investment in the network. But until now, voice has been the main application. However mobile location services are about to present a breakthrough for these network operators." Ovum’s report suggests that, while there are dozens of individual services, there are five key categories which encompass these:
"Users will only be interested in mobile location services if they enhance their business or quality of life; they will not be interested in subscribing to something marketed by suppliers simply as a value-added service," Blonz explained. "Mobile Location Services: the Business Opportunity," authored by Thomas Blonz and Clare McCarthy, is billed as providing a guide to adopting mobile location services and the key factors influencing market development of these services. Ovum has published a white paper on mobile location services on the Web at http://www.ovum.com/news/wls/wlswp.html. Ovum’s Web site is at http://www.ovum.com. (Contact: Ovum +44-171-255-2670; Fax +44-171-255-1995; E-mail: info@ovum.com) TopNew Sales Model Streams Live Deals To Online ShoppersMost people like really good sales but don’t have time to run to local stores to catch the moonlight, blue light sales, or even read the ads in the first place. In what’s called a "brand-new syndicated selling model," Impulse Buy Network, Inc., says there’s now a way for Internet travelers to take advantage of those great deals without all the footwork. Retailers post special deals through Impulse Buy Network. The deals arrive on an Internet surfer’s desktop through pop-up windows or banner ads. The firm said customers who see deals they like simply click on the Impulse offer button and get routed directly to the seller’s World Wide Web site. Impulse Buy Network also can pre-qualify orders before sending them to the seller for processing. Charter sellers on the service include Acer America, Chip Shot Golf, Fragrance Net, Garden Escape, Hammacher Schlemmer, Hickory Farms, J.Crew, NEC, NECX, Omaha Steaks, Packard Bell, Red Rocket, The Sharper Image, The Territory Ahead, Virtual Vineyards, Wal-Mart and 1-800 Flowers. The first site with the service available is the Visa Shopping Guide site on Yahoo at http://shopguide.yahoo.com. Other distributors soon to offer the service include IMGIS, InfoBeat, Intellipost, iVillage and The Mining Company. "We wanted to put together a new way for people to buy things online," said Mark Goldstein, Impulse Buy Network’s president and chief executive officer (CEO). "We have an infrastructure in place that lets any seller, any time create their own special real time deal and post that deal onto the network." He added the deals can change in real-time as viewers watch. "We are working with leading ad banner networks. We are trying to make our banners like the infomercial of the Internet," he said, adding that it was "all about product, price and buy it now." "It’s a new, compelling way for people to go out and buy things they want at special prices and generates some excitement at the same time, since the buyers see the items going like hotcakes," Goldstein said. "The firms who offer the streaming banner-deals can only sell the items at the special banner price while items last and only if the price is cheaper than it is on their own site," Goldstein said. "We have provided a new way for sellers to go out and touch people who don’t walk into their retail stores or visit their own Web sites." Impulse Buy Network, Inc. has a Web site at http://www.impulsebuy.net (Contacts: George Sard or Debbie Miller, Sard Verbinnen & Co., 212-687-8080)
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