POINTCAST NO MORE

By: Staff reports Push Innovator Becomes Part of EntryPoint



PointCast Network, one of the first proponents of push technology, is no more.
The service sent its last broadcast to subscribers this week.



The network automatically delivered personalized news and information directly
to desktops. But analysts say the service required too much bandwidth to draw a
sufficient number of users.



Back in 1996, PointCast got the attention of quite a few newspapers. PointCast
Vice President for Marketing Jaleh Bisharat told Editor & Publisher then,
'Newspapers will be able to broadcast their news automatically with [PointCast].'



Eventually, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Detroit Free Press, and The
Detroit News signed up.



After PointCast cancelled a planned initial public offering last year, it was
acquired by Idealab, a venture capital firm. The technology is now being
integrated into a browser toolbar called EntryPoint 2.0.



EntryPoint also offers customized news and information. Current content providers
include The Associated Press, AccuWeather, BPI Communications, and Reuters.



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Staff reports











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