Product Notes is a forum for area companies to introduce their products and new technology to the region’s business professionals. Information for this section is compiled from press releases (both electronic and print) and from staff research. High Technology Monthly does not evaluate products listed in this section. Companies interested in listing products and technological developments should submit a brief description of the company, product, and target market. Submissions may be faxed to Product Notes at (401) 274-0670 or mailed to Stacey Myers, Staff Writer, Providence Business News, 300 Richmond St., Providence, R.I. 02093.
Company: Bank Rhode Island, East Providence, R.I.
Product: nFront – Bank Rhode Island will become the fourth bank in the state to offer Internet banking options to its customers. On May 20 bank officials announced an agreement with nFront, an Atlanta-based company that provides Internet technology to community banks. The application for Bank Rhode Island’s business customers is scheduled to be rolled out in the fourth quarter of this year, with a personal consumer product following in the year 2000.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
The business application, called nBusiness, is a Microsoft NT-based Internet cash management application, according to a statement issued by the bank. It will allow business customers to access all business account information, pay vendors electronically, transfer funds between internal accounts, initiate wire transfers, stop payments, pay employees and view graphic presentations of a company’s cash position.
The personal consumer product is called nHomes and will let bank customers view their account balances, account histories, pay bills and transfer funds.
More than 140 community banks in 31 states use nFront products. In addition, nFront, which was founded in 1996, received Microsoft’s Retail Banking Industry Solution Award for the best Internet banking product. Bank Rhode Island is nFront’s 11th customer in New England.
Market: Bank Rhode Island customers.
Company: TakeAclass.com (formerly MyBook-worm.com), Cambridge, Mass.
Internet address: www.takeaclass.com
New partnership: TakeAclass.com, a continuing education content and course locator, announced a new linking agreement with Digital City Boston on America Online. The Cambridge-based company now has exposure to almost a million New England-based users of Digital City on AOL, or on the web at boston.digitalcity.com. The relationship is part of Digital City’s broad education initiative. Digital City is the nation’s largest interactive community guide and it reaches nearly 4 million people each month, according to information released by TakeAclass.com. It provides an array of interactive products in more than 50 cities and delivers local news, events and community resources.
Segments of Take-Aclass.com’s content and classes will be integrated into the Digital City service. A series of classes, ranging from recreation to job training may be profiled on AOL and the boston.digital-city.com site. Links to detailed descriptions or the course locator will be provided.
TakeAclass is a web-based retailer focused on adult education classes and products, including instructor-led classes (local and online) and self-study tutorials. The site contains resources to find continuing education and training information classes with schedules from more than 500 schools and 25,000 courses.
Company: Mesa Systems Guild, Inc., Warwick, R.I.
Internet address: www.mesasys.com
New partnership: Mesa Systems announced a strategic partnership with Ascent Logic Corp., a leader in systems engineering and life cycle process technology, on May 11. Mesa Systems provides web-based product development and project management solutions.
Both companies share a vision to enable development teams to easily integrate their own customized best-of-breed environment, according to a statement issued by Mesa Systems. “This agreement with Mesa Systems will enable systems engineers to more effectively use the web when developing risk reducing system design solutions,” stated Dan Kummet, vice president of marketing for Ascent Logic. “On complex products this will increase collaboration and communication, and help reduce costs associated with distributed design teams.”
WHY DESIGNS created the look for the accessories on this Star Wars Bicycle.
Company: WHY Design, Ltd., 55 Bradford St., Providence, R.I.
Internet address: www.why-design.com
Product: Star Wars Episode 1 bicycle – WHY Design, a graphic design firm, was commissioned to design pieces of a new bicycle line Rand International will sell in Canada, South America, Japan and Europe. Rand is a bicycle manufacturing company based in Farmingdale, N.Y., which also produces the Ross and Barracuda bicycle lines. WHY has designed bicycle pads, helmets, packaging graphics, and other accessories for the new Star Wars-themed bike line. The bicycle manufacturer has produced two bicycle prototypes using WHY’s designs, according to a company spokesperson. WHY specializes in doing graphic design work for product packaging, as well as the retail and sporting goods industries.
Company: Society for News Design, 129 Dyer St., Providence, R.I.
Product: “Technology and Pagination: Integrating the New into the Newsroom” – a 120-page, soft cover workbook, which is meant to serve as a step-by-step resource for editors and others faced with planning a pagination installation for the first time, or for reworking an existing system. The book is designed to take the reader, whether an expert or novice, through forming a technology committee straight through to selecting hardware and software. It also offers a discussion on what the technology is likely to look like after 2000.
A joint committee of the Society for News Design and the American Society of Newspaper Editors wrote and produced the workbook.
The reader will be able to conduct an overall redo of the newsroom or upgrade a specific phase, such as how the new technology in photography interfaces with the newsroom’s existing publishing system. The cost is $15 plus $2.50 for shipping ($3.50 for anyone writing from outside the United States). Write to the Society for News Design, 129 Dyer St., Providence, R.I. 02903-3904. Or submit your order via e-mail to snd@snd.org.
Market: Newspaper industry.
Company: Wireless Dimensions, Seattle, Wash.
Internet address: www.wirelessdimension.com
Product: An online wireless phone accessories store – Wireless Dimensions retails wireless telephones and services online. It introduced the accessories store on May 5. There are more than 1,000 products included on the site from the industry’s five most popular categories: batteries, carrying cases, chargers, hands-free kits and car adapters. The site also allows customers to shop more than 3,000 different wireless service plans, 260 phones and 1,000 matching accessories.
Market: Wireless phone users.
