Redesigned Service Offers Greater Ease-of-Use With New Tools, Enhanced Daily
News and Business Programming
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Netscape Communications, a
leading Internet company and a subsidiary of America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL),
today launched the redesign of its Netscape Netcenter service to help
professionals better manage their business and personal lives online.
The new Netcenter homepage offers more ease-of-use, enhanced daily news
and business programming by integrating powerful tools and content into one
convenient, personalized interface for use at both home and work.
Barry Schuler, President of AOL Interactive Services, said: "In today's
fast-paced business environment the busy professional is multi-tasking all day
-- taking care of personal chores from the office and catching up on work at
home. The new Netscape seamlessly handles it all: whether it's sending an
e-mail or instant message to a business colleague, scheduling family
activities, or checking the latest health news. Netcenter has tremendous reach
in the at-work audience, and this redesign makes our service even more
valuable to business professionals."
Netscape Netcenter is one of the five sites most visited by at-work
Internet consumers. According to a recent Media Metrix report, Netcenter
reaches 36.1% of the total at-work online audience, and is seen by 8.4 million
unique at-work visitors each month.
Jim Martin, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Netscape
Netcenter, said: "The new Netcenter moves beyond the traditional portal
business model to become a service that helps business professionals work
smarter and handle their personal lives more efficiently. Our new Netcenter
makes it even more convenient to use our powerful tools and content
-- including improved daily news and business programming and our new Netscape
Communities area."
Easier Access to Powerful Netcenter Tools and Content
Among the changes to Netcenter is a newly designed user interface that
allows for an easy transition between personal and business content and
services including: Netscape Search for Web searching, Top Picks for the
latest hot links, Today's News for up-to-date business, entertainment and
local news and Tools offering a host of cutting-edge Web navigation services.
The new Netcenter home page also displays a series of buttons at the top
to give users easier access to the tools they need to be more productive at
home and at work. The new buttons are Chat linking users to the Netscape AOL
Instant Messenger service, My Netscape for the delivery of personalized stock
quotes, news and local information, WebMail free e-mail services and Download
for the latest Netscape browsers, plug-ins and third-party software.
Netcenter also expanded its daily content offerings in a "Today's
Features" section that will provide information that is regularly updated over
the course of the day, helping its users keep up-to-date with breaking news
while they work. In addition, the new Netcenter Business and Leisure areas are
easily accessible so users can find useful business information and services
or sports, movies and TV listings.
New Netscape Communities Chat Services
Netscape also unveiled Netscape Communities, a centralized hub where users
can communicate, for work or personal business, with colleagues, friends,
family and others with similar interests.
The newest service on Netscape Communities is Chat. Netscape Chat offers
members the ability to easily communicate with others about a range of
subjects related to work and home. Subjects include computing and Internet for
discussions on Netscape's browser, personal finance for the latest discussion
of stocks and health to discuss managing stress. Netscape Chat will offer more
than sixty chat topics. To chat on Netcenter, members simply need to activate
Netscape AOL Instant Messenger.
Netscape Communities also offers free custom home page services for
personal and business use as well as a Netcenter member directory to search
for other Netcenter users.
Netcenter Services Integrated into Netscape Browser
Adding to the convenience of the Netcenter user experience is the
integration of its popular and useful services with the Netscape Communicator
browser. The newest Netcenter services integrated with the browser include:
-- "Shop@Netscape" links the Netscape audience to Netscape's e-commerce
site recently called "the Internet's Miracle Mile" by Forrester
Research and featuring over 400 name brand merchants and a number of
free shopping services.
-- Netscape Radio makes accessing Internet music quick and simple.
-- Netscape Search allowing users to find what they want by typing natural
language Internet Keywords into the browser location bar that take them
b site or to a search results page.
Within the first week of launching Communicator 4.7 with the integrated
Shop@Netscape button, the Netscape shopping channel experienced a major
increase in daily index page views. Netscape Radio is now one of the most
frequented tools accessed from the Netscape Browser -- ranking 4th only behind
Search, My Netscape, and Shop@Netscape.
About Netscape
Netscape is a leading provider of software and services for businesses
that want to transform the way they create and keep customers in the emerging
Net Economy. A division of America Online, Inc., Netscape is based in Mountain
View, California. Additional information on Netscape is available on the
Internet at http://home.netscape.com by sending email to info@netscape.com, or
by calling corporate sales at 650-937-2555.
NOTE: Netscape, Netscape Navigator and the Communicator logos are
registered trademarks of Netscape in the United States and other countries.
Other Netscape logos, product names, and service names are also trademarks of
Netscape Communications, which may be registered in other countries. Other
product and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Netscape Communications Corporation
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Related links:
http://home.netscape.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/585525.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 585525
CONTACT:
Nathan Tyler of Netscape Communications
Corp., 650-937-4927, or tyler@netscape.com
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