Seattle Lab is beta testing emurl, a server product designed to allow Web sites to offer HotMail-like e-mail access.
Once emurl (a play on “email” + “URL”) is installed on a site, users can read their e-mail, send, reply to and forward messages, and store their e-mail on the server, all from a standard browser.
L.A. Heberlein, president of Seattle Lab, said: “In an airport kiosk or an
Internet cafe, the one tool you can almost always access is a Web browser.
The one thing you most want to do is check your e-mail. If your home site has
emurl running, you can get to your email from anywhere.”
Conventional e-mail programs such as Outlook Express, Eudora, or Netscape
Messenger need to configured with a user’s e-mail server address, personal
e-mail address, and password. For this reason, users cannot borrow someone
else’s computer and check their e-mail without reconfiguring the system.
Emurl allows Internet Service Providers to host Web-based e-mail support on their own sites. Designed with banner advertising in mind, emurl is virtually
guaranteed to deliver an increase in traffic once it has been introduced to
existing users.
“Microsoft reportedly paid nearly $400 million for HotMail. You can save $399,999,575 by buying emurl instead,” said Ken Whelan, Seattle Lab’s Director of Corporate Sales. The list price of emurl is $425.
Version 1.0 of the product is scheduled for release in early March, 1998.
