Vendors Show Off Latest Tools For The Federal Net Set
At the Internet Showcase conference, vendors rolled out bleeding-edge technologies such as a biometric pen that authenticates signatures and an online meeting planning service
tailored to federal users.
Sam Asseer, chairman of LCI Technology Group NV of the Netherlands,
said the company's Smartpen Biometric Authentication System will be
part of Litton PRC's proposal for an upcoming Defense Department
contract.
The LCI Smartpen-which Asseer demonstrated last week at the Rancho
Mirage, Calif., conference-writes like an ordinary pen while
dynamically tracking the user's handwriting speed, pressure and angle
with built-in sensors.
Authentication is nearly foolproof, Asseer said, because when a
signature takes longer than normal, the pen senses an attempt at
forgery.
AllMeetings Corp. of Henderson, Nev., announced that its meeting
planning Web site for government users, at http://fed.allmeetings.com ,
will be featured in the General Services Administration's conference
and meeting planner course in April.
The Web site's proprietary search engine automatically finds a range of
cities and hotel choices depending on meeting dates, number of
participants, per-diem rates and airline fares.
"The average time it takes to come up with a meeting plan online is 10
to 15 minutes," said Brian K. Ashton, vice president and general
manager.
Ashton said the service "is changing the basis of [hotel] competition
to focus on total meeting costs" instead of merely the room rate.
Hummingbird Communications Ltd. of Toronto announced that its
Hummingbird Enterprise Information Portal, purchased late last month by
Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego, will be tailored
for use by a federal agency that neither company would identify.
The Enterprise Information Portal provides a single point of access to
all structured and unstructured enterprise data.
Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products USA Inc. of Burlington, Mass.,
demonstrated L&H iTranslator Enterprise software for intranets. It
translates foreign-language documents and e-mail to Microsoft Exchange
and Lotus Notes mail clients.
Reported by Government Computer News, http://www.gcn.com.