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Zadu : plug instant messaging + post-it

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              1999-07-31
      
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                               Zadu: New Type of Community Tool to Debut This Fall
      
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              A new community tool to debut this fall may be a harbinger of an interesting new 
        dimension in this space. The product is called Zadu and it's from a Palo Alto,
      
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              CA-based company of the same name (http://www.zadu.com). Zadu is an application that 
        acts as a plug-in to a Web browser and becomes a client that allows
      
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              you to interact with other people using the client at the same Web page or site as 
        you. It carries the notion embodied in instant messaging (all the rage these
      
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              days, as you know) a step further by tying the communication process to a specific 
        Web location or topic.
      
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              "We like to talk about Zadu putting a layer on top of a Web site or page that allows 
        you to 'stand up' and see the other people who are at that site or page at that
      
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              particular moment," Zadu CEO Michael Meirer told OCR. Having identified them, you 
        can send them an instant message, share annotations about content on
      
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              that page, or gather several like-minded individuals into an online chat. You know 
        you have something in common because you're all at the same Web page. 
      
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              In many ways, Zadu combines the best of Third Voice (http://www.thirdvoice.com) with 
        the real-time interactivity of Gooey, (http://www.hypernix.com/). But Zadu
      
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              out-does those products by supporting not only chat but also instant messaging. By 
        making it possible for Zadu to run on content partners' servers, Zadu also
      
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              adds a revenue and trust dimension that are missing from the other two technologies.
      
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              Watch the September issue of OCR for a full review and profile of the product, which 
        is scheduled to beta in September and debut in October. 
      
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