Autonomy Corporation Plc, the UK-based developer of knowledge management and new media technology, has revealed software that automatically suggests research sources while a user works.
ActiveKnowledge sits on a desktop client, analyzing documents as they are composed and talking to software on a web server which scans the web for related links – such as breaking news, web sites and other research sources – and suggests them to the user. Autonomy claims that because the user does not have to stop writing and switch to a web browser to do research, productivity should, in theory, increase. The product will be made available later in the second quarter.
Autonomy will also release mid-1999 new e-commerce products that allow consumers to find products faster and online vendors to more easily cross-sell. These will be announced when the first customers have completed their implementations of the software.
The product news comes on the day Easdaq-listed Autonomy announced fourth quarter net losses of 0.5m pounds ($0.8m) on revenues up 156% to 1.8m pounds ($2.9m). For the year ended December 12 1998, net losses were 1.7m pounds ($2.8m) on revenues up 209% at 5.3m pounds ($8.6m). Over 93% of its fourth quarter revenues were spent on selling and distribution, due to a concerted marketing campaign. The company also invested heavily in R&D and has increased its development team threefold since the second quarter 1998.
