Start-up's pitch: The Envelope, please

Cupertino, Calif.

If a California start-up delivers on the promise of its first product, E-mail recipients may no longer need Carnac the Magnificent to decipher multimedia messages and attachments.

PostX Corp. is rolling out PostX Envelope, a Java-based E-mail add-on the company claims will allow users to send text, documents, video and audio in a customizable package that will stay intact and be easy to open. The software, which features a security option based on calling ahead to the recipient with a password, will be demonstrated this week at Internet Showcase '97 in San Diego.

While the client-only software will not be for sale until September, analysts and test customers were quick to give PostX Envelope an initial stamp of approval. Plans for future Java-based enhancements, coupled with a widely predicted mushrooming of Java Virtual Machines (JVM) on corporate desktops, could make PostX Envelope a hit, they said.

According to PostX CEO R.C. Venkatraman, image-conscious corporations and direct marketers will be attracted to Envelope's ability to fashion a graphical E-mail wrapper that will provide notification to the sender after a message has been received and opened. A Java-based Active View feature will allow senders to include a series of executables that, in effect, guide a recipient through a predesigned reading experience.

Envelope runs on Windows 95 and is fully integrated with Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook, Netscape Communications Corp.'s Mail 3.0 and Communicator, and Version 3.0 of America Online, Inc.'s E-mail program.

Envelope is impressive, said Mark Levitt, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. However, he questioned how quickly mainstream business PC users will get JVMs on their desktops so those who send and receive messages through Envelope will be able to use the product to its fullest.

PostX Envelope will cost between $30 and $50 per user.

PostX: (408) 864-4010