
Date: April 19, 1999
Title: DealTime Personal Notifier
Version: 1.8
Status: Freeware
Distribution status: freely distributable
Contact details:

  DealTime.com, Inc.
  www.dealtime.com
  info@dealtime.com


DealTime

DealTime's unique personal e-commerce service takes the Internet time dimension and turns it to your advantage. DealTime tracks online shopping, classified ad and auction sites, instantly notifying you (via Personal Notifier, e-mail or pager) when a product price matches your criteria. Personal Notifier is easy to install and sits in your task bar, flashing, playing a noise or popping open when a deal or event arrives. Click on the deal and Personal Notifier automatically takes you to the merchant site to make your purchase (Personal Notifier also delivers personalized news and stock feeds).


What is the Personal Notifier?

The DealTime Personal Notifier is a unique Freeware utility that delivers time-sensitive product alerts directly to your desktop. After defining a product you want to buy and the price you are willing to pay, Personal Notifier delivers real-time alerts when your criteria are met.

Operating via a standard Internet connection, Personal Notifier also delivers news and stocks alerts, and lets you set stock price parameters so youll be alerted if a specified fluctuation occurs. 
You can go about doing your work while Personal Notifier keeps track of e-commerce events of interest to you, enabling you to respond in a timely manner.


Notifier Personalization 

Once installed, the Personal Notifier lets you personalize it to meet your precise needs: 

+ DealTime Alerts -- specify the products you wish to be notified about when they become available in a selected price range 

+ News Topics -- to get news in various topics of interest 

+ Stocks -- build a watch list of your favorite stocks and get their latest prices (subject to a 20-minute delay) 


Installing the Personal Notifier

Once extraction from this PKZIP archive is finished, use Windows Explorer to locate the file named Notify18.exe. Double-click on the file name to install the Personal Notifier. You will be asked to accept or decline the End User License Agreement. Make sure you read it before accepting.


System Requirements

Operating System:	Windows 95/98/NT
RAM: 			8 MB or more
Hard Disk Space:	less than 1 MB
Display:		640X480 or higher, with at least 256 colors
Internet Connection:	Dialup(Modem) or LAN connection


How to use the Personal Notifier

The Personal Notifier icon resides in your Task Bar, normally in the lower right hand side of your screen. At any time, click once on the icon to open the full Personal Notifier window. The window is divided into a content window at the top, and a promotional window at the bottom. 

The Control Section includes the logo of your Notifier provider, a menu and Alert browsing arrows. You can click on the Logo to go to your notifier provider's Web site.  The alert browsing arrows let you move between alerts or stocks in the data window. The Data Window is where alerts and stock data appear.

The alert Topic Group appears at the top. The time stamp shows the local time the alert or stock value was received. The alert's Subject or stock ticker and name are in bold below the topic group name. Alert or stock data optionally appear below the subject line. The logo of the data supplier is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Click on the "More" link at the bottom of the Data Window to activate your browser to get the complete news article or other detailed information in case of other alerts or stocks.


Personalizing the Notifier

You now are ready to personalize the Notifier so that you receive the information you want. Click on the Personalize menu in the upper Control Section to pull down a list of topics available for customizing. 

+ Last Minute Deals: Select the products and services you wish to be notified on when they become available in a selected price range. Click on the Personalize menu and select Last Minute Deals.

+ News Topics: To get financial news in your areas of interest. Click on the Personalize menu and select News Topics.

+ Stocks: Build a watch list of your favorite stocks and get their latest prices (subject to a 20-minute delay). Click on the Personalize menu and select Stocks.

You can also receive alerts when a stock price "strikes" your pre-defined high or low values. When the Stocks area is selected, click the "Alert When" link to pop up a dialog box that allows you to set your price parameters. You can enter the values in decimal (37.25) or fraction (37 1/4) format. The alert itself is displayed in the alerts window. Note: Once a stock alert has occurred, it is reset and will not be shown again unless the alert value is re-entered.

After setting your preferences, click the submit button and wait until the operation is complete for your new settings to take effect. The Notifier will look for alerts and the desktop icon will flash any time new alerts are available. Click on the icon to view the alerts. 


Customizing Options

You can define how the Personal Notifier behaves when it receives regular or breaking events. Click on the Preferences menu and select Options. 

+ Play Sound: You can make the Notifier play a sound or pop up the display window on top of the desktop in case of a regular or breaking event. Select the appropriate radio button to define your choice.

+ Notification Window: You can have the Notifier display window pop up on your desktop for all alerts or events, sometimes, or not at all.


Data Updates

Personal Notifier automatically communicates with the Internet in fixed time intervals, or whenever the server initiates a communication session. If you want to manually set a communication update in order to retrieve the most current data, press the File menu and select Update All or Update Stocks depending on what you wish to update. 


Show History

Personal  Notifier will provide you a record of the 25 most recent alerts received. Press the File menu and select Show History. 


Uninstalling Personal Notifier

You uninstall the Personal Notifier just like you uninstall any other Windows program: Go to the Start menu and select Settings / Control Panel, then double click the Add/Remove Programs Icon. Select the Personal Notifier program and remove it. Alternatively, pressing the right mouse button on the Notifier task bar icon closes it - however, the Notifier will re-appear after you restart your computer. 
