NEW WAY TO SHOP AS DOTCOM STARTUP WINS STREET RACE AGAINST MICROSOFT AND AMAZON

September 01, 2006 (PRLEAP.COM) Technology News
http://www.Superhighstreet.com travels visitors down photo-realistic streetscapes, accompanied by a search engine guaranteeing to find anything or ‘they buy it for you’*. Windows Live® Local Virtual Earth and Amazon’s A9.com® Maps BlockView™ Beta currently only offer test systems displaying unedited street images, whilst Superhighstreet’s free landmark panoramas are fully interactive with obstructions removed.

Christian Simpson, Head of R&D, explains: “Visitors can click our street’s doorways and literally walk inside buildings. Click the world’s oldest music store, HMV on Oxford Street, and moments later you’re in their online shop browsing exclusive partner offers. Click their sign for contact numbers or directions. Doing your shopping regardless of weather or time, with no crowds or hassle means someone in Tokyo could travel thousands of miles and in seconds have their Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Fifth Avenue.”

Over a year in the making, Superhighstreet.com makes groundbreaking use of Google’s open-source map technology, whilst blog sites were quick to dub Microsoft’s interface reminiscent of ‘tacky ‘90s video games’, and Amazon’s containing lopsided snapshots obscured by pedestrians or trucks. “We admire our competitors’ but with this they have aimed for quantity and people are disappointed with the quality. Our crowd-removal technology means although we might take more time to release a streetscape, the results are truly wonderful.

“Without our site you’ll have trouble finding some brands online, and that text-based search engine shopping doesn’t exactly stimulate the senses. With three-quarters of homes now enjoying Broadband our mission is to make the Web a richer, more immersive user experience, delivering elusive products, sights, and sounds of world-class cities – minus the hassle.

“Another big e-commerce attraction is pricing, so when scrolling our streets you see our live ePosters™ in windows offering up to 70% off street prices”, said Christian Simpson. “With many stores now offering international delivery, we even offer up to 35% Cashback when shopping anywhere else online.”

The final big gun on Superhighstreet.com is their free Quik-e-search™ page, pledging ‘if you can’t find a product here, we’ll buy it for you’*. This guarantee is given to anyone trying http://Search.Superhighstreet.com as their browser’s all-in-1 start page.

Market research shows the majority of people still prefer real streets to e-shopping, so Superhighstreet.com offers not only the virtual tours the big names are testing, but to bridge that gap too. Already several thousand visitors have sampled the VIP shopping experience even before today’s launch.

The end of the Road? Visitors decide from today at Superhighstreet.com.

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Note to Editors:

Superhighstreet was conceived in 2005. Visitors are encouraged to suggest streets and sign-up for updates. At launch Superhighstreet.com features a number of streets with more constantly added. *T&C apply.

Contact: Press Officer pressoffice@superhighstreet.com t/f: +44 (0)870 766 49 59/60
Screenshots: http://www.superhighstreet.com/PressRoom.htm