Companies flock to first virtual exhibition

Virtex will feature hundreds of companies showing their products on the Web in a rolling exhibition that uses 3D, audio and video effects. The Daily Telegraph will sponsor the show, with networking kingpin Novell and virtual reality software producer Superscape sponsoring two 60-stand halls.

IBM, Computer Associates, Cisco and Lexmark are among 400 companies which will host stands. Sections will include networking, intra-net, Internet, groupware, electronic commerce and security. 130,000 free copies of the show will be available on a CD-ROM that has links to companies' Web sites.

"There'll constantly be new stands to look at," said Andrea Trillo, sales director for Virtex. "And as people's processing power goes up, we can do a lot more. We'll have 10- to 20-minute RealAudio messages from our sponsors, for example."

Virtex can be contacted by telephone on 01691-670868.