14 DAY TRIAL // Symantec's security bundle is still waiting to enter its beta phase but the company's representatives have already partially denied the possibility that their product code named Genesis will be postponed until 2007. In fact, the release date depends strictly in the way Norton 360 beta version, due this summer, will perform on the market. In the eventuality that it will pass the testing phase without encountering major issues, Symantec will focus on the fall launch dead-line. As do the offers of the competition, Symantec's Norton 360 will be a conglomerate of security solutions that will include: anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, anti-keylogger, firewall protection, and optimization and back-up tools.
But if Norton 360 does not hit the market until November the release date will be postponed until 2007. Symantec has lost a lot of ground compared to its competitors, as OneCare is already launched and two versions of Falcon are in beta phase. Furthermore, although it now accounts for 62% of the security products market, the company will have to face Microsoft's prices, a three license deal of OneCare being just $49.95, when the best Symantec price is nearly double.
"Our team is focused on product availability in the fall. We are focused on the fall," said Enrique Salem, Symantec's consumer group chief, "but if gets to be a point where it doesn't make sense to release it this year the company would hold the release until after the new year."