More than a decade in the making, the people behind SyFy Portal and Rabid Doll announce a radical change in how entertainment news is presented on the Web.

In a surprise move, SyFy Portal has completely rebranded and redesigned, and will now be known as Airlock Alpha. Found at www.airlockalpha.com, the new science-fiction and fantasy site will retain all the history, all the archives and even the great people behind the name SyFy Portal, but will be better positioned for the future news it covers with a fresh name and a smart look.

At the same time, a third site is being added to the family. A full-fledged television news site known as Inside Blip is expected to begin a closed beta by the end of February gearing up for a March launch that will expand the offerings from science-fiction and horror to the best of television. Led by Michael Hinman, Inside Blip is expected to become the new flagship of the recently re-christened Quantum Global Media Inc., the Florida corporation formerly known as The SyUniverse Group Inc.

"It's a lot of changes to throw out there all at once, we know, but it made sense to us to completely lay out the future for all of our great readers and not just offer the new sites pieces by piece," Hinman said. "Everything we're doing is something all of us on the QGM staff have been anxious to share with everyone, and it's great that we can now present our vision for how Internet news will integrate with the 21st century."

Work on the Airlock Alpha rebranding and Inside Blip launch has been a team effort by all the members of QGM, but has been spearheaded by Hinman, company chief technology officer Nicholas Chase and community engineer Shane Churchman. Although it's not fully operational quite yet, readers will soon be able to join the BlipNetwork community that will allow them not only to travel between the three sites owned by QGM, but also to discuss different stories and have a brand new forum to share thoughts and ideas.

"It's a virtual community like nothing else out there," Hinman said. "Blogs usually make room for simple comments and stories, and more news-oriented sites like ours have depended on standard message boards for community interaction. Those are both dinosaurs compared to what we have planned for the BlipNetwork."

Airlock Alpha was founded as SyFy World on Aug. 13, 1998, and celebrated its 10th anniversary last year as Airlock Alpha, following the 2000 merger between SyFy World and Star Trek Portal. It has been a part of The SyUniverse Group, once an informal management group led by Michael Hinman, and later incorporated with Hinman as president. The change from Airlock Alpha to Airlock Alpha takes place immediately and anyone visiting older Airlock Alpha links automatically redirect to the new site for a limited time.

"It'll take a little getting used to, but I don't expect us to lose any traffic in the transition," Hinman said. "None of us really like change, and adjusting to Airlock Alpha instead of the SyFy brand we've used for more than a decade may be a challenge for some. But once everyone sees the new look, and witness our refreshed philosophy, I know these changes will be celebrated."