InternetNews Staff

Bertelsmann Broadband Group (BBG) Thursday selected nCUBE to supply technology for interactive television in Germany. The service will be offered through regional cable networks and ADSL. The first installation will be in Cologne (NetCologne) in mid-December, with the service starting in spring 2000. Ten more installations are scheduled this year. Via digital set-top boxes, the […]

Is all the hype about e-commerce real? Perhaps. The Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday E-Commerce Index shot up 30 percent amid large increases in visitors to online shopping sites over the Thanksgiving holiday from Wednesday through Sunday. Web consumers flocked to toy sites, online malls, electronics stores and gift centers to create and fulfill wish lists, the measurement […]

Wreck your car in the real world? EDS and First Priority Group Inc. are launching an Internet-based collision repair management program. Through a new Web site jointly being developed and operated by EDS and FPG — www.driversshield.com — insurance companies will receive nationwide, Web-based, collision repair management services “that will revolutionize the way collision claims […]

WebPartner, a provider of competitive intelligence services, launched its initial service offerings, tailored to store managers at small- to mid-sized e-businesses, as well as e-commerce affiliate managers and marketing/sales professionals at larger companies. The Web-based venture, which offers a SecretShopper service, provides real-time alerts of competitive threats and opportunities, based on online store monitoring, channel […]

Addressing the need for reliable e-business solutions, Lucent Technologies and Sun Microsystems Inc. Wednesday moved to create the infrastructure needed for service providers and enterprises to support next-generation Net business applications. Sun (SUNW) and Lucent (LU) said they would create new tools that facilitate e-business, starting with four new bundles that will be available from […]

Internet stocks fought back on Wednesday, after two straight days of negative returns. Positive news from Yahoo! lead the comeback. internet.com’s Internet Stock Index gained 12.26 to 687.99, the Nasdaq composite added 17.55, closing at 3353.71 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 120.58 to 10998.39. Yahoo!

In an intriguing change of strategy, eBay Inc. Wednesday reversed course by inking a licensing pact with auction search site AuctionRover.com. The agreement allows bidders using AuctionRover.com to easily search through and connect with auctions on eBay (EBAY), rounding out AuctionRover.com’s extensive services for both bidders and sellers of auction items, providing them with a […]

Online community theglobe.com Corp. Wednesday acquired Web hosting services leader WebJump.com for $12.5 million in stock. The companies said the figure could double pending future performance targets. The acquisition bolsters theglobe.com’s (TGLO) business-to-business Web offerings and expands the company’s ability to reach Web-savvy Internet users, extending the Network’s audience by more than 48 percent. Launched […]

French interactive television company NPTV has received 15 million francs from the Cita and Société Ginérale Asset Management (SGAM). The company’s next goal is to settle offices in London and Madrid as soon as the second quarter of next year. “With these funds we will be able to open branches in foreign countries and thus […]

Softbank Publishing Inc. and Healtheon/WebMD Inc. Wednesday unveiled plans to develop a Japanese version of the popular U.S. health site. WebMD Japan K.K. will be a joint venture offering physicians and consumers medical information via the Internet, and is expected to start by the middle of next year. The site will reportedly be a 60-40 […]

Guru.com, an Internet startup focused on serving the needs of independent professionals, said it has secured $16 million in second-round financing. The financing was co-led by Greylock and August Capital, and also included several individual investors. This financing follows a $3 million first round that closed in July 1999. Guru.com provides community, advice-oriented content, job-matching […]

America Online’s Spinner.com Wednesday launched a new Music Download Service, including the Playlist-To-Go feature, offering access to music downloads. Spinner’s Playlist-To-Go is a way for consumers to grow their music collections, listen to music, or get new music for their portable music devices. The new service highlights free downloads of songs, organizes them by genre […]