Online Design
Covisint, the online exchange for automakers, will begin using real-time collaborative design and project management tools from software vendor MatrixOne. The new offering is designed to help car companies reduce the amount of time it takes to bring their products to market by allowing them to instantly distribute engineering specifications and other information about new models.
Auction Deal
IBM and eBay announced a wide-ranging software, marketing and sales deal that calls for the auction giant to use Big Blues WebSphere middleware as the foundation for its next-generation infrastructure. The deal also includes a co-marketing campaign aimed at small and midsize businesses, and an expansion of IBMs direct sales efforts through the eBay site.
3G Delay
The Bush administration is sending legislation to Congress that would delay for two years the sale of airwaves that wireless companies want to use for third-generation mobile wireless services. The auction was supposed to be finished by Sept. 30, 2002, but the Federal Communications Commission and others have argued that deadline did not give regulators enough time to sort out competing demands for the spectrum.
German Cable
Deutsche Telekom is selling cable television operations in six regions in Germany to Liberty Media for $5 billion. Liberty, recently separated from AT&T and controlled by media mogul John Malone, becomes one of Europes biggest cable companies as a result of the deal.
Mickey on the Net
The Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. are joining the Hollywood Internet land rush, announcing that they have formed a joint venture to send films on demand to customers over the Web. Unlike the service announced recently by five major studios, the Disney-Fox movies will also be available from cable systems.