September Business Bits

  • Sprint has introduced the first nationwide network-based voice-activated dialing and information service. Sprint PCS Voice Command provides each customer with a personal Web page to manage and organize, and easily enter up to 2,500 numbers in an extensive address book. By using their voice, Sprint PCS Voice Command customers can dial, look-up directory names, modify their address book entries, and perform various speech-enabled, voice-independent functions while using any Sprint PCS Phone.
  • Volvo's construction equipment unit has invested $5 million in Hacienda's Iron Planet, a new business which provides an electronic marketplace for used heavy equipment. The Volvo investment is part of Iron Planet's second-round funding, which includes venture capitalists such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Accel Partners.
  • Commerce One announced that Trade Alliance, its global MarketSite partner in Singapore, has successfully launched its global e-marketplace. Trade Alliance, a $30 million joint venture between Sinar Mas, a major regional player in food, paper, and Nissho Iwai Corporation, one of the world's largest trading companies, reported the successful completion of $500 million in transactions on August 17, 2000, the first day of operation. Trade Alliance is initially offering two e-marketplaces, e-FoodAlliance and ePaperAlliance. Trade Alliance expects to launch more vertical trading marketplaces over the next few months and intends to expand its operations to 15 Asian countries including China and India.
  • ProBusiness Services has received a $30 million strategic investment from General Atlantic Partners, LLC. The venture firm was an early investor in ProBusiness prior to the company's initial public offering. According to ProBusiness CEO Tom Sinton, the investment "allows the company to grow its outsourced shared services business at the pace the market is demanding while maintaining a strong balance sheet. With this investment, we now have the technology and capital to become the leader in offering comprehensive outsourcing for large employers."
  • Remedy Corp and Pink Elephant, an international leader in IT Service Management solutions, announced that Remedy Strategic Service Suite 4.0 is the first service desk package in the world to be certified by Pink Elephant's PinkVerify service. This certification verifies that Remedy Strategic Service Suite 4.0 is compatible to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices.

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