PointCast Inc appears to have been making a good living out of Web publishing via its Internet screen-saver newscast software, but like everyone else it’s been eyeing internal intranets as the real source of future profit. Yesterday it launched new products under the banner OneCast, along with a business partnership with IBM’s Lotus Development Corp. The idea of OneCast is to combine the general news PointCast already provides with internal company news and vertical market industry news. Internal company news is handled by PointCast’s I-Server, server-based news distribution software that the Santa Clara-based company began shipping to corporates earlier this month. Now the I-Server product is to be combined with Lotus’ Domino Server under the name Lotus Domino.Broadcast, including jointly developed Domino.Headline software. With Domino.Broadcast, corporates will be able to broadcast information to employees’ desktops via Lotus Notes over their internal networks. In order to provide companies with near real-time news feeds, PointCast partnered with Salt Lake City, Utah-based WavePhore Inc, a subscription-based premium content provider. It has also partnered with Vienna, Virginia-based IT services company BTG Inc to help it set up what it calls a CommunityCast network, so that professionals in such vertical market industries as health, government and real-estate can view detailed industry news alongside their public and company news. OneCast products, including Domino.Broadcast, are set to become available in the first quarter of next year, said the company.
