Miami High Tech, by Miami Today reporter Candice Ventra, condenses the latest news in the Miami Internet and technical worlds.

   MIAMI OFFICE: Knowledge Data Systems Inc., or KDS, opened a North American operations office at 4744 SW 74th Ave. The firm, a member of the Italian Consortium Gruppo Gambetti, provides e-business solutions to developing corporations, says KDS's Hernan de los Rios, and is a strategic partner for 4D Inc., which provides a multi-dimensional database platform for NASA, the US Army and Stanford University. Details: (305) 269-6962.

   FANCY E-MAIL: Miami's Buy Request Corp. announced the launch of "Brand My Email Now," billing it as a free e-mail branding system at logorilla.com that can personalize and professionalize electronic correspondence for any business. President and CEO Jay Reiner says he just added Steve Danisolvszky as CFO and Joel Fell as chief marketing officer. The free system, Mr. Reiner says, targets companies interested in raising the professionalism of their correspondence as well as creating interactive e-mail. Details: (305) 858-4365.

   CARDBOARD LAUNCH: Miami's BMS Enterprises, parent for Budget Mini-Storage, announced the launch of Budgetboxes.com. The site, say promoters, is designed to provide "hassle-free cardboard box ordering over the Internet for moving and storage purposes."

   MUSICAL NOTES: According to Forrester Research, music sales in 1999 reached $35 billion. Only $7 million of that was done over the 'net. Still, says Jester Digital Chairman & CEO John Textor in West Palm Beach, industry experts predict 25% of all music will be sold using digital distribution by 2005. Jester — at jester.com — is working on cornering the market, Mr. Textor says, using a "state-of-the-art 3-D gateway."

   NEW CHAIR: Miami's Viajo.com promoted Kenneth J. Orton to chairman and named Carlos M. Heinemann senior vice president of travel operations. Mr. Heinemann had been with Lufthansa German Airlines while Mr. Orton's past management and sales posts included positions with American Express, Future Computing and LEGO. The company offers travel arrangements online in Spanish and Portuguese.

   PARTNERS: OpenClose.com in Sunrise announced a partnership with Sollen Technologies and a strategic alliance with HyperNOC hosting services. The Sollen pact, say OpenClose President & CEO Barbara Rambo, will "add real-time online pricing and product selection, validation and rate-locking capabilities" to the company's OpenClose Marketplace and Private Label Solutions site. The company bills itself as a technology provider of e-business solutions for mortgage professionals.