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Can the Latin market online get any hotter? With Alley start-up StarMedia locked in an Internet death match with such well-financed companies as America Online, the ground below the "ser todas las cosas a toda la gente" space is proving fertile as well. This week, urban music foundry AKA said it would launch AKAMusica, "the first online gateway to all genres of Latin music."

The company has a deal in place to stream music to Mega Communications' 17 radio stations, which will become affiliates of AKAMusica and provide on-air promotion of the site.

"Internet users do not want to hunt and peck all over the Internet for Latin programming," said Alfredo Alonso, president of Mega. "Simplicity is the key to broadcasting, and to the Internet. AKA not only understands this, but has pioneered the industry's model for it."

The new portal will include a Latin music search engine, personalized programming, artist chats, and the usual links.

Meanwhile, a Silicon Alley veteran has moored his boat in warmer southern waters, perhaps joining with Julio Iglesias to croon "All the portals I loved before." The singing star will team with Alley veteran and N2K co-founder Larry Rosen, music executive Sergio Rozenblat, and talk show host Don Francisco to create aplauso.com, Inc. a Latin music and entertainment site. The company will be based in Miami.