W3C brings voice-command for the Internet a step closer

The World Wide Web Consortium has published Speech Synthesis Markup Language 1.0 as a W3C Recommendation. A fundamental specification in the W3C Speech Interface Framework, SSML 1. ...more

Powered-up Bluetooth destined for the wireless home network

The Bluetooth SIG has announced that it has decided upon an ultra-wideband specification for integration into the next version of the short-range wireless technology. As we reported last year, UWB will vastly increase the data throughput of which Bluetooth is capable. UWB transmits data over short distances at speeds up to 1Gbit/sec, many times faster than the 2. ...more

And also today (22-Jan-2001), for the record...

Here, in brief, are some of the day's other stories. Version 3.23 of the Open Source database MySQL, is now officially declared stable. ...more

Jobs takes jabs at Longhorn

Steve Jobs took another pop at Microsoft and Longhorn, its long-awaited successor to Windows XP, at Apple's AGM yesterday. 'They are shamelessly copying us,' he said, before adding that, 'They can't even copy fast.' Longhorn is scheduled for release in 2006. ...more

Sun goes green with T1

Sun is taking a different slant with the launch of its latest UltraSPARC processor, billing it as the world's 'greenest' chip. The processor formerly known as Niagara has today been named the UltraSPARC T1, boasting less than half the power consumption - 70W - of the average 150W hoovered up by most chips. It's also pretty powerful. ...more