Nokia tool tracks prepaid totals

Nokia today introduced a new tool that lets prepaid subscribers keep track of their balance and call expenses. The Nokia Prepaid Tracker is installed by network operators and after each call or transaction, it sends automatically details about the subscriber's account balance to their phone. Support is already built into the newly launched Nokia 1110 and Nokia 1600 phones. ...more

Get your washing online

Italian washing-machine manufacturer Merloni, makers of Indesit and Ariston products, is to launch a range of Internet-savvy appliances that could appear on the shop floors of Curry's and Comet soon. Users will pay an initial deposit to take a WRAP (Web-Ready Appliance Protocol) machine home, and then a further charge (expected to be about 60p) for each wash. The machine plugs into a phone socket and dials Merloni's nearest Digital Assistance Centre to diagnose any potential problems and servicing requirements as well as monitor energy consumption. ...more

PC Pro online music expos?: UK public pays too much for too little

The new issue of PC Pro, which goes on general sale today, includes a headline-grabbing expos? of the UK's online music market. It reveals what many have suspected for some time: that the British public is being asked to pay too much money for tracks, that the music is often poorly encoded, and that the limitations over what people can and can't do with the tracks are strict to the point of draconian. 'What people don't understand is that when they buy an iPod or other digital music player, they're being tied into a system,' believes Deputy Labs Editor, Nick Ross. ...more

BT announces June broadband dates

BT has announced that a further 27 exchanges will be broadband-enabled in June. The exchanges and their service dates are as follows. ? 4 June: Bannockburn, Central; Ellesmere Port, Cheshire; Forest Row, East Sussex; Gainsborough Trinity, Lincs; Sandwich, Kent; Stansted, Essex; Tiverton, Devon ? 11 June 2003: Aberdeen Culter, Grampian; Coleshill, Warks; Cross Hills, North Yorks; Goldthorpe, South Yorks; Hadleigh, Suffolk; Hoyland, South Yorks; Melton Mowbray, Leics; Porth, Mid Glamorgan; Radnage, Bucks; Raunds, Northants; St Faith, Norfolk; Turgis Green, Hants; Whickham, Tyne & Wear; Womborne, Staffs ? 18 June: Burntwood, Staffs; Finningley, South Yorkshire ? 28 June: Catleham, East Sussex; Holywell, Clwyd; Market Drayton, Shropshire; Nailsworth, Gloucestershire Furthermore a joint project set-up by Caerphilly County Bourough Council and the Welsh Development Agency has brought broadband two three exchanges in the region: Blackwood, scheduled for 21 April, and Hengoed and Newbridge, 30 April. ...more

Dell to offer AMD desktops and notebooks - analyst

Dell Computer is widely tipped to announce an expanded alliance with chip maker AMD. According to rumours circulating, Dell plans to buy in up to two million AMD powered machines. The powerful Bank of America Securities analyst Sumit Dhanda is reporting that Dell plans to build 1 to 1. ...more