ICANN green lights .tel

The body governing the Internet's top-level domains (tlds) ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has unanimously given the green light to the .tel domain. The new domain is expected to simplify the process of supplying multiple contact details for any individual or company that registers a domain. ...more

Dell foresees PC upturn

Dell is being upbeat about its fortunes over the next year, despite having had to lay off 3,000 to 4,000 workers recently. CEO Michael Dell said the firm, which recently had to cut jobs in its US homeland, would nevertheless benefit from a new buying cycle due to start in the second quarter of 2002. "If you fast forward three years from the second quarter of 1999, you get to the second quarter of 2002, which is about the replacement cycle for all those machines installed for the anticipation of the year 2000," he said. ...more

Palm hires ex-Apple man to meet iPhone challenge

Palm has appointed a former Apple engineer to oversee its attempts to meet the iPhone's challenge to the entire handheld industry. Paul Mercer was the lead designer of the System 7 version of the Mac operating system, before leaving to set up a company whose development system software was used by Apple when it was creating the iPod's interface. More recently he worked on the interface for Samsung's Z5 MP3 player. ...more

Microsoft intros Office Live beta

Microsoft has unveiled, for the US, a beta version of its Office Live online web services. The set of online applications announced by Bill Gates last year are aimed at providing basic website and intranet services for small and medium-sized companies. The product comes in three versions: - Live Basic, Live Collaboration and Live Essentials. ...more

BBC online gears up for complete and collaborative overhaul

The BBC is planning a radical overhaul of its website along the lines of collaborative, interactive sites such as the phenomenally popular MySpace.com. In a presentation entitled Beyond Broadcast, Ashley Highfield, the BBC's director of new media and technology, launched a competition - open. ...more