Orange steals number two spot from BT Cellnet

Orange could well be the UK number two mobile phone operator after adding 830,000 customers in the second quarter. The French-owned company has probably edged ahead of BT Cellnet to become second only to Vodafone, with 11.9 million UK customers. ...more

BT and Broadreach agree WiFi hotspot roaming agreement

Two of the UK's leading WiFi hotspot suppliers have signed a roaming agreement that will allow their subscribers to use each others' networks. Users will have equal access to BT Openzone's 1,500 hotspots and Broadreach Networks' 350 access points across the UK, in locations as diverse as BAA Airports, Hilton Hotels, Travelodge, Ramada Jarvis Hotels, railway stations, Virgin Megastores, McDonald's flagship and drive-thru restaurants, PC World stores, Little Chefs and Moto and RoadChef service stations. As a result of this and other similar agreements, Openzone subscribers now have use of some 7,800 hotspots nationwide. ...more

Google offers Video Store

As strongly expected, Google is to go up against Apple in creating a commercial pay-per-download video service. During his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week founder Larry Page announced that he had signed up CBS to provide recent and classic shows, news from ITN, music videos from Sony BMG, cartoons and coverage of games from the US National Basketball Association. There will be no fixed price for the content. ...more

Web sites of the week [21/06/2002]

Here are a few more diverting Web sites to help browse your way towards the weekend. Looney Tunes Check out the newly launched www.looneytunes. ...more

Google launches voice-controlled search engine

Google has unveiled the latest venture from its Labs, a voice-based local search tool for mobile phones. Google Voice Local Search lets you search for a local business in the US simply by speaking the search term. Users simply dial a freephone number and are then connected directly to the relevant business or can opt to receive its details via SMS. ...more