Proposals for .xxx domains neutered

Prospects for the proposed .xxx domain have drooped. At an international meeting of ICANN's governmental advisory committee in New Zealand, plans to create an 'adult' content domain have been scotched, reports Australian IT. ...more

Is the grass greener in Silicon Valley?

Do you fancy the chance of working in the States? Well, the door of opportunity for foreign high-tech workers has widened further, after a vote in the US Senate. It voted yesterday to provide 600,000 new visas over the next three years for foreign workers sought by the booming technology industries. The Senate bill would allow the Immigration and Naturalization Service to issue up to 195,000 six-year temporary visas annually for the next three years to skilled foreign workers, according to a report in USA Today. ...more

W3C gives browsing a voice

The organisation that determines Web standards is turning its attention, once again, towards vocal interaction with websites. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) has announced it is relaunching its Voice Browser Working Group, to better enable users to speak and listen to Web-based apps. The group, says the W3C, will concentrate on 'standardising languages for capturing and producing speech, and for managing the dialog between users and computers'. ...more

Spring IDF 2006: Wireless to go global

Intel has launched seamless networking at its spring developers' forum, which it hopes will make it easier for wireless users to roam between different wireless networks. Using the open International Roaming Access Protocols (IRAP), seamless roaming will use a single billing account and let users move from mobile to Wi-Fi networks (and WiMax when it's available) without having to re-authenticate with different usernames and passwords. 'For mere mortal users we have to make access to wireless easier,' said Kevin Kahn, director of Intel's communications labs. ...more

HP unveils sub-?200 wireless printer

HP has unveiled the new DeskJet 5850 A4 inkjet printer complete with wireless connectivity for up to five computers. The printer supports the 802.11b wireless standard compatible with both Apple's AirPort and Intel's Centrino, as well as most other wireless cards and routers, The inkjet itself prints borderless at A4 and 10x15cm at a maximum 21 pages per minute black and white and 15ppm colour. ...more