Opera going public to fund expansion

Those of the Opera persuasion, when it comes to browsers, will be interested to hear that the Norwegian company is seeking to go public. 'After developing and refining the technology and commercial side for nine years, Opera Software is now ready for public listing,' said the chief executive officer, Jon S. von Tetzchner. ...more

HP to make 'Web 2.0 printing' easier

HP is to unveil a host of new web applications, which it claims will make printing from user generated content and social media websites easier. The company claims that 48% of web printing occurs at home, but many consumer-oriented sites, including travel websites, 'have limited or non-existent printing capabilities.' HP is working with map providers ViaMichelin and blogging specialists SixApart to create home and business applications capable of printing user generated content from blogs, forums and interactive sites. ...more

Xbox 2 named...

And we may well see a mini (well, smaller) Xbox this year, too. Circulating US reports are suggesting that Microsoft's second games console, Xbox 2, will go by the rather enticing name of Xbox Next. Supporting evidence comes in the shape of URL xboxnext. ...more

Point and click and talk on the Web

IBM and Opera are to team up to produce a multimodal browser - one that can process voice commands as well as input from keypad or stylus. Based on the XHTML+Voice (X+V) specification, a beta version of the browser for mobile devices is expected to appear by the autumn. 'Multimodal technology' is the means of supporting the much-talked-about pervasive computing - the general principal being that users seamlessly interact with devices in different ways in different situations. ...more

CES 2007: Vista Ultimate Extras revealed

The first major CES keynote, from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, revealed plenty of things we were expecting, and some we weren't. The question of what exactly Vista's Ultimate Extras will consist of has been one of the final surprises Microsoft has been able to keep mostly under wraps, until today. Ultimate Extras are the downloadable add-ons available exclusively to users of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition, and as yet are unavailable in preview copies of Vista. ...more