Stories about: Bitstream

A new generation of mobile Web browsers is finally making the Web a reality on handheld devices.

Opera Software Thursday launched the public beta test Opera Mobile 9.5, its full-blown, native Web browser for smartphones.

You are one of 8 million users who just downloaded Firefox 3.0. But are you ready for Firefox for mobile?

With regard to the free exchange of information over the Internet, we, the people, have mostly managed to hold our ground. We can thank activists, hacktivists, legislators saying "no, thanks" to money from the entertainment lobbies, and forward-thinking artists and content distributors--I'm proud that writers and publishers took the lead on this--who recognise that reach is the currency of the digital age.

Some of high tech's biggest names - Microsoft, HP and Intel among them - are starting to embrace a technology called network coding in an effort to boost throughput, scalability and efficiency of everything from content distribution to wireless networks.

Wireless is one of the hottest research areas among academics, who are looking at ways to make networks faster, less expensive and more energy-efficient. Here's a whirlwind tour of some of the more intriguing projects underway at schools and labs across the United States (some of which are being presented at the HotNets IV conference being held in Atlanta next week.

You've followed every piece of cross-platform advice, from naming files with the eight-dot-three convention to using programs that are the same on Microsoft Corp. Windows and Apple Computer Inc. Macs. Yet when someone opens your file on a Windows system, the document looks like a jumbled mess. Courier may show up where you specified Copperplate. Lines of text may reflow right off the page. Font incompatibilities can make hay of your careful planning when people on both sides of the platform divide must work on documents.

Last week I mentioned that I was having some problems with the new WordPerfect Office 2000 suite for Linux. Just hours after that column went online, Gavriel State from Corel Corp. came to my rescue. (Gavriel is the engineering architect for Linux Development at Corel.) With Gavriel's tips in hand, I had WordPerfect behaving beautifully in no time. And although Corel still has some wrinkles to iron out, I'm happy as a clam.

Macs have come a long way over the years, but keeping track of your fonts can still be a challenge. Insider Software Inc.'s FontAgent 8 and DiamondSoft Inc.'s Font Reserve 2.5 both aim to simplify the way you use your fonts. They may sound like competitors, but the programs complement each other, making a strong argument for having two font utilities.

A variety of vendors announced new software and technologies here this week at the Seybold Publishing 2000 conference. Product news includes:

Digital Subscriber Line and cable Internet access are here to stay, but don't expect to be able to choose your Internet provider. We explain just who owns what in the new world order.