The test labs have been full of praise for the preview release version of the Netscape 6 browser -- it's lighter, faster and much more streamlined than its predecessor, the Navigator 4.72 (the follow-up was so long in develop-
ment that the 5 series was skipped altogether, apart from which arch rival Microsoft's Internet Explorer is already into the beta version of IE 5.5).Essentially, what has earned the good notices is the speedy rendering of HTML code. Netscape 6 is constructed around Gecko, the open-source rendering engine, which is responsible for the increased pace and elegance. The browser is available from the Netscape home page or www.download.com, but be warned that a VSNL connection can defeat the most dogged attempts to pull it off the Web. And in any case, those who aren't too strong on software shouldn't attempt to tinker around with preview releases. One feature that's especially tempting though is Netscape 6's ability to launch into chat mode from the e-mail application. Funnily enough, this very option is available from the Outlook Express e-mail application that comes with the IE 5.5 beta. The problem with both is that Netscape 6 supports only AOL Instant Messenger, while IE 5.5 only supports MSN Messenger. But now the folks at Redmond know what they will be up against when the final product is ready. The battle lines for the next round of the browser wars have been drawn. 

Nuptials Online
The dot.com flavour of the month seems to be weddings. Even big daddy rediff.com has gone and started Rediff Wedding which it claims will help you organise the nuptials without any stress and directly from the comfort of your home. While it may safely be asserted that no Indian wedding can ever be stress-free, the idea of organising everything from home is intriguing. Rediff claims it can help you locate venues, decorators, mehendiwalis, bandwalas, possibly even a white horse. There's a wedding planner, a checklist, e-mail reminders, even Rediff Astrology to match horoscopes. 
www.weddingsutra.com is also in pursuit of a piece of the wedding action. This site out of Mumbai allows couples to create free personalised wedding pages. Apart from other features (fashion, beauty, health, fitness), the site also allows the bride and groom to be to manage guest lists, send online invitations and receive confirmations. 

Hi-Tech Meets Haute Couture
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab holds a deservedly legendary status in the pantheon of Geek Gods, home as it is to such deities as Net guru Nicholas Negroponte, apart from all the high-falutin work that goes on inside the I.M. Pei-designed campus. One of the more unusual spin-offs of the Media Lab is the Los Angeles-based Charmed Technologies www.charmed.com), formerly known as InfoCharms. Its ambition is simple enough -- to be the world leader in "affordable, wearable Internet products, services and technologies". The idea is to employ wireless Web technology to design fashion, lifestyle and health applications. For instance, its first product is the Charmed Badge, which it claims is an electronic business card that can upload and transmit user information through infrared. The company has already held two shows at New York and Hong Kong -- these served as showcases for companies that possess technology that fits into the Charmed circle. Watch out for the show at India Internet World, New Delhi, September 27-29. 

Music on the net
Yet another inevitable milestone in the migration of music delivery to the Internet was crossed when Sony became the latest major label to annou-nce plans to offer digital downloads of its catalogue. Sony had been preceded by BMG Entertainment which has tied up with Liquid Audio to sell music over the Net. Which means that MP3 isn't going to have any place in the legal download domain. At least not if the big labels have anything to do with how the business develops. The reason why the record companies have been persuaded to move before they're ready is the threat that the AOL Time Warner merger represents. The fear was compounded when EMI merged with Time Warner. Sony was in fact the only big name left out after Seagram's Universal said it too would get onto the Net by June. The retail trade's days, it would seem, are numbered.