Google adds Froogle

Google continues to roll-out additions to its search tools and yesterday unveiled a new online shopping searching site. Called Froogle, the new site is advertised as the place "for all the world`s products in one place". Using Google`s relevancy ranking system, Froogle says it will lead consumers directly to the products they want as well as enable them to limit results by price tag.

Google says the search results are based on relevancy and are not affected by advertising. But, like Google searches, the company does collect money for text-only adverts placed on the right side of the Web page. [Silicon Valley.com]

IBM this week announced the latest version of its Web services toolkit (WSTK), which includes a proposed mechanism for managing Web services. With IBM`s growing preference for Linux, the new toolkit supports both Windows and Linux systems.

Included in WSTK 3.3 is a Web services runtime and Tivoli`s Web services format tools to standardise communication between components. The toolkit also includes examples of how Web services can interact with management applications.

Other features of the new release include a suite of stress-testing tools, a proof-of-concept identification application and a range of privacy tools.

The toolkit is available for a free trial download on IBM`s alphaWorks site. [InfoWorld]

In response to online speculation that it was killing off OS/2, IBM yesterday formally announced that it would continue to sell and support the OS/2 operating system. The speculation was started by a "notice of software withdrawal" published earlier this week that listed nearly 300 OS/2 products that will not be available from IBM from March.

This does not mean the company will discontinue the 15-year-old operating-system software, says IBM spokesman Steve Eisenstadt. "As long as our customers want OS/2, we will support them. We don`t have plans to withdraw OS/2."

First introduced in 1987, OS/2 was the first modern 32-bit multi-tasking operating system aimed at the PC market. Since then it has been largely adopted by the banking and telecoms sectors but has been completely overshadowed by Microsoft`s Windows on personal desktops. [ZDNet]

Oracle will unveil a new version of its Financials package next week. The company says the new release will boost data visibility so companies can monitor financial risk in real-time.

The new release will offer role-based financial intelligence as well as the ability to integrate budgeting and planning information with actual results. Other new features in version 11.5.8 include a profit and loss portal, and an expense management portal.

The new portals allow executives to monitor the state of the business in real-time to find the root cause of deviations from targets and take immediate action to correct problems. They are built on a single data model to avoid the time lapse and cost of passing information back and forth between disparate systems. [InfoWorld]

This week in TechNiche:
Java hones in on cellphones
Sun`s N1 to debut on blade servers
Microsoft wants Windows domain
Google`s new search tools