Knight of the Web

Tim Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web and a director of the World Wide Web Consortium, will be named a Knight Commander, Order of the British Empire, by Queen Elizabeth, Infoworld reports.

The rank of Knight Commander is the second highest rank of the Order of the British Empire. Berners-Lee, 48, a UK citizen who lives in the US, is being knighted in recognition of his "services to the global development of the Internet" through the invention of the World Wide Web.

Microsoft is reorganising its platforms group, creating a centralised engineering division called the Windows Core Operating System Division, reports CRN.com.

According to an internal memo from Platforms Group VP Jim Allchin, the division will focus on the core operating system platform while the Windows client and server business will be spun off as separate profit and loss centres.

One of the biggest holiday gifts for teens and technophiles this year was one of the smallest - Apple`s iPod, a digital music player.

USA Today reports that consumers also snapped up gift certificates for 99-cent (US) music downloads for the players from Apple`s iTunes store. The certificates, sold in stores and online, come in increments of $10 to $200.

Meanwhile, as Apple enthusiasts prepare for Macworld, at least two online petitions have collected hundreds of signatures from potential plaintiffs seeking to file lawsuits over claims of defects in the iBook laptop, reports Reuters.

Another growing source of complaints surrounds Apple`s popular iPod line of digital music players, reports Yahoo Technology News.

Amid rising hopes for a hi-tech turnaround, there`s this sobering sign, reported by AP: Martin Pichinson, a man who has buried nearly 150 failed start-ups since 1999, has "swooped into" Silicon Valley, reports eWeek.

Pichinson, a self-described "doctor of reality" who helps liquidate companies, says he wouldn`t have moved from Los Angeles to Palo Alto a few months ago, had he not smelled more hi-tech trouble looming.

"Sadly, it looks like 2004 is going to be another busy year for me," Pichinson said. "There`s still another 6 500 to 7 500 companies out there that are among the walking dead."

Computer makers are placing big bets on consumer electronics in Las Vegas this week, banking on new products to boost sales and make inroads in what is already a highly competitive sector, Yahoo Technology News reports.