DIGITAL L.A.; BROWSING FOR THE BEST.

Byline: David Bloom 

If timing is everything, what are we to make of the initial release of Netscape 6, the long-awaited update to what used to be the world's most important browser on the World Wide Web?

The software, released with much hoopla by AOL CEO Steve Case at the recent Spring Internet World conference in Los Angeles, came out two days after a federal judge ruled that Microsoft had engaged in illegal anti- competitive behavior against a little, formerly independent company called . . . Netscape.

The timing, even if purposeful on AOL's part, is somewhat ironic, mostly because it really doesn't matter much anymore: The battle over browsers is largely finished.

Where once, an independent Netscape provided the path to the Internet for most people who knew what the Internet was, now its newest version, from a smallish division of AOL's burgeoning empire, is almost a curio, an anachronism, though a nicely done one.

It's amazing how fast a company can get old when it's living on Internet time, even a pioneer like Netscape. And maybe that helps explain why Bill Gates and the rest of Microsoft have always been so nervous about the next upstart to come knock off a dominant market leader, and why they've been so aggressive in making sure those upstarts never got the chance.

The Netscape release, by the way, is only an initial ``beta'' version of the renamed, once renowned browser and comes with some things to recommend it: a much simpler interface of only a few buttons; fairly impressive language translation capabilities; a decidedly slimmed-down size.

It also comes with a nifty little ``My Sidebar'' feature that helps you organize your bookmarks and other functions in a side window that can be opened and closed easily.

But Netscape 6 still isn't faster than Internet Explorer and it doesn't come as part of every computer sold, unlike its competitor.

And don't be surprised, given Microsoft's past history of modifying ``standards'' with custom code additions that run only on its software, if many Web pages won't look quite right on Netscape.

As for My Sidebar, a series of companies at Internet World showed little programs, generally free, that provided many of the same capabilities.

For that matter, so too does Earthlink's new version 5.0 of the custom Net software package it gives to all its Internet service customers. The moderately nifty Sidebar feature is a collapsible window that can manage your favorites, link you to search sites and more.

AOL promises more improvements before Netscape 6's final release. The product is a nice one, and users will like it. But what's on display now is unlikely to be so compelling that droves of people will switch from the browser that comes with their computer. And that happens to be Internet Explorer.

Around Internet world

Aside from AOL's big Netscape announcement, there weren't tons of companies and sites at the huge Spring Internet World show of interest to just regular folks.

In fact, an entire hall of the convention center was taken over by a companion show focused on electronic ways to manage customer relations, the very definition of things regular people don't care about.

I won't bore you with details, but increasingly, when you have a complaint about a product, you'll be shuttled to some online help center with chat, e-mail and other functions designed to help fix your headache. No word, of course, about what you do when it's your phone line or computer that isn't working.

The most notable show-stopper I saw was Data Play, a very hip little storage medium for every possible kind of electronic entertainment device, from MP-3 players to computers to video and still cameras to hand-held gaming machines.

It's basically a postage-stamp-sized, 500-megabyte WORM drive weighing perhaps an ounce, and about an inch square on a side. For you folks lacking a technology dictionary, WORM stands for Write Once, Read Many (times), and it's basically what you do with a recordable CD drive, copy something to it and then repeatedly use, but never change that file. Only in this case, the drive is little bigger than the hole in the center of a CD-R.

In fact, the Data Play's biggest problem may be that it's too small. Retailers will have nightmares about theft prevention.

But its size, capacity, low power usage, archival longevity and likely price make it an extremely attractive alternative to all the other compact storage media out on the market now - like SanDisk, Compact Flash and Memory Stick - that are being used in an increasing number of devices to move around digital photos, video, music and programs.

Data Play officials said one probable use will be to prerecord music or books onto the disks, leaving room for either encrypted versions of older works by the artist, or blank space so the buyer can add related material like the band's photos and Web downloads.

And the medium's small size and high capacity could revolutionize the hand-held gaming market with a powerful new generation of GameBoy-like devices.

High-ranking execs with Toshiba and Universal Music Group gave warm, but limited endorsements to Data Play at the introductory press conference. Other electronics manufacturers are supposed to debut their own Data Play-enabled devices at next winter's Consumer Electronics Show, Data Play officials said.

For now, however, put this technology under the Cool but Unproven category. When all these devices roll out, then we'll see whether this one is a keeper.

SITE OF THE WEEK

--Rudas SuperStar Theater A music-oriented site for the rest of us, debuting with tonight's live Webcast (it'll be replayed Sunday) of the Three Tenors concert at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, all overseen by storied entertainment impresario Tibor Rudas and his son Dean.

--Where: www.superstartheater.com

--What's cool: Free Web casts by opera stars for one thing; involvement by prominent performers like Tenor No. 3 Luciano Pavarotti in the site's dozen musical categories, overseeing submissions by (in his case) up-and-coming classical and opera performers for another; just having a music site that's not completely dedicated to 16- to 24-year-old, testosterone-addled Gen Y males for a very big third.

--Features: The biggest feature is the SuperStar Judges, those people who rate performers' submissions at least once a month. The judges, and those who submit performances, get access to discounts on music, concert tickets, merchandise and more. The performers get a shot at recording contracts, including compilations of the best stuff, as voted by the judges.

--You'll like this if: You love those high notes, on the Web and everywhere else.

Think your Web fave is good enough for Site of the Week? Send your suggestions to davidbloom(at)earthlink.net

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Data Play, a storage medium for electronic entertainment devices, is the size of a coin and weighs an ounce.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (Web site)

Box: SITE OF THE WEEK (See text)