The Internet’s next generation, IPv6, is almost here, with the promise of holding 3x1039 addresses. At present, the web’s technology is based on Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPv4), which has an Internet address limit of 4 billion. IPv4, active since 1981, is headed for ‘‘exhausting’’ its limit on addresses that can be registered according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data. As mobile communications technologies advance, the Internet’s digital postmen — also known as routers — will find it increasingly tough to manage information. IPv6, which is being tested in three labs in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, will be ‘plug-and-play’, reducing the need for users to configure their machines to receive advanced data. The ten-point agenda of the government has promised a migration to IPv6 in 2006, to accommodate the rising number of users.

Search boom

Search engines are chugging along at a fine pace since Google.com showed Internet-based businesses can more than float. Category-based engines are making a comeback—health, education, finance and relationship advise are what people need most help on when surfing. But just as the technology to provide the right information improves itself, customised search responses from real people have also made a slow comeback. One such collaborative, free search tool is Yahoo! India’s Yahoo Answers, that lets users ask questions and get answers from real people. Yahoo! promises ‘‘straight-forward and meaningful answers from real people on any topic’’. The answers will be tailored around Indian content as well, implying perhaps that Internet content in India is reaching critical mass too.

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