BBC News website introduces news and sports alerts service

Internet Business News, June 6, 2006

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A new BBC Alerts service has been introduced for users of the BBC News website, enabling them to receive up to date news and sports headlines directly to their desktop.

The service has been developed in conjunction with Skinkers, a direct-to-desktop technology company, and enables users to select the news and sport they require from the BBC, for display through a ticker or as an hourly alert update. More than 300 BBC News and BBC Sport categories are available and users can personalise the service to suit their interests, ticking boxes for the content they would like to receive.

According to the BBC the service will enable users to gain the benefits of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) technology, without the need to know what RSS is or how it works. It will enable dates and schedules, such as the World Cup schedule, to be downloaded to the user's Outlook calendar and will provide desktop access to the news and information available through the BBC's sites.

The application can be downloaded free of charge from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/help/4735697.stm.> ((Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com))