New service lets you chat up the Net

A startup firm is launching a new trial service that will provide information from the Internet by telephone.

Aimed at non-tech savvy customers, TellMe Networks will offer stock quotes, news headlines, up-to-the-minute sports scores, horoscopes and weather reports for 30,000 cities.

While other firms offer similar services that deliver printed content to cellphone screens, TellMe customers will be able to find a restaurant or get a local traffic report using simple voice commands like "restaurants," "stock quotes" or "sports."

A complete report is posted online at www.zdnn.com.