Telstra wants to buy Leighton assets
According to the Financial Review, Telstra's going after some of the telco-related assets which Leighton Holdings recently put on the block.
Apple agrees $2.25m iPad 4G fine
From the Department of Technology-related Parking Fines comes the news that Apple has agreed to pay $2.25 million in penalties to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for falsely marketing its new iPad tablet as being capable of 4G mobile broadband speeds in Australia.
The University of Adelaide hearts Oracle
We never picked software vendor Oracle as a particularly *cuddly* sort of company, but according to a statement we received yesterday from the company, it's been getting all cosy and comfy with the University of Adelaide.
Even Telstra is not complying with the Data Retention legislation
Given that the Government's Data Retention legislation passed the Parliament some seven months ago, you would expect that Attorney-General George Brandis and his merry band at the Attorney-General's Department would have at least gotten all their ducks in a row at the nation's biggest Telstra. I mean, it would be an embarassment of epic proportions if even Telstra -- a multi-billion-dollar telco giant with about a million IT professionals on hand to help it with the implementation -- couldn't get this thing done. Right? Right?
ASIO blueprints hacked, claims Four Corners
To the extent that you still trust Four Corners' reporting on the IT security scene, the program last night made a somewhat audacious claim: That international interests had successfully stolen the blueprints for the new Canberra headquarters of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
CommBank’s Kaching app: A perfect IT/business alignment case study
The collossal success of the Commonwealth Banks's Kaching mobile, social and NFC payments system demonstrates starkly what Australian chief information officers can achieve when they put their mind to it and how rapidly Australians will take up good technology and is a perfect case study for how IT can align with the business to achieve real business outcomes.
Kim Dotcom may list Mega on ASX
Kim Dotcom expresses an interest in listing his new Mega business on the Australian Stock Exchange.
SA Govt follows WA, Qld away from ICT shared services
One would hope that the Federal Government will be closely examining the experiences that states such as South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia have had with shared services, before it commits to its own shared services approach. Because to rush in haphazardly would be dangerous indeed.
G-Cloud, or G-String?
We can’t say we’re surprised by the news that Canberra’s public sector chief information officers are discussing sharing computing capacity with each other, in what many are starting to call a government cloud or “G-Cloud” cloud computing-type situation. After all, such an idea was mentioned in AGIMO’s recent cloud computing paper.
Quickflix lets users buy TV shows, including Game of Thrones
One of the disadvantages of an online IPTV service such as Quickflix is that up until now, you haven't been able to buy distinct television shows through the service to own permanently; users have only been able to get access to the shows they want if they're paying a monthly subscription. However, all this is set to change, according to a media release issued by Quickflix today.
I’m no FTTN “zealot”, says Malcolm Turnbull
This morning's Financial Review (where else?) has published a spanking new lengthy profile of Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Among other things, the Liberal MP addresses his reputation amongst 'NBN backers', who, he believes, are treating him a little unfairly.
Ireland subsidises FttX to rural areas
If all you know about Ireland is sourced from St Patrick's Day festivities, then you might be surprised to learn that internationally the country is considered a centre for technology innovation, largely because its Government has continually invested in the industry through favourable taxation laws and investment. In the newest move to come from this island nation, broadband is the focus.
Telstra cuts 1,100 ops jobs
Is Telstra ever not cutting jobs in one division or another? The company seems to go through a purge every few six months or so, at least in my decade-long tenure as a technology journalist. The latest cuts were announced this week.
Future IT project fail? NSW Police gets COPS replacement funding
If you've been following state government IT in Australia for as long as I have, it starts to get easier and easier to see major IT project failures before they even happen. And NSW Police just popped up a doozy.
Ingogo picks up another $3.4m funding
What this investment, as well as the planned ASX listing and its past healthy fundraising efforts, shows is that ingogo is pulling in substantial revenues.
Xbox One goes off with a bang … but will the PS4 launch eclipse...
Which console launch are you most excited about, and why? Am I right that the PlayStation 4 has most of the momentum at this point? Or is underdog Microsoft making a comeback with the Xbox One?
WikiLeaks to run in Vic, NSW and WA
Thought you wouldn't be able to vote for Julian Assange's WikiLeaks political party because you don't live in Victoria? Worry not. Come the September Federal Election, voters in NSW and Western Australia will also be able to back the transparency horse, according to an extensive press conference the party's Victorian headquarters held over the weekend.
Enterprise will hold back on Windows 8
I recently came across a fantastic series of posts which pretty much sums up what I think about Microsoft's incoming new operating system Windows 8.
Adobe CEO hits Australia amid price crisis
Adobe global president and chief executive Shantanu Narayen visits Sydney in the midst of a high-profile crisis regarding the company's Australian pricing.
IBM and Queensland squabble in court over Health payroll disaster
Remember that massive, billion-dollar payroll IT systems disaster at Queensland Health? Remember how the prime contractor IBM disavowed all responsibility for it? And how the Queensland Government subsequently sued the company and banned IBM from any further work with its departments and agencies? Yeah, good times.
Fujitsu/SAP project goes off the rails in NT
An IT project go off the rails in Australia? One involving a government department? Off the rails in terms of its project implementation timeframe and its budget? And most of the problem stemmed from its poor project management and governance structures? Who would have thought that this could possibly happen in a million years?
Ludlam wants Senate to question Assange, Snowden
Greens senator Scott Ludlam is reportedly trying to have Edward Snowden and Julian Assange called before a parliamentary committee to give evidence into what they might know about mass surveillance of Australian citizens.
ACMA blasts Groupon for spamming
It was only a matter of time. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has cottoned on the fact that online deals retailer Groupon hasn't been as ... honest and diligent about its email newsletter habits as it could have been. Last week the regulator issued a statement strongly cautioning Groupon about its behaviour.
Apparently people still buy SPARC servers
According to a media release issued by Oracle Australia this morning, apparently SPARC servers are still in vogue. Who knew?
Does Telstra have a million 4G devices or not?
Does Telstra have a million 4G devices on its Next G network or not? It depends who you ask, apparently.
No Android ABC iView? “Outrageous”, says Huawei
Chinese device manufacturer Huawei severely criticises the ABC for not developing an Android version of its popular iView iOS app.
Turnbull’s NBN mess ‘escaping public scrutiny’
Controversial commentator Van Badham has not been dismayed by having her NBN questions shut down live on Q&A last week by host Tony Jones and has penned a fiery piece slamming Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's 'Multi-Technology Mix' vision and the poor media coverage of it.
NSW Cancer Council ditches desktop PCs, phones forever
'Mobility' has been one of the hottest buzzwords in Australian IT departments for some time now. Smartphones, tablets, laptops -- and allowing users to access their corporate data wherever they feel is the most appropriate place and time and in the most appropriate format -- these are all the hallmarks of the new evolving mobility landscape inside major and minor organisations. However, few have taken it to the extremes that the NSW Cancer Council has.
Telstra pumps $18m into US startup Kony
Telstra has been talking up its investment arm for a while now, and it's good to see the company start to make some strategic investments. It's just a pity that it's not focusing more on Australia.
The end of ‘3’ is nigh
I couldn't help but recall comments by Vodafone Hutchison Australia chief executive Nigel Dews last week as I walked past the shell of the '3' store in the Sydney suburb of Randwick.
Danger, Will Robinson: Commission of Audit wants Centrelink core IT systems outsourced
Yours truly hasn't yet had the chance to comb through the recommendations contained in the Abbott administration's Commission of Audit report released this afternoon; that will take the better part of a week. However one notable item which has already been picked up by technology media outlet iTNews this afternoon is that the report includes some rather ... drastic recommendations for Centrelink's extremely complex and high maintenance core IT systems.
Now Qld Health bungles e-health program
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given the ongoing disaster that is Queensland Health's payroll systems overhaul, but news has emerged that the department is also suffering problems with its electronic health program, with the first two tranches of the initiative being at least two years late.
eBay Australia hands seller details to Govt
Online auction house eBay has reportedly handed over the details of thousands of its Australian sellers, as part of an initiative by the Federal Government's Human Services Department (which houses welfare agency Centrelink) to target those it suspects of cheating the welfare system.
The plot thickens: Going deeper into NBN Co’s spat with Turnbull
For those who've been watching the developing situation between Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and the board of NBN Co, particularly its chair, Siobhan McKenna (pictured above), there are two new pieces of content this morning which you may be interested in.
St George is dumping GroupWise too
We didn’t realise it when we broke the news that Westpac would be finally dumping IBM’s troubled Lotus Notes platform for a Microsoft solution, but it’s not just Lotus that’s getting the turf.
Telstra set for massive internal restructure
Telstra tends to go through at least one to two major or minor restructuring rounds per year, and the cuts that the telco has announced internally appear to help align Telstra's costs to the more profitable and growing areas of its business, while taking resources away from areas where its losses are accelerating.
iiNet pulls out of anti-piracy scheme
Remember how a coalition of most of Australia’s major ISPs proposed a scheme about a year ago which would see Australians issued with warning and educational notices if they were caught pirating content online? The one which could have seen users’ details handed over to the copyright lobby with a subpoena? Well, it’s looking increasingly like the scheme is dead in the water.
New NSW Govt may reject NBN opt-out
blog We were kind of stunned when the new Coalition Government in Victoria rejected the 'opt-out' approach to rolling out the National Broadband Network....
Solar Movie is the content industry’s first site blocking target
As revealed by the Sydney Morning Herald and a number of other media this morning, the content industry's first target will be Solar Movie.
Turnbull would win if leader, says Windsor
According to Independent Tony Windsor, if Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull were to contest the upcoming September Federal Election as Leader of the Opposition, the Coalition would be a shoe-in for victory.
MacTalk founder’s Love Letter to the Mac
As you might have noticed, Apple is currently celebrating the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Macintosh. Anthony Agius, the founder of Australian Apple forum MacTalk and long-time Mac lover, has posted what he bills as "a love letter for the Mac" on his blog.
Delimiter is slowing down for Christmas
Thanks for a great 2012, here's looking forward to a great holiday season, and let's make 2013 even bigger!
NBN a “horrible hoax”, says Turnbull
The claim by Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull that Labor’s National Broadband Network project will take 20 years and up to $100 billion has been pretty comprehensively debunked at this point, NBN Co’s latest rollout speed downgrades notwithstanding. However, the Earl of Wentworth continues to trot it out during his visits to small community meetings.
BPOS holdouts have “head in the sand”, says MVP
Office 365 MVP Loryan Strant has some pretty harsh words today for those Australian customers who have proven unwilling to migrate off Microsoft's defunct Business Productivity Online Suite platform (which is being essentially shut down) and onto Office 365.
‘Mining-hating’ Greens should give up their smartphones for clay tablets, says Canavan
We've seen some pretty wild demands made in the Federal Parliament, but this one probably takes the cake ... at least for this week. Queensland LNP Senator Matt Canavan has accused the Australian Greens of being hypocrites for simultaneously having concerns about Australia's mining sector while also using smartphones which use minerals in their manufacture.
Australia isn’t feeling the love from Big Content
Sabiene Heindl might be about to leave her role as the general manager of Music Industry Piracy Investigations and spokesperson for the Australian Content Industry Groupfor a high-flying career at the National Broadband Network Company, but the anti-piracy campaigner just can't stop enthusing about content protection.
Telstra 3G performance dropping, claims mag
Now we've got some further evidence that despite the constant #badoptus claims, Australia's number two telco might be catching up when it comes to 3G mobile broadband -- although not, perhaps, through anything Optus has done.
Great FAQ on Australia’s IT startup scene
Are you a Sydney-based technologist interested in getting out of Australia's corporate IT sector and into a hot IT startup? Or perhaps a budding entrepreneur looking to start one? Well, local tech startup consultancy and incubator Pollenizer's got your back. The company's Ben Ma has published an extensive overview of Sydney's tech startup scene.
Harvey Norman to open online store
Well, well, well. Looks like Harvey Norman founder Gerry Harvey has admitted that it’s time to come down off his high horse and admit that the internet has some legs when it comes to retailing.
VMware’s licensing response: Is it enough?
Those of us who run VMware environments might remember the user furore (including from Australian customers) which the virtualisation giant created a few weeks back when it made a number of changes to its licensing structure. Well, kudos to the company — it listened.
2014 will be a great year for the NBN … pity it’s the last
By all accounts, 2014 is shaping up as a pretty good year for the actual National Broadband Network rollout. As I write on Delimiter 2.0 today (paywalled), the project has a solid amount of Fibre to the Premises construction work set to deliver this year, and there are other reasons to be optimistic about how the next 12 months will pan out. But from 2015, it's all downhill.
PayPal chief hits Australia, wants POS payments
It appears as if PayPal global president Scott Thompson (pictured) has landed in Australia briefly. We’re not sure why he’s here, at this point, but he did stop in for a brief interview with Business Spectator supremo Alan Kohler as a guest on Kohler’s Inside Business slot on the ABC.
Dimension Data provides further cloud details
You may remember that last week we were fairly hard on IT services outfit Dimension Data for issuing what we saw as a media release heavy on hype (mentioning cloud computing 71 times) but light on technical detail. Well, to the company's credit, it has now come through with the goods, responding to all of our questions on its cloud computing offering in full.
Shock: Qld Govt succeeds in IT project
Police Minister Jack Dempsey announced yesterday that the Queensland Police Service had successfully delivered a new Online Crime Statistics Crime Portal that allows residents to access crime statistics for any area in the state, all through an interactive web portal.
Facebook wants to hide its Australian earnings
It has become more or less the norm for global technology companies to minimise their Australian tax liability in a way that much of the local population finds at least mildly objectionable. Well, perhaps the most arrogant of the bunch (surprise, surprise) has turned out to be social networking giant Facebook, which has filed a form arguing it doesn’t need to disclose its Australian earnings at all.
Breakfast with the (new media) stars
it’s not every day you get to see me or anyone else who contributes to Delimiter in real life — normally we’re sequestered in our offices frantically typing away at our computers :) But on the morning of Thursday November 25th (yes, the morning of our Christmas Party), you’ll get that chance.
Your problem: Rich-Phillips hands CenITex to Mailes
Those of you who’ve been around for a while will know that we’re not the greatest fans at Delimiter of Victorian IT shared services agency CenITex. From unethical procurement practices to a basic inability to deliver some of the services it promised, the agency has a penchant for getting itself in hot water with the media, politicians and even the internal Victorian Government agencies it’s seeking to serve. Which is why the State Government sacked its board and is now hot in the process of outsourcing its core functions. The next step, according to a media release issued by the Victorian Government this morning, is to start refreshing the agency’s board.
TPG’s Teoh opens the FetchTV door for iiNet once again
Remember how one of the first actions which TPG took upon acquiring its broadband rival iiNet was to dump the FetchTV Internet television product which iiNet and its subsidiary brand Internode had been such an evangelist for back in the early days? Well, that move, it turns out, may have been something more akin to a negotiating tactic.
IBM Australia to reportedly slash 500 staff
The new year has not started well for Australian technologists in terms of the jobs situation. Qantas is cutting IT workers, Sensis is cutting workers, Telstra is cutting workers, the Victorian Government is looking into offshoring, and now, according to The Australian newspaper, IBM Australia has embarked on another major redundancy round.
AFR camps out for days to get photo of secretive TPG billionaire David Teoh
Always wondered what secretive TPG billionaire David Teoh looks like? Never been able to check out a photo of the executive? You're not alone. However, that changed this morning after the Financial Review published a photo of Teoh that a freelancer photographer had taken after camping out outside his house for days.
Judge sides with IBM in Qld Health payroll lawsuit
This week it appears as though Queensland's actions have blown up in its face again with respect to its botched payroll systems upgrade at Queensland Health.
Get em young: Windows 8 indoctrination
Many young Australians head off to school these days with a collection of Apple paraphenalia; iPhones, iPods and now iPads are common items to see in the schoolbags of students heading off to both high school and primary school. However, for at least one young man, there won't be any Apple in his forseeable future.
Kotaku alleges abuse, gross staff neglect at retailer EB Games
In which Kotaku alleges an odious culture of gross staff neglect and out and out abuse at national retailer EB Games.
Google ploughs $1m into Australian tech education
Good news from the Googleplex this morning. Google Australia has decided to take some of the hard-earned money that it's been piping through Singapore to avoid paying tax in Australia and decided to plough it back into directly funding the development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills in Australia.
The undiscovered country: When a Microsoft fan goes Apple
Microsoft Office 365 MVP Loryan Strant reveals he's taking a walk on the wild side with Mac OS X and iOS.
Um … what? No open tender for Qld’s cloud email
Queensland IT Minister Ian Walker has been vocal about wanting to adopt a whole of government email platform based on cloud computing, rather than the internally-deployed approach that failed Queensland last time around. The only problem is, according to iTNews, now that the state has decided to progress with a cloud-based email platform, it's not doing so via open tender.
First interviews surface with new Defence CIO
It’s been a couple of months since the new Department of Defence chief information officer, Peter Lawrence, stepped on board to replace the now legendary Greg Farr, and the first interviews have started to surface with Lawrence.
The difficulties of ordering a Surface Pro in Australia
Want to buy one of Microsoft's new Surface Pros in Australia? Well, As we covered a couple of weeks ago, you're out of luck, as Microsoft isn't shipping them locally yet. But you may not know quite how out of luck you truly are: It's probably not even worth ordering one from overseas through the usual avenues.
How much more do servers cost in Australia?
How much more do the hardware servers used by small businesses and large organisations cost in Australia? Quite a lot more than in the US, according to a report by small business technology media outlet BIT, in yet another case of the Australian technology tax striking fear into Australian wallets.
AAPT is up for sale … yet again
The Financial Review reports today that Telecom New Zealand is once again trying to offload its AAPT asset (when is it not?)
Aussie software firm Marketplacer grabs $10m
It used to be that the most that early stage Australian software companies could pick up in capital raisings was a few hundred thousand to a couple of million. Complaints about the impossibility of raising a decent amount of venture capital were constant and loud. Wow. How times have changed over the past few years. Today's piece of evidence demonstrates that money is truly flowing in the streets for Australia's growing cadre of technology firms.
Server timestamps: Abbott was right after all
The Department of Parliamentary Services appears to have cleared Abbott of any wrongdoing in fudging James Ashby-related media release timestamps, admitting that its systems haven't been up to spec.
Fix Apple in the enterprise, goddamnit: MQ CIO rants
Chief information officers are a gentle, politely spoken bunch by nature; intelligent, well-educated, diplomatic. That’s why when one of them really lets loose at a vendor you have to stand back a little bit — or get burnt by the fireworks taking place.
Bugcrowd picks up $1.6m funding
There might not be enough capital floating around in Australia’s IT startup ecosystem for it to expand at the rate some would like, but some startups, at least, are not finding much difficulty with raising capital. Crowdsourced security startup Bugcrowd today revealed it had picked up $1.6 million in funding from Australian and US investors.
Foxtel launches streaming iPad app
Pay TV giant Foxtel this morning launched its live streaming service Foxtel Go on the iPad. For existing Foxtel subscribers, the offering allows them to watch Foxtel channels live on their iPad.
Telstra breaks down its NBN decision
The now infamous fifth slide from Telstra chief executive David Thodey's presentation to media and analysts this morning about the telco's $11 billion deal with the Government and NBN Co. Seems like Telstra's thinking on this one was pretty complex ;)
Telstra hints at Galaxy Nexus launch
Telstra hasn’t yet confirmed reports that it’s planning to launch Samsung’s highly anticipated Galaxy Nexus smartphone, but if this post on its CrowdSupport forum by one of its executives, Gerd Schenkel, is any indication, the telco is certainly eyeing the handset off.
Windows 8 sales disappointing in Australia
It won't come as a surprise to many, given its drastically altered user interface and mixed reviews, but the news is already bad for Microsoft's new flagship operating system Windows 8 in Australia.
Two good Australian CIO interviews
There have been a couple of good interviews with Australian chief information officers done by various media outlets over the past couple of days -- good enough that we thought them worth highlighting to readers on Delimiter.
Oops
The Australian newspaper is forced to correct a report regarding the National Broadband Network and a college in South Australia.
Delimiter’s journey is coming to a natural end
Today I write to let the Delimiter community know two things: Firstly, Delimiter will cease publishing new articles on Friday 5th July. And secondly, I have a new job.
Telstra 4G trials hit 300Mbps
Just how fast can 4G mobile broadband go? Very fast, according to Telstra, which has been conducting trials of LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation technology.
Attention Telstra: Shut up and take my money
Hey everyone, just a quick update on my plans to dump my iPhone 4 for a HTC One XL today.
Further Liberal hypocrisy on the NBN
It seems Liberal MPs all around Australia just can't stop demanding that the National Broadband Network be rolled out in their area.
IBM Australia sacking staff again
It seems as if, when it comes to major Australian technology companies such as Telstra, Optus, HP and IBM, there are always 'moves, adds and changes' going on in these giants' workforces.
Do Optus iPhones “constantly drop out”?
The Daily Telegraph has launched what appears to be an all-out attack on SingTel subsidiary Optus, claiming the telco's mobile coverage is the pits.
A complete picture of NAB’s IT transformation
You may have noticed that National Australia Bank enterprise transformation EGM Adam Bennett gave a speech at a CEDA lunch in Sydney this week. The executive's comments have caused a flurry of articles in the media. A brief overview, for your Friday afternoon reading pleasure, can be found here.
Qld towns build their own goddamn NBN
They weren't getting much joy from the Federal Government's National Broadband Network and were only slated to receive satellite services under the plan, so half a dozen Queensland towns have reportedly decided to build their own fibre backhaul network connecting the region to the main NBN infrastructure.
iHype: Welcome to the iPhone 5 hypno-orgy
Apparently, the iPhone 5 is already a success, before it even launches.
32 years later, CGU replaces insurance IT platform
Think core banking platforms last a long time? Check out the gray hairs and wrinkles on the positively ancient insurance IT system which CGU is still running. This thing is so old it should be code-named 'Methuselah'.
Great example of how politics can destroy necessary IT projects
To my mind, this situation reflects the perfect example of politics interfering with sensible IT project delivery.
PM Gillard meets global Huawei chair
Julia Gillard meets with Huawei's global chair during a visit to China.
Will Dropbox’s security hole boost Aussie rivals?
In terms of security disasters, this is a big one. For four hours yesterday, you could use any (yes, that means any) password to log in to any Dropbox account.
Lenovo’s IBM server + Motorola buys will raise new security questions
Remember when the Financial Review reported in August that devices manufactured by Chinese vendor Lenovo (including its extremely popular ThinkPad line) had been banned from use in the “secret” and “top secret” networks of the intelligence and defence services of Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, because of similar espionage concerns as have been leveled at Chinese networking vendor Huawei? Well, Australian government agencies just got a whole new kettle of fish to worry about, with two key acquisitions by Lenovo which have taken place over the past week or so.
SA Govt under constant cyberattack, claims CIO
South Australia's outgoing whole of government chief information officer Andrew Mills, who this month took up the same role in Queensland, has dramatically revealed the extent to which the state's IT infrastructure is being targeted by online attacks against.
‘Gross abuse of power’: IPA columnist condemns ASIC filtering
It seems that the move by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to unilaterally decide to start blocking websites it deems to have illegal material has outraged basically everyone with any interest in the Internet in Australia. Perhaps one of the most outraged is Chris Berg, a research fellow with the Institute of Public Affairs, a long-time advocate for free speech, and, dare we say it, a thorn in the side of powerful government authorities exceeding their mandate.
New Govt tax taskforce may tackle Google, Apple
Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury has announced a government taskforce to force multinational corporations to be more transparent and accountable about how their finances and details of their taxation.
Corrosion drastically impacts BT FTTN speed
If BT's rollout in the UK is any indication, fibre to the node may not be the perfect broadband solution it has been hyped up to be.
Defence brings massive IT services deal back to the market
The tender was put on ice some two years ago, as it was undertaking several other major IT purchasing efforts at the same time. However, iTnews reported today that the contract had been brought back.
Bulletproof poaches Rackspace MD
Australian hosting company Bulletproof poaches the local country manager of international hosting giant Rackspace.
Postponement
In which Renai unfortunately calls in sick just days after Delimiter re-launches.
Federal Govt explicitly explores IT offshoring in landmark move
If you have spent any time working in IT in Australia's public sector, you are probably aware that there is something of a taboo in government departments and agencies using offshored IT services such as are provided from countries such as India, as well as increasingly Malaysia, the Philippines and other countries. However, this may be about to change.
Gillard’s nauseating endorsement: Take 2
We couldn’t help but almost throw up in our mouth tonight as we watched the love-in in this video occur between Google, MYOB, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Communications Stephen Conroy in this orgy of self-interest and naked marketing guff.
When academics perpetuate NBN ignorance
Professor Zumbo, we humbly submit that it might be wise for you take another look at the fundamental premises contained in your NBN article in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning. We humbly suggest that the degree of academic rigour contained within is sadly ... inferior.
Coalition must support FTTH, says Oakeshott
Ever the supporter of the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project, independent Rob Oakeshott has come out swinging this week to demand that the Coalition must support the fibre to the premises basis of the NBN, not the FTTN model the Coalition currently supports.
Australia’s second dot com boom is here
If you've been paying attention to Australia's technology startup sector recently, you might have noticed that it's absolutely booming. Tens of millions of dollars are being ploughed into new startups, incubators and co-working spaces are popping up all over the place, and successful startups like Freelancer.com are considering massive stock market listings.
Palmer pushes for minimalist NBN policy
The National Broadband Network Company's Strategic Review found conclusively that under almost every model, the company's network rollout would make a long-term return on investment, ultimately costing the Federal Government nothing due to the cost being reimbursed by subscriber fees paid by millions of Australians. Despite this, Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer this week referred to the cost of the NBN and how it could be brought down further.
Apologies! Slow days this week
Just wanted to let readers know that Delimiter will be having a slow couple of days today (Thursday) and tomorrow (Friday), with only a couple of articles being posted on each day.
Telstra launches 4G Lumia 920, HTC 8X on way
If you are one of those looking forward to the incoming wave of Windows Phone 8-based smartphones to Australia, you're in for a treat. Telstra yesterday revealed it had started taking orders for Nokia's incoming flagship Windows Phone 8-based device, the Lumia 920.
Hitting the pause button on Delimiter 2.0
Delimiter 2.0's model is proven, and it's a viable slice of the Delimiter business which is expanding. In an age where media outlets have struggled with revenue models, it represents a little bright spot, and I may come back to it one day, at the right time. However, as with all businesses, I have to face facts and invest my time where the greatest return on investment is to be found. Right now, and in the short to medium-term, that's definitely Delimiter 1.0.
Unisys wins DIAC again in open tender
Those of you with long memories will recall that the Federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship has contracted IT services giant Unisys to provide desktop support services to the department since 2007. Unisys this morning announced that it had won an open tender to retain the work through to at last mid-2018, at a value of $104.1 million.
LG Optimus L9 hits Australia
This week LG added another model to its Australian line-up in the form of the Optimus L9.
NBN Co defends business plans
NBN Co head of Product Development and Sales Jim Hassell has sent us this post in response to our analysis of NBN business broadband plans last week.
BoQ cuts down outsourcing list to four
Those of you who follow the big end of the IT services market in Australia will recall that November last year Bank of Queensland revealed plans to finally chop up its extremely long-running comprehensive IT outsourcing deal with HP, with the effort being led by the bank's chief information officer Julie Bale (pictured). Well, things have been moving along at a rapid clip and the bank has reportedly now cut down its list of prospective partners to four.
SA Attorney-General wants to dumpMA15+ games rating
We thought things were going to settle down in South Australia after the state rid itself (or did he resign? It’s such a fine line) of its crazy Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, who had for some years been a nasty thorn in the side of those who were campaigning for an R18+ classification for video games.
Leave Gerry Harvey alone, says Kogan
Well, well, well. How the rebellious have fallen. First you slam them, then you achieve a cautious peace, then you start backing them to the hilt.
Surprise! PlayStation Now delayed for Australia
From the Department of No Surprises comes the news that Sony’s cloud-based PlayStation Now service — which allows users of its gaming consoles to play games online without having to download the content — will not initially be available to Australians when it launches in the middle of this year.
When mainstream media covers cloud startups
Hilarious video above of a segment broadcast recently on Channel 10 news about Australian cloud computing startup OrionVM.
Announcing the winner of Delimiter’s Apple Watch draw!
Today I'm pleased to announce that the winner is Allan, who works in supply chain and IT. The Apple Watch will be dispatched shortly. Congrats!
Is Android ready for the enterprise?
The question of whether a predominantly consumer-oriented technology is “ready for the enterprise” is one that Gartner analysts, chief information officers and, really, anybody who works in IT departments, loves to debate endlessly.
A fascinating startup brain dump from Phil Morle
If you're interested in Australia's IT startup ecosystem, you could do a lot worse than read this fascinating braindump by Morle posted amid the dying embers of 2012.
Debunking the “cyber-security” hype
Crikey correspondent Bernard Keane has published an extensive, highly referenced article debunking eleven recent “cyber” attacks, in response to Prime Minister Julia Gillard's spate of announcements in the area yesterday and today.
Help us fact-check iTNews’ NBN figures
Help us fact-check iTNews' claims that NBN Co is fudging its rollout figures in an attempt to make its progress look better on paper.
Govt seeks private/public big data proposals
Interested in working with the Federal Government's massive datasets? Got a knack for making meaningful information out of huge piles of numbers and letters? I've got some good news for you. The Australian Government Information Management Office is looking for proposals for joint projects between the public and private sector that will leverage big data technologies.
ispONE implodes, cancels Telstra contracts
Well, it looks like those rumours that mobile wholesale player ispONE (which supplies services to both ALDIMobile and Kogan Mobile) was going bankrupt were true. The company's Federal Court action against Telstra to stop the telco from cancelling its service to ispONE appears to have been railroaded by ispONE's sudden move to go into administration.
JB Hi-Fi chief backhands Kogan over Apple
Today JB Hi-Fi chief Terry Smart casually backhanded fiery consumer electronics entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan, telling SmartCompany Kogan’s claim that Apple gear made up 30 percent of the retail giant’s sales was incorrect.
UXC Connect ties itself in iPad knots
One can understand the frustration of technology companies in dealing with the media. In this view interview with business and investment commentator Peter Switzer, one gets the feeling that UXC Connect chief Paul Timmins feels like he’s trying to swim upstream.
Does Vodafone need a new flagship handset?
Does Vodafone need a new flagship exclusive handset to stack up against the offerings of Telstra and Optus?
A Christmas ode to Sol Trujillo and the National Broadband Network
Former Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo might have had a bushy moustache and — on occasion — been filled with warmth and good humour, but that didn’t ever make the American executive reminiscent of Santa Claus. That is, unless you’re David Braue, who has penned a majestic and seasonally appropriate Christmas NBN poem which has mightily impressed us.
Apple ready to talk Australian prices
blog Remember when Labor MP Ed Husic went on that epic rant in Federal Parliament several months ago about what he saw as the...
Exposing whistleblowers: AFP logs phone calls of MPs + journos
Are you a journalist or a politician? Do you use your telephone to have private conversations about sensitive information? You do? That seems logical, given the position that you're in. Well, you may want to have a re-think about just how private that avenue of communication is, given that the Australian Federal Police recently revealed it occasionally examines the call logs of MPs and journalists (without their knowledge) in an attempt to track down whistleblowers or leakers within the Government.
NSW Govt to appoint yet another whole of government CIO
I'll be the first to admit if -- and I'll be happy about it -- I am proven wrong. But all the evidence from the past shows that this appointment will ultimately amount to little.
EMC/NetApp trench blogfare turns nasty
NetApp's Australian chief Peter O'Connor appeared a trifle defensive in late November when he told the AustralianIT he wanted to set the record straight following "rumours" being spread by unnamed rivals about a possible NetApp role in the Virgin Blue storage disaster that landed thousands of customers in a temporary no-fly zone.
Dick Smith deploys Google Apps
The latest Australian company to deploy Google Apps as its document management and collaboration suite appears to be electronics retailer Dick Smith, at least according to a post on Google's Australian blog today.
Kogan puts company up for sale
Depending on what you choose to believe, a report published by the Financial Review this morning suggests that either Ruslan Kogan may have run out of energy and is looking to take a break or is looking to take his business to the next stage with a decent slab of capital injection.
Turnbull to restore some NICTA/Data61 funding a year after it was chopped
According to Financial Review correspondent Phillip Coorey — currently travelling with now Prime Minister Turnbull on an extensive overseas trip stopping off at Germany — Turnbull is set to reinstate at least some of the funding chopped from NICTA.
Delimiter Membership Election Special: Almost sold out
I just wanted to post a quick update to let you know that the 15 percent off Delimiter Membership Election Special which we launched on Monday is progressing pretty quickly towards being sold out: Better get in quick if you want to take advantage of the discount!
AFACT exposed: Insider investigator tells his story
If you've always wondered what life is like at the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft, wonder no more. A former investigator for Australia's self-appointed online piracy watchdog has spilled the beans on his activities working for the organisation.
HP starts cutting Aussie staff; Caspari ascends
Well, that didn't take long. Just a couple of weeks after global technology giant HP revealed it would be cutting some 27,000 employees globally, the company's local cuts have started to surface.
The Reject Shop deploys Win7, InTune
A case study published by Redmond this week details how retailer The Reject Shop deployed Windows 7, plus Microsoft’s remote management tool InTune, to its several hundred PCs and other devices across Australia.
Apple hikes Aussie iOS app prices as Australian dollar sinks
The sinking value of the Australian dollar when compared to the greenback is certainly causing quite a spot of bother for Apple gear. Australians already got a raw deal on Cupertino’s new iPhones, iPads and TV, and now we’re going to be paying through the nose as well for apps, with Apple announcing a formal price rise over the next 36 hours.
20 December 2011: Telstra’s NBN D-Day
In the first of a series of insightful and useful articles examining Telstra’s $11 billion deal with NBN Co and the Federal Government last week, local VoIP developer and telco commentator Michael Wyres points out that all of the conditions contained in the massive deal must be satisfied by one special day: 20 December this year.
Surface Pro for Australia in “coming months”
Just one month ago Redmond launched the supposedly flagship device in the US and in Canada, but made no mention of launches in other first-world, early technology adopter countries such as Australia. Just one month later, overnight last night in the US, the company said Australia and a number of other countries would receive the Surface Pro "in the coming months", but without giving a firm date.
When Gerry Harvey and Ruslan Kogan agree
It seems like a case of hell freezing over this week, with an amazing synchonicity of views can be heard this week between two traditional opponents.
Kogan installing bloatware on supposedly clean OnePlus 2 phones
Over the weekend an extensive article was posted on Medium alleging that a customer had bought a new OnePlus 2 smartphone from Kogan and found it had bloatware installed on it — bloatware that could not be easily removed.
Wollongong club group ditches email
Matt O’Hara, a club owner in Wollongong, has largely gotten rid of email for good, and is reportedly happier for it.
VCs want Govt help getting super funds into the water
Should the Federal Government consider underwriting the management fees of venture capital firms to attract large-scale institutional investors like the superannuation funds?
NBN: Can’t we all just get along?
So far the National Broadband Network debate over the past several years since Malcolm Turnbull became Shadow Communications Minister has been broadly polite, with both sides rationally examining and critiquing each other’s policies in a calm manner, while engaging in a friendly rivalry about who has the best polic. Oh, wait, I’m wrong. It’s actually become a a bile-filled cesspit of misleading statements, public slander, irrelevancy and flat-out lies. How could I forget?
Budde praises Coalition NBN plan
Fans of the Coalition’s rival broadband policy can be hard to find in Australia’s technology sector, with most preferring the Labor Federal Government’s more expansive National Broadband Network policy. However, according to telecommunications analyst Paul Budde, the Coalition’s plan may be better than many people think.
Help crowdsource an NBN implementation study
The Register has posted an entry on local crowdsourcing site Pozible inviting Australians to help it fund a detailed implementation study into the NBN, sourcing quotes for such a study from veteran analyst houses IBRS and Market Clarity.
Assange to get asylum in Ecuador
Australian citizen and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange will shortly be granted asylum in Ecuador, according to the UK's Guardian newspaper.
IBM received leaked info during Qld Health payroll bid
The somewhat disturbing revelations from the Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Health’s payroll systems disaster just keep on coming. The Brisbane Times reports today that prime contractor IBM was actually forwarded leaked information that could have helped it win the payroll upgrade contract.
Anti-piracy laws will increase piracy, says Budde
It's no secret that a large percentage of the technology sector thinks that the current proposal by Federal Attorney-General George Brandis (pictured) to crack down on Internet piracy will have little impact, given that most such attempts in the fast have broadly failed, and the commonly held belief that commercial avenues represent the best way to handle the situation. However, some commentators feel things will go still further. Veteran telecommunications analyst Paul Budde wrote this morning on his blog that he expects the anti-piracy measures to actually increase piracy.
NSW reforms ICT services contracts
Looks like the New South Wales Government is making good on its promises to reform the way the state purchases technology services, as part of its overall IT strategy. This week we received a media release on the issue from Minister for Finance and Services Greg Pearce.
Kim Dotcom wants Mega servers in Australia
Kim Dotcom flags plans to host some servers for his new Mega venture in Australia.
An inside investigation into the Teoh family
Ever wondered who actually runs top-tier Australian telco TPG? So have we. Your writer has been reporting on Australia's telecommunications industry for almost a decade now and I've never met or spoken to reclusive TPG chief executive David Teoh, despite the fact that the executive runs one of Australia's largest telcos and has a habit of buying others.
Media Watch weighs in on Ross NBN coverage
We were pleasantly surprised with the conclusions which Holmes drew on last night’s program regarding the National Broadband Network coverage which ABC Technology + Games Editor Nick Ross has been generating over the past year.
MyRepublic full of “bullshit”, says CommsDay publisher
Your writer has been pretty supportive of the controversial comments made by MyRepublic chief executive Malcolm Rodrigues about the Coalition's version of the National Broadband Network. However, not everyone shares the same views. One very well-argued piece of detailed analysis comes from the founder of Communications Day, Grahame Lynch.
Square Peg launches Australia’s second $200m VC tech fund
Honestly, sometimes it feels at the moment as though there is just a huge stack of pure cash money flowing in the streets for Australia’s technology startups. Several weeks ago the Queensland Government announced a $40 million co-investment fund for startups, last week Victoria followed with a $60 million effort, and of course who could forget the new $200 million fund unveiled by Blackbird Ventures in August. Well now there’s another $200 million fund targeting Australian technology startups.
Govt cloud use to require Ministers’ approval
A policy which stipulates that only one individual in the whole Federal Government can approve the use of IT assets in a certain manner is, by definition, asinine and irrational.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop jets in to Australia
You may have noticed from the flurry of articles from the mainstream media this morning that Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop is in Australia at the moment checking on the progress of the Finnish smartphone manufacturer Down Under.
Slow day at Delimiter
Hi everyone, just a quick note that Delimiter will be having a slow day today (Friday). It's been a very busy period recently and I need to slow down for a day and take stock of our editorial coverage and administration and plan for what's next.
Google protecting pirates, says film giant
Film and entertainment giant Village Roadshow is decidedly unhappy with Google Australia for taking what the search giant believes is a realistic approach to dealing with Internet piracy. Go figure.
Super funds close to dumping $250m IT revamp
If you have even a skin deep awareness of the structure of Australia’s superannuation industry, you’ll be aware that much of the underlying infrastructure used by many of the nation’s major funds is provided by a centralised group, Superpartners. One of the group’s main projects in recent years has been to dramatically update and modernise its IT platform — its version of a core banking platform overhaul. Unfortunately, the $250 million project has not precisely been going well.
Reality check: Femtocells are not an Optus scam
Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater here. Ultimately, Optus' femtocell launch is a positive step forward for Australia's telecommunications industry and its customers.
“Can do” Queensland starts cutting IT staff
Queensland's new LNP Premier Campbell Newman has started wielding the axe in the state's public service, according to a report by the Courier Mail newspaper published yesterday -- and information technology staff are some of the first in line.
The definition of irony …
The definition of irony is when you work for Telstra BigPond and rock up on Internode MD Simon Hackett's doorstep trying to sell him a broadband connection.
Australian Bitcoin mining probably not worth it
You may recall that MacTalk founder and all-round geek Anthony Agius has been conducting something of an experiment to determine whether an Australian Bitcoin miner could make enough money to justify the practice. Well, the results are in: And the answer is: “Most likely not”.
SAP considers Aussie datacentre
The Financial Review has reported that German software giant SAP is likely to build an Australian datacentre to provide services to Australian organisations, should new privacy legislation pass that could affect vendors' ability to sell cloud computing services locally from global facilities.
Optus re-opens startup funding applications
Just wanted to post a brief note that Optus has opened the second round of applications for Australian IT startups to attract seed funding under its Innov8 program.
You can’t actually buy Windows 8 in Australia [Update: Well, kind of]
Windows 8 has launched in Australia. But you can't actually buy fully boxed copies of it locally. No, really.
Australia’s second dot com boom is here
Evidence is mounting from a variety of fronts that Australia has just entered its second dot com boom.
Bookshops are dead, says Nick Sherry
It’s hard to see how anyone who owns either an Amazon Kindle or an iPad right now can see any future at all for bricks and mortar bookshops, given the power and speed of instant global distribution.
After a decade, ATO finally launches Mac e-tax
Long-time Australian users of Apple's flagship Macintosh line will be rapt with the news that the Australian Taxation Office has finally launched a version of its e-tax electronic tax return lodgement software which works on Mac OS X.
Aussie telcos not using Carrier IQ
Worried about that nasty Carrier IQ keylogging/tracking software which is causing such a ruckus in the US? You probably shouldn't be.
Wanted: Delimiter 2.0 columnists
I am currently seeking regular columnists for Delimiter 2.0. You'll need to be able to write opinion/analysis pieces of a minimum of 1,500 words, on hot topics in Australia's technology scene. You'll need to use references to argue your case and have a broad understanding of the current dynamics of the industry.
ABC staffer goes for Bitcoin gold
We know the ABC is a public broadcaster and isn’t likely to be offering the highest salaries in the world, but this is ridiculous.
Telstra offshores 34 Tasmanian jobs
Your writer can't imagine that it's easy working at Telstra. Although Australia's biggest telco has an extensive workforce with many career opportunities, it also conducts regularly redundancy rounds as part of its ongoing drive to become more efficient and cut costs.
Dogecoin co-founder an interesting Sydney chap
If you follow the crypto-currency scene (think Bitcoin and its many imitators), you might have noticed that the co-founder of one of the more outlandish currencies, Dogecoin, is an Australian. Jackson Palmer is a product marketing manager at Adobe, is based in Sydney, and is one of the key figures in the development of the good Doge. And, if you read this excellent online interview with Palmer produced by new Australian tech media outlet Techly, you'll find that he's also a man of many interesting opinions.
“Grow a spine” and get off Windows XP: An epic “intervention”
Perhaps one of the most irritating pieces of legacy software that is still kicking around is Microsoft's most famous operating system, Windows XP.
Will Australia censor Apple’s App Store?
Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor has gotten all hot under the collar about Apple’s App Store and wants to make sure none of the naughty bits get to the wee little children, for fear they may be tainted by them.
NBN Co chair quits, says AFR
Last night the Financial Review reported that NBN Co chairman Harrison Young (pictured) was planning to quit as the company's chairman, with current board member Siobhan McKenna to step into his place.
Coalition party room erupts with data retention dissent
Well, well. Looks like Coalition MPs in general are not as disinterested in the Federal Government's controversial data retention and surveillance proposal as has been previously believed.
Microsoft’s war on Google Apps gets nasty
Microsoft Australia produces case study scorching towards Google Apps and Gmail.
Senate Estimates: Some things never change
The Coalition hasn’t exactly been covering itself in glory in the recent Senate Estimates hearings into the National Broadband Network, with many labelling its constant line of attack on NBN Co Mike Quigley’s past history at Alcatel-Lucent little more than a farce.
Cloud, Windows 8 may sneak into Canberra through Tourism Australia
At least one Federal Government agency, Tourism Australia, may be on the verge of taking the cloud computing plunge on multiple fronts.
Was 7:30’s TCS takedown fair?
Was 7:30's attack on the 457 Visa practices of Indian IT services giant TCS last night fair? Or did it lack context?
Great debate on the lack of diversity in IT startups
Clune's right: Australia's IT startup scene is predominantly composed of white, middle class males, a physical form which venture capitalists usually identify with. But Liubinskas is also right: Things are more complicated than that in real life, and opportunities do abound for the passionate or determined, regardless of who they are. Perhaps the passion and diversity in this debate do much to illustrate the sector as a whole.
China’s Aussie ambassador denies Huawei spying
If someone has some direct evidence that Huawei has been spying for the Chinese Government, then let them come forward with that evidence. So far all we have is hearsay and innuendo. And that is not enough, as Huawei and China’s Ambassador to Australia have clearly stated, when we’re talking about billion dollar contracts and the reputation of one of the world’s largest technology vendors. As Huawei has said, on this issue, “put up, or shut up”.
Vocus buys Newcastle-based Ipera
The ongoing consolidation of Australia's telecommunications sector is showing no signs of slowing down. Sometimes it seems like every time I think there can't possibly be more buyouts and mergers in the industry, another one happens. This morning it's Newcastle-based fibre and datacentre operator Ipera, which has been bought out by Vocus Communications.
Pay protest: NBN contractor rips out new pipes
According to The Australian newspaper, a sub-contractor for NBN construction firm Syntheo has taken a rather unusual step after Syntheo didn't come through with his annointed pay packet.
Google Nexus tablet hits Oz in July: Gizmodo
Gizmodo Australia this afternoon reported that Google will launch its own 7" Android tablet, dubbed the Nexus 7 and running version 5.0 of Android (Jelly Bean) in Australia this July, with prices ranging from US$199 to US$249.
iPad 2 queue starts at Sydney Apple store
Cheers to our friends at LogMeIn for this photo of a gentleman who has just claimed the title of first position in the line to buy an Apple iPad 2 when the device goes on sale on Friday night at 5pm. This photo was taken outside the Sydney CBD Apple store this afternoon.
Yet another major Australian bank goes hard with Amazon cloud
It seems like it was only yesterday that Australia’s major financial services organisations were holding their noses and sniffing at the bad smell that they associated with ‘low-grade’ cloud computing services operated by offshore technology giants such as Amazon Web Services. It was only last month that it was revealed that National Australia Bank had switched its entire public-facing website into Amazon’s cloud, and this week Suncorp joined the throng, planning what The Australian describes as a “complete transfer” into the cloud.
Trinity setting the iPad pace in education
While we’re on the iPad — and don’t worry, there’s plenty of doubters out there; Jeff Waugh, we’re looking at you — we thought y’all might be interested in what Trinity College at Melbourne University is up to.
Coles is yet another complex cloud case study
We’ve been seeing some very interesting moves from retail giant Coles over the past several years with respect to cloud computing and software as a service adoption. Nothing revolutionary, but solid moves nonetheless.
Deep thoughts from Senator Ludlam on Julian Assange
The personal blog of Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam continues to be excellent value. Last week the Western Australian Senator took some time out to pen more than 1,300 thoughtful words on the potential future of maverick WikiLeaks activist Julian Assange, whose fate is very much in the hands of several global legal systems.
Team Conroy clocks off … Dalek and all
At least we now know where Conroy has drawn his 'take no prisoners' approach from. "EXTERMINATE!" might just be the right attitude to take into Australian politics these days.
Vodafone’s iPhone 5 speeds are awful
We've known for a while that the iPhone 5 would be dramatically slower on Vodafone's network, as it doesn't support 4G speeds like Telstra and Optus do in some areas. And now we know just how slower it will be.
Double surprise! Sony hikes Aussie PS4 prices
Following on from the news this morning that Microsoft would deliver a modest price increase on its Xbox One console to Australians, Sony this afternoon confirmed the local pricing on its PlayStation 4 console.
SA Govt forgets to pay phone bill
Think the Queensland and Western Australian State Governments have got problems with their technology shared services divisions? Well, they have. But at least they (we assume) pay their telephone bills on time. That isn’t precisely the case in South Australia, where the state’s Finance Minister yesterday revealed it couldn’t even get that right.
Apple’s Australian tax is mainly on iTunes
Extensive analysis on the day of Apple's appearance before the IT price hike inquiry finds that the company's Australian markups are mainly on digital products sold through its iTunes store.
NAB deploys Chatter … and Yammer?
From Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference in the US this week comes the news that the National Australia Bank has deployed the company's internal social networking tool Chatter ... as well as having an existing rollout of Yammer.
Reality check: Murdoch doesn’t want to kill the NBN
Over the past day or so, quite a few readers have made me aware of this controversial article published by long-time Paul Sheehan at The Age. In it, Sheehan makes the somewhat controversial claim that the constant string of negative articles which we’ve come to expect from News Corporation newspapers such as The Australian and the Daily Telegraph have had the aim of destroying the NBN to shore up the future of News Corp stablemate Foxtel. My response was published on Delimiter 2.0 yesterday.
Quigley + Beaufret must be guilty … right? Right?
In the latest issue of what we are speedily coming to refer to as the “NBN, OMG, WTF, BBQ” files, Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham has revealed that NBN Co chief Mike Quigley and CFO Jean-Pascal Beaufret didn’t mention during their hiring process that their former employer Alcatel-Lucent was being investigated by the US securities regulator … for stuff they had nothing to do with.
Still in the doghouse: IBM’s Qld Govt ban very much alive
You'd have to expect that IBM has been able to come in from the cold with the Queensland Government. However, according to iTnews, this is not the case.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Note 10.1, Gear coming to Australia “soon”
Samsung has announced several products at IFA overnight which will be of deep interest to Australian consumers, including the third edition of its popular Galaxy Note smartphones, a new 10" Android tablet, and its long-expected smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear. The good news is that all of the new Samsung hotness will be coming to Australia "soon".
NSW Trade + Investment pinged SAP on ByDesign roadmap
Those of you who watch such things closely may recall several weeks ago that a sudden decision by German software giant SAP to end active development of its ailing Business ByDesign online software suite left the New South Wales Government’s premier cloud computing business systems pilot stranded without a future roadmap. Well, it appears that the NSW Department of Trade & Investment didn’t take SAP’s move sitting down.
The theory of infinite Simon Hacketts
Over on Whirlpool, forum poster Garthy advances an interesting theory about why the iiNet buyout of Internode took place, applying mathematical rigour to the situation to come up with the terrifying (or maybe glorious, depending on which way you look at it) prospect that the event may have the practical effect of creating an infinite number of Simon Hacketts.
Pushed for Coalition contingency plan, NBN Co reveals rollout costs
A growing amount of information on the costs of NBN Co’s fibre-to-the-premise (FttP) rollout may have brought some long-wanted clarity to the national broadband network (NBN) debate, but calls by NBN joint parliamentary committee chair Rob Oakeshott for a revised NBN Co corporate plan – to account for potential changes due to the election of a Coalition government and implementation of that party’s alternative NBN – confirm the government is facing increased scrutiny as observers push for further transparency in the pre-election NBN debate.
$530m telco deal: ANZ Bank re-signs Optus
Those of you with long memories will recall that one of Optus’s most significant corporate telecommunications deals in Australia was signed back in May 2009 with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. Well, it looks as though ANZ must be at least a little happy with Optus, as yesterday morning the bank issued a joint media release with the telco noting it had resigned the deal for another five years, in a contract worth $530 million.
Rasmussen: I’m joining Facebook and Google wasn’t “patient” on Wave
Fascinating interview here by the Sydney Morning Herald with outgoing Googler Lars Rasmussen on why he’s joining Facebook and his thoughts on the failed Google Wave project, which he was a core part of.
Chromebooks for Port Macquarie school
It’s only been a few weeks since Google’s Chromebooks landed in Australia, but at least one organisation has already started deploying them. According to Computerworld, St Columba Anglican School in Port Macquarie, NSW, is fully into Chrome OS.
HP’s Caspari quits after just one year
It's been reportedly extremely widely in Australia's technology media over the past 24 hours that HP South Pacific Managing Director David Caspari has resigned his post and will leave the company.
“Maddening, dispiriting, radically unbalanced”: A full legal analysis of the TPP leaks
In Australian intellectual property circles, there are few names which are more respected than that of Kimberlee Weatherall. That’s why we were personally thrilled to learn that Weatherall has recently published a mammoth blow by blow analysis of the enforcement provisions contained in the recently leaked draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership IP chapter.
Aussie IT startup A-Team creates new VC fund
A who’s who of the Australian technology startup founder scene (you know these guys, it’s much of the same crew behind initiatives such as Startmate — the Atlassian founders, Niki Scevak and so on) has reportedly banded together to kickstart a new Australian venture capital fund dubbed ‘Blackbird Ventures’.
Andrew Stevens: The challenges ahead
For the chief executives of HP and IBM Australia, hiding in the bat cave should not be an option.
Data Retention requests almost tripled in 2015
Well, we knew Australia's law enforcement and government agencies were keen on accessing Australians' metadata, but until this week we didn't know quite how keen they were.
Don’t protect Australia’s mobile telcos, Mr Turnbull
Let's get real about this: Australia's mobile telcos can take care of themselves.
Pre-launch web startup Canva raises $3m
Australian web startup Canva this morning revealed it had picked up a $3 million seed round from a number of early stage investors and venture capitalists in Australia and Silicon Valley.
Now Toll dumps Google Apps rollout, reconsiders SAP plan
Toll has reportedly stopped the rollout of a Google Apps deployment to its staff and is developing a new plan for its proposed SAP-based finance transformation.
Federal education dept in major AWS cloud pilot
It's not often you see examples of cloud computing deployments in major Federal Government departments. With the exception, it turns out, of the Federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, which went a little cloud-crazy before it was split in two after the Federal Election.
“Failure and incompetence”: Mark Newton on surveillance reforms
At Delimiter we love a good rant, especially if it’s about the tragically flawed understanding which our Federal Government and attendant politicans appear to have about technology. And this one, by network engineer Mark Newton (he’s got form in this area) is a cracker.
Turnbull loses Rupert Murdoch’s favour over ‘unaffordable’ $56 billion NBN
Leaving the Member for Wentworth off Murdoch’s list at this point, taken together with the NewsCorp mogul’s sledge at the NBN, may be a signal indicating where Murdoch’s views on the subject of leadership lie.
Thank you for the platitudes, Sir Berners-Lee
Why doesn't Australia have enough confidence in ourselves without these father figures looking on? I just don't know.
BlackBerry CEO to hit Australia in March
Yesterday it was revealed BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins would bring his smile to Australia on Monday 18 March to launch the new BlackBerrys and share the happiness. Praise be.
Govt spying through undersea cables
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, new revelations coming out of US whistleblower Edwards Snowden have revealed that the Australian Signals Directorate habitually taps undersea fibre-optic cables from Australia.
Woodside connects 200k IoT sensors to Amazon
There are some fascinating case studies coming out of Amazon Web Service's Summit in Sydney this week. One of the ones that we found the most interesting was a story regarding resources giant Woodside, which has conducted one of the largest Internet of Things projects we've seen yet in Australia.
AFP blocks FoI access to social media info
Some five months ago, Pirate Party Australia founder Rodney Serkowski made what many would consider to be a fairly standard Freedom of Information request with the Australian Federal Police, relating to data collected through social media channels. The request has been denied in its entirety.
Google’s Wallet won’t open for Australia
Well, we can’t say we’re surprised, but yet again search giant Google has decided to launch a new service exclusively in the US, leaving Australia out in the cold. This time it’s the company’s mobile payments solution, which is based on the Near Field Communications chips that all the cool smartphones are getting these days (well, apart from Samsung’s Galaxy S II, apparently).
Google Nexus 4 launching soon in Australia
Discouraged by Ausdroid’s reports (here, here and here) that Google’s new flagship Nexus 4 handset (manufactured by LG) isn’t going to launch through Australia’s mobile carriers? Worry no more. According to Gizmodo (we recommend you click here for the full article), the hyped Android 4.2 handset is set to launch locally through retailers anyway.
Qld may hold Royal Commission into payroll bungle
It's been one of the biggest IT-related disasters in Australia's history, it's going to take $1.2 billion to fix, and it's even the subject of complex legal discussions between prime contractor IBM and the Queensland Government. Welcome to the world of Queensland Health's colossal payroll systems overhaul bungle. Today's news is that the state's LNP Premier Campbell Newman has canvassed setting up a commission of inquiry (also known as a royal commission) to get to the heart of the matter.
NSW Police illegally hacks Facebook page
In a court case last week, it emerged that the NSW Police Force has had a ... less than legal relationship with the Facebook account of an individual who had been making fun of police officers online by posting extremely poorly doctored images of police Photoshopped with other images.
NBN Co has “major credibility issues”: Budde
NBN Co has "major credibility issues", according to telecommunications analyst Paul Budde, following the unexpected downgrade of its rollout schedule yesterday.
Interesting thoughts on IT outsourcing in the cloud era
It's now been several years since cloud computing became mainstream in Australia. Small businesses are using it. Major corporations such as Australia's largest banks and insurers are using it. And even the public sector has started using it.
With this breadth of adoption has also come a deepening of our understanding of how large organisations should use cloud computing.
iTunes Radio to hit Australia early 2014
According to Bloomberg, iTunes Radio is to launch in Australia in early 2014.
Delimiter named among Australia’s five best business blogs
Delimiter was named as one of five finalists in the AWC's Best Australian Blogs 2013 Competition, which recognises excellence in Australian blogging and brings together entrants in categories including commentary, lifestyle/hobby, personal and parenting, business, and words and writing.
Four months later, data retention funding model still incomplete
It turns out that four months after the legislation passed, the Government still hasn't quite worked out the funding model for its data retention package.
Taxi app goCatch picks up $3m investment; Uber offers ‘free’ week in Sydney
Uber this week announced a somewhat-free week in Sydney, allowing users up to $60 worth of credit on its service. Meanwhile the service which is emerging as its main local competitor, goCatch, just pulled in a cool $3 million in venture capital.
NZ Govt pushes hard into cloud
New Zealand's national Government announced a whole of government contract this morning for what it terms 'Office Productivity as a Service' services. This includes email and calendaring services, as well as file-sharing, mobility, instant messaging and collaboration services. The contract complements two existing contracts -- Desktop as a Service and Enterprise Content Management as a Service.
Will a Coalition Govt pump IT outsourcing?
Those of you will long memories will recall that it was the Howard administration which first kicked the Federal Government into gear back in 1997 in terms of the now-common practice of outsourcing key IT services to the private sector. And now there are fears an Abbott administration could push down that road strongly again.
“Like Sol Trujillo”: Conroy blasts Vodafone CEO
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has taken an axe to complaints by Vodafone Australia's chief executive Bill Morrow about the national telecommunications regulatory regime, comparing Morrow to outspoken former Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo.
Cisco hikes Australian prices by 13 percent
It's not easy being a buyer of technology products and services in Australia at the moment. The continually sliding value of the Australian dollar means that vendor after vendor is hiking the Australian prices of their products. Australians are increasingly paying more Australian dollars for precisely the same product.
iPad too tough to support, says Dell Australia
Fighting words this morning from Joe Kremer, the managing director of Dell Australia, who has had a bit of a spray against Apple's flagship iPad tablet, alleging that it's not fit for use in large organisations and that the battle to conquer the tablet market isn't over yet.
50 awesome Australian female programmers
Over at Pollenizer, long-time startup industry figure Bronwen Clune has published a list of Australia's top 50 female programmers.
Telstra builds four new datacentres
Telstra late yesterday revealed plans to expand its cloud computing business through constructing four new datacentres located around the nation to cater for demand. Now if only the telco could announce some new cloud computing customers.
Defence may have Thales thin clients by 2015
It looks like there has finally been some action with regard to the Department of Defence's long-running plans to pilot thin client desktops to replace its duplicated desktop PC infrastructure problem. iTNews reports that Thales has been chosen for a brief pilot of the technology.
How NBN spite has damaged the Turnbull brand: Get a free Delimiter 2.0 article
It’s been several months now since we launched Delimiter 2.0 with a subscription model. Since it’s been a while, we thought it might be a good time to give those who have yet to subscribe a taste of what they’re missing. This morning we disabled the paywall on one specific article, entitled: Conduct unbecoming: How NBN spite has damaged the Turnbull brand.
Fairfax to let MS Office ‘wither away’
Remember how publishing giant Fairfax announced plans several years ago to dump Microsoft’s Office and Exchange platforms for most of its 11,000 staff and switch to Google Apps? Well, this week the company’s chief information officer Andrew Lam Po-Tang gave the CeBIT conference a detailed look at what that process actually looks like inside the company. It turns out the demise of Microsoft Office is not so much a bang but a whimper for the publisher.
Comcare goes cloud for DR
Cloud computing projects in the Federal Government are a little thin on the water these days, despite the fact that the previous Labor administration tried to push for further adoption in the public sector, and despite the fact that cloud is all the rage in state governments at the moment. That's why we're particularly interested in this little gem posted by Australian Government chief technology officer John Sheridan on his blog today.
Court rules Optus coverage ads misleading
There you have it, folks -- in black and white. A court has decided that Telstra's network covers a geographic area nearly two and a half times greater in land mass than that of Optus. That's a figure we'll be pulling up regularly in future as Optus makes claims about its coverage.
New Nexus 7 may hit Australia in Sept
We don’t have any inside information to share, but according to Ausdroid, the new Nexus 7 may hit Australia as early as September. Niiiice.
Australia Post wants to be a major telco …
Industry newsletter Communications Day this morning revealed that Australia Post was planning a major push into telecommunications services, with Optus regulatory chief Maha Krishnapillai (who recently quit the company) joining to spearhead the effort.
Lockheed Martin is ASG’s mystery bidder
blog After a few months of speculation, it has emerged that the mystery bidder attempting to buy Perth-headquartered IT services firm ASG is Lockheed...
China concerned by Huawei NBN ban, says Bob Carr
Foreign Minister Bob Carr hit up the ABC's flagship current affairs program 7:30 last night and was quizzed by host Chris Uhlmann on, among other things, the attitude of Chinese officials to the Federal Government's move to block Chinese networking gear supplier Huawei from participating in National Broadband Network contracts.
Federal Govt cloud computing use is exploding
The Federal Government's adoption of cloud computing technologies has been quite a slow one. However, according to an article published this week by ZDNet, the situation may be drastically changing.
Huge surprise: FTTN trials already delayed
Well, we knew it was coming. The extensive delays suffered by NBN Co during its rollout under the previous Labor administration are starting to hit the project under the Coalition as well. Last week it was revealed that NBN Co's new deal with Telstra may not be inked until the end of 2014. And later on in the week ZDNet confirmed that NBN Co's trials of the Coalition's preferred Fibre to the Node technology have also been delayed. Surprise!
Australia’s carriers want to sell you a Galaxy S4
In case you missed it, we thought we'd let you know that we've received fevered media releases from all of Australia's major mobile carriers over the past few days letting us know the somewhat obvious news that they will be stocking the new Galaxy S 4 model when it launches in Australia.
NBN: What does ‘retail service provider’ actually mean?
From the joint parliamentary committee into the National Broadband Network today (and associated submissions released over the past week) comes news that energy utilities want to be able to buy services directly from NBN Co.
Top ten tech sector leaks we’d like to see
However, at Delimiter we've got just one problem with Julian Assange's much-publicised extraction of what appears to be an everlasting pot of gold from the clutches of the United States Government: So far, almost none of the cables leaked appear to reference Australia's technology sector.
The good, the bad and the corporate information leak
Great post on the AuTechHeads user group analysing how the WikiLeaks phenomenon (that is, information leakage in large organisations) should or could be handled by IT managers.
Judge overturns Galaxy Tab sale ban
Multiple media outlets are reporting this afternoon that the Federal Court of Australia has overturned Apple;s preliminary injunction against the sale of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet in Australia.
Turnbull’s first 100 days have been a disaster
I think it's safe to say at this point that Turnbull has not gotten his first 100 days in power right; in fact, he's gotten them disastrously wrong, making little or even backwards progress on a range of fronts. It will be interesting to see if he can rectify his political and functioning mistakes in the next 100 days.
IT management: Stepping away from the tools
Fascinating rumination here from Sydney-based Doug Rathbone, a long-time IT professional and current technical director at advertising agency BMF.
CommBank ads to pimp core banking overhaul
Word on the street is CommBank is about to take its much-heralded, $730 million core banking modernisation project on the road, with a series of advertisements planned to go to air late on Boxing Day to inform the public about how the core overhaul will affect them, with buzzwords like "real-time banking" and a winsome lass toting an iPhone 4 to boot.
NBN originally just a “media stunt”, says IPA
Just how well-developed was the NBN policy, five or so years ago when it was first put together by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and then-PM Kevin Rudd? According to free market thinktank the Institute for Public Affairs, not very well-developed at all.
This week in Australian CIO blogs
Australia's chief information officers are a busy lot -- when they're not revamping the entire IT infrastructure for their company, tinkering with their iPad or chinwagging at Gartner conferences, they're blogging.
It’s on: Husic takes the NBN fight to Turnbull
To those of you who have been spoiling to see a head-on debate between charismatic Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull and young gun Labor MP Ed Husic, following the latter's appointment under Kevin Rudd as Parliamentary Secretary for Broadband, you need wait no longer.
Australia’s IT industry just isn’t sexy enough
Those of you who've been following Delimiter over the past several days might have noticed that I've gotten a little bit on my high horse over the issue of industry subsidies. I was a little shocked by the massive national ruckus created by the request by fruit processor SPC Ardmona for millions of dollars worth of government assistance for its plant in Shepparton, Victoria, when larger issues in the nation's technology sector are almost completely ignored. Today I've published a further view on the issue on the ABC's The Drum site, arguing that it's because the IT industry just isn't sexy enough.
Retail giant gets wild-and-Woolies with Google Apps
Point-of-sale terminals may seem to be changing on a weekly basis, but it’s not every day that the country’s largest retailer makes a major back-end platform shift. Little surprise, then, that there has been such great interest in a company blog post announcing that Woolworths has decided to shift its 26,000 employees to the cloud-based Google Apps platform.
Critics flood Roxon with copies of Orwell’s ‘1984’
Half a dozen of Roxon’s fiercest critics have started mailing the Labor Senator copies of George Orwell’s iconic book 1984.
So is G.Fast a thing or not?
Those who were closely observing Malcolm Turnbull’s debate with Business Spectator public Alan Kohler yesterday will have noted Turnbull’s reference to an emerging standard known as G.Fast. Turnbull made the somewhat controversial claim, according to ZDNet that G.Fast could eventually spur 1Gbps speeds over FTTN networks. But is G.Fast a reality, or another broadband pipe dream?
Qld Govt planning to cut 430 IT staff
The Queensland Government flags plans to cut some 430 ICT staff, as the state's ongoing problems with its ICT service delivery structure continue to bite.
Woolworths dumps BlackBerrys for iPhones
This morning The Australian newspaper reported (we recommend you click here for the full article) that BlackBerry is completely out and iPhone in at the retailer.
Debunking Abbott’s “server timestamp” claims
Unless you live in an area of Australia where it's impossible to get television or radio reception (an idea which has seemed attractive to your writer at times, in the current media environment), it would have been hard to escape the news that a Federal Court judge has thrown out the sexual harassment case against former Federal House of Representatives Speaker Peter Slipper. But it's one particular comment by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott that has Australia's IT industry perking up its ears this morning.
Granularity enters APRA’s cloud computing stance
As I wrote a few weeks back, the debate around cloud computing in Australia is becoming more granular and tactical -- as organisations gradually shift to a more mature understanding of this new class of technologies. In some ways, this is not a revolution; but an evolution; not a black and white scenario, but one of shades of gray. It's good to see some recognition from APRA of this fact.
An Australia Day NBN joke
The following telecommunications-related joke was sent to us by a friend. It's unknown who wrote it, but we think Malcolm Turnbull, in particular, might find it amusing :)
Linton mystified by NBN business case “drivel”
Come on, we know you’ve been waiting with bated breath since yesterday to find out what Exetel chief executive John Linton thinks of the NBN Co business case released yesterday. No major NBN announcement would be complete without Linton’s point of view. And Linton doesn’t disappoint.
Watch this space
Over the next two days (today and Thursday), Delimiter will be on a publishing hiatus, while we work on a substantial other project behind the scenes, entitled Delimiter 2.0. If really important news breaks, then we will cover it, but for this two day period most of our energies will be going towards a separate project.
NBN nightmare install escalated to CEO, fixed
Remember Andrew Devenish-Meares, the Armidale resident who penned a nightmarish tale several weeks ago relating to his ongoing struggle to get the National Broadband Network fibre connected to his house? Well, the situation has been resolved, and Devenish-Meares is now a happy NBN camper with Internode.
Telstra pays tiddlywinks for huge privacy breach
We can't help but suspect that the telco considers itself to have gotten off relatively scot-free from the debacle, paying an infringement notice of only $10,200 in relation to its contravention of an earlier direction on the issue by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Victorian agency reports schoolboy to police for informing it of IT security hole
Public Transport Victoria has reportedly reported a 16-year-old Melbourne schoolboy to Victoria Police for merely informing it of substantial security holes in its IT infrastructure.
Delimiter is giving away a Nexus 5!
As you may know, we're big fans of Google's Nexus line-up in general here at Delimiter towers. Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10 ... we love pretty much anything Nexus. Because of this, and because we're still seeking to boost our newsletter subscriber numbers, today we're kicking off a new competition to give away one of Google's new Nexus 5 smartphones.
No matter who wins the election, here’s why Telstra should build the NBN
The issue of how the National Broadband Network should be rolled out is an extremely fraught and highly debated one. But one thing has become very clear over the past several years: The rollout has not progressed as fast as Labor said it would; in fact, far from it. One reason for this may be that the organisation with the most expertise in rolling out telco networks hasn’t participated in the construction effort, unlike in virtually every other country in the world. If we want this rollout to happen, it is definitely time to turn back to Telstra to get this thing done.
Tasmanians have copper cut off before NBN connected
You would think ... you would really think, that there would be no possible way that NBN Co, Telstra and retail ISPs like Eftel could so badly coordinate the changeover process from Telstra's copper network to NBN Co's fibre network that any resident could be left without telecommunications access. You would think.
A quick note regarding today’s stories
Just a quick note to let you all know that Delimiter will be on hiatus today. The plan is that story posting will resume as per normal from tomorrow (Tuesday).
What’s the best Motorola Xoom deal?
Over at our sister site Delimiter Marketplace, we’ve posted an article examining the options for buying a Motorola Xoom. There are quite a few choices — you can sign up to a deal with Telstra or Optus, buy a Wi-Fi version of the tablet through JB Hi-Fi, or even buy the tablet from an independent online retailer like Mobicity or eBay.
We’re “a laughing stock” on R18+ games, says Minister
Just when you thought it was safe to assume that politicians didn’t really understand the debate around the need for an R18+ classification for video games, one pops his head up to disabuse us of the notion. Today’s Labor hero is Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor.
Surprise! Xbox One neutered for Australia
Look, I don’t know what y’all were expecting at this point. But if you’ve been reading Delimiter for a while, you may be aware that global technology giants do not always launch the same products in Australia that they launch internationally, they don’t always launch them at the same time, and they almost never launch them at the same price point. That’s why we’re not entirely surprised to find that some of the key features hyped this week as part of Microsoft’s Xbox One reveal won’t be available in Australia, at least initially.
PayPal: A new bank or a Web 1.0 dinosaur?
If Australia's major banks -- or, indeed, anyone in the world -- can come up with an alternative to PayPal's dubious internet payments monopoly, I say bring it on.
Malcolm Turnbull and the great Google conspiracy
To what extent were Turnbull’s comments yesterday about Google stimulated by the meeting he had at the search giant’s Sydney headquarters in early August?
Coalition NBN policy: Costed or not costed?
Call us sticklers for the truth, but it does seem rather like Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been jumping back and forth recently over the issue of whether the Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy has been costed.
Toshiba Chromebooks hit Australia
Japanese electronics giant Toshiba has announced its Chromebook laptops are available in Australia. Announced at CES 2014 in Las Vegas earlier this month, the devices ship with a 13.3" display and run Google's Chrome OS operating system. Australian recommended retail price will be $399.
I’m bored, AusCERT: Kick it up a notch
Consider us vastly amused by the storm in a tea cup currently embroiling the AusCERT security conference in Queensland this week, which -- while it is the nation's premier security confab -- has lacked a decent scandal for years. Thank God -- it's about time!
AARNet peers with Amazon Web Services
Work for one of Australia's universities and use Amazon Web Services? Your life just got a little better. Today AARNet, the telecommunications network serving Australia's university sector, announced it would peer with AWS for fun and profit.
UNSW publishes detailed cloud/data sovereignty toolkit
The University of New South Wales's widely respected Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre has published what I would consider to be a very useful whitepaper investigating data sovereignty issues related to cloud computing in the Australian context.
Announcing the winner: Delimiter’s iPad giveaway
We award an iPad to a lucky Delimiter reader.
iPad minis replace Windows Mobile at Arnott’s
From iTNews earlier this month comes a rather interesting story about how food giant Campbell Arnott’s has deployed a fleet of several hundred iPad mini tablets to replace legacy Windows Mobile devices being used by its field staff.
HTC’s Android better than iOS, says Choice
We've said before that HTC's Sense UI is just beautiful ... it's hard to put one of the Korean manufacturer's new Android-based smartphones down once you pick it up and see the subtle motions taking place across its screen. But is the combination of Google's Android operating system with HTC Sense enough to outclass Apple's iOS?
New IT system causes chaos at Cairns Hospital
There is absolutely no doubt that electronic health records system implementations have an extremely chequered history in Australia. Now a new catastrophe along these lines has appeared in Far North Queensland.