Happy Friday! And see you next week :)
hey everyone, just a quick note to let you know that I'm taking today off from writing on Delimiter.
Shock: iPhone 5 queue “pretentious, superficial”
Shock news has arrived this morning courtesy of The Register, which reports that the experience of queueing overnight (or even for several nights running) to buy an iPhone 5 may not be the glorious experience which Apple fans have believed it to be.
Nokia’s supersized Lumia 625 hits Oz; But does it even matter?
We can’t help but wonder at this point whether anyone will truly care, given the existing proliferation of Nokia Lumia models in Australia, but seeing as it’s our job to do so, we thought we’d inform you all of the availability of a new model in the Lumia line down under. Nokia tells us this morning that the company’s Lumia 625 is shortly to land on Australian shores.
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 ATIV S for Australia in Feb?
Australian Windows Phone enthusiast site Windows Phone Down Under says it's likely Australia will see Samsung's Windows Phone 8-based ATIV S in February.
WikiLeaks Party implodes, candidates quit
WikiLeaks Senate candidate Leslie Cannold quits the party, alleging impropriety in its internal processes.
Vic Govt mulls choose your own device policy
When it comes to working in government departments and agencies, you know the drill when it comes to personal IT infrastructure. Public servants are typically issued with an ageing desktop PC bought about five years ago and running Windows XP (or sometimes, God forbid, Windows Vista), a BlackBerry for their mobile phone, and they'll have to argue with their IT support team to get permission to install something as basic as Mozilla Firefox. We've all been there at one time or another. However, if an article published by Intermedium last week is to be believed, the Victorian Government is seeking to shake this paradigm up.
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?
NBN Co to beat June target, says iTNews
According to an analysis done by iTNews, NBN Co may actually be back on track to meet its target for the end of June.
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.
Gartner predicted failure of NSW GCIO role
Oh, dear. Looks like -- as the world's premiere enterprise IT analyst firm usually is -- Gartner was right when it predicted back in 2005 that there was a good probability that the then-brand new NSW whole of government chief information officer role wouldn't work.
25Mbps in flats? Turnbull “dreaming”, says strata association
The issue of how to treat those Australians living in multi-dwelling units such as apartment blocks has always been a thorny one for both Labor and the Coalition.
“Burning ambition”: Brisbane launches digital economy strategy
It seems virtually everyone's getting on the whole "digital economy" bandwagon these days. The latest cab off the rank is Brisbane, which has appointed a chief digital officer and this week launched its new 'digita strategy'. Nice.
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.
Delimiter is giving away another Apple Watch!
Just a quick post to let you know that Delimiter is about to hold a new reader giveaway. Our previous Apple Watch giveaway was quite popular, so it feels like the right thing to do to do another :)
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.
How to get around Australian geo-blocking
Frustrated that you can't watch Netflix because you've got an Australian IP address? Can't log into Hulu? It's a common problem, and one that many Australians find frustrating. However, due to the magic goodness of the Internet, there are ways around these kinds of headaches.
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”.
Uber has paid out $600,000 in taxi fines in Victoria
To my mind, this action by Uber is something akin to corporate heroism. Its customers want to use its services, and so it is continuing to provide services that customers want, despite the fact that the Victorian Government is essentially trying to shut it down at the moment.
Teenage hacker evaded police and left Australia under own passport, now appears on national...
Last week the ABC's flagship current affairs program 7:30 covered the somewhat extraordinary story of Dylan Wheeler, an Australian teenager. According to the program, Wheeler has not only been charged by Australian police on hacking offences, but he has also been highlighted by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for his activities. None of this, however, appears to have stopped Wheeler from leaving Australia on his own passport or subsequently appearing on national television.
Google Play Music finally hits Australia
Were you there when Apple’s iTunes Music Store first launched in Australia? I was. It was back in October 2005 and I was a journalist at technology news site ZDNet Australia. At the time it was a huge deal for Australian music fans, who had previously been resorting to naughty platforms such as Napster to get their digital music fix on. Well, things have changed a lot in the IT industry, but the iTunes Music Store is still around and kicking. Now it’s got a new competitor: Google.
Telstra/NBN FTTB trial hits 90Mbps
Wondering how NBN Co’s Fibre to the Basement trials in the Melbourne suburbs of Carlton, Parkville and Brunswick are going? Well, we already know that they’re likely to garner some pretty high speeds. Similar commercial deployments in Sydney have delivered speeds of up to 100Mbps, after all, and NBN Co’s own testing in laboratory conditions in late 2013 showed similar results. The first actual speed tests have been disclosed by Telstra at the CommsDay Summit in Sydney this morning.
Is $80,000 the new IT starting salary?
Technology salaries have always been pretty decent if you’ve got the right qualifications (think Oracle, Cisco, high-end Microsoft etc), but have they really hit the heights of $80,000 a year being standard for a graduate?
One.Tel saga finally concluded
Wow. Are we still writing about One.Tel? Apparently so. One.Tel, of course, was a hugely hyped Australian telco which eventually went bust in spectacular fashion, and become the subject of many lawsuits. The final one is about to be concluded, according to The Australian newspaper.
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!
Samsung offshores Aussie mobile support
As Korean giant Samsung has grown its presence in the mobile phone space to rival and even exceed that of industry leader Apple, it has also had to grow its support network. This is to be expected. But what many readers may not have realised is that much of the company’s support for its devices in Australia was actually supported from Australia, with a call centre based in Wollongong. Unfortunately for those concerned, according to Ausdroid, those jobs are now to be offshored.
Not absolutely everything is the NBN’s fault
Despite what you may read in the media, not everything that goes wrong in early stage NBN rollout zones has anything to do with NBN Co. Take the problems outlined in this article published today by Computerworld, for example.
Amazon wins more Aussie financial services work
Cloud computing giant Amazon Web Services has been relatively quiet about the numbers of Australian customers signing up to use its elastic infrastructure since it launched a dedicated datacentre in Australia in mid-November last year. At the moment the situation is unclear: Are Australian customers signing up to use the facility in droves, are they ignoring it, or are things somewhere in between?
Julie Bishop wants to store Australian passports in “the cloud”
With Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to the Prime Ministership, sometimes your writer feels as though the whole Federal Government has gone technology-mad. It's a good feeling -- so much is being discussed at high levels that the technology sector has been trying to get on the table for years -- but things are also getting deeply, deeply weird.
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.
CenITex turfs almost all contractors
Those of you with a long-term interest in Victorian Government IT shared services provider CenITex will remember that the agency was several years ago known far and wide for the high rates it was paying its extensive contractor workforce. No more: Most of those contractors are now gone.
Turnbull’s credit card details exposed in Stratfor hack
By now many of you know that a number of Australian organisations have had their credit card numbers compromised by a major hack of the US security intelligence firm Stratfor, with Australian victims including ANZ Bank, BHP, HSBC, Westpac, Woodside and so on. But did you know that Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull's security has also been compromised?
Slow day at Delimiter today
Just a quick note to let you know that we're having a slow day at Delimiter today as I am away. It's actually a terrible time for it, as there are a stack of amazing stories I want and need to write -- the Internet piracy (Attorney-General's) and NBN stuff coming out of Senate Estimates, a bunch of enterprise IT stuff (especially the banks, and the Federal Government procurement situation), further stuff about the ABC's NBN coverage and more. But this one has been scheduled in for a while, so it's unavoidable.
Why Australia should tax Apple + Google less
Writing on the ABC's The Drum site, Institute of Public Affairs senior fellow Julie Novak argues that globally, countries are competing to be centres of taxation, and that Australia should start playing the game better, as low-taxing countries such as Ireland have.
Is the Coalition’s NBN policy fundamentally different?
Is the Coalition's NBN policy fundamentally different to that of Labor? Yes, according to the ABC's Nick Ross. But others disagree.
Productivity Commission chief is ex-DBCDE head
It escaped our attention at the time, but the more astute among you may have noted in November last year that Peter Harris, the head of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy’s Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, was appointed to chair the Government’s Productivity Commission.
A detailed report into Australia’s IT startup scene
The From Little Things blog created by Australian startup incubator Pollenizer recently has been turning up some solid content; profiles of Australian startups, interesting tidbits about the local investment and more. And today it’s gone one better, publishing a detailed report into Australia’s IT startup scene and how it compares internationally.
Kogan denies “bait & switch” mobile scam
Sometimes we amuse ourselves with thinking about what would make the perfect story on a mainstream media site like News.com.au. Well, this story published on News.com.au this morning involving Kogan Mobile really takes the cake.
Federal Govt releases big data strategy
The Federal Government has this afternoon released the formal version of its whole of government big data strategy, which whole of government chief information officer Glenn Archer and others in the Canberra public sector have been working on for some time.
Leap year outages: Nostalgia for Y2K?
Call us nostalgic, but today's news that the Health Industry Claims and Payments Service (HICAPS) system owned by the National Australia bank was taken down by faulty programming associated with today's leap year date takes us back to the good old days of Year 2000 bugs.
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".
No Amazon Fire Phone for Australia yet
You might have noticed that global online retailer Amazon launched a new phone overnight in the US. With a new feature called ‘Dynamic Perspective’ (which delivers 3D depth to some apps), a customised version of Android and solid integration with Amazon’s world-beating content ecosystem, this model is getting some plaudits from technology reviews. However, for Australians the phone itself may not be as interesting as Amazon may want it to be. That’s because there are no signs it’s coming to Australia yet.
Cisco picks up 4G work with Vodafone
When you get into the datacentres of Australia's big telcos (as I've had the chance to do on occasion), what you'll find is that their network infrastructure is highly heterogenuous. You get a lot of Juniper, a lot of Alcatel-Lucent, a lot of Ericsson, a lot of Nokia-Siemens Networks and if you look hard enough you'll even be able to find some old Nortel gear tucked away in a corner and even some (gasp!) Huawei. However, if I had to make a bet, I'd say that the most ubiquitous brand in the core is Cisco.
‘Red’: Vodafone overhauls plan structure
Bit by bit, cell tower by cell tower upgrade, customer by customer, Vodafone is attempting to bring its ailing operations in Australia back into the black. Today's new initiative from the big V is a new mobile plan structure which will see three price points established with "infinite standard calls" and "infinite texts".
NSW may sack 610 IT support staffers
We're not happy to hear from The Register that the NSW Department of Education and Department may be about to sack some 610 technical support officers.
ATO considers how to tax Bitcoin
Those who have been wondering when the Australian Taxation Office would follow the US Internal Revenue Service and make a formal ruling on how cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin should be taxed now have an answer. According to the Financial Review (we recommend you click here for the full article), the ATO has just opened a review into the issue.
Tragic accident reported in NBN Kiama build
NBN Co has been advised of a reported fatality at Kiama that occurred just before noon today. The Ambulance Service responded and Police are in attendance.
Qld sets royal commission into Health payroll
It's time. One of Australia's greatest ever IT disasters is now going to have the *ahem* privilege of having a royal commission conducted into how precisely it went wrong.
NBN Co’s wireless rollout also behind
Bad news upon bad news is continuing to pile on for the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project. Hot upon the heels of the asbestos scandal which continues to plague Telstra as it remediates its pits and pipes for the NBN infrastructure, the Financial Review has reported this morning that the wireless component of the NBN rollout is also significantly behind.
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.
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.
Medibank Private dumps seven other telcos, keeps Telstra and … Skype?
I've got a number of questions about this deal ... namely: How the hell was Medibank Private -- a huge corporation -- even using eight different telecommunications suppliers in 2015 to start with? Why has it taken the company so long to consolidate the numbers of suppliers down? And since when, as Telstra detailed in its media release, has Telstra been selling Skype for Business services (owned by Microsoft) as part of its service offering?
National IT outage “minimal”, claims CommBank
Yesterday at a financial results briefing session, the Commonwealth Bank opened up for the first time regarding the nationwide outage which took down around 9,000 of its desktop PCs, hundreds of servers and even its CommSee customer management system.
Telstra may terminate 280k mobile services
Wholesale telco ispONE this morning issued a media release stating that it had filed an application with the Federal Court seeking to stop its own upstream provider, Telstra, from terminating the supply of prepaid mobile services to ispONE. Why is this an issue? Because if Telstra moves ahead with the move, it will result in some 280,000 customers losing their mobile access.
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.
IT glitch takes down CityLink tunnels
Bad news this morning for Melbourne commuters, with a mysterious glitch at CityLink taking down the Burnley and Domain tunnels. Traffic apparently slowed to a crawl, to howls of protest.
Victorian tries to fly drugs into prison with drone
Australia’s law enforcement agencies have for some time now been demonstrating their interest in using remotely controlled drones to tackle crime. The military already uses them, South Australia’s police force went to market for a whole bunch last November, and Queensland Police is also keen on the technology. But what the law may not have quite anticipated is the degree to which criminals are also interested in using drones for their own, not quite as legal purposes.
Apple Australia’s tiny tax bill “staggering”: Husic
Apple made more than a billion dollars more revenue from Australia over the year to the end of September 2012, but it paid (according to its financial statements) about $54 million less tax.
Turnbull wants ‘user pays’ FTTH model
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has made some interesting comments backing BT’s ‘user pays’ fibre to the premise model in the UK, which sees the telco’s fibre to the node rollout extended upon user demand.
Australia has fastest 4G speeds in world
Impressed by the 4G speeds offered by your provider, whether it's Telstra, Optus or Vodafone? You should be. According to a new study of 4G/LTE mobile speeds around the world, Australia has the fastest average speeds in the world.
Oops … Tesla enthusiast charges car on Qld windfarm
Headline says it all, really. The future is here.
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.
Adobe bucks IT price hike inquiry
US software giant Adobe is fast emerging as one of the toughest nuts to crack when it comes to the IT price hike inquiry currently being carried out by the Federal Parliament.
Coalition, Labor support new surveillance laws
The Daily Telegraph reported this morning that the Coalition would shortly introduce a raft of new surveillance laws based on almost all of the recommendations handed down last year in a report by the the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security on potential reforms to Australia's National Security Legislation.
Moto X hits Australia … eight months late
Remember when Motorola was a Google subsidiary and not in the throes of being acquired by Chinese company Lenovo? Remember in early August last year when the company announced what looked like at that point as being a fantastic new Android handset, in the form of the skin- and colour-changing Moto X? Yeah, good times, good times. Well, even though multiple other high-level Android and iPhone handsets have been launched since August, Motorola has finally gotten organised enough to send a few Moto X units Australia’s way.
Dallas Buyers Club won’t appeal piracy ruling, but may still seek large damages
In essence, what we’re seeing here is that Dallas Buyers Club and Marque Lawyers have decided to more or less accept Justice Perram’s ruling, but may be seeking to reword their approach to alleged copyright infringers to still target them for facilitating uploading of content online (as occurs in a BitTorrent situation, for example), rather than merely targeting them for downloading material.
‘Champagne gold’ HTC One hits Telstra
If you're an Android user but also a fan of the new gold option on Apple's iPhone 5S, you may be interested to know that Taiwanese vendor HTC has just announced a 'champagne' gold version of its flagship One handset through Telstra.
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.
Medicare moves into Human Services IT family
It’s been a while now since the Federal Government signed into being the Department of Human Services, the new super-department formed by the merger of Medicare, Centrelink, the Child Support Agency, Australian Hearing and CRS Australia. However, DHS’ IT department, which largely consists of Centrelink’s very successful IT department with more resources, has only just now taken responsibility from long-time outsourcer for much of Medicare’s IT systems.
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.
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.
NBN: Where’s the love, Eric Schmidt?
blog When it comes to the National Broadband Network, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt's cup runneth over. Who could forget those heady days at...
Australia’s IT startups need more capital
According to Phil Morle, the co-founder of startup incubator and consultancy Pollenizer, the situation still isn’t where it needs to be in terms of IT startup funding in Australia.
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.
Has Anonymous hacked an Aussie ISP?
A number of technology media outlets yesterday reported they had spoken to a member of the Anonymous collective of Internet activists, who stated that they had broken into a major Australian ISP and were preparing to release a vast package of internal data to prove that the Federal Government's surveillance and data retention plans weren't secure.
More mainframe workloads moved to Oracle
Over the past several years we’ve begun to see a bit of a trend in Australia of major organisations shifting server workloads away from traditional mainframes and onto Oracle platforms, especially its integrated Exadata and Exalogic systems. The key driver of continued mainframe use has always been the legacy platform’s efficiency, stability and (to a certain extent) flexibility (such as in its virtualisation ability), but it’s also had numerous disadvantages, which we need not go into here. As time has gone on, it appears the performance levels inherent in Oracle’s systems are starting to lure CIOs away from the mainframe environment where appropriate. We saw this in Westpac in January 2013, and now, according to iTNews, we’re starting to see it also at another major financial institution — ASIC.
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.
Nexus 7 draw: The winner revealed
Announcing the winner of Delimiter's Nexus 7 random draw.
$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.
iTunes Radio to hit Australia early 2014
According to Bloomberg, iTunes Radio is to launch in Australia in early 2014.
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.
Those Chinese mining hackers are back
Those of you with long memories will recall that some 12 months ago, Four Corners aired a controversial report claiming that several of Australia’s largest mining companies were under attack by Chinese hackers, with a view to siphoning off sensitive corporate information. This morning, that claim resurfaced again.
Some Delimiter housekeeping
Just a quick note to let readers know that for the next couple of weeks I'll be getting some assistance with Delimiter from long-time and very experienced technology journalist David Braue.
NSW Govt progresses private cloud talks
Remember that private cloud computing environment that the NSW Government is planning to develop for its departments and agencies? The one it discussed in a public forum last month in front of the creme de la creme of Australia's IT industry? Well, according to Intermedium , the state is actually doing something about the plan, kicking off private talks with key vendors.
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.
Conflict of interest: Milne’s $1.5m in Telstra shares
If you had spent a decade in a high-profile role at Telstra that netted you $1.5 million worth of shares in the telco, would you consider it a good idea to sell those shares before taking a similarly high-profile role at NBN Co, which is engaged in billion-dollar negotiations with Telstra that could significantly affect Telstra's share price?
CSIRO still running Windows 98, NT
In an otherwise unrelated article on the organisation's adoption of Internet Protocol version 6, an article published by ZDNet.com.au yesterday revealed that Australia's peak scientific research agency was still running some copies of Windows 98 and NT4.
Victoria Police gives up trying to replace 25-year-old IT system
I strongly urge the Victorian Government to address this issue as a matter of urgency. It will require not only a substantial funding increase for this area to Victoria Police, but also a number of senior appointments and strong Ministerial support to get this project moving and delivered.
Google’s Sydney HQ gets hacked … kind of
The security staff at Google Australia’s flashy new headquarters in the Sydney CBD most likely spend most of their time worrying about physical breaches of the building’s security, making sure that the company’s local network routers and PCs aren’t broken into by Internet nasties and trying to keep nutbag journalists from conducting satirical exercises outside their front door. But do they spend much time worrying about the in-building network controlling functions such as air conditioning? Probably not. However, if this article by Wired is any indication, perhaps they should be.
Apple win doesn’t apply to Australia: Samsung
Wondering if Apple's billion-dollar patents victory in the US against Korean consumer electronics rival Samsung will have any impact on the Australian market? Well, it was always unlikely, given the differing legal jurisdictions. But now we have an official answer from Samsung itself.
NBN Press Club debate: It’s on
Communications Minister Anthony Albanese and Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull have agreed to debate the National Broadband Network, likely at the National Press Club.
Kindle Fire HD finally lands in Australia
Amazon has gradually been opening up its Kindle range to Australians, culminating in the news overnight that the Kindle Fire HD models are now available.
Need a 3G SIM? MacGyver it from your power meter
From Tasmania today comes a tale of woe and piracy … apparently the electricity meters in the state have SIM cards embedded in them for Telstra’s Next G network, and they can be used for ill. Who knew?
NBN: Isn’t Siobhan McKenna just doing her job?
One can't help but be amused by the ruckus which the Financial Review newspaper has raised (and which the Opposition is echoing with vitriolic fervour) around the renewed attention which NBN Co's board has reportedly been paying towards the stewardship of the National Broadband Network Company.
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.
Victoria Police … plastering over underlying IT disasters with sexy gear?
The boys in blue are in line, apparently, for hot new gadgets such as body worn cameras, tablets and more, in an effort to modernise the force. Not mentioned, of course, are the significant problems which Victoria Police faces with fundamental IT service delivery.
#NatSecInquiry may not land before election
The Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security's report on the package of National Security Inquiry reforms has already been delayed to the extent that it is unlikely that any associated legislation will reach Parliament before the next Federal Election.
Postponement
In which Renai unfortunately calls in sick just days after Delimiter re-launches.
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.
Reversal: Telstra no longer keen on Windows Live
It seems like only yesterday that Telstra first confirmed it was interested in dumping the email, blogging, photos and online storage platforms used by customers of its BigPond division and migrating customers to Microsoft’s Windows Live platform. However, it hasn't precisely been an easy transition for the two companies.
‘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.
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!
Turnbull’s NBN media war blows back
This morning, long-time telco commentator David Braue skewers Turnbull for this ongoing war on the media, in the erudite fashion which Braue readers have become accustomed to.
Vic Govt splurges on IT in budget
Those of you with your eyes on public sector IT spending will no doubt be hanging out for next week's Federal Budget, where there are always a few multi-million-dollar gems laid out in terms of big-spending IT packages. However, it's not always the Federal Government which splurges on major IT projects, as this week's budget in Victoria showed.
NBN Co’s Telstra bill may be $98 billion
Ever received one of those giant telephone bills from Telstra with a massive amount of extra fees which you never expected? Spare a thought for the National Broadband Network Company. Industry newsletter Communications Day has gotten its hands on a report compiled by investment bank Goldman Sachs which, for the first time, fully projects the amount NBN Co could be paying Telstra over the next half-decade for access to infrastructure such as pits and pipes.
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.
The NSW RTA’s iMacs lasted a full decade
The NSW RTA (now the RMS) finally reveals plans to replace the 'sunflower' iMacs in its motor registries around the state, a decade after they were first deployed. Now that's what you call return on investment.
Exceed your quota … somehow it’s the NBN’s fault?
Herald Sun columnist burns through her Telstra broadband quota on the NBN and has her connected slowed as a result, then blames the National Broadband Network infrastructure. Wonderful.
Planking? Gen-i CEO’s got it covered
When Delimiter issued a call on Twitter about a month back for pics of any IT industry personalities engaged in the social art of “planking”, we thought we’d get a few willing takers. But we never imagined we’d see pictures of the chief executive of one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest IT services companies, Gen-i, engaged in the practice. Hats off to Chris Quin — looks like he’s got a fairly taut six pack going on there. Nice work!
Website blocks, court orders, three strikes: Rights holders want it all
So you've seen the reports about Federal Attorney-General George Brandis resuscitating the failed talks between ISPs and content owners about the pesky problem of Internet piracy? Have you ever wondered what measures the rights-holders feel should be taken to address such issues? Fear not, industry publication Mumbrella has published an extensive article detailing their demands. And it appears they want rather a lot.
NAB/IBM outsourcing is going ahead
It's the industry's worst-kept secret, but it looks as if the National Australia Bank's IT outsourcing initiative with IBM is finally official and going ahead, with some 425 staff reportedly shifting out of the bank and to IBM.
“Terminate copper”: France’s €20bn fibre splurge
Last week the French Government revealed that a combined €20 billion investment in fibre broadband technology, representing a combination of public and private funding, would be ploughed in to help bring the nation's ageing telecommunications networks up to spec and "terminate the copper".
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?
Google Glass has not yet launched … but Westpac is trialling an app
Google's augmented reality and heads-up display headset Google Glass hasn't yet formally launched, but that hasn't stopped some of Australia's major corporations from developing an app for the latest hot platform.
Melbourne IT knocked Twitter URLs offline
No doubt there are some red faces at Melbourne-based web hosting and IT services firm Melbourne IT this morning, after the company admitted a human error by one of its staff yesterday resulted in an outage which took down the URL shortening service used by global social networking company Twitter.
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.
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.
#firstworldproblems
Life is tough when you're a gazillionaire Australian ISP mega-mogul ;)
Now You Should Listen to This, Because This Concerns You
In the movies, it's common for a new prisoner to wait until lunch, then find the biggest, baddest dude in the room and beat...
Consoles to suffer as tablets triple mobile games downloads by 2017
Tablet makers are set to reap a windfall in coming years as gamers continue to shift their gaming dollars away from dedicated gaming devices and into the wallets of increasingly agile mobile-gaming developers, new figures from Juniper Research have suggested.
Wyatt Roy’s innovation policy hack day will be Saturday week in Sydney
Remember how Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy publicly discussed the possibility of holding an innovation policy ‘hackathon’ to generate new policy ideas to help develop Australia’s economy into an innovation powerhouse? Well it’s already organised, and it’ll be Saturday week in Sydney, with tech accelerator BlueChilli doing much of the organising.
Coalition faces internal e-safety dissent
Remember how the new Coalition Federal Government issued a detailed discussion paper in mid-January canvassing various options through which it can deal with the issue of children’s safety on the Internet, including the potential establishment of a children’s e-safety commissioner? Of course you do. Well, now Malcolm Turnbull’s Parliamentary Secretary Paul Fletcher, who is spearheading the policy, is facing opposition from a new front: Coalition MPs.
Porn is key for the NBN, says developer
Hilarious comments over at Computerworld from Jennifer Wilson, a director at content and applications developer The Project Factory. According to Wilson, while it’s nice to talk about e-health and education outcomes from the Federal Government’s flagship National Broadband Network project, ultimately it’s all about the porn.
Where’s our Arrested Development? Choice Australia asks Netflix
At this point, most Australians who watch Arrested Development have probably resigned themselves to (ahem) obtaining the new season through Channel BitTorrent. But there is one organisation still maintaining the rage: Consumer advocacy group Choice, which has written to Netflix demanding to know what the hell is going on.
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.
Valve may re-issue Left 4 Dead 2 as R18+
Thanks to the new laws allowing R18+ video games to be sold in Australia, Valve is strongly investigating re-releasing its Left 4 Dead 2 game locally in its original gory form.
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.
KIRA elaison: Has Toshiba burned Apple’s Retina Display?
Laptop stalwart Toshiba has beaten Apple to the punch by offering an extremely high-resolution display in a slimline Ultrabook that has been clearly designed to appeal to buyers’ deep love of everything shiny.
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?
An iPhone app will not fix Australia’s e-health woes
Hilarious news comes from the Federal Government’s flagship e-health conference in Melbourne this week, where Health Minister has revealed that part of Labor’s $466.7 million national e-health project will be spent on … an iPhone app for doctors.
Govt CTO explains new role; with Lego
We're pleased that John Sheridan has published the complete text of a lengthy speech he recently gave explaining his new role as Australian Government chief technology officer. Plus, he does so using a stack of cool lego pictures and a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. Really, what else could you want?
iHype: Welcome to the iPhone 5 hypno-orgy
Apparently, the iPhone 5 is already a success, before it even launches.
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.
iPad mini giveaway: The winner revealed
You may remember that in March Delimiter kicked off a reader giveaway. To enter to get a chance to win an Apple iPad mini tablet, you had to sign up to our new weekly newsletter before the beginning of May. Today, we’re happy to announce the winner! An iPad mini is currently on its way to Alan Heydon, a project manager in Western Australia. Congrats Alan! Enjoy your new iPad mini :)
NBN? Bah, we’ve got mobile phones, says Andrews
We couldn’t help but be perplexed by this blog post on The Punch by Liberal MP and Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services Kevin Andrews, which appears to imply that Australia doesn’t need the National Broadband Network, because of the strong adoption of mobile phones.
Would your company ban Facebook Home?
It’s only been two weeks since Facebook launched its home-screen replacement for Android phones, and hours since it was launched in the UK. But as privacy advocates wrestle with the ever-increasing efforts of Web giants bent on collecting and utilising personal information to line their own pockets, some in the security community are calling for companies to ban Facebook Home for the myriad and untested security vulnerabilities they fear may be hiding inside it – as well as the usual concerns over Facebook’s (often-questioned) privacy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It’s not just Freelancer: Aussie tech IPOs are back in general
Freelancer chief executive Matt Barrie shocked a few in Australia’s tech sector with his mid-September rejection of a $400 million offer from a Japanese HR and recruitment giant to buy his company. The executive’s decision to list his company on the Australian Stock Exchange instead was similarly controversial. However, as I write in Delimiter 2.0 today (subscriber content), Freelancer’s not alone. There’s half a dozen other technology industry companies seeking to list on the ASX late this year or early next.
Global roaming stupidity
Like most people, when I travel overseas I make sure to avoid huge global roaming charges through the use of Wi-Fi networks, cheap local SIM cards, IP telephony and other measures. But apparently some of our nation's most venerable technologists and politicians are not capable of doing the same.
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.
IBM Australia to cut 1,000 staff, reports ABC
I’d like to see a little more transparency from IBM with respect to this issue. Of course IBM is entitled to shift around staff and re-balance its headcount. But when we’re talking about redundancies as high as 1,000 workers, large companies such as IBM have a responsibility to their customers, to their staff and to their shareholders to let a little more information out of the kimono. 1,000 staff is not 100. And it would be ethical of IBM to let us know a little more about what’s going on here.
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.
Victorian Govt cuts NICTA funding
Australia's peak ICT research body National ICT Australia will be forced to make substantial job cuts to its Victorian operations, ZDNet reports today, as the result of funding cuts by the Victorian State Government.
Huawei confirms Ascend P6 for 15 July
We've been getting gradually more impressed with the smartphones launched in Australia by Chinese vendor Huawei over the past several years, although they haven't quite measured up to the best that top of the line vendors like Apple, Samsung and HTC have been able to deliver. The newest cab off Huawei's rank is the Ascend P6.
‘Thriving’ Aussie tech incubator scene a ‘mirage’
If you've been involved in Australia's technology startup community over the past several years, you will be aware that there have been multiple incubator programs that have been made available to entrepreneurs. Programs such as Startmate, PushStart, Telstra's Muru-D and so on have made early stage seed funding, mentorship and even physical work facilities available. However, according to one business consultant, the 'scene' is actually a lot more undeveloped than it seems.
Four months later, Govt cloud, IT audit stall
The new Coalition Government appears to have made little progress so far on enacting core elements of its centralised IT policy.
NBN Co inks $300m Arianespace satellite deal
This morning NBN Co inked a $300 million contract with French aerospace giant Arianespace to launch its two satellites into space in 2015. Now that's progress.
NT gives every police officer an iPad
The Northern Territory has reportedly confirmed plans to deploy Apple iPads to all of its frontline officers, in the latest local wide-scale deployment of tablet technology in a police force.
Introducing Delimiter Membership
This is just a quick post to let you know that today I introduced a new element to Delimiter — site membership. I want to tell you about it and how it will work.
VMware talks Aussie datacentre
Apparently virtualisation giant VMware isn't content with having its software used by virtually every major organisation in Australia, and wants to push things a little further by launching its own public cloud offerings globally. And an Australian datacentre appears to be on the cards.
Ashley Madison hacker may be Australian, likes AC/DC
Pioneering US security journalist Brian Krebs — who has broken a number of major hacking stories over the past several years — thinks he may have tracked down one of the Ashley Madison perpetrators. The kicker? He appears to be Australian and may be a fan of local supergroup AC/DC.
Assange’s mum confirms he will run for Senate
Julian Assange's mum has confirmed he will run for the Australian Senate in this year's Federal Election, claiming that he will be "awesome".
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.
Oh dear: Foxtel bitchslaps “delusional” Optus
Well, we knew Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan's fighting words about the Foxtel/Austar merger wouldn't go down well in some quarters, but we didn't quite expect this epic spray from Foxtel chief Kim Williams.
CenITex “on track”, says Blades
The former chief executive of Victorian IT shared services agency CenITex, Peter Blades, has described the agency as being "on track" to achieving its vision of being the preferred supplier of IT infrastructure services across the State Government.
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.
Crystal ball gazing? Politics? AFR claims NBN Co will miss 2014 targets
Just how far out ahead is NBN Co able to predict the progress of its network rollout? Quite far, according to the Financial Review newspaper, which this morning published a front page article claiming it had seen internal projections that already stated NBN Co would miss its June 2014 rollout targets.
A bit of tough love for Google
Sorry Alan -- we love Google products and we want to use them on the National Broadband Network, so we've got to give you a bit of tough love here ;)
CommBank CIO is major cloud fan
It hasn't been until this week that the full extent of CommBank CIO Michael Harte's enthusiasm for the cloud computing medium has been made clear.
Meanwhile, at Linux.conf.au …
This year, Linux.conf.au is really getting stuck into the important things. We refer you to a 1,120 word blog post by the organisation on the details of how they're ordering t-shirts for attendees.
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.
Hackett wants tax breaks for electric cars
Internode founder, NBN Co board director and all-round superhuman Simon Hackett is well-known as being one of Australia’s main electric car evangelists. The entrepreneur imported Australia’s first Tesla Roadster and recently teamed up with another former senior Internode executive and two early executives from electric car pioneer Tesla to found a new startup focused on building a new type of electric car specifically designed for high-speed performance racing. With the news that Australia may shortly see its first Tesla Model S units shipping locally, Hackett has been investigating the regulatory settings for the emerging industry and found them wanting.
Turnbull has “saved” the NBN, says Kohler
It's hard to recall, given Tony Abbott's enthusiastic support for the Coalition's 'NBN lite' policy released this week, but there was a time when the Opposition Leader and others in the Coalition had pledged to "demolish", "dismantle" and any other 'd' word you can think of, Labor's National Broadband Network policy. Until Malcolm Turnbull took control.
Delimiter Membership Election special: 15% off (limited stock of 50)
We've just launched a 15% discount Election Special on Delimiter Memberships, to make sure people don't miss out on all the great content we've got coming in over the next three weeks until the Federal Election.
FTTN “viable”, says Mike Quigley
NBN Co chief Mike Quigley concedes a fibre to the node rollout would be viable in Australia.
Slater moved off NAB’s IT operations
NAB replaces group executive of Group Business Services Gavin Slater with Lisa Gray.
Stephen Conroy wishes you Merry Christmas
Yes, the above is a Christmas card sent by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to Delimiter. It was addressed to "Ms Renai LeMay" (oops), but we choose to believe that it expressed sentiments by the Minister not to me personally, but to the Delimiter community as a whole, as the site's strength is not in one person's voice, but in the many.
Falling from the sky: How hubris brought down Kogan Mobile
Whose fault is the failure of Kogan Mobile, just nine months after it launched? Who should take responsibility for the fact that 120,000 Australians are about to have their prepaid mobile plans chopped off at the leg? Kogan itself? Its upstream partner ispONE? Telstra? Or should Kogan’s customers have expected all along that the offer the company took to the market was too good to be true? In this (subscriber only) piece for Delimiter 2.0, I argue every party to the process contributed to the fiasco.
“The greatest information-sharing tool in history”: Ludlam’s epic Internet ode to Aaron Swartz
The untimely death of US-based Internet entrepreneur and activist Aaron Swartz passed most in the Federal Parliament by without a murmur, but the deep-thinking Ludlam, ever the advocate of the power of the Internet for good (clearly, he’ll never be Attorney-General), paid attention, and gave this landmark speech in the Senate late in the evening on 6 February. We commend it to you in its entirely.
Oops
The Australian newspaper is forced to correct a report regarding the National Broadband Network and a college in South Australia.
NEC keeps parliamentary IT services work
Remember how a damning report was published in October 2012 noting that the IT systems running Australia’s Federal Parliament were a complete shambles? Remember the litany of complaints which politicians and their staff filed with the Department of Parliamentary Services over the issue? Well, things might be gradually improving at the Parliament courtesy of its new chief information officer, but at least one thing is going to remain the same: The IT services firm servicing the politicians’ electorate offices.
Video games are art: And this awesome Kickstarter project will prove it
The debate over whether video games can be classified as art has been a long and bitterly fought one. To explore this issue in greater depth and champion the idea that games can have artistic merit, Australian gaming journalist Matt Sainsbury has started a Kickstarter project to fund the development of an in-depth, 200 page, premium quality hardcover book which will tie in conversations with some of the gaming industry's artistic titans.
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.
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.
Coca-Cola Amatil takes SAP project to Asia
For those wondering where Coca Cola Amatil is at with its comprehensive SAP-based internal enterprise IT applications overhaul project, wonder no more.
Homeless Sydney dev “will code for latte”
I don't know whether to feel slightly dubious about her story or merely sorry for Adelle Hartley, a Sydney C#/SQL developer who says she is homeless and has featured in an extensive article published by ninemsn this week.
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.
Devine accuses Ludlam of “viral hate speech”
Just when you think you've seen it all in Australia's mediasphere -- all the crazy and technically illiterate pronouncements from radio shock jocks, all the denouncements of Labor's NBN policy from right-wing bloggers and so on -- something new appears to prove that still more can be dredged from the depths.
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.
Proof that the ATO is evil
Following on from our post last week revealing evidence that the National Broadband Network Company is, in fact, evil, fresh details have come to light about the Australian Taxation Office’s allegiance to the dark side.
Author John Birmingham quits eBook DRM
Australian author John Birmingham dumps eBook DRM.
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?
Watch Delimiter’s article on Turnbull read out in Parliament
As you may remember, when Malcolm Turnbull seized the Prime Ministership from Tony Abbott two weeks ago, I took the chance to publish an examination of the Member for Wentworth’s history leading the Communications Portfolio over the past five years for the Coalition. What you may not have known is that it was also mentioned on the floor of the House of Representatives.
No demand: Qantas dumps in-flight Internet
It's hard to be surprised by this move, given Qantas' on-again, off-again relationship with in-flight Internet access, but one can't help but be disappointed. Australian Business Traveller reports this morning that Australia's premiere airline has exited a trial of in-flight Internet running since March this year.
Class action lawsuit starts against Vodafone
Just when you thought Vodafone’s problems couldn’t get any worse … they just did. Remember that potential class action lawsuit which local firm Piper Alderman had been promoting back in December 2010 in the wake of Vodafone’s ‘Vodafail’ problems? Well, it’s back, it’s on, and some 23,000 people have joined the action.
Watch Steve Baxter interview Wyatt Roy about #policyhack
By all accounts the innovation policy hackathon held by new Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy in Sydney over the weekend went quite well.
Your NBN argument is invalid
Your argument to the effect that I don't need it personally, therefore the entire NBN policy is a waste of space is therefore invalid. Next!
Further views on AGIMO’s open source policy
The publication of the Australian Government Information Management Office's new open source policy for the Federal Government published yesterday certainly stirred quite a lot of debate, and the comments keep on rolling on on the issue.
Coalition to spend $100m on mobile blackspots
Did you know there were other telecommunications-related issues being discussed in the Federal Election campaign than the National Broadband Network? No? Neither did I. But there apparently are.
Wireless not the NBN killer after all?
Let's say it again kids: Fixed and wireless broadband are complementary; one is not a replacement for the other.
Turnbull outlines Govt ICT vision
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has published an extensive article arguing that the Federal Government needed to do a better job of connecting with Australians via digital channels and that public sector IT projects needn't cost the huge amounts that some have in the past.
HP admits: We deceived consumers
HP has admitted to avoiding meeting its Australian obligations in the area of warranties.
Did Conroy’s AFP filter wrongly block 1,200 sites?
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, it appears that the limited ISP-based filter which several of Australia’s major ISPs (Telstra, Optus and Vodafone so far) have implemented with the assistance of the Australian Federal Police may have suffered a massive false positive event in early April and wrongly blocked some 1,200 websites, including community group the Melbourne Free University.
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 ;)
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.
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.
McKinnon’s ghost still haunts Clive Whincup
There was a lovely moment during the CEDA lunch with Westpac chief information officer Clive Whincup at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney yesterday that I suspect perfectly illustrates the current dynamics within Westpac's technology leadership team.
Islamic State leaks ADF personnel data
If you've been following international news overnight, you're probably aware that Islamic State has released a large amount of data pertaining to US military personnel. This morning, the Federal Government confirmed that a number of Australian Defence personnel and one Victorian MP had had their details included as part of the leak.
Iranian refugee goes from a ‘boat’ to working for Google Australia
Michael Ascharsobi arrived by boat in Australia as an asylum seeker. Now he works for Google and teaches at the University of Technology, Sydney. Not a bad effort -- not bad indeed.
Simon Hackett is selling his original Tesla Roadster for a cool $150,000
But don't worry, Hackett's not short of speed, even though he's selling his original ride. He actually has another Roadster still in Australia and one in California, as well as a Tesla Model S. The Carsales ad for the car states: "Owner has too many Roadsters; this one is surplus to requirements." It's a hard life for a multi-multi-millionaire.
What should the ACCC’s role be in guiding infrastructure spending?
Those of you who have been in the industry for some time may recall that the national competition regulator played a substantial role in the previous Labor Government deciding to restructure the telecommunications sector through implementing an all-fibre model for its National Broadband Network project. This week, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull made a few somewhat controversial comments about the ACCC's historical role in the situation.
Could industrial pipe cleaning speed up the CBN?
A technique for more rapidly cleaning up Telstra's clogged pits and pipes infrastructure reportedly could offer the National Broadband Network Company a significantly faster deployment mechanism with respect to the fibre components of its network rollout.
How can CIOs contribute to revenue growth?
With most industries being rapidly affected by technological change, many companies are starting to realise that bringing their chief information officer in to their strategy meetings can have a big impact.
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.
Lockheed Martin spin-off to create new IT services firm with giant Defence, ATO contracts
From The Wall St Journal earlier this month comes confirmation that military equipment specialist Lockheed Martin still expects to sell or spin off the IT services business which the company has long had tacked on to its manufacturing operations.
Don’t protect Australia’s mobile telcos, Mr Turnbull
Let's get real about this: Australia's mobile telcos can take care of themselves.
Qld Govt hacked Brisbane’s traffic systems
You would hope, you would really hope, that a major city such as Brisbane, which is about to host the G20 group of twenty global finance ministers and central bank governors, would be in the practice of ensuring that the traffic management systems which govern the operation of systems such as stoplights would be secure from attack. But not so.
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.
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.
ATO wants cloud HR platform
We're starting to see this kind of SaaS/cloud computing deployment in the Federal Government. It's a slow process, but each kind of 'safe' deployment such as this one -- with data and processes which could be considered non-mission-critical -- increases the comfort level of mega-agency chief information officers and secretaries regarding cloud computing. We're getting there.
Delimiter needs you: Help convince Conroy to open up about tech policy
In which I request the help of Delimiter's readership in convincing former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to speak to me about technology policy.
This is how Google changes country MDs
Other companies' Australian managing directors exit gracefully, in a carefully stage-managed process which sees a replacement privately sourced almost before the incumbent leaves. But not Google. Google just dumps a new job ad on its country page as the local MD leaves the country.
Microsoft bans Stilgherrian from TechEd
Opinionated Australian technology writer Stilgherrian has been banned from Microsoft's TechEd conference this year, after a bunch of caustic tweets caught the attention of the company during last year's event.
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.
Unhappy dragon: Westpac IBM outsourcing spreads to St George
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that up to 200 jobs at Westpac subsidiary St George may be outsourced to IBM.
Qld Health’s IT woes just keep coming
An interesting article published here by the Courier-Mail just before Christmas lays out yet another IT-related headache being suffered at the moment by Queensland's favourite technological minefield, Queensland Health.
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.
Airbnb officially launches in Australia
A quick search of accommodation crowdsourcing website Airbnb reveals that it’s been operating in Australia for a while (or at least taking bookings and accommodation advertisements from Australians), but the US-based startup hasn’t previously had an official presence Down Under. Until now.
Yet another disastrous Vic Govt IT project
I often think that things couldn’t possibly get any worse for State Government IT operations in Australia, considering that major audit reports in both Victoria and Queensland have found over the past year that the states are broadly incapable of delivering IT services and major IT projects to their departments and agencies. But every time I think that, things do get worse. Today’s new nightmare is a bungled student management system in Victoria’s TAFE colleges.
NBN + climate change deniers: A rebuttal
Remember those controversial comments by telecommunications analyst Paul Budde, comparing critics of Labor’s National Broadband Network project to “climate change deniers”? Sure you do. But what you may not have known is that Robert Kenny of UK communications consultancy Communications Chambers penned a rebuttal.
Aussie email firm Atmail beats Gmail, Office 365 to Raine and Horne deal
Those of you with long memories may recall that Australia has its own version of Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Office 365 email platforms. The company is called Atmail and it’s based in Queensland. In November 2012 it picked up a cool $2 million in venture capital from Australian VC firm Starfish Ventures. Well, already Atmail looks to be picking up new local corporate clients. The AustralianIT reports this morning that real estate agency Raine and Horne recently picked Atmail for its new email platform, serving some 3,500 mailboxes.
Japanese firm makes $400m offer for Freelancer.com
Thought Australian outsourcing marketplace Freelancer.com was going to grow up into a strong, Australia-based company that would conquer the world? Well, it appears that you may be wrong. According to US technology blog TechCrunch, Japanese HR and recruitment giant Recruit Co. has made a $400 million offer to buy Matt Barrie’s bouncing baby boy.
What would Turnbull need to do in his first 100 days as Communications Minister?
Turnbull has made a very strident argument over the past several years that Labor needs to drastically rework its National Broadband Network policy. Well, it looks like the Viscount of Vaucluse is about to get his chance to make that argument reality. Will Turnbull fold or fly in his first 100 days in office, if the Coalition takes power next week?
Primus deletes filter posts … but we’ve got the screenshots
National broadband provider Primus has deleted comments made on Whirlpool over the past several days to the effect that it had no current plans to follow through on its commitment last year to voluntarily implement a filter to block its customers accessing child pornography. Thankfully, we’ve got screenshots.
SA to break govt public cloud drought
This is about as positive a vote of confidence as we’ve heard from a state or federal government CIO in Australia for some years on the cloud issue. Step aside, internal infrastructure chiefs. As Salesforce.com would say, it may be just about time to stop feeding the minotaur.
Dyson Heydon doesn’t have a PC … but he does have an iPhone 5
You may recall how earlier this week it was revealed that Dyson Heydon, former High Court judge and now head of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, had admitted he did not use a computer at either of his offices and did not know how to send and receive emails. Well, the plot thickens.
Attanasio takes NSW RMS CIO role
Former Customs CIO Joe Attanasio takes up the equivalent role at NSW Roads and Maritime Services.
Turnbull and Clare: Best of mates
If you attended the Australian American Leadership Dialogue in Melbourne over the weekend, you might have caught a most unusual sight: Australia's noble Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and his Shadow, Jason Clare, breaking bread together in a most congenial display of bipartisanship.
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.
Ludlam tables anti-data retention petition
Greens Communications spokesperson Scott Ludlam has tabled a petition in the Senate compiled by the Pirate Party which contains almost 1,500 signatures opposing proposed changes to national security legislation collectively known as the ‘National Security Inquiry’.
Intel buys Barrie’s Sensory Networks
Those of you who’ve been following the exploits of Freelancer.com chief executive and all-round celebrity Australian technologist Matt Barrie will no doubt be interested in the news that one of the other companies Barrie helped found, high-performance networking outfit Sensory Networks, has been bought by giant chipmaker Intel for about $20m.
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.
NBN revamps CVC pricing scheme
As you may have seen last week, the NBN company announced that it would conduct a trial of revamped pricing on its CVC product -- the structure through which the NBN company actually charges retail ISPs for downloads over its network, rather than customer connections.
Vocus/M2 consider FTTB rollout to compete with NBN Co, TPG
You may recall that several weeks ago, mid-tier telcos M2 and Vocus announced they would merge into a large company with a market capitalisation in excess of $3 billion, in a move that will further cement M2’s place as Australia’s fourth-largest broadband player and further consolidate the already minimalist Australian telecommunications industry. But what was not widely reported at the time was that the merged pair of telcos are also considering pursuing a Fibre to the Basement rollout to compete with the NBN company and TPG, which are already deploying this kind of infrastructure.
New six monthly and concession Membership options, plus PayPal
Along with our yearly $129 option, we now also offer a $75 six monthly option. In addition, I have also added a 20 percent discount coupon for full-time students or pensioners, which can be applied to either plan. I've also added PayPal as a payment option, alongside our existing secure credit card payments platform, Stripe.
Adobe dumps Creative Suite: ‘Cloud’ subscription only for next version
Overnight in the US, Adobe revealed it would exclusively focus on its subscription offerings in future. That's right: If you want to buy Photoshop or other applications in Creative Suite in future, you won't be able to -- you'll only be able to lease them.
Qld Health payroll gets another $384 million
Those of you who thought that the Queensland Health payroll debacle had gone away, think again. The LNP State Government landed its annual budget this week, and included in it is a massive dollop of change for the ailing project, which continues to bedevil the department and the State Government at large, as well as the politicians and partners involved.
A deep investigation into Telstra’s copper
Over at the ABC, technology + games editor Nick Ross (he of the 11,000 word articles on the subject and of the Media Watch coverage) has continued his deep investigation into the dynamics of the National Broadband Network under the Coalition, with a pair of articles published this week into the question of whether Telstra’s copper network can actually be used for fibre to the node, as the Coalition is planning to use it.
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.
Why can’t we get Linux on the desktop right?
Fascinating post here from Matt Marlor, Sydney IT manager par extraordinaire and one of the chief wranglers of the AuTechHeads user group. Marlor documents his experience of installing the latest version of Ubuntu on his HP notebook and ruminates on why the operating system isn’t more popular than it already is.
TechOne saves 20-30 percent in Gmail switch
Australian software vendor Technology One deploys Google's Gmail email platform.
Ninemsn shifts hosting to … Amazon?
We knew Amazon Web Services had robust infrastructure — after all, the Commonwealth Bank hosts some of its services with the cloud computing giant — but we didn’t know that it was quite this robust. The AustralianIT reports today (we recommend you click here for the full article) that one of Australia’s largest web sites, Ninemsn, is actually hosted with Amazon:
Nexus 7 draw: The winner revealed
You may remember that in October Delimiter kicked off a reader giveaway. Today, we’re happy to announce the winner! A new Nexus 7 is currently on its way to Pella, a web publisher based in Sydney.
“Click Frenzy” was a marketing/PR hypno-orgy right from the start
Confused about what the hell this whole "Click Frenzy" online retail phenomenon thing that we've all been reading about over the past several weeks was all about? Join the club: I'm a paid-up member. Maybe I didn't get the original press release. Thankfully, local IT geek and Delimiter reader Dawnstar (not his real name) has posted several epic rants and deconstructions of legendary proportions on his blog to explain it to y'all, complete with SPAM Act illegality, journalist/public relations/marketing love-ins and a health dose of sarcasm.
The irony, it burns: Telstra’s NBN price complaints
Wait, back up a bit. Did Telstra just argue that NBN Co’s wholesale prices would be so high that they would not allow retail ISPs to charge reasonable prices to end user customers? And that this would stop those ISPs from investing in their own products and services? And that this wouldn’t be in the long-term interest of end users?
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.
Happy Budde faces a hostile NBN crowd
Paul Budde's support for the National Broadband Network project is well known, with most in the industry considering the analyst's open bias to be a matter of public record.
A govt IT insourcing success story
With all of the IT disasters that have come out of the Victorian State Government recently, sometimes it’s hard to believe that anything has gone right recently in the state with regards to government technology use. That’s why we were pleasantly surprised to read this case study detailing how utility Yarra Valley Water has successfully switched away from an outsourcing model and brought its IT support in-house.
Fletcher takes a big fat swing at 4G auction
This morning, it appears, it's Liberal MP and former Optus executive Paul Fletcher's turn to whale on the Government's wireless spectrum auction, which Vodafone has already deserted and which Optus thinks is way too expensive.
Kogan loses licence in high-speed police chase
We know we’ve pinned Ruslan Kogan for a certain degree of … arrogance, previously, but we really didn’t expect the maverick online retail and consumer electronics guru to go quite this far in proving our point.
Apple Maps losing Victorians in forest
We haven’t found Apple’s new mapping application in iOS 6 to be that much of a headache — in fact, it does offer some noticeable improvements in some areas over the previous Google Maps tool — but then we weren’t trying to use the platform to navigate by road to the Victorian town of Mildura. According to the Victorian Police, quite a few people have made that mistake — and ended up in the middle of nowhere.
Qld may ditch $1.2bn Health payroll project, start again
Remember Queensland Health’s botched payroll systems overhaul? The project which was initially estimated to a relatively small initiative, but ballooned out in value to more than $1.2 billion and stil doesn’t quite work? Yeah. According to an article in the Courier Mail this morning, the new LNP administration in Queensland is considering ditching the whole thing and starting again.
CSIRO + NICTA merger still not nailed down
We can't imagine the staff morale at Australia's peak IT research group NICTA is fantastic at this point. The Federal Government cut all funding to the organisation in the 2014 Budget, the CSIRO merger plan to save the group has been in negotiations for six months, and even now the situation in terms of hundreds of redundancies continues to be unclear.
The ATO’s decade-long Mac denial
The reluctance of the Australian Taxation Office to provide a working version of its e-tax lodgement software for the Apple Macintosh has been a long-time bug-bear with Mac users around Australia for a long time. But some of them may not realise just how long angry parliamentarians and others have been harassing the agency about the issue.
Optus CEO’s VHA grudge match
Oh dear. It looks as if Optus chief executive Paul O'Sullivan took VHA chief Nigel Dews' 2009 claim that the merged Hutchison/Vodafone entity could become number two in mobiles a little seriously.
Blizzard changes its tune … was it Telstra, or Optus?
Jeez, Blizzard, way to win everyone back. First you give Australia a spurious reason why you can't set up a dedicated local hub in Australia for World of Warcraft and StarCraft II players, claiming that the nation's "number one ISP" can't correctly route the fat traffic your legions of loyal fans are able to dish out.
Govt delays IT startup funding decisions
According to From Little Things, the Gillard Government is currently sitting on its hands with respect to decisions about supporting Australia's IT startup sector and hasn't responded to its own review in the area.
Liberal Democrats oppose data retention
Into the e-surveillance miasma comes David Leyonhjelm, the new Senator-Elect for the Liberal Democrats, who will take his chair in just six short weeks. In a piece for the Financial Review newspaper late last week, Leyonhjelm makes it very clear where his party will stand on this issue: In opposition to data retention and similar initiatives which erode Australians’ privacy.
Finally some action on Windows Azure in Australia
Remember when software giant Microsoft made a big deal back in May 2013 about how it was going to launch two new Australian datacentres for its Windows Azure cloud computing service? At the time it seemed as though the company’s plans were quite advanced and that we’d be seeing Australia-based Azure in short order. Well, almost a year has come and gone since that time and Microsoft has so far failed to deliver. The latest blip of news on the cloud front from the company comes in an article published by The Australian newspaper this morning.
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.
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.
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.
FTTP NBN no big loss, claims Gizmodo
According to Gizmodo, the loss of Labor's fibre to the premises National Broadband Network policy is no cause for Australian technologists to "mourn".
IT in the budget? Move along, not much to see
Curious about what technology-related iniatives came out last night's Federal Budget? So were we, given that the release of the budget had been being hyped for weeks (months?) by much of the mainstream media as part of its continual fixation on the fraught battle between the various sides of politics. However, unlike previous years, this yaer there wasn't much in the 2013 Federal Budget to interest technologists.
$5 per day flat rate: Vodafone revamps global roaming options
Ever been hit with a massive global roaming bill? Vodafone's got your back. The telco this morning announced that it would be implementing a flat $5 per day fee for customers using their mobiles in popular international destinations such as the UK, US and New Zealand.
US designates Assange ‘enemy of state’
Sydney Morning Herald correspondent Philip Dorling has uncovered the fact that the US has designated Wikileaks founder and Australian citizen Julian Assange an official target.
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.
Startmate startups featured on TechCrunch
Let’s have a round of applause for the first round of Australian technology startups to be launched through the Y Combinator-style incubator Startmate created in 2010 by a number of former and current entrepreneurs and funding types.
Ludlam a hot bachelor with “magnificent” hair
If you've been following the technology portfolio in politics for a while now, you'll know that we're pretty much spoilt for choice when it comes to the physical attractiveness of our representatives. Certain women of your writer's acquaintance have been heard to refer to Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull as "the Silver Fox", for instance, while Senator Kate Lundy has always been a favourite amongst the gentlemen. But now there's a new entrant onto the scene: Greens Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam.
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.
Sorry, ATO: The Senate hearts Bitcoin as a currency
Those of you who follow the crypto-currency scene in Australia may remember that the Australian Taxation Office hasn't always treated the most popular type of crypto-currency, Bitcoin, the way that those involved in its trade would prefer. However, the long-running crypto-currency inquiry by the Senate Standing Committee on Economics may be about to disagree with the ATO.
They served the public interest
I have one message to the NBN whistleblowers: You're not alone. We're with you. I, many Delimiter readers, many of your fellow NBN employees (past and present) and many Australians in general, are with you. Because you have honour. You have integrity. In a time of great darkness, you stood up for what was right and good. So remember this, and stay strong. Hold your head up high.
Defence finally starts certifying Android
Those of you with long memories will recall that the Department of Defence’s Defence Signals Directorate division, which is tasked with certifying technology for use in the Australian Government, has long had an aversion to Android. Windows- and BlackBerry-based mobile devices have long found favour with the DSD, and in April 2012 the agency even added (shock!) Apple’s iOS operating system, but for years Android has sat on the outer, leaving those public servants and politicians interested in the Android operating system out in the cold. Well, late yesterday news arrived that Samsung, at least, may be on the verge of getting access to the inner circle.
You heard it here first
Delimiter editor Renai LeMay has "jumped the shark", according to Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull
ISP market needs more mergers, says Budde
One interesting view on iiNet's likely acquisition of TransACT has come today from maverick (we normally describe him as 'rogue) analyst Paul Budde, who says that not only does the sale make sense, but more such buyouts should take place.
Women in IT: Govt action only part of the solution
From my point of view, although this is an important policy debate, and I am glad that we are having this debate on Delimiter, I don’t personally want to weigh in too heavily into it. The reason is pretty basic: I am male, not female, and I don’t feel that it’s my place to set policy for women or to preach to women how they should engage with the IT sector.
Why the Telstra/NBN deal should be scrapped
blog Over at his blog, seasoned technology executive and all-round nice guy Sean Kaye has some interesting thoughts on a wide range of matters...
Surprise! Govt botched NDIS IT systems
A government department botching the delivery of a new IT platform? Shocking, I know. This has never, ever happened before. Unbelievable. Today's public sector IT blunder comes from the pages of Intermedium, which tells us that the National Disability Insurance Scheme developed by the previous Government has been hamstrung by the poor quality of the IT systems put together to support it.
Voda Win: Vodafone’s back, baby
You might have noticed that there's a decidedly positive tenor to the announcements which ailing mobile telco Vodafone Australia has been making recently. The company's leadership in 4G mobile broadband speeds, its appointment of a qualified executive from Europe to replace outgoing leader Bill Morrow, and this morning, the news that it has a million customers on its 4G network.
Brumby wants Huawei to list on the ASX
Former Victorian Premier John Brumby's suggestion that Huawei list in Australia is mere parochialism, in my opinion.
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.
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.
Madness? Holmesglen TAFE upgrades GroupWise
It’s been a while since I’ve seen any Australian organisation of any kind have any words of praise for Novell’s ailing GroupWise collaboration suite. The trend is overwhelmingly that organisations are continually ditching it for alternatives, typically Microsoft’s Outlook/Exchange platform. However, if an article published by ZDNet is to be believed, at least one organisation is sticking with the Novell warhorse.
Symantec smoking own cybercrime hype
It looks as if Symantec commissioned a report by a company called Strategy One which claimed to show the global cybercrime trade caused losses as large as the value of the global trade in illicit drugs. Shocker.
Surface storage misleading? Choice files complaint
You may have noticed, if you've bought one of Microsoft's new Surface tablets, that you haven't actually gotten the storage you paid for. Consumer watchdog Choice objects to this kind of behaviour, and has referred Microsoft to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over the situation.
Nokia 1520 lands in Australia
If you are looking to buy a new Nokia, you'd probably be interested to know that the company announced this morning that it would have one more stab at a major local launch, with its new model, the Lumia 1520. The selling point of the 1520 is that it features a 6" full HD 1080p screen, placing it in Galaxy Note range.
RIP telco luminary Alan Kellock
If you've been in Australia's telecommunications industry for a long time, you may recall the name Alan Kellock. There's not a lot of information about him online, but Peter Kellock, who appears to be his son, published an obituary of Kellock the senior through The Age newspaper recently. I don't want to go too far into Kellock's history, but suffice it to say that he was instrumental in setting up Telecom (now Telstra), as well as the international telephone system that we all enjoy today.
Of Apple, Microsoft, and Australian music stores
Some six years after Apple launched its online music store in Australia, a store which sold billions of songs, Microsoft is following suit, using a subscription model which Steve Jobs rejected almost a decade ago, and which had publicly failed several times. And Microsoft is still not quite sure whether the 'per song' pricing model works.
Macquarie Telecom suffers major outage
Last month was a good one for local enterprise telco and hosting company Macquarie Telecom. The company hosted Julia Gillard for a ritzy launch of its new datacentre, drank champagne and toasted its success. But the past two days haven't been quite as rosy for the firm.
Ludlam to do Reddit AMA this Wednesday night
Just a very brief message to let y'all know that Greens Senator, Communications Spokesperson and William Gibson fan Scott Ludlam is planning to open up his world to all and sundry this Wednesday night -- 15 May, from 7:30 to 9PM, for a Reddit AMA ('Ask Me Anything') session.
Can agency-led innovation help transcend failing Whole of Government ICT strategies?
According to Ovum research director Steve Hodgkinson, there are lessons to be learnt from the poor outcomes of whole of government ICT strategies in Australia; revolving around the need for innovation to be pushed through individual departments.
Agile, user-focused IT development getting results at NSW FaCs
The Federal Government's Digital Transformation Office has been talking a lot recently about the need for more rapid technology development cycles in the public sector, but its' not the only home of innovation in government around Australia.
Qld Govt IT contractors face layoff massacre
Over at the blog of Queensland-based ICT analyst house Longhaus, the firm’s managing director Peter Carr has published some ruminations about the tough future facing many of the state’s ICT contractors as the new LNP State Government puts technology squarely in the layoff firing line.
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.
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.
Union issues ‘please explain’ on 400 Sensis job cuts
Well, it didn’t take long. Just one month (one month!) after Telstra agreed to sell 70 percent of its ailing directories and advertising business Sensis to US-based private equity firm Platinum Equity, up to 400 jobs are reportedly set to be cut at the division.
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.