Foxtel more than doubles broadband quotas to beat Telstra
Foxtel has more than doubled the quota available on the broadband packages it bundles with telephone and pay TV offerings, with customers now able to receive a terabyte of quota along with a Foxtel subscription TV package and unlimited local and national calls for $130 a month, in plan bundles that appear to beat those offered by Foxtel partner Telstra.
Business warming to NBN but most still unprepared for it
Australian businesses expect massive change from the NBN and are rapidly warming to the potential role of NBN-driven teleworking, but most still aren’t ready for the changes the network will bring, a major survey of business readiness has concluded.
Telstra partially backtracks on international roaming charge hike
In the face of an upset customer base, Telstra has backtracked on its recently announced decision to more than triple excess data fees incurred when roaming internationally.
NEC Australia opens new HQ and Innovation Centre in Victoria
Japanese IT services and products giant NEC has opened a new Australian headquarters in Victoria.
Apple Australia insists it pays all its taxes
US technology juggernaut Apple has insisted that it pays all of its local taxes, despite the company having filed financial results this week that saw the company pay extra taxes of just $4.5 million last year off an extra $1.8 billion in local revenue.
Simon Hackett funds electric race car
Simon Hackett has teamed up with another senior former senior Internode executive and two early executives from electric car pioneer to found a new startup focused on building a new type of electric car specifically designed for high-speed performance racing.
Telstra nabs startup star for incubator
The nation's largest telco Telstra has poached Pollenizer co-founder Mick Liubinskas to help it get its new startup incubator Muru Digital (muru-d), in a move that marks the end of an era for startup incubator Pollenizer and one of the most famous partnerships in Australia's technology startup ecosystem.
Victory for Australian pirates as court blocks punitive damages
The Federal Court this morning ruled that copyright owners could not use the preliminary discovery process to sue alleged Internet pirates for punitive damages, in a move that will be likely to limit the potential liability of those Australians illicitly downloading films and TV programs.
Commonwealth Bank gets on board with the blockchain
In an attempt to ride the tsunami of disruption that is reshaping the financial services industry, Commonwealth Bank of Australia has joined forces with eight major banks to develop applications based on blockchain, the technology underpinning Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies.
Australian court holds Google responsible for linking to defamatory websites
The South Australian Supreme Court this week found that Google is legally responsible when its search results link to defamatory content on the web.
Telstra pumps $18m into US startup Kony
Telstra has been talking up its investment arm for a while now, and it's good to see the company start to make some strategic investments. It's just a pity that it's not focusing more on Australia.
NEC undergoes redundancy round
Diversified technology solutions group NEC has notified its Australian staff that it will shortly undertake a round of redundancies, just months after the company warned it was facing “immediate profitability challenges” despite having a “very healthy” pipeline of contracts.
Great debate on the lack of diversity in IT startups
Clune's right: Australia's IT startup scene is predominantly composed of white, middle class males, a physical form which venture capitalists usually identify with. But Liubinskas is also right: Things are more complicated than that in real life, and opportunities do abound for the passionate or determined, regardless of who they are. Perhaps the passion and diversity in this debate do much to illustrate the sector as a whole.
An insider’s look at Aussie app development
Australian iOS and Android app development house Shifty Jelly has published an extensive and heart-felt blog post detailing what it's really like to be an app developer in the cold, hard smartphone/tablet world.
Adobe increases Australian Creative Cloud prices
Software giant Adobe has informed its users of its intention to substantially increase the price of accessing its Creative Cloud family of image and video editing products, in a move which appears set to cause frustration amongst the company's already tetchy local user base.
Facebook wants to hide its Australian earnings
It has become more or less the norm for global technology companies to minimise their Australian tax liability in a way that much of the local population finds at least mildly objectionable. Well, perhaps the most arrogant of the bunch (surprise, surprise) has turned out to be social networking giant Facebook, which has filed a form arguing it doesn’t need to disclose its Australian earnings at all.
WA taxi reforms to ‘level playing field’ with firms like Uber
The Western Australian Government has announced plans to transform the state's highly regulated taxi industry to increase flexibility, safety and affordability in the face of disruptive competition such as Uber.
amaysim buys fellow mobile telco Vaya
Mobile telco amaysim this morning announced it had bought privately owned Vaya for $70 million, in a move that will add some 140,000 subscribers to amaysim's customer database and further consolidate the already tight mobile market.
Wi-Fi company SkyFii raises $4 million
New institutional and retail investors have provided Australian wireless company SkyFii with over $4 million in new investment capital through the issue of new shares.
Optus replaces Telstra as official Olympics telecoms partner
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has inked a 10-year agreement that sees Optus become the official telecommunications partner of the Australian Olympic team.
Budget 2014: Not happy, Joe: Startups slam budget cuts
Australia's highest-profile organisation representing the technology startup sector has strongly criticised the Federal Government's substantial cuts to supporting resources as part of this year's budget, stating that the Government must move quickly to fill the gap it has created.
Telstra buys Kloud, invests in Instart Logic
Telstra has entered an agreement to acquire Kloud, a firm that helps governments and companies seeking to transition their workloads and applications to the cloud. Additionally, the telco indicates it has made a strategic investment in Instart Logic, a provider of next-gen application delivery services.
IBM Australia to reportedly slash 500 staff
The new year has not started well for Australian technologists in terms of the jobs situation. Qantas is cutting IT workers, Sensis is cutting workers, Telstra is cutting workers, the Victorian Government is looking into offshoring, and now, according to The Australian newspaper, IBM Australia has embarked on another major redundancy round.
UNSW, GoGet working on self-driving car
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have taken the first step towards creating a self-driving car by fitting sensors and other technology to a vehicle owned by car sharing service GoGet.
Equinix expands third Sydney datacentre
Just how much new datacentre space is needed in Australia? A lot, if you believe the industry. New listed datacentre player NEXTDC has been busy setting up new facilities all over the place, HP just built a mammoth new centre in Western Sydney, and this week established datacentre provider Equinix announced the expansion of its third Sydney datacentre.
Vodafone grows customer numbers by 135,000, revenue by 4.5 percent
Vodafone has announced its Australian growth figures for 2015, saying that its customer base increased by 135,000 customer – a 2.5% year-on-year increase to 5,437 million.
Startmate announces class of 2012
Startmate, the Sydney based mentor-driven seed fund that invests in Australian techies who have ambitions of creating startups, has announced its latest class of protégées for the 2012 program. The fund was announced at the Tech23 2010 event held in Sydney and it has a stated mission of helping create world-class companies that will solve customer problems.
Queenslander arrested on hacking offences
A 21-year-old man from the rural Queensland town of Kingaroy has been charged with hacking and fraud offences following the alleged hacking of a US based online gaming developer’s computer network, the Queensland Police today.
Apple Australia wages not insanely great
Given the size, volume of sales and complexity of Apple’s retail footprint, as well as the extreme level of revenue Apple makes in Australia in general, you would have to say that most people would probably expect Apple Store employees to be making a little more. As it stands, the lowest-level employees will barely be making more than minimum wage. And that’s just not insanely great.
AIIA announces new CEO
The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has announced that Rob Fitzpatrick – previously a director at Data61 and a long-term corporate executive and consultant – is to take over as its new CEO.
New Datacom office in Victoria to create 100 jobs
IT services and solutions company Datacom has announced it will open a new office in South Melbourne with the creation of 100 new jobs over the next 12 months.
TPG orders iiNet to dump Fetch TV
National broadband provider iiNet and its subsidiary brands have instantly dumped the Fetch TV Internet television platform following the company’s acquisition by TPG, with Fetch TV confirming the order came from TPG itself following the acquisition.
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.
Bugcrowd raises $15m in Series B funding round
Australia-founded Bugcrowd, a provider of crowdsourced security for enterprises, has announced the completion of a $15 million Series B funding round led by Blackbird Ventures.
Optus, AAPT lose CEOs; Huawei Australia gains one
In a flurry of leadership announcements this week, telcos Optus and AAPT have revealed that they have lost their local chief executives, while the Australian division of Chinese manufacturer Huawei has gained a new one.
Telstra fixes first blackspots under government program
Telstra has made the first improvements to regions with poor mobile coverage as part of the government's Mobile Black Spot Programme.
Gizmodo has been chasing people around Sydney that might be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto
Gizmodo has revealed that it, too, has been tracking Craig Wright and his friend Dave Kleiman for some time regarding the claim that they may jointly be the creator of Bitcoin. The media outlet has gone as far as visiting people associated with Wright and Kleiman in Sydney and asking them for further information.
CSC announces revised UXC acquisition agreement
Global IT services provider CSC has now entered a binding Scheme of Implementation agreement to acquire UXC, an Australian IT services company with headquarters in Melbourne.
Telstra acquires app developer Readify
Telstra has announced the acquisition of Readify, an Australian app development firm that has previously provided services for Microsoft.
Comcast runs successful real-world test of gigabit HFC
In what it is calling a "world first", Comcast has switched on gigabit hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) broadband at a home in the US.
BT pledges 300Mbps broadband speeds to 10m homes by 2020
news The chief executive of British incumbent telco BT has announced a significant upgrade to his company’s broadband expansion plans, with BT now planning...
Carosa’s Future Capital in US$30m Bitcoin fund
Experienced Australian investor Domenic Carosa has led the establishment of a US$30 million investment fund which will directly invest in companies that are leveraging services based in Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
Fault brings month-long outage for PPC-1 international cable
A fault discovered on the 6,900km PPC-1 submarine cable connecting Australia to Guam is likely to take around 30 days to repair, according to TPG Telecom.
A fascinating startup brain dump from Phil Morle
If you're interested in Australia's IT startup ecosystem, you could do a lot worse than read this fascinating braindump by Morle posted amid the dying embers of 2012.
Atlassian loses out to CommBank in Australian Technology Park bid
The Commonwealth Bank has beaten off its main rival to acquire and redevelop the Australian Technology Park (ATP), following a successful bid by a Mirvac Group-led consortium.
HPE to merge IT services business with CSC
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced plans for a tax-free spin-off and merger of its Enterprise Services business with CSC that will create a new as-yet-unnamed company.
Budget a harsh wake-up call for the tech sector
Listening to the shrieks and squeals of tech sector commentators over the past few weeks, you’d be forgiven for thinking Joe Hockey’s first budget contained nothing for the industry. A more measured inspection of the budget entrails and you will find the Coalition has delivered a lot. A lot of pain, and a lot of lessons.
Apple Australia’s revenues flat in 2013
The revenues of Apple's Australian division have finally stopped their massive annual growth initiated in 2009, as the company's lack of new product lines over the past year have stalled its onwards financial march.
Google’s Australian MD joins ANZ as head of digital banking
Google's regional Managing Director Maile Carnegie has joined ANZ bank as its new Group Executive of Digital Banking.
Retail POS startup Kounta kicks off investment
We're seeing a great deal of investment in Australian technology startups at the moment. After years in the wilderness after the dot com crash, the local funding scene appears to be running hot. The latest cab off the rank is point of sale startup Kounta, which last week announced it had kicked off its first venture round, with Reckon founder greg Wilkinson kicking in an unspecified amount and joining Kounta's board.
Financial problems take down 99dresses
Pollenizer-backed startup 99dresses this week took its site down for renovation promising that it would eventually return, but revealing it was suffering from financial problems linked to its use of virtual currency.
Aussie mobile startup wins $2m funding
Australian mobile app platform startup biNu this week revealed it has picked up $2 million in investment funding from a number of high-profile investors, including TomorrowVentures, the investment group of Google chairman Eric Schmidt.
auDA appoints policy development veteran as new CEO
.au Domain Administration (auDA) – the policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au domain space – has announced that policy development veteran Cameron Boardman has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Connecting to Australia’s first digital technology curriculum
Australia finally has its first digital technology curriculum which is mandatory for all Australian children from Foundation, the name replacing kindergarten, to Year 8.
Non-profit Internet of Things Alliance launches in Sydney
A new not-for-profit entity called the Internet of Things Alliance Australia (IoTAA) has been launched in Sydney by Shadow Minister for Communications Jason Clare.
Banks team up to deal with Apple Pay
In a move that looks likely aimed at countering the threat from mobile payments apps like Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, a group of Australian banks has applied to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for authorisation to enter joint negotiations with providers of third-party mobile wallets.
Spectrum re-farming in NSW, ACT boosts Vodafone 4G coverage
Vodafone has completed re-farming the low-frequency 850MHz mobile spectrum in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to bring about stronger 4G coverage and extra capacity.
Scrimp now, pay later: CSIRO cuts could stifle long-term research
The moment we tie short-term political, economic or social goals to science is the moment we ensure we’ll slow down finding those momentous future breakthroughs that science has brought us. It is a paradox, but one that the government needs to understand before cutting big budgets out of long-term fundamental research programs at the CSIRO.
Australian video game industry now worth close to $3bn
The Australian video games industry grew significantly in 2015, resulting in overall sales of $2.83bn, according to figures from the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA).
Australia’s second dot com boom is here
If you've been paying attention to Australia's technology startup sector recently, you might have noticed that it's absolutely booming. Tens of millions of dollars are being ploughed into new startups, incubators and co-working spaces are popping up all over the place, and successful startups like Freelancer.com are considering massive stock market listings.
Atlassian files for IPO on the Nasdaq Global Market
Australian enterprise software provider Atlassian has publicly filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list common stock on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker symbol 'TEAM'.
ANZ’s startup accelerator reveals next class
The Innovyz START startup accelerator program recently launched by ANZ Bank has revealed the second 10 startups to which it will attract funding and mentorship, with the major of successful startups originating in South Australian capital city Adelaide.
SAP opens HANA enterprise cloud in Canberra
SAP Australia has announced the opening of an SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud service in Canberra, and revealed that the Australian Government's Shared Services Centre is the service's first customer.
Google trumps Apple with banking partners for Android Pay launch
Google has announced that it will be be bringing its digital wallet Android Pay to Australia in the first half of 2016 with a number of financial partners.
Cloud computing player Ninefold shuts down
Ninefold, the Macquarie Telecom-owned cloud computing company which provides infrastructure as a service offerings, has decided to shut down, with its last day of operation being January 30, 2016.
Telstra snaps up O2 Networks
The nation's largest telco Telstra today announced it had acquired O2 Networks, a leading Australian provider of network and security consulting and integration services for enterprise customers, in a deal reported to be worth $60 million.
auDA dumps CEO Chris Disspain after 16 years … but why?
What I can't understand at this point is why the auDA board itself would turf Disspain from the position he has done an admirable job in. Was it a personality conflict? A professional disagreement of opinion? The statement says auDA is looking for "new leadership", but isn't the essence of auDA that it needs to remain stable -- something which Disspain has certainly been able to deliver to the organisation?
DesignCrowd picks up another $3m
Australian web startup DesignCrowd announced overnight that it had picked up a further $3 million in funding from Melbourne-based venture capital firm Starfish Ventures, which it will use to continue to scale up its operations and take advantage of the growing trend towards crowdsourcing tasks online.
Profiteers snap up Boston Marathon, Waco domain names
Australia’s tight domain name policies may have prevented opportunistic cybersquatters from cashing in on local disasters, but this week’s Boston Marathon bombing and Waco fertiliser explosion have had less luck avoiding cybesquatters, analysis by a local domain-name specialist has revealed.
The Inside Track: Is Microsoft surging or fading? Behind the scenes at Ignite on...
Last week I spent three days immersed in the new world that Microsoft is trying to create, as a guest of the company at its Ignite conference on the Gold Coast. What did I discover? Is Microsoft surging again? Or is it still stuck in the doldrums? Read on to find out.
Uber takes ATO to court over GST
Ride-sharing company Uber has taken the Australian Taxation Office to court over the agency’s insistence that drivers providing its ride-sharing service collect GST the same way taxi cabs do, in a move that represents Uber’s latest legal battle against the taxi industry.
Oracle Australia reportedly loses MD Ebbeck
Larry Ellison's baby hasn't yet confirmed precisely what is going on here, but several outlets have this morning reported that Oracle Australia managing director Tim Ebbeck has resigned from his post and is currently on gardening leave.
NSW Govt directly regulates taxi mobile apps
The NSW Government has formally embraced and started regulating the taxi smartphone apps which have been taking Sydney and other locations by storm, setting regulations to support the apps against the wishes of incumbent players in the taxi industry and capping surcharges at five per cent to stop overcharging.
“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.
Court throws out Australia Post digital lawsuit
The Federal Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Australia Post against fledgling e-post joint venture Digital Post Australia with reference to the similarity in the name of the company with its own well-established brand.
Exetel to compensate heavy downloaders over ‘unfair’ contracts
Internet service provider Exetel is to compensate consumers over residential broadband contracts that were deemed "unfair" by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Australia’s got ICT talent: So how do we make the most of it?
AUSTRALIA 2025: How will science address the challenges of the future? In collaboration with Australia’s chief scientist Ian Chubb, the Conversation is asking how each science discipline will contribute to Australia now and in the future. Written by luminaries and accompanied by two expert commentaries to ensure a broader perspective, these articles run fortnightly and focus on each of the major scientific areas. This instalment takes a look at ICT’s role.
99designs co-founder directly siphoning Aussie IT talent to Silicon Valley
Heard the term "Australian brain-drain"? You're probably not going to see a more blatant attempt at it than this.
Australians offered digital inbox for real mail
A trio of business process companies have teamed up in a joint venture to offer Australians an easy way to receive their physical mail -- online.
Microsoft Ignite 2015 (Gold Coast): Photo gallery
Several thousand Australian technologists are currently on the Gold Coast attending one of Australia's technology conferences -- Microsoft's Ignite conference. If you want to get a feel for what you're missing out on, we recommend you check out some of these great photos taken at the event :)
Back in the black, baby: Three more tech firms to list on ASX
Three more small technology firms have confirmed plans to follow the high-profile initial public offering of online talent marketplace Freelancer to list on the Australian Stock Exchange, as the nation's early stage technology sector as a whole shifts into hyperdrive and seeks capital from Australian investors to expand.
Coalition dumps Lundy’s $42m NICTA boost
The Coalition has revealed an extra $42 million in funding to support peak ICT research group National ICT Australia (NICTA) unveiled several weeks ago by Labor Digital Economy Minister Kate Lundy will be a victim of its election drive to cut costs.
Sydney’s Paloma wins $1.5m local investment
Sydney-based next-generation mobile startup Paloma Mobile has raised $1.5 million in investment funding from Australian venture capital firm OneVentures, in a move which will further highlight the growing strengths of the local funding landscape for Australia-based technology startups.
Melbourne grabs key tech startup event from Sydney
Phillip Dalidakis, Victorian Minister for Small Business, Trade and Innovation, was in Sydney on 30th October to make an announcement along with Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer. Addressing an audience of over 2,000, the two announced the shifting of Australia’s largest startup tech conference, SydStart, from Sydney to Melbourne.
Square’s low-cost credit card reader launches in Australia
Global payments technology provider Square has announced that its low cost 'Square Reader' credit and debit card reader is now available in Australia.
NAB launches Android contactless payments service
National Australia Bank (NAB) has launched a new payment service that lets customers use their mobile phone to make purchases, without the need to carry a physical card.
Tesla Model S may come to Australia shortly
Queue the hype train, because Gizmodo reported this morning that US electric car firm Tesla has shipped one of its popular Model S units over to Canberra for testing.
Foxtel nicks William Shatner from MyRepublic for broadband ads
Those of you who followed the controversial comments recently made by Singaporean telco MyRepublic about Australia’s National Broadband Network may recall that the company’s advertisements when it entered the New Zealand market featured actor William Shatner — best known for his iconic roles on Star Trek and Boston Legal. Well, your writer suspects Shatner may not be available for MyRepublic’s planned Australian launch — because he has already signed up with Foxtel for its own broadband campaign.
Labor pledges to go after Apple for “extraordinary” tax habits
The Federal Opposition this week pledged to force tech companies like Apple and Google to pay their "fair share of tax in Australia", with Shadow Communications Minister Jason Clare describing Apple Australia's claim that it should only pay $85 million of tax on local revenues of almost $8 billion as "extraordinary".
ASX plans blockchain solution for Australian equity market
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has selected US firm Digital Asset Holdings to develop a blockchain post-trade solution for the Australian equity market.
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.
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.
News aggregator Wotnews shuts down
Australian Internet news aggregator Wotnews has announced it will shut the site down to focus on its sister site WeAreHunted, potentially leaving site investor and Wotif.com multimillionaire Graeme Wood out of pocket.
Union talks to Telstra, NBN over 457 visa workers, training issues
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been in talks with both NBN and Telstra in recent days to discuss a range of issues including concerns over the use of 457 visa workers and funding for a proposed training scheme.
ACCC won’t oppose TPG’s iiNet buyout
The competition regulator has declared it will not oppose TPG’s proposed acquisition of iiNet, stating its view today that the merger would not result in a “substantial” lessening of competition as was required under its supporting legislation.
Logicalis buys Australian IT infrastructure specialist Thomas Duryea
Logicalis, an international IT solutions and managed services provider, has announced the acquisition of Australian cloud and datacentre Services firm Thomas Duryea Consulting.
ICAC to investigate NSW TAFE ICT manager
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) will hold a public inquiry starting on 17 August 2015 as part of an investigation it is conducting into allegations that a TAFE ICT manager dishonestly obtained over $1.7 million from the Department of Education and Communities TAFE South West Sydney Institute (SWSI).
Banks dump accounts of Bitcoin firms
Australia's growing cadre of Bitcoin trading companies have discovered that the mere nature of their business has been enough to get them blacklisted by Australia's major banks.
Airtasker startup wins $1.5m in funding
Australian startup Airtasker has secured $1.5 million in funding.
Victoria Govt launches $11m ICT fund
The Victorian Coalition Government has launched an $11 million 'Digital Futures Fund', which is aimed at giving a substantial boost to cutting edge Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects in the state.
Vodafone accessed call records of journalist
Mobile telco Vodafone has confirmed it access the call records of an Australian journalist in an effort to determine the source of a negative story about privacy breaches in its operations.
WA Govt to trial driverless electric bus
A staged trial of a driverless electric shuttle bus will take place in Western Australia later this year, according to the state government.
Free to fail: Why corporates are learning to love venture capital
Opening a venture capital branch seems to be the new “thing” in the corporate world. While Telstra and Westpac are the new big national players, Google is clearly ahead of the curve, with two distinct venture capital firms: the newly launched Google Capital and the five-year-old Google Ventures. But why are so many companies, across a range of sectors, now running to open their own venture capital funds?
The ‘myth’ of the Australian entrepreneur
A better understanding of the realities of entrepreneurial life in Australia will lead to better informed industry policy, and perhaps increased support for an ecosystem that is a key driver of future growth and development for Australia.
Salesforce IT research reveals digital shake-up
Salesforce has released its third State of IT research report, an annual look at the industry which this year suggests that the digital revolution is "shaking up" traditional IT departments.
IBM, VMware sign strategic cloud partnership
IBM and VMware have agreed a strategic partnership aimed to make it easier for businesses to advantage of the cloud’s speed and economic factors.
Uber’s ride-sharing: Just the tip of the iceberg for Australia’s emerging ‘sharing economy’
Uber's new 'ride-sharing' service has caused an uproar in Australia's tightly controlled taxi industry. However, the truth is that this innovative offering is just the tip of the iceberg for a whole raft of 'person to person' services shortly to launch in Australia, collectively known as the emerging 'sharing economy'.
Redditor downloads 421GB on Telstra ‘free mobile data day’
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news A single individual Australian appears to have taken advantage of Telstra's 'free mobile data' day on Sunday to download...
iiNet shareholders vote ‘yes’ for TPG buyout
iiNet shareholders have overwhelmingly voted for the company to be acquired by rival TPG, with approval by the competition regulator and the Federal Court the two remaining conditions before the acquisition can take place.
‘War’ on tax avoidance overlooks some obvious legal fixes
This article is by Antony Ting, Associate Professor, University of Sydney. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
opinion/analysis The war on tax avoidance by multinational...
Twitter buys Aussie startup We Are Hunted
Australian startup We Are Hunted, which was formed out of Wotnews as a side project and survived its death, has just annoucned that it has been bought by social networking site Twitter.
Apple iTax: Made in Ireland, designed in the US
Apple, famous for its innovative products, is equally creative in its tax structure. From 2009 to 2012, it successfully sheltered US$44 billion from being taxed anywhere in the world, including sales generated in Australia.
TPG will raise $300 million to repay iiNet debt and support initiatives
Australian telco giant TPG Telecom Ltd announced yesterday it plans to raise $300 million through a placement of shares to "sophisticated and institutional" investors in Australia and certain overseas jurisdictions.
Most remaining Dick Smith stores to close
With the exception of airport locations, all remaining Dick Smith and Move stores across Australia and New Zealand are to close, according to the receiving company Ferrier Hodgson.
AngelCube opens 2014 startup intake
I just wanted to post a quick note to let readers know that AngelCube, the Melbourne-based startup accelerator, has opened the doors for applications for its 2014 intake. If you don't know about AngelCube but you are interested in starting your own IT startup, you had better familiarise yourself quickly, because you only have a few days to file your entry.
NEC enters ‘smart cities’ partnership with University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide and technology company NEC Australia have signed a new agreement that will see them collaborate on a so-called 'smart cities' project aimed to help urban areas become more dynamic and sustainable.
Australian web 2.0 start-ups raise big capital
Thereitis.com, the Adelaide start-up spun out of Flinders University has elicited a $2 million angel investment round to steer international commercialisation of its user interface technology.
Bevan Slattery launches cloud and datacentre directory
Australian tech entrepreneur Bevan Slattery has launched a comprehensive cloud and datacentre directory called Cloudscene.
Labor adviser hits up Hacker News for startup tips
Delimiter’s spies have pointed us to a post made by Leigh’s advisor Thomas McMahon on startup/developer gathering ground Hacker News last week.
Dick Smith moves into David Jones
Consumer electronics retailer Dick Smith has revealed it will take over the electronics retail operations of some 30 David Jons stores around Australia from October, as the troubled company's new private equity owners continue to push to rehabilitate its operations.
Aussie invoicing startup Invoice2go raises $15 million
Australian-founded invoicing startup Invoice2go has raised $15 in investment capital to continue its mission of simplifying invoicing for small businesses.
‘Keeping the company in Australia’: Freelancer.com turns down $400m buyout to list on ASX
Outspoken Freelancer.com chief executive Matt Barrie today noted that the company would turn down the offers it had received to sell to a larger group or take investment, instead flagging plans to list on the Australian Securities Exchange later this year and continue the drive to develop Australia's home grown technology industry.
Square Peg launches Australia’s second $200m VC tech fund
Honestly, sometimes it feels at the moment as though there is just a huge stack of pure cash money flowing in the streets for Australia’s technology startups. Several weeks ago the Queensland Government announced a $40 million co-investment fund for startups, last week Victoria followed with a $60 million effort, and of course who could forget the new $200 million fund unveiled by Blackbird Ventures in August. Well now there’s another $200 million fund targeting Australian technology startups.
Equinix completes expansion of Melbourne datacentre
Equinix, an international provider of datacentres and Internet exchanges, has completed the second phase expansion of its Melbourne datacentre, known as ME1.
Telstra invests in NGINX web server project
Telstra Ventures – the venture capital arm of the major telecommunications firm – has announced a strategic investment in NGINX, a San Francisco-based company providing open-source web server software that supports many of the world’s busiest websites.
Aussie startup wants us to outsource chores
Airtasker, a new online community marketplace based in Australia that lets people outsource everyday tasks and chores to ‘runners’ -- local community members looking to earn some extra money -- was launched on February 21, according to a media release issued by the company this week.
Ingogo picks up another $3.4m funding
What this investment, as well as the planned ASX listing and its past healthy fundraising efforts, shows is that ingogo is pulling in substantial revenues.
Aussie software firm Marketplacer grabs $10m
It used to be that the most that early stage Australian software companies could pick up in capital raisings was a few hundred thousand to a couple of million. Complaints about the impossibility of raising a decent amount of venture capital were constant and loud. Wow. How times have changed over the past few years. Today's piece of evidence demonstrates that money is truly flowing in the streets for Australia's growing cadre of technology firms.
Tradie search site hipages.com.au takes $6m
Tradie search site hipages.com.au this week announced it had secured $6 million in venture capital from a range of investors to expand its operations connecting Australians with small service providers in their area.
Budget 2014: Govt chops NICTA funds in two years
The Federal Government tonight revealed plans to totally stop funding the nation's peak ICT research group National ICT Australia (NICTA) after two more years, with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull stating that the organisation would then need to move to a "self-sustaining model".
Telstra, Optus, TPG, Vodafone splurge on 1800MHz spectrum
Four major telcos have together splashed out over half a billion dollars on shares of the 1800 MHz spectrum band, according to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
‘Google Schmoogle’ – how Yellow Pages got it so wrong
Yellow Pages directories have been appearing on doorsteps across Australia in recent weeks. As often as not, they go straight into the recycling bin. In the world of the internet and e-commerce, the very notion of a book the size of two bricks being the source of valuable purchasing information seems plain silly.
Leave Google’s tax alone, Victoria tells Federal Govt
Today Victoria's’s Technology Minister Gordon Rich-Phillips has gone into bat for technology giants such as Google, defending the search giant against the Federal Government’s attempts to make it pay a fair level of tax in Australia.
Leidos closes Lockheed merger
US-based multinational defence company Leidos has announced the successful completion of its previously announced merger with Lockheed Martin's Information Systems & Global Solutions (IS&GS) business.
Budget 2014: VCs demand long-term growth plan
An industry group representing venture capitalists and private equity firms has heavily criticised the Federal Government’s substantial cuts to supporting startup and venture capital resources as part of this year’s budget, backing startup industry commments that the Government must move quickly to fill the gap it has created.
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.
Budget 2014: Game devs ‘bewildered’ by fund cut
Australia's peak game developer's body has issued a statement noting that it is "disappointed and mystified" by the Federal Government's decision to cut $10 million of remaining funding to the Australian Interactive Games Fund, which had been established in 2012 to help game studios get off the ground in Australia.
Telstra doubles NBN/broadband data on new bundle deals
Telstra has announced limited-time bundle deals for new NBN or broadband customers, offering extra data, bonus calls, and access to Wi-Fi when away from the home.
Landmark report plots path for Australia’s startup sector
A landmark report published by Australia's largest startup industry representative group has outlined what is billed as the nation's first comprehensive plan to boost the local technology startup ecosystem, with a number of concrete steps listed which the Federal Government and other stakeholders can take to facilitate rapid growth.
Biteable attracts $1.1m seed round to grow online video tool
Tasmania-based video startup, Biteable, has announced a $1.1-million seed funding round from a group of Australian investors including Tank Stream Ventures and BridgeLane Capital.
Lockheed Martin to establish R&D facility in Melbourne
Multinational security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin has revealed that it is to set up a multi-disciplinary research and development facility in Melbourne.
Telstra reveals plans for another 200 job cuts
Telstra has announced a plan to cut staffing numbers via voluntary redundancies in its Global Contact Centre (GCC) group.
Cisco is quite obsessed with Apple Macs at Cisco Live
Walking around Cisco Live in Melbourne over the past several days, it is quite hard to escape the fact that Cisco appears a little more ... obsessed with Apple iMacs and MacBooks than one would expect.
Taxi 2.0 service Uber hits Sydney
US-based personal transport startup Uber has started testing its service in Sydney, encouraging Sydneysiders to download its mobile application and start requesting rides instead of using existing taxi services.
Optus to cut “several hundred” jobs, union says
Australia's second-largest telco Optus is set to cut several hundred jobs, one of its main unions claimed last week, as part of a "company-wide restructure" that may involve outsourcing and offshoring some aspects of Optus' operations.
Google Australia appoints new MD from the inside
Google Australia and New Zealand has announced the appointment of a new Managing Director following the imminent departure of Maile Carnegie to a new role as Head of Digital at ANZ Bank.
Australia Post sues digital rival over name similarity
Australia Post has instituted legal proceedings against fledgling e-post joint venture Digital Post Australia with reference to the similarity in the name of the company with its own well-established brand. It has sought an injunction in the Federal Court to stop Digital Post Australia from using the name ‘Digital Post Australia’ for its digital mailbox service.
StartupAUS praises Govt’s tax incentives bill
Advocacy group StartupAUS has welcomed the government’s new tax legislation that will provide incentives for investors, saying the measures are arguably the "most generous startup investor scheme in the world".
River City Labs to double in size with new Fortitude Valley premises
Not-for-profit co-working space and startup hub River City Labs has announced plans to double in size within the next six months, following a shift to new premises.
Australia Post, Telstra and the ‘dying business’ dilemma
Who would run a former government-owned monopoly these days? In the last week, Australia Post’s Ahmed Fahour announced 900 administration jobs were to go from its Melbourne operations, while last week Telstra’s David Thodey recounted discussions from his recent trip to the US, where he was told his “business model is dead”.
Oracle to buy NetSuite
Oracle has entered into an agreement to acquire US-based cloud solutions provider NetSuite at a cost of approximately US$9.3 billion (AU$12.34 billion) in cash.
“Open, frank + candid”: Apple defends tiny tax bill
Iconic technology giant Apple has described its relationship with the Australian Taxation Office as "open, frank and candid" and its process of calculating its local tax obligation as "rigorous", despite the fact that the company last year paid local company tax of just $40 million, off Australian revenues of $6 billion.
NextDC confirms second Melbourne data centre will follow equity raising
Australian firm NextDC has announced it plans to raise equity to fund the building of two new data centres, including a second facility in Melbourne.
Google Australia increases tax bill slightly, but results still globally inconsistent
The Australian division of search and software giant Google has published its latest set of financial results for the 2012 calendar year, revealing that it paid several million dollars more tax than the paltry $74,000 sum it claimed in 2011, but also that its revenues and headcount jumped substantially over that period.
ABC tech reporter founds micro-transactions startup
Some of you may remember the name of Nick Ross, the editor of the ABC’s Technology & Games site who wrote several in-depth articles criticising the Coalition’s rival National Broadband Network project. Well, what you probably didn’t know is that Ross has also been spending a great deal of time and effort on a side project. Known as ‘Nanotransactions’, the project is micro-transaction technology which Ross hopes will “save high-quality journalism”.
iiNet chairman “proud” as TPG sell-out looms
iiNet chairman Michael Smith has labelled the company’s planned sell-out to TPG as a “very significant day” in iiNet’s “proud history”, as shareholders vote today on what is still one of the most controversial mergers ever to have been proposed in Australia’s telecommunications industry.
SkyMesh offers symmetric 100/100Mbps NBN
news SkyMesh has launched a set of broadband plans with symmetric speeds of 100/100Mbps over the National Broadband Network’s Fibre to the Premises infrastructure,...
50 awesome Australian female programmers
Over at Pollenizer, long-time startup industry figure Bronwen Clune has published a list of Australia's top 50 female programmers.
Deloitte buys IT firm Sixtree to boost tech offerings
Professional services giant Deloitte has announced the acquisition of IT integration specialist firm Sixtree, calling the move "another strategic investment and building block" for the firm’s technology practice and business solutions.
iOS conference One More Thing set for May
The second edition of One More Thing, a conference of iOS developers and designers, has been scheduled for May 25th and 26th in Melbourne, Australia.
Startup pays local to line up for iPad
Australian startup Airtasker has used its fledgling jobs board service to advertise for someone to line up outside the Sydney Apple store to buy the new iPad when it is launched this Friday in Australia.
Tax heat intensifies on Apple Australia
Given that Australia's Parliament is currently in the process of introducing laws that would force more taxation transparency on companies like Apple, and that governments in the US, UK and Australia are all now angrily demanding answers from companies such as Apple and Google on this issue, I suspect that we'll see some resolution of the tax situation with respect to these giant technology multinationals soon.
Lucy Turnbull backs scheme to turn kids into entrepreneurs
Lucy Turnbull AO, wife of the Prime Minister, has become patron of an organisation called DICE Kids, which aims to turn Australia's kids into entrepreneurs.
Cisco Live 2016 in Melbourne: Photo gallery
Your writer is down in Melbourne attending Cisco Live 2016. We had a fantastic time yesterday and will be posting quite a few stories today from the event. Here's a bit of a window into this huge tech conference with a few photos of what's going on.
IT industry reassurance: IBM Australia shows steady results
Australia's IT professionals are likely to be reassured by the news this week that industry bellwether IBM has posted a set of financial results substantially similar to the ones achieved twelve months earlier.
HP opens new Sydney security ops centre
Global technology giant HP yesterday announced it had created a new dedicated Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Sydney that will support the company's managed security services platform and deal with customers located around the globe.
Report: Australia must take steps to capitalise on IoT revolution
Australia must take care not to miss out on the benefits of the ‘next great disruptor’ – the Internet of Things – according to a report published last week by the newly formed Communications Alliance Internet of Things (IoT) Think Tank.
Good Guys partners with Airtasker on home installation
Household appliance retailer The Good Guys has partnered with local services marketplace Airtasker on a new appliance installation web platform that is more customer-focused yet still makes use of The Good Guys’ existing Australian installer network.
Aussie IT startup A-Team creates new VC fund
A who’s who of the Australian technology startup founder scene (you know these guys, it’s much of the same crew behind initiatives such as Startmate — the Atlassian founders, Niki Scevak and so on) has reportedly banded together to kickstart a new Australian venture capital fund dubbed ‘Blackbird Ventures’.
Industry group lists digital policies to boost Australia’s economic prospects
The Australian Industry (Ai) Group has released a report outlining seven priority policies that it believes are essential to strengthen pro-digital reforms and lift Australia's prospects in the digital economy.
NSA intercepts US routers, implants spyware
Remember how the US Government made such as a huge song and dance about the claimed security implications to buying networking equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei? Well, it turns out that this was squarely a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Fetch TV will easily survive iiNet loss
Fetch TV has revealed it is financially profitable and rapidly expanding its operations and customer numbers, in news that signals it will not be substantially adversely affected by the decision by iiNet’s new owner TPG to terminate its long-standing relationship with the Internet television company.
Have journalists found the inventor of Bitcoin or simply been duped?
If taken on face value, the evidence was actually reasonably compelling. The problem was, as NY Times reporter Nathaniel Popper explained, Wright’s writing and personality didn’t match that of Nakamoto’s.
Delicious buys Aussie startup Trunk.ly
Global social bookmarking company Delicious has bought Australian startup Trunk.ly, less than a year after the site launched in the wake of Delicious' own temporary sunset at the hands of former owner Yahoo.
Apple’s longest statement about Australia ever
This brief speech was read by Apple Australia managing director Anthony King to Australia's House of Representatives' Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications last week on Friday 22 March. As far as Delimiter is aware, it represents the longest and most detailed statement technology giant Apple has made with respect to its operations in Australia over at least the past decade.
Optus re-opens startup funding applications
Just wanted to post a brief note that Optus has opened the second round of applications for Australian IT startups to attract seed funding under its Innov8 program.
Optus makes first startup investments
National telecommunications player Optus has made its first investments in several Australian technology startups, courtesy of its Innov8 seed fund set up in collaboration with parent SingTel, with local groups 121cast and Venuemob getting the nod for initial capital investment.
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.
Pollenizer raises another $1.1m for startups
Australian startup incubator Pollenizer today revealed it had added a further $1.1 million in investment to its coffers, with the aim of furthering its mission of helping to build innovative technology startups.
Google’s new Aussie MD: Zero tech/media experience
This morning search advertising and technology giant Google appointed a new managing director for its Australia and New Zealand division. While Maile Carnegie is a very seasoned executive with a few decades at consumer goods company Proctor & Gamble (P&G), we'd have to question her fitness to provide vision for Google's local operations ... given that the executive appears to have zero experience in either the technology or media industries, which is kind of where Google specialises.
Australian IT should play to mining, farming strengths, says Fletcher
I don't want to comment too strongly on the substance of the speech at this point, but I wanted to make readers aware that Malcolm Turnbull's Parliamentary Secretary Paul Fletcher has delivered a major speech on the Coalition's vision for the Digital Economy.
Capgemini appoints new CEO for Australia and New Zealand
Global consulting, technology and outsourcing company Capgemini has announced the appointment of Nicolas Aidoud as its new Chief Executive Officer for Australia and New Zealand.
Campaign Monitor takes US$250m from US VC
Australia-based software as a service email marketing platform Campaign Monitor announced overnight that it had taken a $250 million investment from US-based venture capital firm Insight Venture Partners, in one of the largest ever VC investments in an Australian technology startup.
Drastic govt measures needed: IT price hike report pulls no punches
The Federal Parliament committee examining IT price hikes in Australia has published an extensive report recommending a raft of drastic measures to deal with current practices in the area, which, the report says, are seeing Australians unfairly slugged with price increases of up to 50 percent on key technology goods and services.
Freelancer’s IPO and the new tech millionaires
Freelancer, the online freelance and labour market site has issued its prospectus ahead of a listing on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Budget 2014: Govt rolls Commercialisation Australia, IIF into new group
The Federal Government has made good on the threat delivered this month by its Commission of Audit to "abolish" key early stage innovation industry support vehicles Commercialisation Australia and the Innovation Investment Fund (IIF), with the pair and others to be rolled into a new body dubbed the 'Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure Programme'.
BugHerd takes $500K venture capital investment
BugHerd, the Australian developer of the bug-tracking software by the same name, revealed yesterday that it had received a $500K investment from Melbourne-based venture capital firm Starfish Ventures.
NBN may be delayed by Alcatel-Lucent strike
Employees at Alcatel-Lucent Australia have threatened to commence industrial action to defend wages and entitlements, in a move that could see the rollout of the National Broadband Network delayed.
Budget 2014: NICTA will be heavily affected by funding cut
Just a day or so ago, National ICT Australia appeared relatively unfazed by the Coalition Federal Government’s decision to entirely cut its funding within two years, vowing to seek alternative options. But an interview with the group’s chief executive Hugh Durrant-Whyte in the Financial Review newspaper yesterday paints an entirely different picture.
A solid overview of Australian startup funding
Mark Greig, the commercial director of Pollenizer Global (and chairman of Pollenizer’s Investment Council) has published an extremely common sense blog post outlining some the basic things you need to know about investing in Australian IT startups.
TPG’s iiNet bloodbath continues as long-time CTO Bader leaves
iiNet’s highest profile technology executive Greg Bader has added his name to the growing number of staff departing the national broadband provider in the wake of its acquisition by rival company TPG.
In the Airbnb world we need a new productivity measure
Our productivity problem is a like an epidemic. It affects many businesses and threatens the prosperity of future Australians yet it is poorly understood and goes largely unnoticed, especially in a service economy. If a problem of this size and scale were to affect people’s health, money would be raised for further research to isolate the causes and cures for the malady.
Optus, Huawei achieve 1.41Gbps speeds in 4.5G wireless trial
Optus and Huawei late last week said a live trial of 4.5G technology has produced mobile download speeds of 1.41Gbps.
Is an Australian Silicon Valley a realistic goal?
The question of how Australia could develop its technology startup sector to become more like California's Silicon Valley is one that has plagued the industry, politicians and financiers for some time. But is this even a realistic idea?
CSC loses Australian chief Larkings
IT services giant CSC has issued a carefully worded statement noting that the long-time managing director of its Australian division, Gavin Larkings, has "left" the business and been replaced by a 15-year-veteran of IBM.
Deloitte proposes concrete startup employee share changes
Corporate and technology consulting firm Deloitte has proposed a set of concrete definitions and rules that would substantially change the way the Australian Taxation Office deals with the contentious issue of employee share schemes for Australian startup companies.
Delivery drones: Approach with caution
As many people will be aware, yesterday an Australian startup named Flirtey announced that it in March next year, it would launch a commercial drone package delivery service, using "fully automated drones" to deliver packages in inner Sydney through short flights. But can this claim be believed?
Hyde quit NEC to run HP’s Enterprise division
Seasoned Australian technology executive Alan Hyde left his managing director role at NEC to lead the South Pacific division of HP's Enterprise Group, it has been revealed.
Victoria launches new body to give startups a boost
The Victorian Government has unveiled a new body called LaunchVic that is aimed to accelerate startups, drive new ideas and create jobs in the state.
Pre-launch web startup Canva raises $3m
Australian web startup Canva this morning revealed it had picked up a $3 million seed round from a number of early stage investors and venture capitalists in Australia and Silicon Valley.
Telstra backs away from same-sex marriage campaign
Telstra has retreated from any involvement in a same-sex marriage campaign, reportedly following suggestions from the Catholic Church that it would boycott companies supporting the issue.
Future Capital expands with Agenda and BlueChilli
Future Capital Development Fund (FCDF), the prominent Australian web 2.0 investment group, announced its investment yesterday in two more companies, TheAgendaDaily.com and BlueChilli Technology. This brings the total of fast growing Internet companies in the Future Capital portfolio to at least 14.
Report: Oracle may be dumping its Australian support centre
Spend a lot of time calling Oracle's Australian support centre for those pesky database support enquiries? Well, if a report late last year and mutterings this week around the traps are any indication, you could shortly be speaking to someone in somewhere like Romania instead.
IBM Australia goes through redundancy round
Global technology giant IBM is cutting jobs in its Australian operations, Delimiter can reveal, in a move which appears to be part of a broad global cull by Big Blue.
Blackbird reveals whopping $200m tech startup VC fund
Australian tech-focused venture capital fund Blackbird this week announced it had raised $200 million to invest in fast-growing Australian technology startups, in the largest funding round of its kind seen in Australia.
Solar firm formally warned over Do Not Call Register complaints
A solar company and a call centre firm have been issued formal warnings by The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for making telemarketing calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register.
SAP sets up public, financial services business units
SAP, a multinational provider of enterprise software, has established a public services business unit in Australia, along with a financial services business unit covering both Australia and New Zealand – both have been set up to help the company scale in the region, the firm said.
Pollenizer takes a further $1.1m, rejigs model
Australian startup incubator Pollenizer has raised a further $1.1 million to continue to develop its operations, and has substantially reformed its model on building startups to place a higher emphasis on its staff acting as co-founders of the startup companies it helps to foster.
Google publishes book on Aussie innovation
Google Australia has published a new 47 page book. Dubbed 'Australia's Innovation Generation' and part of the search giant's Start with Code campaign, the book chronicles the stories of ten innovative Australian entrepreneurs, including high-fliers such as Atlassian's Mike Cannon-Brookes and entrepreneur-turned-investor Niki Scevak.
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.
Pollenizer-backed Pygg banks $600k
Another one of startup incubator Pollenizer's portfolio companies has raised a significant amount of investment capital to expand its operations, with social payments company Pygg today revealing it had taken $600k in funding.
Telstra preparing mobile network for 1Gbps speeds ‘later in 2016’
Telstra has made a raft of announcements this week, including the launch of 1Gbps speeds on its mobile networks in certain areas.
Bugcrowd picks up $1.6m funding
There might not be enough capital floating around in Australia’s IT startup ecosystem for it to expand at the rate some would like, but some startups, at least, are not finding much difficulty with raising capital. Crowdsourced security startup Bugcrowd today revealed it had picked up $1.6 million in funding from Australian and US investors.
Corruption raises its ugly head in Australia’s technology sector
The newspaper alleged, and Leighton has substantially verified, the fact that staff from Visionstream were suspected of aiding Silcar staff in stealing Visionstream tender files relating to a $240 million contract to deploy Optus’s 4G network, which the two contractors were competing to bid. I’ll have a separate article on that situation shortly.
What you may not realise is that this not an isolated incident.
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.
Vodafone inks rewards deal with Qantas, opens NZ roaming
Vodafone has inked a deal with Qantas that will see the companies work together to deliver new ways to reward customers. Furthermore, the mobile provider is offering free roaming in New Zealand to its $5 roaming package users.
Dell sells services business to Japan’s NTT Data
Computing giant Dell has announced that Japan-based NTT Data is to acquire its IT services consultation division, Dell Services.
SMS shifts Vietnam staff to third-party
Australian technology services group SMS Management & Technology has shifted the staff in its development facility in Vietnam to a third-party it has signed a comprehensive partnership with, as part of the company's efforts to expand its offshore resources and reducing its fixed costs in the region.
HP adopts Microsoft Dynamics for CRM
Multinational IT giant HP has signed a six-year agreement to deploy Microsoft Dynamics for its thousands of employees.
Monster Truck dev wants Australia to be video games ‘connector’
The first independent Australian video game developer to make a submission to the Senate’s fledgling inquiry into the future of the local video game development industry has called for the nation to become known as a ‘connector’ which will support developers to gain access to major publishers, markets and other resources.
Foxtel to launch first Internet piracy blocking attempt in early 2016
National pay TV operator Foxtel has reportedly confirmed plans to launch an attempt early in the near year to have a specific website allegedly hosting pirated film and TV content blocked, in what is expected to be the first test of new legislation designed to tackle Internet piracy.
TPG/iiNet shuts down TransACT’s Canberra call centre
TPG and its subsidiary iiNet have quietly shut down the dedicated call centre supporting ACT and Victoria-based ISP TransACT, making all of its staff redundant and shifting call volumes to other call centres around Australia.
Tapestry.net picks up $400k investment
Not every Web 2.0 startup is for sexy young things who are devoted to sharing every instant of their “social universe” online. Some startups aim at different categories. A good example is Tapestry.net, which just picked up a cool $400k in investment from government group Commercialisation Australia.
Canva raises $15m after repeated previous capital injections
Australian graphic design software company Canva this week revealed it had raised a further $15 million in venture capital investment, in what appears to be the company’s fourth sizable capital raising in only the past several years.
Aussie start-up incubators need fresh meat
There is good news for Australian start-ups looking for investment and guidance, as start-up incubators are opening new rounds of applications for their funding intake and mentorship programs. These investors provide internet companies seed capital, mentorship, connections, opportunities for Australian web start-ups, usually for a minority stake, and even pitch for top-tier venture capitalists and angel investors.
Farce: NSW Govt suspends UberX drivers while review is underway
NSW Roads and Maritime Services this week revealed it had suspended some forty owners of vehicles involved in UberX-style ride-sharing services, ruling the use of vehicles for this purpose as illegal, despite the fact that the State Government is currently conducting a review into the future of the related taxi industry.
VMware appoints new Australia and New Zealand chief
VMware, a provider of cloud and virtualization software and services, has appointed Alister Dias as Vice President and Managing Director for Australia & New Zealand.
Telstra offers free data following mobile network outage
Telstra is offering free data for a day for all customers this Sunday following an outage in its national mobile network that affected voice and data services for some customers.
Telstra, Seven splurge on HealthEngine startup
Telecommunications and media giants Telstra and Seven West Media have revealed they will splurge a total of $10.4 million on HealthEngine, in a move which represents the second major investment in the seven-year-old Perth-based health appointment search startup in less than a year.
Could Telstra buy Telecom NZ?
Speculation has started floating around Australia's blogosphere from senior sources that the nation's number one telco could find it opportunistic to be positioning itself for a buyout of New Zealand's incumbent telco Telecom New Zealand.
Budget 2014: NICTA vows to soldier on
Australia's peak ICT research group, National ICT Australia, has revealed that it has known about the Federal Government's plans to completely cut its funding since late 2013, but has pledged to continue on and find alternative funding models regardless.
GoPro to site regional HQ in Melbourne, create 50 new jobs
Action camera manufacturer GoPro has said it will set up its Australian and New Zealand headquarters in Melbourne – a move that will create up to 50 jobs over the next five years and was in part due to assistance from the Victorian Government.
IT startups pan ‘narrow’ tax changes
Those of you who were watching closely would have noticed that the Federal Government finally last week released a discussion paper looking at new rules for Australian technology startups (see the media release here), which would make it much easier for IT startups with 10 staff or less to launch share programs for employees without having those programs attract massive taxation headaches. But do the rules go far enough?
Building a financial system for a cashless age
If the Financial System Inquiry is to achieve its aim of helping to promote growth and productivity in the Australian economy it will need to focus strongly on electronic payments.
Carnegie unveils $120m ‘digital’ fund
Venture capital and private equity firm M. H. Carnegie has revealed it is preparing to launch an $120 million venture capital fund using local user interface and digital marketing firm Vivant as an incubation facility, in one of the more unusual such collaborations seen so far in Australia.
Suncorp invests in Trōv ahead of insurance app launch
Suncorp has bought a US$5 million (A$6.59 million) equity stake in US-based tech firm Trōv.
Optus rolls out guest Wi-Fi at Mirvac shopping centres
Optus Business is now providing Wi-Fi services for Australian property group Mirvac at two of the firm's flagship shopping centres.
Sydney’s Bubble Gum studio raises $2.5m more
Sydney-based children's entertainment company Bubble Gum Interactive has raised another $2.5 million to help fund the expansion of its Little Space Heroes online game, adding to an initial $1 million raised in mid-2011.
Research: Netflix now reaches over a million households in Australia
The number of Australian households with a Netflix subscription rose in October to top one million, according to data from Roy Morgan Research.
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.
Cloud computing could cause the next Industrial Revolution, says Telstra
The cloud has sparked true IT transformation, and could potentially usher in a new Industrial Revolution, according to an opinion piece penned by Michelle Bendschneider – Telstra's Executive Director, Global Products.
Google Fiber considers expansion to Chicago and Los Angeles
Google Fiber may soon come to Chicago and Los Angeles, following a call from the tech and search giant for the two cities to explore the feasibility of a rollout there.
‘Significant’ bidder interest for Sydney’s White Bay tech hub project
The transformation of Sydney’s iconic White Bay Power Station into a hub for tech startups has received 'significant interest' from a range of Australian and international contenders, according to the managers of the project.
Telstra flags redundancies in Defence contract
The nation's largest telco has flagged a small redundancy and redeployment round as part of its huge $1.1 billion contract with the Department of Defence, in the latest set of job cuts that appear to be sweeping across Australia's technology and telecommunications industries.
Consumer commission sues LG Electronics for ‘misleading’ consumers
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced court proceedings against LG Electronics Australia, saying that the tech giant made "false or misleading" representations to consumers over their rights regarding faulty products.
NEC Australia announces new leadership team
Technology services company NEC Australia has announced a new leadership team that will be led by Mike Barber, a member of the firm's board and former Executive Director of IT Solutions and Services.
NBN offers 50Mbps/20Mbps fixed wireless product
The NBN company this morning announced it had launched a fixed wireless broadband service offering download speeds of 50Mbps and upload speeds of 20Mbps -- double the speeds currently available on the company's wireless platform.
Atlassian announces huge revenue growth but profit slump
Atlassian Corporation – the Sydney-based provider of team collaboration and productivity software – has revealed in its third quarter of fiscal 2016 earnings report that, while revenue grew considerably compared with the same period last year, it still suffered an operating loss of US$4.9 million.
MYOB acquires Greentree in bid for growth
MYOB, a provider of online business management solutions, has announced the acquisition of resource planning software group Greentree at a cost of NZ$28.5 million (AU$27.12 million).
HP Australia product revenues head south
The Australian operation of the formerly merged Hewlett Packard company has revealed that its local revenues sank by a whopping $271.5 million in 2015, with most of the decline attributable to its technology products business, as opposed to the IT services business it is splitting off into a separate company.
Brennan IT selects Commvault and Huawei for backup-as-a-service
Brennan IT, an IT and telecoms managed services provider, has deployed a "scalable and flexible" backup-as-a-service solution utilising Commvault software and support, alongside Huawei OceanStor hardware.
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.
Xbox One goes off with a bang … but will the PS4 launch eclipse...
Which console launch are you most excited about, and why? Am I right that the PlayStation 4 has most of the momentum at this point? Or is underdog Microsoft making a comeback with the Xbox One?
Telstra offers free Wi-Fi to customers over summer season
Telstra has announced it is giving millions of customers "unlimited free access" to its Wi-Fi network, Telstra Air.
VCs plough $14m into crowdsourcing startups
Two high-profile Australian startups who have built their businesses on crowdsourcing this week revealed they had attracted a total of $14 million in venture capital funding that will allow them to continue to grow aggressively and extend their reach outside Australia.
19-year old Aussie pumps taxi booking app
A 19-year-old Australian developer, Zac Altman has successfully launched an online service for taxi users in Australia focusing on mobile bookings, thrusting himself into an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
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.
Great startup insight from 99designs
Often I've found, in my field of online publishing, that the solution you're looking to with regard to a problem you're experiencing has already been worked out by someone else -- someone you can easily talk to about it. Startups thrive when they interface with each other and share lessons.
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.
“An absolute national imperative”: Matt Barrie’s epic rant on Australia’s IT investment
Freelancer.com chief executive Matt Barrie has published an impassioned article on his LinkedIn profile strongly heavily criticising the Government for its underinvestment in the technology sector, which he said had led to a situation where Australia is devoid of good IT talent and "missing out" on the ongoing industry revolution.
Expert360 pulls in $4.1m for consultancy 2.0
An Australian website which provides access to independent consultants has raised $4.1 million in venture capital from a group of new and existing shareholders in Australia, the US and Europe, including former Macquarie Bank boss Allan Moss as well as VC fund Frontier ventures.
Bitcoin miner lists on ASX
If you needed any further indication that we now live in the science fiction future long ago mapped out for us by visionary authors, then look no further. News arrived this week that an Australian digital currency company and Bitcoin mining concern, digitalBTC, has listed on the Australian Stock Exchange through a backdoor listing.
TPG’s FTTB rollout still progressing extremely slowly
news Retail broadband provider AusBBS has released new statistics showing that the Fibre to the Basement network which Australia's third-largest telco TPG is deploying...
Xenophon announces plan to save Dick Smith gift card holders
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has announced a possible solution for Dick Smith gift card holders following the electronics retailer's collapse.
Australia trains more fitness than IT professionals
From the thought-provoking blog of REA Group chief information officer Nigel Dalton and his consulting colleague James Pierce comes the news that Australia is currently training many more fitness instructors than IT professionals.
IBM announces national cybersecurity facility in Canberra
IBM has announced the creation of a cybersecurity centre in Canberra aimed to bring about greater cybersecurity resilience and collaboration between Australia's governments and businesses on strategy and policy.
Australia’s IT startup scene: Blooming, not dying
This morning the Sydney Morning Herald published a series of articles claiming that Australia's technology startup ecosystem is unable to support local entrepreneurs, causing them to increasingly head to the US in search of the financial backing they are unable to attract in Australia. The only problem is, the evidence doesn't support this assertion.
Is the Govt’s missed e-health target meaningful?
We could question whether there are not better things within the health system that the nearly AUS$1 billion spent so far on PCEHR could have been spent on.
Datacom launches “National Network” of datacentres
Datacom has launched what it calls its "National Network" of interconnected data centres and digital assets.
WME, Appscore to add 70 tech jobs at new Melbourne HQ
Australian digital marketing agency Web Marketing Experts (WME) has announced that it will add 70 new jobs at its new Melbourne headquarters over the next 12 months – a figure that includes staff at its mobile-focused subsidiary Appscore.
Blackbird launches $30m Aussie VC fund
Less than 24 hours after one of Australia's most high-profile declared Australia's venture capital industry "dead", a new $30 million venture capital fund has launched locally to support the next wave of Australian tech startups, backed by a who's who list of the local early stage technology industry.
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.
Report outlines the digitalisation ‘megatrends’ shaping Australia’s employment future
A new report has outlined the "megatrends" shaping the future of employment in Australia and highlighted the importance of education across the jobs spectrum.
Reboot ICT teacher training to halt the computing brain drain
The shortage of computing experts in Australian schools has serious implications for our future as a player in the knowledge economy.
Simon Hackett appointed CEO of Redflow
Redflow, an energy storage solutions provider, has announced two new senior management changes, including the appointment of a new acting Chief Executive Officer.
Atlassian buys HipChat
Australian enterprise software firm Atlassian revealed this week that it had acquired San Francisco-based HipChat.
Telstra chair Catherine Livingstone resigns
Telstra Chairman Catherine Livingstone has announced she is resigning from her position on the board of directors at Australia's largest telecommunications company.
NAB, Telstra form digital marketplace startup for small biz
A joint venture between NAB and Telstra will see the launch of a new digital marketplace startup called Proquo, aimed to help small businesses around Australia develop and grow.
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.
Insight: Warning: Most of Australia’s IT bellwethers are cutting jobs
Yesterday morning an unexpected chill wind blew through Australia's technology sector.
Apple CEO bitchslaps Melbourne store staff in front of whole company
In an email to all staff, Apple CEO Tim Cook has reportedly called a recent incident in which black teenagers were turned away from an Apple store in Melbourne "unacceptable".
Apple reseller Next Byte to close following revenue decline
Vita Group has announced it will close the remaining eight stores of its subsidiary Next Byte – an Apple product reseller – over three months starting from January 2016.
Freelancer’s IPO: A billion reasons to care
For the Australian tech company market, the success of Freelancer would be a good thing and could possibly serve to boost the likelihood of other companies receiving investment. But because tech companies listing on the ASX are relatively uncommon, they are often treated as scarce events resulting in a general temptation to attach too much significance to a company that has yet to really prove it is worthy of the attention.
Software is officially a rip-off in Australia, So what can you do?
It’s official: Australia isn’t the “lucky country” in the IT sector. Consumers, government and industry down under are charged typically 50% more for software and hardware compared to their American counterparts. Why is this the case and, more importantly, what can affected customers do about it?
Taxi 2.0 service Uber now in Melbourne
Following the launch of next-generation taxi service Uber in Sydney in late October last year, the US startup has now annoucned that it has launched quietly in Melbourne.
Three years later, Vodafone finally refers journalist spying to police
National mobile operator Vodafone yesterday revealed it would finally refer to law enforcement authorities an incident which it became aware of three years ago where one of its staff members had accessed the call records of a journalist who was dealing with a whistleblower within its operations.
Telstra hires Kevin Russell and … Stephen Elop?
Telstra has announced two notable executive hires in its retail and innovation divisions as it moves to simplify and strengthen its core business.
Online retailer Kogan files for IPO
Online retailer Kogan.com has announced an initial public offering (IPO) that it said is aimed to raise $50 million via the sale of new shares.
Atlassian files for US$3 billion IPO in United States
Australian software giant Atlassian has reportedly quietly filed to take its operations public in the United States at a value of more than US$3 billion, in a move that will make its founders two of Australia’s richest technologists but disappoint those hoping for a large listing on Australia’s on stockmarket.
ACCC green-lights ihail taxi booking app
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given its approval for a new taxi app called ihail, a joint venture between taxi networks and other participants that the industry hopes will allow it to fight back against ride-sharing services like Uber.
Telstra launches multi-cloud management platform
Telstra has launched a cloud management platform aimed to help businesses with the operation of hybrid cloud environments.
Telstra offshores 34 Tasmanian jobs
Your writer can't imagine that it's easy working at Telstra. Although Australia's biggest telco has an extensive workforce with many career opportunities, it also conducts regularly redundancy rounds as part of its ongoing drive to become more efficient and cut costs.
Atlassian announces massive revenue jump
Atlassian, the Sydney-founded provider of team collaboration and productivity software, has announced a spike in revenue in its latest financial results.
ACS report reveals “major skills shift” in Australian economy
The ACS – the professional association for Australia’s ICT sector – has published a report that revealing that "major shift" is underway in Australia's economy, as employers seek workers with digital and other skills.
Oracle CEO jets into Australia to reassure customers on support offshoring, flag huge sales...
Fresh off the back of claims that Oracle has just dumped its entire Australian support operation, news has arrived from the Financial Review this week that global Oracle co-chief executive Mark Hurd has landed in Australia.
Liberals want to make Adelaide “startup capital of Australia”
South Australia's Liberal Party has vowed to make Adelaide "the startup capital of Australia" if it wins the upcoming state election, promising to plough some $500,000 into a startup week and committing to a slew of other initiatives that would help alleviate what the party described as the state's "devastating brain drain" crisis.
The NBN alone does not guarantee a strong “digital economy”
If you listen to the rhetoric emanating from Australia’s political sector, especially the Australian Labor Party, you’d no doubt believe that the construction of the NBN alone was enough to guarantee that Australia will develop a strong local technology startup culture, similar to that found in Silicon Valley in the US, or in other locations internationally such as Tel Aviv in Israel. However, as one of Australia’s most experienced startup mentors and commentators, Sandy Plunkett, writes, this simply isn’t true.
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.
Politicians flood launch of #fintech hub Stone & Chalk
blog Sydney-based financial technology startup hub Stone & Chalk launched last night to great fanfare, with a solid wedge of politicians from both major...
VMware introduces new desktop virtualisation platform
Virtualisation giant VMware has unveiled a new platform for delivering secure digital workspaces for flexible working on any device.