FREE ACCESS magazine

Apple opens its 215th store, first one for Australia

2008-06-19T09:24:42Z

Apple has opened the doors of its 215th retail store, and the first one in Australia, in Sydney. Apple fans from Australia and overseas lined up outside for three days before it opened.

Apple fans in Australia have a couple of reasons to be excited this new store. This is the first Apple retail store in the Australia and its opening is in advance of the Australian launch of the iPhone , which is slated for July 11.

Located on the corner of King and George streets in Sydney’s CBD, the new Apple Store can accomodate 80 Macs and 60 iPods and will employ 125 local staff. It’s main facade, typical of many Apple stores, is made of 15 m high glass slabs that serve as a customer’ "window" to the Apple products inside.

Apple also announced that it is looking at building two more local stores in Australia. These smaller satellite stores will be located in Melbourne and the other somewhere in Chatswood, north of Sydney.

Microsoft stands to lose a lot due to Vista’s poor corporate adoption

2008-06-13T12:09:43Z

A Wall Street analyst has said that Microsoft stands to lose around $395 million in revenues for 2009 because of the poor adoption of its Vista operating system by corporations.

Charles Di Bona, of Sanford C. Bernstein Group, based his statement on the results of a survey conducted by Bernstein of some 372 information technology professionals in May. Respondents expected that only 26% of corporate PCs will be running Vista by 2011. Those figures are well down on survey results last year where it was expected that 68% of PCs would be running Vista..

The survey also showed that the primary reason why companies are reluctant to adopt Vista is its memory and processor requirements. Two things which are not an issue with Windows XP.

During an interview, Di Bona also said that the IT community does find any compelling reason migrating to Vista; instead they have become negative about it.

"It seems like the IT community has turned tepid to negative," said Di Bona.

In a more positive note, Di Bona predicted a better earnings projection of around $429 for Microsoft sometime in 2010 when Windows 7 is expected to be released.

Other industry analysts are also pinning their hopes for Microsoft on intensifying anticipation for Windows 7. Nonetheless, the analysts advised Microsoft to beef up their Vista campaign while still promoting the forthcoming Windows 7.

The case of the $1632 Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade

2008-05-28T08:14:10Z

An IT manager who was trying to upgrade his Windows Vista Ultimate installation was billed seven times due to a malfunction at Windows Live Marketplace.

Bill, who works at a large university, wrote to Consumerist to tell his sorry tale. Apparently, while trying to upgrade his Vista installation on his home PC through the Windows Live Marketplace, the system brought him to a page that said “Microsoft cannot be contacted at this time, please try again later.”

Desperate to upgrade his Vista installation, Bill did the ordering process for the second time and got the same message. Finally, after seven tries, Bill successfully completed the transaction.

His nightmare started the following day, when the debit card company informed him that Microsoft had charged his card seven times for $233.15.

Bill immediately called Microsoft to inform them of the overcharges. The Microsoft representative assured him that the matter will be taken cared of by the debit card company. But after a couple of days, nothing happened and so he called Microsoft again. A Microsoft representative assured him that his case has been “escalated”.

Almost a month after the incident Bill still has not received his refund. Since the overcharges affected Bill’s monthly budget, he is now facing overdue bills, which he can’t pay because Microsoft still has the money he earmarked to pay those bills.

To give himself a consolation and to ease out the stress brought about by the incident, the dissatisfied Bill is now seeking to use Unix/Linux as an alternative to Windows Vista.

Australian broadband users spending more time online than watching TV

2008-05-22T21:40:19Z

A new study has shown that Australians are spending more time on the Internet than they are`watching television or movies. The study was conducted by Illuminas in several geographic areas including Australia, New Zealand, Europe and US.

For the Australian part of the study, the research firm sampled 864 broadband users and found that on average they spent 47 hours a week connected to the Internet. Eight hours were spent listening to or downloading music and three hours were spent gaming. These 47 hours spent doing media-related activities online compared to only 14 hours spent in front of the television.

This didn’t come as a surprise to Illuminas Managing Director, Jay Shutter who told ARN News that spending 47 hours on the Internet during the week may seem like a lot of time, but it is normal in a media-driven society.

“The Internet has become such a centre point for not only TV content, but also how people manage their lives; get movie or theatre tickets, plan a vacation, communicate with friends, search for a new fridge, whatever it might be. The Internet has become an invaluable resource for so many elements of the digital lifestyle,” said Shutter.

The study also noted that Australians own an average of seven devices. While most own a mobile phone, mobile media consumption was low with only 2% percent responding that they have used their mobile phone to access media content online on a regular basis. Less than 4% of the respondents said that they might use their mobile phones for that purpose within the next year.

Government allocates $128.9 million for a safer online environment for Australian children

2008-05-15T14:02:41Z

The Australian Government has allotted $128.9 of its annual federal budget to give Aussie children a safer and friendlier online environment. Around $49 million of this budget will go to law enforcement while the rest will be used for ISP filtering plan.

ITWire reported that the Australian Government would also make available a filtered internet service, or what it calls "clean feed", to all homes, schools and public internet points which might be freely accessed by children.

To fully ensure that children are well protected online, The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team will be expanded to boosts its capacity to detect and investigate crimes committed against children online. The $49 million funding will pay for an additional 91 AFP members to help out in this drive. The money will also be used to help the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions in handling prosecutions and related activities brought about by increased investigation of online criminals preying on innocent children online.

Although the renewed support to the AFP may not pose any issue, the ISP filtering plan on the other hand is facing controversy. This is due to the fact that critics fears that ISP level filtering may extend to other "inappropriate" materials other than those not suited for children.

The Government’s plan is to develop a range of measures that will empower children to become responsible online community members. This plan ought to give parents, teachers, trainee teachers, librarians and children various online cyber-safety resources and assistance.

Microsoft to offer Office SP1 through automatic update

2008-05-10T08:54:20Z

Microsoft to offer Office SP1 through automatic update Microsoft has announced that it will be offering the Office Service Pack 1 through automatic update from June 16. The early announcement was made because Microsoft promised to give its users at least 30 days notice before releasing any software service pack automatically through the Microsoft Update (MU) channel.

Five months after Microsoft released the Office 2007 SP1 pack as a direct download service on its web site, Microsoft said on its Office Sustained Engineering Blog that it had almost ten millions of downloads. The service pack has elicited a good reaction from customers, prompting Microsoft to release the Office 2007 SP1 through its MU.

The Automatic Update will be pushed to selected users gradually from the 16th. This is to avoid strain on MU’s infrastructure and the channel’s performance.

As to what users should expect from the Office 2007 SP1, one of the most notable changes is the implementation of the new document format called Open Office XML, which was approved by the ISO in April. This controversial document format was approved by the ISO despite allegations from critics saying that Microsoft had influenced the OOXML voting committee into approving the new document format. These allegations were denied by Microsoft.

OPEL and FTTN processes tanking; Australia may be in technological limbo

2008-05-01T03:13:51Z

Australia has been watching the OPEL and FTTN network processes with baited breathe over the last few months and the process for each network hits various roadblocks and obstacles. Now the two ideas are in real trouble. If OPEL and FTTN both fall by the wayside, Australia could be left in a vast wasteland of technological limbo.

Recent outcry over replacing a CDMA network that was working for so many with Next G, which seems to work sporadically, if at all, coupled with flawed WiMax plans, abandoned OPEL ideas and faulty paperwork holding up FTTN is leading some to behave as if their hands are tied.

Thinking that no technology is better than trying and failing to find a solution (or several) that will bring the entire country into the technological future is just wrong thinking. Australia is a country that is spread far and wide, and finding a way to bring internet access to everyone, even those in the Bush and outlying areas, is key to keeping Aussies competitive in the technology age. Not to continue to develop an internet backbone would be a crime against their own people.

Wasting time arguing about whether a current technology, like CDMA (now defunct) or GSM will continue to be viable if new technology is developed defeats what should be the ultimate goal - getting your country online and functional in a digital age. If your country can’t log on from anywhere, they can’t compete. Why deprive your citizens of the chance to learn, grow and connect? Instead of wasting time debating the merits of 3G, Next G, WiMax, FTTN and other technologies, Australia should be building out as much infrastructure to support connections as it can, before it gets left behind.

Dell announces Aussie retail partner

2008-04-30T21:59:25Z

In a move expected to shake up the Australian markets a bit, Dell has announced it will be getting a new partner in Australian retail. Now the game is hurry up and wait as Dell prolongs the announcement of the actual name another day.

The announcement of a retail partner in Australia follows the trend of the last year, as Dell has steadily left behind its focus on direct to customer sales for more lucrative deal in the United States. It allowed distributors like Wal-Mart and Best Buy to start selling its computers and peripherals there, and the move made huge inroads on the business of competitors like Hewlett Packard.

Will the announcement of a retail partner for Dell in Australia have the same impact? There is little doubt that is will. It has also impacted its business in the United Kingdom (where it partnered with Tesco) and China (where it partnered with Gome). As the company creates a retail presence around the globe, the question becomes “Is Dell creating a recession proof retail and customer direct combined strategy?”

Consumers have embraced the new strategy. Being able to test drive a computer before buying it is a selling point for many people, so Dell’s move into retail around the globe has done wonders for its word of mouth. Those people that bought customer direct due to brand loyalty can still do so, so Dell hasn’t lost any customers as a direct result of adding retail. It will be interesting to follow the impact of the retail partnership on Australian markets.

Cell phone recycling doubles in wake of CDMA kill off

2008-05-01T05:27:13Z

One of the more immediate effects of the CDMA network shut down is an increase in recycled cell phones. Statistics say that the number of recycled cell phones has doubled since the network shut down started. That’s quite a jump.

Australia has a recycling program called the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association Mobile Muster Take Back Program. That’s quite a mouthful for a program encouraging Aussies to go green by turning in their cell phones and cell phone accessories instead of dumping them in the landfill.

Cell phones submitted to the program are taken to facilities like that run by Will LeMessurier. Once there they are dismantled completely. Once disassembled, only the lowest valued components or the least able to be reused or recycled are sent to landfill. The rest find new homes, circuit boards being the most valuable piece of an old cell phone because they have small amounts of gold that can be extracted.

Before the CDMA network closure process began, as many as 640,000 cell phones a year were simply tossed. This meant that 640,000 cell phones and all of their various potentially hazardous components like batteries were leaching into Australia’s landfills. The more cell phones and accessories that can be recycled, the better it is for a greener Australia.

Google wants you, search giant looking for tech talent in Australia

2008-04-29T21:11:19Z

Search and software giant Google is seeking out new tech talent down under. They will be running a recruitment week in major Australian cities all this week, looking for the best and brightest to help them bring Google to Australia. The division that is seeking new young software stars is Google Research and Development.

Google is calling the massive talent search G-Day Google, and the hunt begins in Melbourne. Currently, Google’s presence in Australia consists of a 200 person branch in Sydney. That number is twice what it was last year. With that kind of growth, Google wants to make sure it has its finger on the pulse of the nation’s brightest technology stars.

Google is calling the week of searching and interviewing a “networking” event. They have not announced a goal number of people they are seeking, but have invited hundreds of software engineers and technology gurus to participate so far. They seem to be taking a “more is better” approach to staffing their Australian offices, a move that bodes well for area employment.

The events are invitation only to help ensure they are seeing candidates targeted to their needs overall. According to Google Australia Senior Engineer Alan Noble: “The emphasis is on software engineering. We are looking for people who are hands-on and enjoy not just designing and architecting but building products. That means solid programming skills are essential. They also need some good general problem solving skills. A lot of the products we are building are challenging in terms of scale. It’s easy enough to write software used by 10,000 people, but when it’s for 10 million, that’s an interesting challenge.”