Telecommunications monitoring report: Are you being served?
Posted on 24-May-2017 11:54 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
There’s an untold story behind the 2017 Commerce Commission telecommunications monitoring report. Before we get to that, edited highlights from the official media release: Telecommunications Commissioner Stephen Gale says: “The cost of internet use has dropped over the last year with up to four times the data included at the same price points. 100GB in […]
Terabyte looms as Vocus users download 430GB a month
Posted on 19-May-2017 14:51 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Vocus says its fibre broadband customers with unlimited data plans now download an average1 of 430GB a month. The average for all Vocus fibre customers is 425GB. With data use doubling every 12 to 18 months, a terabyte monthly average is in sight. Taryn Hamilton, Vocus Group’s general manager of consumer for Orcon and Slingshot […]
2degrees tips into profit after seven lean years
Posted on 19-May-2017 09:47 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
It’s taken seven years, but 2degrees is making money for its shareholders. The company says it made a profit of $13.4 million in 2016. That compares with a loss of $33.1 million a year earlier. Revenue was a shade over $700 million. Fuelling that growth is a fast rise in post-paid mobile customers. That means […]
Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus review: Beautiful, feature-packed
Posted on 16-May-2017 20:14 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Samsung needs a hit phone after the Note 7 debacle. The Galaxy S8 Plus could fit the bill. It is an elegant, slim, feature-packed slab of glass and metal. Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus at a glance For: Looks great, feels great Well made, Feature packed. Against: Fixed battery, Fingerprint scanner position, Android 7.0, not 7.1, […]
After ten years of mail pain Spark is done with Yahoo
Posted on 15-May-2017 13:12 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Spark pitches the move from Yahoo to SMX mail as bringing mail home to New Zealand. While that is clever marketing communications, it doesn’t begin to the tell the whole gory story of the company’s unhappy relationship with Yahoo. Those with long memories may recall Spark moved its mail to Yahoo in 2007. At the […]
Passive Optical Lan means fibre to the desktop
Posted on 12-May-2017 17:09 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Chorus held a Tech-Week event introducing Passive Optical Lan technology at its Auckland laboratory. Thanks to the government-sponsored UFB roll-out most New Zealand businesses are now on the fibre network. Fibre delivers gigabit internet to offices, factories and other business buildings. It means better, more reliable communications. Done well, fibre delivers productivity gains. In business, […]
Windows 10S — Microsoft tries locking down again
Posted on 8-May-2017 15:19 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
At first sight Microsoft’s Surface Laptop and Windows 10S launch is all about education. That was the company’s emphasis at the product roll-out in New York. Yet there is more at stake here than putting computers in school bags. The announcement outlines a strategy for the stage of personal computing. If Microsoft pulls this off, […]
Ten things we've learnt about this year's phones
Posted on 23-Apr-2017 13:10 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Phone designers are running out of options. This year’s phones show less innovation than in years past. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 goes on sale this week. The early 2017 phone picture is now complete. We now know what the mainstream phone market will look like until Apple reveals its iPhone plans. Here are ten things […]
Xero joins Silicon Valley elite as TCV invests
Posted on 20-Apr-2017 11:37 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Xero has moved one step closer to becoming New Zealand’s first global technology giant. Last week TCV, a Silicon Valley investment firm, bought 1.4 million Xero shares from Matrix Capital Management. The deal was worth NZ$28.5 million. That’s a little over one percent of the company. Few people in New Zealand will have heard of […]
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Huawei P10 review: A steady-as-you-go upgrade
Posted on 17-Apr-2017 12:36 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
An incremental update of last year’s P9. The Huawei P10 contains few surprises. Huawei P10 at a glance For: Camera app well matched with hardware. Solid performance. Against: Dreary software overlay. Expensive. So-so battery life. Maybe: Attractive, although the style more than pays homage to iPhone 6. Fingerprint scanner. Verdict: Only worth considering if you’re upgrading […]
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2degrees Data Clock sells bytes by the hour
Posted on 10-Apr-2017 13:04 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Mobile carrier 2degrees now sells data in time blocks as well as by the gigabyte. Data Clock is an app for pre-pay customers to manage time-based data purchases. Data Clock allows prepay customers to buy five minutes of data for 50 cents. Ten minutes cost 60 cents. An hour is $1.50. Customers can buy 12 […]
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2degrees offers trial unmetered mobile phone data
Posted on 4-Apr-2017 18:19 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
You can’t share it. You can’t tether. There are conditions. But you can download as much 2degrees mobile data as you need on your phone without worrying about the bill. Mobile carrier 2degrees offers what it describes as New Zealand’s first unlimited mobile data plan. For $129 a month customers get to fill their boots […]
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Net neutrality in New Zealand
Posted on 16-Mar-2017 15:04 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Net neutrality is controversial in the US. It is not an issue in New Zealand. As telecommunications and media companies get closer, it is time to take another look. What is net neutrality, why does it matter elsewhere and how might it move onto the agenda in New Zealand? Net neutrality says internet companies can’t […]
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Call for truth in broadband advertising
Posted on 15-Mar-2017 17:10 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
“Australia’s equivalent of the NZ Commerce Commission, the ACCC, found that a whopping 80 percent of Australian consumers struggle to compare the broadband speeds of different ISPs…” — James Young-Drew New Zealand’s consumer laws are almost identical to Australia’s, so an ACCC report on broadband speed claims has relevance here. James Young-Drew, a solicitor with […]
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Call for truth in broadband advertising
Posted on 15-Mar-2017 07:48 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
“Australia’s equivalent of the NZ Commerce Commission, the ACCC, found that a whopping 80 percent of Australian consumers struggle to compare the broadband speeds of different ISPs…” — James Young-Drew New Zealand’s consumer laws are almost identical to Australia’s, so an ACCC report on broadband speed claims has relevance here. James Young-Drew, a solicitor with […]
Kacific satellite goes where other broadband can’t
Posted on 14-Mar-2017 12:59 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
If you think wireless latency is bad, wait until you try satellite. Patrick Smellie writes for BusinessDesk: The Pacific Islands, remote parts of rural New Zealand and poor but populous parts of eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea are target markets for a new satellite-based project that its backers say will bring low-cost, ultra-fast broadband […]
Samsung woes see Apple regain NZ phone crown
Posted on 14-Mar-2017 11:56 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
Apple sold more phones than any other company in the last quarter of 2016. IDC says it is the first time Apple was New Zealand’s top selling phone brand since early 2012. During the quarter phone sales hit a record high. Some 672,000 phones shipped1 between October and December 2016. That’s up from 614,000 a […]
Fixed wireless laggard in independent broadband test
Posted on 13-Mar-2017 10:45 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
New Zealand fixed wireless broadband speeds are on a par with ADSL services delivered over copper lines. In tests broadband monitoring firm TrueNet found fixed wireless is: “considerably slower than VDSL and far behind fibre”. High latency TrueNet says fixed wireless services slow more than other technologies at busy times. This is because customers jostle […]
Review: Huawei Mate 9 Pro
Posted on 9-Mar-2017 17:34 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
For now, Huawei’s most expensive phone to date is also the best Android phone you can buy. Huawei Mate 9 Pro at a glance For: Second generation Leica dual camera, Fast processor, Battery life Against: Not waterproof, Software glitches, Expensive Maybe: Improved EMUI Android overlay Verdict: Classy Android serving notice of Huawei’s ambition to lead […]
Journalists too mean to tech companies
Posted on 5-Mar-2017 08:42 Articles, Bill Bennett, by Bill Bennett
At The Register Shaun Nichols writes: “The tech press has dared to lean away from its core mission of making technology companies more profitable, says tech advocacy house ITIF.” The ITIF or Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is an industry think-tank. It issued a report looking at “a change of tone in technology reporting” between […]
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