Archive for the ‘online messaging’ Category

Majority of NZ money not in digital realm yet, but that’s changing

Friday, October 11th, 2013
Photo credit; Blaise Alleyne on Flickr

Photo credit; Blaise Alleyne on Flickr

New Zealanders spent $5.4 billion online last financial year according to Roy Morgan Research’s Digital Universe report, but despite that seemingly large number, Kiwi money largely remains outside the digital realm.

“The bulk of New Zealand’s net wealth is not yet in the digital universe,” Roy Morgan client services director Howard Seccombe says.

The reason for that is the baby boomers who have the wealth only deal in the fringes of digital technology. That will change over time as the boomers age out and the next generation who is more familiar with digital technologies take over.

Other findings from the report included:

  • This year’s survey shows 61% of New Zealanders are worried about their privacy,  up 11% from the survey carried out four years ago.
  • Smartphones have seen spectacular growth, with 1.4 million users. That’s a growth of 227% in four years.
  • Right now 39% of New Zealanders have smartphones.
  • The Roy Morgan numbers show smartphones amplify people’s digital behaviour. Smartphone owners are ten times as likely to shop online as non-smartphone owners, eight times as likely to bank online and nine times as likely to view video clips.
  • Roy Morgan notes a dramatic 20% decline in desktop ownership. This echoes the fall in traditional PC sales. Meanwhile tablets have grown 557% in the past four years.

To read more on this story, click here.

Serial spammer gets hit with huge fine

Wednesday, September 25th, 2013

In a bit of news that will make anyone with an email inbox smile just a little, an Australian man who spammed New Zealand businesses has been fined $95,000 for doing so.

Photo credit; epSos .de on Flickr

Photo credit; epSos .de on Flickr

Wayne Robert Mansfield of Perth, Western Australia, sent hundreds of thousands of unsolicited emails to individuals ans organisations in New Zealand in 2010. The emails were promoting his company, Business Seminars NZ.

After more than 50 complaints from recipients who said they had no business contact with Mansfield’s company and had continued receiving messages even after unsubscribing from them, the Department of Internal Affairs decided to take legal action against Mansfield under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act.

High Court Justice Edwin Wylie imposed a fine of $95,000 and awarded costs of more than $8000 against Mansfield in August 2013.

This wasn’t the first time Mansfield has been fined for spamming.

In 2006, Mansfield and his Perth-based company Clarity1 Pty Ltd were fined a total of A$5.5 million in the Australian Federal Court for sending 70 million spam emails to about 5 million recipients between 2004 and 2006.

To read more about this story, click here.

Skype to purchase GroupMe

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

Online communications service, Skype, announced on Monday that it plans to purchase group text messaging provider, GroupMe.

Skype, which was recently acquired by Microsoft did not say how much it plans to pay for GroupMe.

You can read more over at stuff.co.nz