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Microsoft buys Skype for $US8.5b

May 11th, 2011

Microsoft has purchased Skype for US$8.5 billion, with the intention of increasing its online presence to rival that of Google and Facebook.

Skype had reportedly also attracted interest from Cisco, Facebook and Google. Skype is Microsofts largest ever acquisition, eclipsing its $6.3 billion purchase of Quantive.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday,

“Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world,”

“Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.”

Skype has 170 million users worldwide.

You can read more about the acquisition at the nzherald

Posted in Microsoft, skype | No Comments »

Kiwis shopping online at an all-time high

May 2nd, 2011

A poll of over 750 people has found almost half of New Zealand adults now shop online, with 46% using the internet to buy a wide range of items, fromÂ clothing to TVs.

Not such good news for online grocers however, with the poll finding only 4% of respondents regularly shopped online for groceries, 18% infrequently, and 78% had never purchased their groceries online.

While more and more of us are willing to purchase goods online, it seems we still want to pick out our own fruit and vegetables!

You can read more at stuff.co.nz

Posted in Online Sales, shopping | No Comments »

Copyright hurdle for fast internet

April 19th, 2011

Proposed changes to copyright law could have a negative effect on the uptake of ultra-fast broadband, according to Rene Summer, an international industry analyst.

Under current copyright law, the copyright holders are in control of the distribution of content, rather than offering flexibility to users.

Whilst we’d all love faster broadband, without copyright holders offering their content via online mediums, such as the ability to stream movies, we are limited in how we can use the ultra-fast broadband network.

You can read more at the nzherald.

Tags: broadband, consumers, Copyright Bill
Posted in consumers, copyright | No Comments »

App for shopping success

April 8th, 2011

For anyone who is fed up with sending another person to do the groceries, only to have them return with rubbish, or knowing the cost of an item before you leave the home, for budget purposes, this app is for you.

The free app Scan2List, by Australian team Tim Stanford and Kate Cass, allows the person to scan items from their pantry, or enter the items manually, before leaving the house.Â There are over 150,000 items in the list!

It also allows people to scan the codes of products that they liked, not just those they have now, and check it out when they reached the supermarket.

For more information, check out the full article on www.stuff.co.nz.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Japan earthquake disrupts tech progress

April 1st, 2011

Stuff reports that the flow-on effects of the earthquake on Japanese companies which are responsible for the making of parts for cellphone assembly companies, may result in lower volume and profitability risks for the cellphone makers.

Nokia, for example, did warn that it could face disruptions in stock, but that the impact on earnings would be minimal.

Specific components which are affected include silicone wafers used to make microchips, and BT resin used for smartphones and tablets (80% of BT resin is made in Japan). Discrete optical components are largely manufactured in Japan as well.

Tags: Japan, silicone wafers, smartphone
Posted in earthquake, Japan, smartphone | No Comments »

Google hunting New Zealanders

March 4th, 2011

Stuff reports that Google has its eye on hiring New Zealanders to do software development roles for it, but the Kiwis have to be willing and able to move to Google’s Sydney office.

Apparently Google received 75,000 applications for the roles after they announced that they required over 6000 programmers to work for them.

Google has not (so far) said it will employ Kiwis locally, although there is a small amount of staff working for it in NZ.

Tags: Google, New Zealand
Posted in Google, job, software programmer | No Comments »

NZ’s big five banks on the up-and-up

February 11th, 2011

With signs of recovery from the global financial crisis, NZ’s top 5 banks have shown collective profits of $2.7 billion in the last financial year.

The report, by PwC, on ANZ National, ASB, BNZ, Westpac and Kiwibank ‘wipes out’ the the $76 million loss made by the banks during the GFC.

“The majors’ full-year results reinforce their financial strength and the profitability of New Zealand’s banking system and confirms the ills of 2009 are well and truly laid to rest,” predicts Sam Shuttleworth, financial services partner.

The full article on stuff.co.nz is available here.

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New computer system costly for Tower

February 4th, 2011

Stuff reports that Tower‘s new computer system has resulted in a costs blowout of around $1 million NZD for every month of delay.

The $30 million project (or so it was initially priced) faces software development issues and also a delay in commissioning of around five months, meaning the final project price will probably run to millions more.

Tower investors were told that the total project cost will probably run to the $36 million mark.

Brian Gaynor of Milford Asset Management, owner of about 4.5 per cent of Tower, hit back at claims that the group is ‘over-capitalised’, saying, “Yes, I agree we’ve got a lot of money, a lot of cash, and that’s not all a bad thing.”But having said that, the board is addressing our whole capital structure in the next two months and we’ll be looking at what and where we need it and what we’re planning on doing with it and, if appropriate, there might be a return of capital to shareholders but I’m not promising that here and now.”

Perhaps the funds need to go towards the computer system…..

Tags: computer system, Tower
Posted in computer, New Zealand, Tower | No Comments »