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Vodafone To Deliver Better Customer Service

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Vodafone aims to improve its customer service with the launch of a call back and express mobile phone repair and replacement service, as well as a new mobile and online self-service application.From mid-November, Vodafone customers who call customer care on 1555 from their mobile or 1300 650 410 from any other phone will be given the option of requesting a return call from a customer service representative, rather than waiting on hold.

Vodafone Hutchison Australia’s Director of Customer Service, Cormac Hodgkinson said, “We appreciate that our customers’ time is precious. We’re doing a lot of things to improve the speed of our customer service and we’re also introducing the call back option because it saves our customers from waiting on hold during busy service periods.”

In addition, the company will also introduce multi-branded Vodafone and 3 handset repair and service centres in most capital cities around Australia. The move follows Vodafone’s introduction of 24-month repair warranties on all new handsets introduced at the start of the year (excludes Apple iPhone devices). Vodafone has already opened multi-branded service centres in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Additional service centres will be opened to Vodafone and 3 customers in Sydney and Melbourne before the end of the year.

The company will introduce an enhanced handset self-service and web self-service portal called ‘My Vodafone’, building on the functionality of the ‘My 3’ portal on November 28. My Vodafone gives customers access to their account balance, details of recent data usage, over-the-air recharge facilities and other useful account information.

Finally, Vodafone is also introducing a keypad alternative to ‘Lara’ – Vodafone’s voice recognition customer service system.

Australia Broadband Speed 48th In The World

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Akamai Technologies has revealed that Australia’s broadband is the 48th fastest in the world. The company also found that the country has better broadband speeds compared to Q1 this year.According to Akamai’s State of the Internet report for 2Q 2010, the country now ranks 48th globally and reporting an average connection speed of 2864 Kbps. The average peak connection speed in Q2 was 11,032 Kbps, which is an increase of 13 per cent since last quarter.

South Korea, the country with the fastest average connection speeds also had significant growth in the 2Q on both a quarterly and yearly basis. Other countries that made it into the top 5 are Hong Kong, Japan, Romania and The Netherlands. Masan, South Korea held the title as the city with the fastest average connection speed with average speeds reaching more than 20 Mbps quarter-over-quarter.

In terms of average mobile speeds, the company reported that both the fastest (at 6.1 Mbps) and slowest (at 115 Kbps) were seen on mobile providers in Slovakia.  

“Of the 109 mobile providers listed, 19 had average connection speeds in the broadband (2 Mbps or above) range (up from 14 in the first quarter), while 29 more had average measured connection speeds of 1 Mbps or more (up from 21 in the first quarter). On a quarter-over-quarter basis, mobile connectivity appeared to improve in many places, with users on 95 of the 109 listed mobile providers experiencing higher connection speeds in the second quarter,” said the company.

Finally, the report has revealed that the US became the top attack traffic source in the second quarter of 2010, accounting for 11% of observed attack traffic in total.  China and Russia held the second and third place spots respectively, accounting for just over 20% of observed attack traffic.  

Panasonic Unveils New Tough Notebooks

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Panasonic Australia has unveiled its new line of Toughbooks aimed at field personnel and mobile professionals.


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Panasonic CF-C1

The six new Toughbooks include the world’s lightest 12.1-inch convertible tablet PC, a mobile clinical assistant, a rugged handheld tablet computer, a small and light handheld, a rugged notebook with powerful specifications, and a rugged tablet designed for ‘extreme conditions.’ The new range features enhanced ergonomics, an Intel i5 processor, extended battery life, and a magnesium alloy chassis.

Panasonic Australia’s Group Manager for Toughbook, Mark Wallis said that the new range offers affordable ruggedisation that protects organisations against the cost of damage to their notebook fleet.

“Toughbook has a strong heritage in rugged technology and we are very excited to be drawing on our expertise to develop durable, smart and easy-to-use Toughbooks for the increasing number of Australian workers who demand an ultra-portable and reliable computing solution,” he said.

“Toughbook is no longer just for the military or heavy industry – in fact, more than 50 percent of our current rugged notebook sales are to non-heavy industries. Today, the Panasonic Toughbook is a realistic and attractive option to even more businesses as we have seen a steady reduction in pricing over time – most importantly without compromising on quality or performance.”

“Panasonic is proud to offer state-of-the-art mobile computing solutions that are built for real working environments, whether that be a hospital ward, regional office or mobile sales,” Mr Wallis said.

Pricing are as follows:
Panasonic Toughbook CF-C1: $3299
Panasonic Toughbook CF-H1 MkII: $3899
Panasonic Toughbook CF-H1 Field: $4299
Panasonic Toughbook CF-19: $5499
Panasonic Toughbook CF-31: $6099
Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1 MkII: $3499

More Cyber Attacks Hit Mid-Sized Businesses

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Security company McAfee has revealed that 41 percent of Australian businesses have suffered an IT security incident or hacker attack.According to the McAfee report called The Security Paradox, more than 40 percent of companies surveyed have had data breaches. In addition, 33 percent of Australian businesses surveyed fell victim to a data breach last year. 85 percent of businesses believe that there is some chance of a serious data breach putting them out of business.

Despite the rise in data breaches, McAfee has reported that more than 20 percent of Australian businesses have decreased their security budgets in the last year, whilst 53 percent have maintained flat budgets.

The report also said that 42 percent of the Australian companies surveyed do not have a full-time dedicated IT security specialist and every hour of network downtime costs an average of AUD $663, with the average security incident costing them AUD $221 per computer.

McAfee’s Sales Engineering Manager for ANZ, Sean Duca said, “Businesses today are faced with the challenge of continuing to utilise new devices and technology to grow their business yet have to protect corporate assets and information with limited budgets. Our research reveals that the majority of respondent’s still lump IT security and general IT budgets together. Given the rise in security attacks, it’s time information security receives its own budgetary attention”.

More Data And Longer Expiry For Telstra Pre-paid Mobile Broadband

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Telstra has revealed that some of its popular pre-paid mobile broadband plans will get additional data allowances and extended recharge expiry periods.


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New Telstra Pre-Paid Plans

According to the company, customers who recharge $30 will receive 700MB of data (up from 400MB) while its $150 plan will now have 10GB of data (up from 4GB). In addition, the new 4GB allowance can now be used for 60 days and the 6GB allowance will offer 90 days of use before credit expires.

However, those on the $20 recharge option will now have to use their data allowance in 21 days (from 30 days) although it now comes with 250MB of data (from 225MB). All pre-paid mobile sessions will be charged per MB.

In addition, customers will also receive an additional credit which can be used to make standard national calls or SMS.

Telstra Consumer Executive Director Rebekah O’Flaherty said, “Telstra Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband is a great choice for people who want to keep track of what they’re spending month to month as there are no bills or fixed term contracts.”

“Couple this with the speed and reliability of Telstra’s Next G network – the largest and fastest national mobile broadband network in Australia – and you’ve got an attractive solution for customers at home and on the move,” Ms O’Flaherty said.

The new recharge allowances coincide with the upcoming launch of Telstra’s new Elite Pre-Paid Mobile Broadband Modem and Pre-Paid Mobile Wi-Fi on 26 October.

Livescribe And Evernote Bring Notes And Audio Online

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Livescribe and Evernote have teamed up to allow users to access written and spoken information through the web, mobile devices and PCs.

Livescribe said that its new dektop software allows customers to upload their notes and audio captured with a Livescribe smartpen directly to their Evernote account.

Consumers can select notes and audio from within Livescribe Desktop to import to their default folder within their Evernote account. They can opt to send pages of notes (.png file), the accompanying audio sessions (.wav file) or both to their Evernote account.

Livescribe’s Chief Marketing Officer, Byron Connell said, “Many of our customers have been asking for this capability.  Livescribe is dedicated to improving the way people capture, access and share information, and will continue to identify strategic partners, like Evernote, where software integration will allow consumers to get even more value from our technology while using their preferred business applications and information management tools.”

CEO of Evernote, Phil Libin said,  “Livescribe has done a great job of streamlining the process of digitising handwritten notes. Now, with the Evernote integration, those notes become a searchable, always accessible part of your Evernote memory.”

“Our two products bring together the best of analog and digital technology,” added Libin.

New Acer Netbook With Dual OS Revealed

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Acer has unveiled a new 10-inch netbook that uses the latest Intel Atom dual-core processor and comes pre-installed with two operating systems. The Aspire One Happy is available in four colours, measures 24mm and weighs 1.25kg.

The Aspire One Happy comes pre-installed with both the Android and Windows 7 operating systems, has a 93 per cent full-sized keyboard with multi-gesture touchpad, webcam and built-in microphone.

It also comes with a dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor with Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator 3150, 250GB of storage, and a multi-in-one card reader.

The company also said that the Aspire One Happy is 24mm thin, weighs 1.25kg, and comes with a 10.1-inch WSVGA high-brightness display with 16:9 aspect ratio. Finally, this netbook comes with four colours – Pink, Purple, Green and Hawaii Blue.

Acer’s Product Manager for Consumer Notebooks, Chris Osborne said, “The release of the Aspire One Happy this November is perfectly timed. It’s just in time for the Christmas season, and would make the perfect gift for a loved one.”

The Acer Aspire One Happy is available now for $499.

Optus Reveals Galaxy Tab Pricing And New $279 Tablet

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Optus has announced that the Samsung Galaxy Tab will be available on Wednesday, 10 November, for $0 on a $59.95 mobile broadband plan. The company is also set to launch a $279 tablet that will take on Telstra’s T-Touch Tab from mid-December.


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Galaxy Tab Pricing For Optus

According to the company, the $0 on a $59.95 cap plan includes $800 worth of data (about 10GB on-peak or 20GB off-peak), as well as unlimited access to popular social networking sites and webmail.

The Galaxy Tab will also be available to Optus small and medium business customers on the $55 business class mobile broadband plan which includes 2GB of data, accelerated web browsing and access to 24/7 IT certified business technical support specialists.

In addition, customers who purchase a Samsung Galaxy Tab on a 12 or 24 month contract will be given free access to The Australian newspaper’s Android application (valued at $8.99 per month) for the length of their contract.

The Optus My Tab will be available on Pre-Paid from mid-December for $279 and includes up to 3GB of on Pre-Paid data and unlimited access to Facebook, Twitter and MySpace within Australia.

 

The Optus My Tab which is made by ZTE will run on Android 2.1 and comes with a 7-inch screen, a 3-megapixel camera, upgradable memory (2GB MicroSD included) and WiFi compatibility.

Michael Smith, Managing Director of Optus Consumer said, “The tablet market has well and truly exploded. Offering these two devices to our existing device range gives our customers the option to choose the device, pricing structure and contract length that best suits their needs.”

“Optus has consistently brought cutting edge products to our customers, and this new category of device truly pushes the boundaries for what is possible in a mobile internet device. Both the Samsung GALAXY Tab and the Optus My Tab will allow Optus customers to experience The Optus Open Network’s high performance mobile broadband network and stay connected to the content and people that are important to them at all times,” added Smith. 

Optus Internet Ads Misleading Says Court

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The Federal Court has found that Optus breached the Trade Practices Act with its advertising of its “Think Bigger” and “Supersonic” internet plans.According to ACCC, Optus said in its advertisements that for a monthly payment, a consumer would receive a headline data allowance of broadband which was then split into peak (midday to midnight) and off-peak (midnight to midday) data allowances.

However, Optus had not sufficiently disclosed that the service would be speed limited to 64kbps once a consumer exceeded their peak data allowance.

“The consequence was that any unused off-peak data would no longer be available at a broadband speed, and as such the consumer would not obtain the headline data allowance of broadband,” said the ACCC.

Justice Perram found Optus’ television advertisements “misleading, in my opinion, seriously so.”

Justice Perram also commented on the recent halt in the television commercials for the “Think Bigger” campaign, saying that he was, “far from convinced either that Optus recent cessation is anything other than opportunistic, or that it signals some newly obtained underlying comprehension of the need to avoid such tricky behaviour in the future.”

Justice Perram rejected Optus’ position in which they said that had not breached the law because any consumer who may have been misled by the advertisements had their misapprehensions corrected through the Optus’ call centre or website before they signed up for a plan.
 
 ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel said, “Consumers were told in these ads that they were going to get a certain amount of broadband, and only after you work through confusing and vague disclaimers that you realise that it’s just not the case. Consumers and the ACCC are, frankly, tired of telcos using complex, confusing and deceptive advertising to fool consumers. This should serve as yet another reminder, that if these companies don’t clean up their act, the ACCC will be here to take you to task, and you can expect to be hit with the full force of the law.”