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Oonagh Reidy

Oops: Expedia Promotes Fallen NZ City

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Travel giant Expedia tries to drum up travel trips to NZ, while an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale devastates its second largest city of Christchurch.


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And if that wasn’t enough the Internet company also went one further by using an image of the City’s cathedral, now at the centre of the earthquake as a promo shot.

Several people lost their lives at the site and many more are said to be missing.

The e-mail promo was sent to its Australian customers this morning from UK based marketing division although the disaster struck before lunchtime yesterday. 

However, Expedia have blamed timing, saying “these promotional emails are built and deployed from our team in London and this one was deployed before the earthquake hit. ”

 “Expedia sincerely apologises for the unfortunate timing of this communication, which was removed from our website as soon as we became aware of the contents. 

We are working with Expedia customers who are planning to travel to or from the affected area to make alternative travel arrangements.,” said the Washington based travel co.       

 

75 are now confirmed dead and over 1,000 people are unaccounted for.

Apple Killing Rivals As iTunes Gets Greedy?

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US authorities begin examining Apple iTunes new business arrangement as content providers cry foul.Steve Jobs’ company, which is taking a 30 percent cut from all non-Apple content sold through its music store has set alarm bells off in official circles who suspect anti-competitive practices are being pedalled by the tech giant. 

The US Justice Department as well as the Federal Trade Commission, who is responsible for investigations into unfair trading practices, have not yet acted on the case but are carefully examining the situation as are the European Commission, according to The Australian. 

Media companies wishing to sell their music, movies, games and e-books applications through the  eponymous iPhone, iPad iPod or Mac PC are forced to go through the Apple payment system, where they take one third of the sale price.

These new rules makes doing business through iTunes and now its other publication subscription services on its iPad and iPhone an unprofitable game for outsiders. 

In addition, Apple makes it almost impossible for customers to make purchases externally, forbidding all outside links to other retailers.

And if that isn’t enough it also prevents other companies from building relationships and gaining personal information on their customers and makes it easier for music lovers to purchase from its iTunes Store if they have previously made a purchase as billing details are already stored in their system. 

 

The tech powerhouse don’t allow the retailers to retain customer information but keep it on file for their own marketing department’s use. 

Complaints from music companies are fierce and most providers are deeply unhappy with the new regime.

 “The costs don’t leave room for a sensible business model,” says Jon Irwin, of Rhapsody international who already sells content through the system. 

“The rate is so obviously anti-competitive it will never survive in Europe,” states Axel Dauchez, president of Deezer, another digital music provider. 

This also comes as Apple announce a new subscription service for publishers also, which will allow users to make purchases of magazines or newspapers on a weekly or monthly basis, which the company says will give publishers a revenue boost, given the flexibility of the business model.

But the same business arrangements including the 30 per cent cut apply as with the iTunes model. 

However, Steve Jobs denies any wrongdoing in the new arrangements.

 

“We believe this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunities to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers,” Jobs said in a statement.

Telstra: Fixed Line Is Broke – Lets Go New

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Something is rotten in the Telstra basket – fixed line phones. And how badly it has gone off it will be fully revealed this week.In accordance with earnings guidance issued last September, the Telco’s profits before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (EBITDA) looked set to fall by “high single digit percentage” this year, with a free cash flow guidance of between $4.5 billion to $5 billion.

However, this original downgrade now looks set to free fall into low double digit territory, according to analysts at Deutche Bank who predicts Telstra profits for second half of last year will be $4.7bn – a  12.5 per cent drop. 

This massive fall is partly due to its declining phone line business, which thanks to massive mobile and broadband uptake has meant consumers are phoning less over traditional home lines.  

Despite disappointing fixed line business, mobile and internet divisions are booming with Telstra winning back previous losses to Optus and Vodafone, says Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Anagnostellis. 

“Mobile is looking good for Telstra and it should look good because they have sunk a lot of money into it. That’s important because part of Telstra’s $1bn strategy was to get out there and grow market share. And they look like they have achieved that to some extent,” he told The Australian.

Revenues also look set to fall 0.7 per cent to $12.2bn. 

However, many analysts are keen to find out if their ‘Project New’, its  $1 billion bid to improve customer service and lure clients back into the Telstra fold will pay dividends, given its massive cost.

 

“Telstra has lost customers over the past year and in response to the erosion of our customer base we saw two strategic options,” the company said last year. 

“We could focus on maximising cash in the short-term, cut costs and continue to lose market share, or take a long-term view by investing in customer service, simplifying the business and competing effectively to retain and acquire customers.” 

Analysts also predict the Telco will again declare a fully franked interim dividend of 14c per share, in line with management objectives of a 28c dividend over a two year interm.

However, thats not all going on at the communications house.

This week may see the Telco finally confirm its $11 billion deal with
the NBN, according to the Australian Financial Review. 

The
Telco, due to announce its half year financial results this week, may
also outline its honourable intentions with the National Broadband
network, which needs its shareholder approval before it can get the go
ahead. 

 

Chiefs from both NBN and Telstra, Mike Quigley and David
Thodey were reported to have held a productive meeting last week
helping to finalise details of the selloff of the Telco’s copper fibre
network in return for broadband contracts and a large pay out.
           
Telstra,
who are to present shareholders with the NBN deal for approval this
June, are at risk of delaying the deal as bureaucracy gets in the way, analysts at
Goldman Sachs warned last week.

Vodafone Is Vodafail(ing), Say Consumers

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New website, Vodafail.com has been set up by disgruntled Vodafone customers in response to the litany of service issues users have been experiencing in recent weeks.As reported on Smarthouse earlier today, users who have been reported as experiencing ongoing problems with Vodafone’s mobile service, including call failures, slow data speeds and poor reception, are not necessarily entitled to end their contract, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement.

The ‘share your pain’ section of the newly established site contains comments such as “I live in North Sydney and yesterday (16th Dec) rang my wife twice while she (also a Vodafone user) was in a taxi coming in from the airport. Her phone rang through to voicemail but she never heard it ring and she was holding it in her hand. There is no way the Vodafone problems have been fixed.”

Others had less to say but it is clear that despite Vodafone’s claim to the contrary, the network problems still exist.

“One freaking hour on the phone to Vodafone AU WORST SERVICE EVER! I’ve been on hold for 45mins of them. They can’t fix my problem!,” said another Twitter feed on the site.

Both Vodafone’s branded Facebook and Twitter pages have also been flooded with complaints.

The telco attributed the recent problems to unstable software issues, which meant slower 3G data downloads.

Affected customers would be offered refunds, Vodafone chief technology officer Michael Young, said earlier this month.

Retravision Leakage Continues As Winning Nab Qld Store

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Retravision leakage continues as Winning Group snaps up a Retravision store in Indooroopilly, Queensland.


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The Ron Handley owned Retravision store based in Brisbane will now be run under the Winning Appliances name, marking the group’s second QLD showroom.

Betta group already snapped up 40 stores from Retravision Northern group, Southern and West after 104 stores from Southern group went bust earlier this year, believed to have debts in the tens of millions.

General Manager of Ron Handley Retravision, Mel Spiteri, will retain his role, with most employees are expected to join the Winning Group.

“Our acquisition of Ron Handley Retravision expands our presence in the Queensland market to two showrooms, joining our showroom in Fortitude Valley which opened a year ago,” John Winning, CEO of the Winning Group, said.

Winning’s latest investment  – its second in the space of a week – represents a “strategic opportunity” to expand its business in Queensland, which is currently experiencing strong growth, he added.

“The Indooroopilly showroom is in a prime location and with Mel Spiteri at the helm, it has achieved a high level of customer service, which we are keen to maintain.”

“We are delighted to have Mel Spiteri’s experience to assist in leading the team and growing business in the local area,” said Mr Winning.

This marks the second acquisition by Winning in less than a week – it also announced the purchase of Power Buys online retail and McKnights corporate business just days ago.

The Winning group includes Winning Appliances, Appliances Online, Big Brown Box and Handy Crew.

Cut Prices, New ‘Centre’: ‘Price Gouger’ Accused Adobe Desperate For OZ Love?

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Slashing prices, “amazing” Sydney demo centre….Adobe is looking for some Aussie love.

As Adobe gets set to be grilled under the IT pricing inquiry, it is opening new offices and ‘demo centre’ in Sydney tomorrow, supported by communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

As well as rapidly cutting the price of some of its software today, ahead of a parliamentary grilling next month, Adobe also announced the opening new offices and ‘demonstration facility’ in Sydney tomorrow, unveiled by Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen, flanked by Senator Stephen Conroy and NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell. 

“It’s an amazing demo room, looks like a cinema almost with a great digital media experience – you will love it,” an Adobe spokesperson told SmartHouse.

You can’t buy Adobe products from the demo facility located at Sydney CBD at 201 Sussex Street, however.

The media invite was only sent out at short notice this afternoon for an event taking place at 10am tomorrow, as Adobe also slashed prices of Creative Cloud by 20% today.

Earlier this week, it was summoned by the IT pricing enquiry to appear before it to explain the massive price disparities between US and Aussie pricing on Adobe products.

Read: Adobe Slash AU$ Prices... Apple + Microsoft To Follow?

Incidentally, Conroy was the minister who signed off on the IT pricing inquiry, which this week summoned Adobe, Apple and Microsoft to answer before the parliamentary inquiry in Canberra on March 22 next.

However, a spokesperson for the minister denied there was any link between the two events, saying they are “very separate” and the IT pricing inquiry is a parliamentary matter, not a ministerial one.

Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen will be there tommorrow, perhaps to butter up the pollies ahead of the showdown before the inquiry next month, where Apple and Microsoft execs will also face the stand, to explain the massive price disparities between US and Aussie pricing on gear like Adobe products, iPads and Windows software.

Hello, You’re Fired. Goodbye. Yahoo!

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Tele-fired: we’ve heard of being dumped on a Post-it, but fired over the phone from one of the biggest tech companies in the world?


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This is precisely what happened to Carol Bartz, Yahoo CEO, who was ousted from the top seat by Chairman Roy Bostock by telephone yesterday. 

“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s chairman of the board,” Bartz, told staff in a memo send from her iPad. 
“It has been my pleasure to work with all of you and I wish you only the best going forward.” 
Carol Bartz replaced Jerry Yang as CEO in January 2009, was given the task of turning around the former stalwart of the Internet, after it managed to dodge a $47.5 billion takeover attempt by Microsoft. 
Yahoo! has suffered hard losses at the hands of Google, although has a decent business in Australia, thanks to its partnership with the Seven Network, reported global earnings below estimates in its most recent financials in July. 
Chief Financial Officer, Tim Morse, will take over the top role for the interim and is actively looking for a permanent replacement, the company said in a press release. 
Yahoo! also confirmed Bartz has been “removed” from her post. 
Investors reacted well to the news with shares rising as much as 8.4 percent, according to Bloomberg. 
Analysts also welcomed the move, but are now citing a possible sale of the web portal to a major media conglomerate like News international. 
“After all of the drama of the Bartz administration, we think the Yahoo! board of directors may be more receptive to a deal now than it has been in the past,” said Jordan Rohan, analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. 
 

And Rohan is also citing a major management and strategy overhaul, at the very least. 

Chairman Bostock declined to comment on the tele-firing but did say:
“On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo! during a critical time of transition in the Company’s history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop.”
“We have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the Company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.“


Panasonic MD Talks Appliances, TVs & The BIG Issue

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As Panasonic invades the white goods market, Channel News caught up with MD Steve Rust to see how its going.


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Panasonic is now a fully fledged white goods brand in OZ, flogging everything from bread makers, irons and rice cookers, to washing machines and 8 smart fridges.

“Demand has been great to date” says Steve Rust, Managing Director, Panasonic Australia, but “it’s early days.”

“We’ve sold out of inventory and there’s been good feedback from market” citing retailer Harvey Norman, whom Rust says is “selling well” on Pana’s new gear.

Panasonic now has over 50 white goods models on the Aussie market. One out of every two Pana products sold worldwide is now white goods and outsells its Audio Visual category .

And  the giant hopes to repeat the trend locally.

So, what prompted the big change to irons and washing machines for a company best known for TVs and Blu-ray?

“We had an imbalance in the business… there was too much reliance on AV and CE business and as we know its a tough business to be in…with very rapid price erosion and no growth in the past 2 to 3 years,” says Rust.

This ‘imbalance’ forced Panasonic’s management team to take a “prudent” approach to the market at hand.

It now has three key pillars to its business in OZ – AV, Appliances and Communication solutions for business, which is also doing nicely.

Speaking of TVs, how’s that side of Pana’s business going?

“Demand hasn’t grown as such but its greater than expected, however, we can’t get enough TVs to sell,” Rust says, citing issues on the supply-side from Japan.

 

“We have to order three months in advance..but have more coming,” he adds.  This supply issue was one AV specialist Len Wallis cited last week in an interview with CN, saying he was unable to meet the huge demand for Pana large screens.

“The market has settled this year and, its not as furious in terms of price erosion and demand for TV’s is sitting at around 3 million units per year,” says Rust.

Despite the entry into appliances, Panasonic is still “very strong” in AV, and the DVD recorder market is “good for us”, which may have been fuelled by the Olympics. Pana’s home theatre market is also “chugging along quite well.”

“The biggest issue in the AV market right now is the expanding amount of IP content and the seamless integration between IT and consumer electronics,” says Rust.

“The amount of IP content is expanding rapidly and is now provided in a way that is highly accessible to consumers.”

Streaming services such as Spotify, JB HiFi Now, QuickFlix and others means the days of downloading content from a PC or using just iTunes are well over.

On the appliance side, power consumtion is also becoming more and more important as electricity prices go up, but adds Pansonic’s Econavi power saving technology inbuilt into its appliances including washing machines deals with this issue very well.

Panasonic Australia also launched a slew of cameras last week – everything from a basic compact LX7 through to high end mirrorless cameras and Rust was “very pleased with the launch” and the response so far. 

However, “there has been a general drop in demand for cameras due to the invasion of smartphones like iPhones, especially at the entry level.”

In addition, there is now more and more competition from online operators overseas as well as competition from the high end.

Online channels are “growing rapidly,” says Rust, adding its not just foreign e-tailers in play – there’s is a lot of competition locally between the likes of Appliances Online and JB Hi-Fi.

But it doesn’t mean the end of bricks and mortar just yet, and Rust says he is “confident they’ll always be room for the instore experience.”

“Some consumers love the convenience of online but there will always be plenty who want to go instore for the product experience – to get the look and feel, talk to the storeperson and so on.”

However, Panasonic’s MD questions the future success of international e-tailers, as issues like after-sales services issues come to the fore.

 

“There are some questions about service in Australia for a camera that bought, say, in the US,” and adds “consumers may not be comfortable buying international e-tailers in the future.”

“We are working with online partners including Appliances Online and are keeping an eye on other pure online retailers,” says Rust, adding Pana is being selective on choosing retail partners.

Afer sales service is an issue the brand is particularly concerned with and “we want consumers to have a good experience when they buy a product and ensure retailers have good return capabilities.”

However, he admits bricks and mortar retail in the future may be a bit different from today, and predicts there definitely more changes to come.

Huawei Ascend: ‘World’s Thinnest’ Phone

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It’s the Kate Moss of smartphones – the world’s slimmest ever device has just been unleashed by Huawei at CES.

The slim yet potent 6.68mm device on an highly impressive 4.3″ 960×540 Super AOLED qHD display, Ascend P1 S runs Google Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 and sports a 1.5GHz dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP 460 Cortex-A9 processor and SGX 4460 graphics engine for the gamers amongst us.

And thin the P1 S certainly is – leaving Motorola’s 4.3″ Razr with 7.1mm depth, iPhone 4S’s 9.3mm and Samsung’s Galaxy S 8.9mm smartphones look frumpy by comparision – and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.


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Another slightly thicker model, the 7.79 mm Ascend P1 also packs similar specs to its slimmer sister – and other best-in-class mutual specs include Dolby Mobile 3.0 Plus 5.1 surround sound, front 1.3MP and rear 8 MP cameras with 1080p HD video for Skype calls, which also come with a flurry of cool party tricks including video editing and face distortion tools similar to Apple Front Row, according to The Register.

Bluetooth, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, HDMI to connect up to a TV also come as standard.

“It’s very convenient, very comfortable in your hand,” Huawei chairman Richard Yu told CES press audience in Las Vegas yesterday on the eve of the event which kicked off today US time in Las Vegas.

“The Ascend P1 S demonstrates our ongoing commitment to innovating high quality devices that utilize the latest hardware and software technologies.”  

And, thanks to the top spec processor, the high end Huawei’s will be “the fastest in their class,” says Yu.

In addition, the Ascends’ also promise longer battery life – up to 30% longer – thanks to 1670mAh, 1800mAh batteries.

The new smarties also have a maximum of 8GB of storage when coupled with a microSD card but has 4GB standard and 1GB RAM.

Yu also cited a price of around US$400 although did confirm the sleek model would be available Down Under probably in April after it hits Europe in March.

No word on local carriers either although a Huawei Australia spokesperson told SmartHouse: “We’re currently in talks with Australian operators but a release date hasn’t been confirmed yet.”

 

And like Kate Moss, Ascend likes to be fashionable and comes in funky cherry-blossom pink  colour as well as bog standard black and white.

No word yet how the Ascend feels in the palm of a hand but look out for hands-on reports later this week.

Apple Deny Apps ‘Bug’ Threat

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Cupertino insists apps bug is fixed, denying it affected that many users in the first place.


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Apple’s Apps Store ran into a number of difficulties last week.

Malware which pinched a user’s contacts was discovered in an Apple (and Google) app last week by Kaspersky Labs, while a separate issue involving popular apps like Angry Birds to crash was also reported to have affected 20,000 iOS users.

The ‘suspicious’ software discovered on the ‘Find and Call’ app – was found to be a ‘Trojan’ that uploads phonebook contacts to a remote server and then proceeds to use it for SMS spam, probably trying to con users out of cash.

The malware was also found to affect Google’s Android Play store, although security experts noted it was the first case of malware on Apple’s Apps store in five years since its opening.

Although the Find and Call “malware [is] not that ‘cybercriminalistic’…we’re sure that there must be strict and quick response to such incidents. Period,” writes Kaspersky Labs’ Denis Maslennikov.

Reports also indicate Mac developer Marco Arment discovered a separate ‘bug’ on over 100 apps in Apple’s Apps Store where iOS customers purchased apps, which proceeded to crash even when deleted and reinstalled.

However, it only affected customers in some regions and occurred between July 3-5 last, noted Arment, who branded it a “serious issue,” calling on Apple to “please fix this” .

Other apps affected included The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Search and iDesign (114 in all).

These crash and burn apps will also cause ire among developers as “they’ll leave you a lot of angry 1-star reviews,” he adds, referring to angry app users who keep trying to download apps that fail, causing them to think it’s unstable and rate it poorly.

 Appledenied the apps caused widespread disruption, insisting the malware affected a “small number” of users only and said the issue has now been rectified on July 06.

 

“We had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for some apps being downloaded, it affected a small number of users.

“The issue has been rectified and we don’t expect it to occur again. Users who experienced an issue launching an app caused by this server bug can delete the affected app and re-download it.”

However, Arment disputes this estimation by Apple, insisting “probably” 20,000 were affected by the bug, noting Apple has triggered a reupdate on the affected apps, rather than deleting them as this would cause a user’s existing app to disappear.