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Oonagh Reidy

Telstra: Don’t Buy, BYO As It Goes Retro

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Happy with your old phone? That’s cool, says Telstra who are looking to rival Virgin’s BYO offer with its own deal.


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The BYO offer on Freedom Connect plan out today are “specifically for customers who don’t want a new handset” and are looking for more bang for their buck.

Bring a “compatible mobile to Telstra, and enjoy one plan that’s better value” than the equivalent Freedom Connect plan, it is urging consumers.

This is also a bid to capture some mobile customers lured in by Virgin’s much publicised BYO offers. Optus also have similar deals ranging from $10 to $49 for 12 month contract. 

Those who sign up to Telstra’s $59 BYO will enjoy the value of the $79 deal which includes $800 monthly calls, unlimited standard national SMS, unlimited messagebank retrieval and 2GB of data to use in Australia.

The other plans are:

·    $49 Plan with $550 monthly call allowance, unlimited standard national SMS and 1.5GB of data to use in Australia.

·    $59 Plan with $800 monthly call allowance, 2GB of data use in Australia, unlimited standard national SMS and unlimited MessageBank retrieval.

·    $79 Plan with $1,200 monthly call allowance, 2.5GB of data to use in Australia, unlimited standard national SMS and unlimited MessageBank retrieval.

·    $99 Plan with an unlimited monthly call allowance for standard national voice and video calls, SMS and MessageBank retrieval, 3GB of data to use in Australia, $50 of international calling value.

These plans include unmetered Green Dot BigPond browsing and free browsing on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 “Our Freedom Connect plans launched last month are doing even better than we’d forecast, with great call and data inclusions and an impressive line-up of mobile phones,” Telstra Consumer Exec Director, Rebekah O’Flaherty, said.

“The new BYO plans acknowledge not everyone wants a new mobile phone.”

Rate Cut To “Save The Furniture”?

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AS rate cut was announced yesterday, there’s uncertainty if it will enliven consumer spending

Retailers Association (ARA) Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said the decision to lower rates was the RBA’s bid to ‘save the furniture’ in the face of the upcoming Federal election and political instability. 

Yesterday, the Reserve Bank moved to lower the cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent – putting them at an all time low. 
Several retailers were unwilling to comment on record about the latest rate cut, today, as reporting season gets into full swing. 
However, the ARA boss was uncertain about the impact on spending, saying “retailers are optimistic that this interest cut may encourage consumers to let go of their purse strings somewhat.”
Will falling rates convince consumers to part with their cash?

He also said the summer months ahead may bring some light to retailers. 

Nab Economist Alan Oster told CN last week there was no end in sight for the dull spending environment, as consumers continue on their saving spree.
Retail figures from ABS this week show retail growth was flat in June. 
“The RBA have provided some relief to Australian retailers, although it is concerning that this cut has come on the back of flat retail sales, predictions of rising unemployment and falling consumer and business confidence,” said Zimmerman.
The ARA are now calling on the banks to pass this rate cut in full. 

Zimmerman also called for “clear commitments from both political parties regarding business growth, flexibility and lower taxes along with genuine tax and workplace reform.”

Fancy That! Apple Eyes Social Site

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Apple taking a Fancy to social stuff.
The execs at Cupertino are said to be eyeing up ‘The Fancy’ a social commerce site that lets members buy cool stuff at a deal.

The New York based start-up is being courted by Apple, with the two companies locked into talks on a buyout, reports Business Insider.

The deal would “secure a role for Apple in the growing e-commerce market,” according to the report, as social networking king Facebook looks to further increase its commercial interests, buying a number of start-ups including Karma, the gift giving site.

It would also be Apple’s answer to Pinterest, the wildly popular virtual pinboard. 

Although Apple is undoubtedly a hardware king, success in the social commerce side of its business has largely eluded it.


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‘The Fancy’ site lets members “discover amazing stuff, collect the things you love, unlock crazy good deals,” and “fancy” the items on its site, a la Facebook “likes.”

Fancy’s “stuff” includes everything from electronics, gadgets, to books and hotel rooms and currently has 400 million users but would probably garner a hell of a lot more if Apple got its claws into it.

Fancy even has Apple boss Tim Cook among its user base.

 

Some of the goods being fancied at the moment are a Breville pie maker, selling for $150, V-MODA Crossfade M-80 Shadow Headphones elegantor and the book ‘Born To Run” by Albert Lewis.

The Fancy was co-founded by Joe Einhorn in 2010 and has just 20 staff, and is said to have be valued at $100m, reports Insider.

No word on how mauch Apple would cough up for its latest Fancy, however.

Aussie ‘Happy’ In Work: LinkedIn

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Australians are a content bunch in their work, with lofty ambitions for the future, a new survey reveals. LinkedIn professionals’ career ambitions show we rank 10th out of global ranking as showing the most positive attitude in the workplace. The disgruntled Japanese were ranked as the least happy of the lot.


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Who needs work when you’ve got waves! Aussies have a positive outlook on the 9 to 5. Image: Aquabumps.

The survey asking 900 Aussie professionals, showed most had workplace ambitions including promotion, working overseas or a complete career change.

64 percent told LinkedIn they are “happy” or “very happy” with their current job, behind the Americans (6th place) and the Dutch who ranked as happiest with 80% happy rating.

“A tough economy can make professionals appreciate facets of their job they might otherwise overlook when business is booming,” said LinkedIn’s Connection Director, Nicole Williams.

“Perhaps you didn’t get the raise you wanted this year, but you are appreciative of an amazing supportive manager who keeps an eye out for opportunities that will help you grow in your career.”

The survey also listed out seven different career ambitions and asked professionals to select which ones applied to them.

On a global scale, the No. 1 career ambition for professionals globally is getting promoted.

With regards to the future, Aussie came 10th place as among the most optimistic workers globally, behind Brazilians who came out top, saying if they work hard and demonstrate results, they have a good opportunity to advance in their company.

 

Spanish professionals ranked as being the least optimistic with only 44% agreeing that if they work hard and demonstrate results, they have a good opportunity to advance in their company.

In the U.S. the top three career ambitions professionals selected were:to get promoted, staying in the current job or to retire early.

Hack Attack! ‘Wikiboat’ Steal 21,000 Billabong Passwords

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Its happened again: Billabong latest victim of ‘hacktivism’ hitting major global names.


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Over 21,000 passwords have been nicked from iconic Aussie surfer brand Billabong, SC Magazine confirmed.

The publication, were the first to uncover the data breach on #WikiBoatWednesday page on Twitter, which published details of the cache online.

“Hacktivists” apparent WikiBoat broke into the site as part of the WikiBoatWednesday project, and leaked, names, emails addresses, passwords of site user accounts.

Previously unaware Billabong shut down its site following the breach and told SC no credit card data was among the leaked info:

“At this stage, we understand that the customer database contains personal information of certain customers of the website, but no financial data. We view this attack as an extremely serious matter and have taken urgent action to contain the incident and prevent further attacks occurring.

“We are continuing to gather information about the incident and to establish the extent and nature of the data that may have been accessed. We will take further appropriate measures as new information comes to light”.

This is just the latest in a spate of such attacks – just last week over 450,000 passwords were stolen from Yahoo Voices. and leaked to the web. 

iCloud iPhone: ‘Transition’ 4 To Steal iPhone 5 Thunder, Say Sources

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iPhone 4 is to get a makeover…from the cloud. How? iOS 5 + iCloud.


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Image: Beam me up Scottie, iCloud iPhone.

It has come to our attention that Apple is planning to combine iOS 5 and iCloud of hardware internally referred to as the iCloud iPhone,” according to Applenapps, citing sources ‘familar with the matter.’ 

 So, is this iPhone 5? Well, apparently not. 
 There are two models in the making – which we knew already – iPhone 5 and a rumoured iPhone 4 cheapie, which now appears to be the smartphone getting the iCloud treatment. 
 iCloud, Apple’s free cloud storage service, launched in June, carries “the centre of our digital lives into the cloud,” said Steve Jobs at the launch.
 “iCloud iPhone will rely heavily on Apple’s new cloud based offering, and less on internal storage,” say Applenapps sources. 
Previously, Apple did say there was ‘transition’ in store for its new phones, so this could well be the change described. 
 This move would allow Apple cut its production costs by farming out internal storage to its fledgling iCloud and having less Flash memory on board. Bingo. 
 This news comes as iPhone has come under increasing pressure from cheaper Androids hitting the market a dime a dozen. Apple could have well woken up to the fact that its elitist device needs to get some mainstream pricing to fend off rivals. 
 Other changes to our beloved iPhone 4 will include mostly external redesigns – which will be different to the current version – and will wear an an aluminum back panel the same as the iPad 2, shying away from the glass encasing. (And run iOS 5, bien sur.)
 And the differences will be quiet noticeable, say sources, and is said to look like an iPad at first glance (can’t wait). 
 Like the iPad 2, ‘5’ will indeed be thinner, faster, and lighter sporting the same A5 chip for fast processing, as well as design changes to address previous antennae issues with ‘4’, but “the real star of the show will be the iCloud iPhone,” the sources indicate. 
 And another thing, iPhone 5 is said to be lacking 4G LTE technology, giving its understudy, the iCloud iPhone, another reason to steal its thunder. 
Prices of the iPhone 4 are already being slashed stateside as retailers prepare for the new inventory. 
So, how much will the cheapie version be? Apple are said to be ‘aiming’ for US$400 outright and free on a two year contract, while the new 5 will be $199 on contract. 
 

This report appears to have legs, coming from three reliable sources from various levels of Cupertino. 

iOS 5 and iCloud are due to launch in the “fall” (i.e. spring Down Under) – an ideal time to roll out the spanking new iPhones also, we do think. 

Oh, and one additional footnote: iPhone 5 is said to feature Qualcomm’s wireless chip meaning GSM and CDMA version will be mashed into the one model.

Screw UP: @facebook Fury As Emails Wreak Havoc

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After @facebook come the storm. And it has erupted among Facebookers as new emails delete smartphone contacts.


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Who knew emails could wreak so much havoc?

The trend is occurring particularly on older Androids, where the @facebook address has been defaulted as the primary email address for all saved phone contacts.

The Social Network has admitted there is a software ‘bug’ affecting users who chose to sync their Facebook and phone contacts on Android and BlackBerry OS, which then deleted phone contacts and replaced them with FB ones.

This then forces users to email via @facebook account rather than theri regular Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo email addresses.

The issue was reported on Hacker News from one disgruntled user:

“This morning my mother was complaining that many of the email addresses in her Droid Razr contacts had been replaced with Facebook ones. It would seem the Facebook app had been populating her address book with emails and contact photos, and decided to migrate all her Facebook-using contacts over to this convenient new system. That seems like a much greater controversy to me than Facebook hiding people’s email addresses.”

And poor old Apple iOS 6 users could also be in for a similar unwelcome shock when it is officially released later this year with beta testers currently reporting issues with the new deeper sync between Facebook and iOS user contacts on ‘6’.

And it seems Microsoft Windows 8 beta OS is also experiencing similar sync issues. However, the social network has promised there is a fix on the way “soon.”

Facebook sneaked the new @facebook addresses into the accounts of its 901 million plus users some weeks back, to the dismay of many, as they failed to make any soundings to users about the email invasion.

“In short, Facebook’s changing of users’ email address to @facebook.com is one monumental screw-up.” says Sophos Lab Graham Cluley.

 

“I believe the site was trying to get more people to adopt @facebook.com email addresses for their regular communications, to make their dependence on Facebook even greater.”

The Social Network says they did it to streamline all user accounts (previously Facebookers had the option to sign up to @facebook email or not since 2010).

If you don’t want your Facebook contacts email displayed you can change it by going to your account and click on the “About” tab, then hit “Contact info” and “Edit” and then you can choose which email address you want hidden/listed on your Timeline.

Cooked: Conroy Blasts Turnbull’s NBN Rumble

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Minister for Broadband blasts political foe as “lazy, financially illiterate, or both”


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The Hon Malcolm Turnbull and Minister Conroy, in happier times.

Senator Stephen Conroy has come out fighting today, declaring Shadow Communications minister, MP Malcolm Turnbull, has ‘once again’ misled the public, with claims the National Broadband Network (NBN) has witnessed a $400m “blowout” after the recent budget.

“Mr Turnbull has manufactured claims of a ‘blowout’ and a ‘fiddle’ in the budget treatment of the National Broadband Network,” Senator Conroy said today.

And in a startling attack on the Liberal MP for East Sydney, Conroy added: “Mr Turnbull is either lazy, financially illiterate, or both.”

Turnbull claimed figures for NBN revealed in the latest Budget, announced Tuesday, show the cost of NBN has risen over $400m compared to last year.

“As a former merchant banker, Mr Turnbull presumably knows that you pay your bills when they fall due,” Conroy continued.

“The $450 million additional Departmental expenditure in 2011-12 is the payments made to Telstra under the terms of the Definitive Agreements.These agreements came into force on 7 March last.”

There is “nothing new” about the payments (set to total $11 bn across several years) to Telstra nor can they be described as having been ‘brought forward,’ he added.

Turnbull, a vehement opposer to the $36bn high speed NBN and Labor’s pet project, latest claims are totally “false,” according to Conroy.

“Mr Turnbull’s assertion that there has been an increase in equity of $400M simply reflects that equity funding of $350M was deferred from 2011-12 to 2012-13. This was detailed in the 2011-12 Departmental Portfolio Additional Estimate Statement on page 39.”

“Mr Turnbull also continues to claim that the treatment of the equity injection into NBN Co by the Government should be expensed in the budget. This is completely wrong.”

 

The broadband fibre network currently being rolled out, is an investment in an asset from which the Government will receive a return, says the Broadband Minister and is classified as an ‘equity investment’ rather than a ‘budget expense.’

This practice is consistent with long-standing budget treatment applied by this and previous Governments, says Conroy.

Turnbull also attacked the numbers using NBN currently  in a statement Tuesday, criticising the” “5000 or so customers currently using its fibre network, compared to the 137,000 projected by June 2012 in NBN Co’s corporate plan.”

Only Way is Up… For Downloads

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As Aussie downloads soar in the last year, it now seems this is only the beginning for the digital revolution.As it emerged Aussie downloads have soared 36% in the last year, it now seems this is only the beginning for digital downloads.

Australia’s digital TV and film industry was worth almost $128 million in 2012 and entertainment industry boss predict further growth in digital downloads, streaming and VOD, which now accounts for 10% of total home entertainment sales including physical sales of DVDs, Blu-Ray. 

Downloads of TV series and movies are set to rise as much as 30%, Simon Bush, the CEO of Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA), told SmartHouse this week.

“Expect strong growth to continue, another 30 per cent growth target is not out of reach.”

However, pesky digital pirates need to be stamped out first of all, if the industry is to thrive, he warns.

“When the government cracks down on piracy, research shows that sales increase and yes I would expect VoD service to mature in Australia but which platform will be dominant and when an SVoD service becomes available is unknown at this stage.”

Top selling TV shows in Oz last year included Game of Thrones, True Blood and Gossip Girl, while The Hunger Games,  What to Expect When You’re Expecting, SherlockHolmes and Red Dog were among the top movie titles.

The largest digital market in Australia in terms of revenues were video on demand (VoD) services like Telstra’s Bigpond Movies and Quickflix (56%), followed by electronic TV (23%) and movie sales. 

“Digital sales in 2012 really took off and now exceed 10 per cent of total sales for the $1.174 billion Australian home entertainment industry” says Bush.

LinkedIn Hack: 6.5 Million Passwords Spill Russia

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LeakedIn: Social network for pros suffers attack, 6.5 million passwords leaked to a Russian website.


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A leaked password database has been published on a Russian hacking forum belonging to LinkedIn members, company Director, Vicente Silveira confirmed on a blog post, yesterday.

The passwords appear in the form of a cryptographic “hash” which converts text into a sequence of numbers and letters using a mathematical formula, say security experts.

The LinkedIn passwords did not contain a “salt” which usually protects against dictionary and other attacks.

“We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts,” wrote Silveira. 

The social network for professionals has around 160 million members globally, all of who have been advised by security experts to change their password.

Security experts SophosLabs who examined the password “dump” says there are 5.8 million unique password hashes in the leak, or which 3.5 m have already been ‘brute forced.’

“That means over 60% of the stolen hashes are now publicly known,” warned Chester Wisniewski, SophosLabs.

Other passwords the security experts found in the dump include ‘linkedin’, ‘linkedinpassword’, ‘p455w0rd’ and ‘redsox’.

“We even found passwords that suggest people should know better like ‘sophos’, ‘mcafee’, ‘symantec’, ‘kaspersky’, ‘microsoft’ and ‘f-secure’,” Wisniewski added.

The social network said it is “continuing to investigate this situation” and says members whose passwords have been compromised are no longer valid.

Members affected will also receive an email from LinkedIn with instructions on how to reset their passwords.

 

There won’t be any links in this email but you follow this step and request password assistance, users will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.

“Affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases,” Silveira confirmed.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our members. We take the security of our members very seriously,” he added.