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Oonagh Reidy

Its War, Telstra: Optus Appeal TVNow Decision

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Telco confirmed all out war against rival Telstra, NRL and AFL over sporting broadcasts.
Paul O’Sullivan, Optus Chief Executive has just confirmed the telco will appeal the Federal Court’s TVNow decision in the High Court.

The National Rugby League (NRL)and Australian Football League (AFL) sporting bodies and Australia’s biggest telco, Telstra, took Optus to court looking to ban its TVNow mobile app, which allowed users to record free-to-air content and play it back within minutes of the live broadcast.

Telstra paad both sporting codes million for exclusive online broadcast rights, which Optus’ mobile app rendered virtually worthless. 

After initially winning the case before the Federal court earlier this year, Optus later lost the appeal by Telstra and the sporting giants, in a decision handed down last month.

The Federal Court ruled that Optus was in fact responsible for its customers recording content on its TVNow service.

“We believe the TV Now case is extremely important in deciding the future for innovation, consumer choice and competition”, said O’Sullivan today. 

“Increasingly, developments like cloud computing will see Australians using applications held online and wanting to store online rather than just using fixed hardware based in the home.”

The telco also claims it is doing this for the good of its customers:

“Australian consumers want legitimate access to content on any device regardless of the genre and we want to continue making the latest technologies available to Australians to meet this demand.”

 

Optus also said broadcast rights is a “very important public policy issue that needs to be determined by the highest court in the land”

“As innovations like TV Now are readily available in other parts of the world, Australia must remain globally competitive and embrace the rapid convergence of technologies as we head towards an NBN world, said O’Sullivan.

Telstra NBN Roadshow Hits Qld

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Telstra fibre roadshow assaults on Townsville tomorrow.


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Townsville locals can experience a “hands-on journey into the new-age fibre optic fast lane” with the interactive Telstra Fibre Experience Centre, which opened this week.

The Telstra expo parked at Vale Hotel Car Park in Aitkenvale is running until 27 April.

Telstra Fibre Experience Centre is a custom-built, travelling trailer that is looking to spread the fibre broadband word to all and demo its BigPond broadband, Telstra T-Box and T-Hub services currently operating live on the National Broadband Network (NBN).

READ: Telstra NBN Pricing $49 + 50GB

Kitted out as an average home lounge room, the Fibre Experience Centre will be open between 10 am to 5 pm, staffed by experts who will “out in force” to explain the new technology features and how services will operate on the new network.

Telstra Area General Manager for North Queensland, Rachel Cliffe, reckons locals will be bombarding them for info on the high speed fibre network.

“We know Aitkenvale and Mundingburra locals have a lot of questions about the new fibre network and how it impacts them, so the Telstra team will be out in force to help explain the detail and showcase how Telstra services will work in their homes,” Cliffe said.

 

“The superfast network will support multiple internet uses at the same time – so on our fastest plans one family member can be downloading movies on their computer while another is checking the weather on the T-Hub, or uploading photos, all at high speed.”

For more information phone 1800 TFIBRE (1800 834 273), or visit telstra.com/unlockamazing.

On Or Off? Foxtel-Austar D-Day Tuesday

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D-Day: the decision on the Foxtel-Austar merger is due to be decided April 10th.


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On or off? final decsion on Foxtel-Austar merger to be decided next week.

The competition watchdog, ACCC, will have the final say on whether Foxtel will be allowed takeover regional pay TV player Austar in a $2 billion deal, following its “market inquiry” into the proposed transaction on Tuesday.

The deal, if allowed, would give Foxtel – 25% owned by scandal riddled News Ltd – 97% control of the subscription TV market in Australia.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has already put back its decision on the deal calling on Foxtel, which is 50% owned by Telstra, demanding the company give a series of undertakings to prevent a monopolistic position from developing.

These ‘undertakings’ are aimed at resolving the ACCC’s competition concerns relating to Foxtel’s proposed acquisition of Austar, which includes rival players’ access to channels including Sky News, Disney and channel signals.

New Limited parent company News Corp, has landed in hot water over allegations it the UK and by Australian Financial Review that an associated company, NDS, hacked into rival players computer systems and smartcard codes, forcing them to go bust.

Read: Conroy: “Call Police” On Rupert’s News As Foxtel Deal Delayed

iPhone 6 Powered By Headphones?

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Forget chargers. Apple have just registered a patent in the US which, if realised, would mean future iPhones and iPods could be charged via headphones.


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Pictured: iPhone 6 concept. Image credit: Conceptphones.com

US Patent application 20110188677, entitled “Using an Audio Cable as an Inductive Charging Coil,” has been submitted by the iPhone creator to the Patent and Trademark Office, according to Apple Insider. 

 The technology entails winding an audio cable around a charging mechanism to form an inductive receiving coil, then picked up by a magnetic field to charge the device.
Usually this would mean a larger coil would be required, meaning the size of the iPhone or iPods would also increase, going against Apple’s creed of smaller, thinner, lighter. 
But the three clever whizzes that developed this new concept found a way around that. 
 Here’s a summary of the technology as outlined in the patent application: “This technique involves winding an audio cable for the electronic device around a charging mechanism multiple times so that one or more conductors in the audio cable form an inductive receiving coil. 
“Next, a magnetic field is created through the charging mechanism to induce a current in the inductive receiving coil. Finally, the induced current in the inductive receiving coil is used to charge a rechargeable battery for the electronic device.” 
 Earlier we reported how Apple may have given the game away in relation to the iPhone 5 by applying for a separate smartphone patent here in Australia. 

Samsung ‘MeTV’: Coming Soon

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Samsung’s “amazing” new personalised TV service launching in 4 weeks time.
The service will be based on your viewing habits, recommend TV programs to watch, tell you what’s on and most popular programs, Evan Manolis, Samsung Australia’s Group Manager AV revealed at 2013 Astra conference on Thursday.

The service available on Samsung Smart TVs is “quite amazing” and “changes the whole TV experience,” he told the attendees at the Pay TV conference at the Sydney Convention Centre.

Manolis was speaking alongside Kym Niblock, Foxtel’s General Manager Emerging Platforms, at a talk entitled ‘TV on Your Terms.’

However, Samsung’s AV boss did admit Oz is about five years behind the US and UK in terms of Internet TV services, when you compare service from BSkyB and BBC to what’s on offer locally.

However, he did say the NBN should help advance the plight of IPTV services here. Foxtel announced the ramping up of IPTV services last week by unveiling a contract free IPTV on Samung TVs, Xbox 360 and tablets.

2012 saw Smart TV penetration increase dramatically here and will grow again this year, said Manolis. 4K is also coming, “but we don’t know what that means yet” he added.

TVs are getting bigger and thinner, with “more glass, less plastic” and alluded to 85″ Samsung TV coming to Oz soon.

“We may be five years behind but it wont take 5 years to catch up” said Foxtel’s Niblock.

“Australians want to be part of the global conversation and don’t want to wait 6-8 months” to see the latest episodes shows from the US, and said Foxtel ‘straight from the US’ content service is going gangbusters, where the longest gap between screening in the US and OZ is 33 hour, she said. 

12GB Surfing For $65?

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Vodafone has launched its latest bid to win back customers by offering 12GB of mobile broadband data for $65 per month.The cut price new $65 plan for a massive 12GB mobile broadband on USB stick or Pocket WiFi. 

The new price point is on top of Voda’s existing plans including $20 for 2.5GB, $30 for 4GB and $45 for 8GB. 
Compare this to Optus’ mobile broadband plan which costs $25 for 1.5GB and $65 for 10GB, and Telstra 1GB for $25, 4GB for $35 and 15GB for $95, Vodafone definitely has better value.

It also claims average download speeds at 30Mbps are faster than the average of five leading fixed broadband services. 
The Vodafone Pocket Wifi (4G) is now on offer for half price (now $84.50), on 12 and 24 month contracts until 29 April, and are offering a 15% discount on its mobile broadband subscription to all current customers until 2 April. 
You will also have to pay $3-$5 per month for either the USB stick or pocket WiFi modem, both of which are ‘Cat 4’ enabled. 
The Pocket WiFi can be used as a portable hotspot, allowing up to ten devices to hook up to the service at once. A ‘Cat 4’ device can reach theoretical download speeds up to 150Mbps.
“Our customers told us that their need for data – especially for mobile broadband services – has increased since last year’s launch of our new 4G network,” said Kim Clarke, Chief Marketing Officer at Vodafone.
“We continue to expand our 4G network coverage and currently offer the fastest 4G data speeds in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth and lets customers surf the web high speed.”
By the end of 2014 it is expected that there will be more mobile subscriptions than the global population, according to according to telecom analyst Paul Budde.
Vodafone are also offering its Network guarantee letting customers cancel their service within the first 30 days.

Who Has Cheapest Samsung S III?

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Aussie telco are usually bagged out for being rip off kings but in fact S III pricing is among the cheapest globally.


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In fact Virgin Mobile is flogging the cheapest Samsung S III plan among all telcos in OZ, and is even cheaper than plans flogged in US , New Zealand and UK, according to comparison site WhistleOut

The best value Galaxy S3 plan is Virgin Mobile Big Plan 29 (400 minutes of calls and 250MB data) coming in as the best value plan (costing $49 pm) , with Virgin’s $39 and $49 plan also getting a mention as top deals.

Over the life of the contract, taking into account the bonus free months, the total contract cost of Virgin 29 plan is $1,034, says WhistleOut who analysed 50 Galaxy S3 mobile plans offered by Australian telcos.

The UK also compared well with Virgin’s mega value deal with its equivalent plan costing $1,202, while New Zealand ($1,881) and USA (A$1,875) all came out as far pricier.

The Samsung S III released last month hailed as one of the best Android smartphones ever released and is set to sell 10 million by next month, Samsung execs said last week.

All main telco are giving deals on S III including Telstra, Optus, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.

Optus also has a cheap S III plan starting at $30 but you wouldn’t want to be using the Internet very much with just 200MB data and $200 worth of calls although its $89 Optus Timeless Plan was also cited as good deal.

Cameron Craig, Director of WhistleOut, said that Australian pricing for this flagship Android highlighted how competitive Australian telcos now are on an international stage.

“Technology prices are known to be far cheaper in the USA, however the Galaxy S3 shows that to be false for mobile phones on service plans. The UK remains one of the most competitive mobile phone markets in terms of pricing on the leading handsets, but Australia is not far behind,” says Cameron.

Recent promos by Virgin Mobile and Vodafone have demonstrated how competitive Aussie deals can be – both telcos are currently offering bonus data for customers who purchase a Galaxy S3 plan, pushing their offering right up there with the best value UK plans.

Virgin Mobile online promotion with three months free access and a bonus 2GB of free data per month, reduces their total plan price by 12% and adds the equivalent of $240 in data value.

 

WhistleOut’s international price comparison was based evaluating two plan types: One – cheapest Galaxy S3 plan with a minimum of 400 call minutes and 250MB of data; and Two – cheapest Galaxy S3 plan with unlimited calls and a minimum 500MB of data.

The comparo site also gave Vodafone $79 Infinite Plan a mention as one of Australia’s as one of the best deals with unlimited calls and at least 500MB data

“If the past month is anything to go by, we can expect the Galaxy S3 to end up as Samsung’s most successful phone launch to date as carriers have upped the ante with their value focused incentives,” said Cameron.

Samsung Galaxy S2 is also going cheap at all telcos priced from  $29 per month.

Check Out WhistleOuts comparo listof  Samsung Galaxy S3 pricing here

iPhone 5 V Samsung S III V Nokia: Who Wins?

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What’s the most reliable smartphone?

A new study shows Apple’s iPhone is by far the most reliable smartphone.

A recent study by FixYa found the iPhone, especially its latest ‘5’, was the most reliable phone compared to Samsung, Motorola and Nokia phones.

“Sleekness,” “dead simple users interface” (a phone granny and kids can use), reliability and Apple’s ecosystem were all hailed as iPhone pros.

Among the iPhone’s reported woes were poor battery life, lack of new features and no connection to Wi-Fi networks.

Rival Samsung, the biggest phone maker in the world, was found to have more issues in its devices, according to the study which looked at over 720, 000 problem reports on four phone brands.

“Great screen quality”, “enjoyable user interface”, “significant” battery life on the S III were all Samsung pros.

However, battery life on the Galaxy Nexus, “persistent” microphone and speaker issues were the woes cited by the FixYa report.

Samsung had treble the number of reported complaints of rival Apple at 187,520 versus just over 74,000 for the iPhone.

Apple rated the best on the reliability scale (3.47), Samsung followed on 1.41, while Motorola (0.13) was found to be the least reliable and had over 136,000 reported issues even though it accounts for under 2% of the phone market.

Nokia too proved an annoyingly problematic smartphone for users and scored 0.68 – the second lowest- on the reliability scale.

 

Nokia smartphones were faulted by a ‘laggy response’ on apps and programs compared to other devices, lack of apps compared to Android and Apple iOS, and battery life and overheating, even on its new Lumia devices. 

Nokia had a massive 324,439 complaints in all.

However, the hardy touchscreen on its new Lumia 900 was found to even “withstand a nail being hammered into it”. The “novel” Windows Phone 8 homescreen with its live tiles and good customization were all listed as pros.

Hello 4G: Vodafone Make LTE Call

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Telco reveals it is testing 4G services in Bronte, Randwick.

The telco says it has been conducting the first round of ‘calls’ for testing data speeds and MMS services, over the past few months.

“To run these tests, we’ve powered up Vodafone’s 4G technology in Alexandria, Bronte and Randwick with 10MHz bandwidth – we’ll be operating our 4G network in Sydney on 20MHz of bandwidth when we launch,” says Allen Didovich, vodafone 4G Program Manager, on a blog.

Vodafone expects its LTE service to be up and running in the first half of this year, and says it will run on 20Mhz bandwidth, compared to a mix of 10Mhz/15Mhz for Telstra and 15Mhz used by Optus.

The fact Vodafone has more bandwidth on 1800 Mhz spectrum than its rivals could mean faster speeds, potentially.

The telco’s 4G boss said the tests “for voice, mms and sms went off without a hitch.”

At launch, in 4G areas with a category 3 device (like iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 820) Vodafone are promising typical download speeds of 2Mbps-40Mbps. Vodafone expect category 4 devices to be available soon after.

“For our speed tests, we used speedtest.net app, where we recorded super fast download test speeds ranging between 60Mbps to 67Mbps and upload test in the 25-30Mbps range,” says Didovich.

On these speeds, a user could potentially download a 10-song album of music in 10 seconds – around 10-15 times quicker than on our 3G network.

 

But its early days, admits Didovich, as Voda trails behind rival Telstra who today announced a slew of new 4G technologies including LTE-Advanced, while Optus is also busy expanding its LTE services, in the race for the mobile user.

Telstra has had its 4G LTE network in place for over 18 months.

Vodafone, who will be hoping its 4G service will lure users back to the network, after 64,000 customers left its network during October- December 31 last.