The big Telecom Microsoft online split has now happened and users going to Xtramsn.co.nz will be asked to choose whether to go to Yahooxtra.co.nz or Msn.co.nz (you’ll see the screengrab to the left when you go there).
Neither look terribly inspiring, but YahooXtra looks much better than MSN which has the look of a fairly [...]
Over the next few weeks I’ll post some stories I’ve written over the last few months for S&M magazine. No, it’s not some kinky sex mag where amateur bondage enthusiasts send in their pictures and stories! S&M stands for Smoke and Mirrors - it’s an Australian film magazine that’s devoted to covering the visual effects [...]
Last week I suggested in my Herald column that Telecom would have to bite the bullet and change its network to the GSM/HSDPA flavour to cope with Telstra’s decision to shut down CDMA and the continuing lack of a decent range of handsets for the CDMA operators.
I had a lot of feedback from people who [...]
Over the past few years it has become clear that the best way to shift digital content around the internet is to use peer-to-peer networking.
Some of the most disruptive services to have appeared – from Napster and Kazaa to Skype and Bittorrent, employ this system of delivery, which isn’t reliant on [...]
Here’s a link to a column of mine in yesterday’s Herald outlining my experiences with Telecom’s new Samsung Worldmode phone which has both CDMA and GSM chips, enabling Telecom users to roam to Europe using one 027 phone. Before, they had to borrow a GSM phone from Telecom. The Samsung w531 ($299) does away with [...]
Some more interesting developments in the CA fraud scandal I’ve been following, particularly in respect to kiwi Stephen Richards’ involvement.
As I’ve written in previous posts on CA below, Richards is due to start his seven year jail term for securities fraud, perjury, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, on February 27. Richards, formerly of Wellington, was [...]
Just back from 3GSM in Barcelona…well I was back for a day then off to the Gold Coast, where I am now. It’s great here. I’m sitting on the 10th floor balcony with the warm breeze blowing in off the ocean. Some kind soul in this building or a neighbouring one going under the SSID [...]
Messages have been coming in sporadically since my Herald piece about New Zealander Stephen Richards and his part in the US$2.2 billion accounting fraud at Computer Associates. Richards goes to jail in California on February 27 and despite what he has done I really feel for him - I met his wife and youngest son [...]
New Zealand has been left out of plans by internet call provider Skype to offer local calling packages in 24 countries using its free software-based service.
Australia, which is a key market for Skype, will get the new domestic service, which will charge subscribers a flat monthly fee and a one-off “flag-fall” charge when calls to [...]
Here’s a link to an article I wrote a couple of weeks ago, but only ran in the Herald today. It’s about the formation of Merlin, a worldwide organisation that bands together independent music trade groups to give them better bargaining power when it comes to negotiating online music and mobile phone download deals with [...]