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Week in review: The biggest stories that went down this week on NetGuide

24 Feb 2017

Shannon Williams

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It was a busy week for the NetGuide team - there were High Court decisions, a telco war, a whole lot of reviews to be done.. Phew. We thought we'd make it easy for you and pick out our highlights of the week in the land of consumer tech.

Spark and InternetNZ asked for a pause on the Vodafone+Sky merger, but turns out the Commerce Commission decided the merger was a bad idea.

Apple crafted a masterpiece and we all got to take a look at a real workplace of the future.

Our very own PC-mad Sara took a stab at being an Apple user – Was she converted?

Weta Workshop made a boardgame and people are loving it.

Gareth Morgan’s political party made some bold education statements.

Kiwis realised they needed to up their digital skills game.

And we didn’t talk about Trump.

Hands-on review: MacBook Air with M1 chip (how did we ever live without it?)

Vodafone 'guarantees' no internet dead zones in your house

Sony announces new Bravia range with cutting-edge processor

Vodafone NZ clocks record data usage for New Year’s Eve

How the editorial team works at Techday: Our tips for you

ComCom warns Noel Leeming Group over delivery representations during COVID

Vodafone Sky Apple Weta Digital Commerce Commission NetGuide Techday

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DLC review – Nioh 2: The First Samurai

If you loved the base game of Nioh 2, the DLC packs are worth buying if you want more of a decent challenge. Avoid the DLC though if you haven’t finished playing the main game yet!More

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Online traffic surges as Kiwis head online over festive season - Vodafone

“We’ve been expecting internet traffic to spike this Christmas, as people stay connected to friends and whānau using digital tools especially while the borders are closed, but this large growth is still mind-blowing."More

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Top Trade Me listings of 2020 revealed

Trade Me’s top Marketplace listings of 2020 were inspired by COVID-19.More

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Sony launches new lens for G Master full-frame camera series

This full-frame lens gives photographers and videographers versatility, allowing users to perfectly capture stills and video without compromise.”More

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Scammers target victims using COVID vaccine news

Security experts are warning consumers to watch for phishing attempts linked to vaccine news. More

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Majority of professionals believe employers should require proof of COVID vaccination

New research has revealed 67% of professionals believe employers should require proof of vaccination for COVID-19 before returning to the office.More

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DLC review – Nioh 2: The First Samurai

If you loved the base game of Nioh 2, the DLC packs are worth buying if you want more of a decent challenge. Avoid the DLC though if you haven’t finished playing the main game yet!More

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Online traffic surges as Kiwis head online over festive season - Vodafone

“We’ve been expecting internet traffic to spike this Christmas, as people stay connected to friends and whānau using digital tools especially while the borders are closed, but this large growth is still mind-blowing."More

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Top Trade Me listings of 2020 revealed

Trade Me’s top Marketplace listings of 2020 were inspired by COVID-19.More

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Sony launches new lens for G Master full-frame camera series

This full-frame lens gives photographers and videographers versatility, allowing users to perfectly capture stills and video without compromise.”More

Story image

Scammers target victims using COVID vaccine news

Security experts are warning consumers to watch for phishing attempts linked to vaccine news. More

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Majority of professionals believe employers should require proof of COVID vaccination

New research has revealed 67% of professionals believe employers should require proof of vaccination for COVID-19 before returning to the office.More

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E-commerce accounts for over a third of total retail sales

A greater use of AI assistance and a huge increase in mobile phone shopping is in store over the next year.More

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Hands-on review: MacBook Air with M1 chip (how did we ever live without it?)

I expected the M1-powered MacBook Air to be better than the Intel one, but I did not expect to notice it this much. More

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New 5G download speed record set on a commercial network

The record, 5Gbps for a single smartphone, was announced today by Telstra in collaboration with Ericsson and Qualcomm.More

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Sky confirms Vocus as a key service partner for Sky Broadband

"It’s exciting to see our Sky Broadband project take shape as we roll out customer trials with the support of a great partner like Vocus."More

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How the editorial team works at Techday: Our tips for you

Preparing your releases in a particular way will not only make our lives easier, but improve the chances of your lead being picked among the masses.More

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Online gaming a 'hotbed' for DDoS attacks — report

The latency and availability issues present in online gaming, in particular, presented an attractive target to attackers, in addition to the enduring popularity of gaming in the era of COVID-19.More

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Kiwi tech sector grows, boosted by game development and local IT companies

“We are seeing sectors like the game developers growing exports at exponential rates, local IT companies working through the night helping other sectors rapidly become more digital."More

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Google completes $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit

It comes after the European Commission announced its approval of the acquisition late last month, with the condition that the search engine giant would not use Fitbit health data to target ads to users in the European Union. More

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Govt supports seniors to embrace technology

Investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected, the Government says.More

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Almost half of remote workers report decrease in productivity

"The many changes imposed by the pandemic are acting as another challenge to the 9-to-5 workday model, which was already under threat before the pandemic."More

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Smartphone addiction endangering health - study

Young people aged 18 to 25 had the highest level of nomophobia and males were almost twice as likely to engage in dangerous use than females. More

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Trump social media ban too little, too late

"Big Tech has made mega profits by turning a blind eye to the true extent of misinformation on their platforms."More

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Hackers in your bedroom: Hackers targeting smart sex toys

A group of researchers reported vulnerabilities in an internet-enabled male chastity cage. More

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New Zealanders headed online for Christmas shopping - study

"We've certainly noticed a big change in how consumers are shopping."More

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Vodafone 'guarantees' no internet dead zones in your house

‘Wall to wall’ - that’s how Vodafone is describing its latest home internet offering, which is essentially a mesh network that aims to provide internet in every corner of the house.More

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Vodafone NZ clocks record data usage for New Year’s Eve

Over this New Year’s Eve, New Zealanders around the country consumed mobile data in staggering numbers, according to local telco Vodafone NZ. More

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Emotet remains leading malware in global threat index

The malware has impacted 7% of organisations globally, following a spam campaign which targeted more than 100,000 users per day during the holiday season.More

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ComCom warns Noel Leeming Group over delivery representations during COVID

"It should have taken a more cautious approach to representations it made about product availability and delivery time frames."More

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Nokia 3.4 drops in NZ with AI-triple camera, bigger screen, two-day battery life

"The Nokia 3.4 gives New Zealanders more power, more screen and more freedom to push the boundaries of your creativity thanks to the ultra-wide lens and AI imaging."More

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Samsung debuts the Neo QLED, an update to its flagship TV line

With the new Neo QLED TV, luminance scale has been increased to 12-bit with 4096 steps, making dark areas darker and bright areas brighter, according to Samsung.More

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Hands-on review: SanDisk Extreme Pro portable SSD

SanDisk’s Extreme Pro portable SSD promises a fast and light way of carrying about huge amounts of data.More

Times Square brings New Year's Eve to homes around the globe

Organisers of the New Year's Eve Ball Drop Celebration are bringing the world's biggest party to homes around the world, live and direct from Times Square. More

Lenovo unveils new laptops, tablets and Amazon Alexa Show Mode

Lenovo has unveiled a suite of new NEC consumer products coming to market, as part of its CES 2021 news.More

Users pay with personal data - Kaspersky on WhatsApp move to share data with Facebook

"Nothing is truly free, and, unfortunately, the current business model for free services means that, essentially, we pay with our data."More

Swann home security kit recognised for innovation

The new 4K NVR Enforcer Kit was named a 2021 CES Innovation Award Honouree.More

Ministry of Health successfully completes COVID-19 tracing technology trial

The New Zealand Ministry of Health, the New Zealand Government's principal advisor on health and disability, completed the community-led Bluetooth contact tracing technology trial in Rotorua.More

Game review: Deliver Us The Moon (PC)

Dutch developer, KeokeN Interactive, with their first game, Deliver Us The Moon, invites players on a solitary journey to the lunar surface in order to solve a mystery.More

Shopify, Salesforce, Basecamp join lineup for NZ remote working conference

"RemoteTogetherNZ is about exploring opportunities and solutions towards creating our ideal working future."More

Game review: Hitman 3 (PC)

IO Interactive’s seminal assassination game completes its rebooted World of Assassination trilogy with Hitman 3.More

Christmas tech gifts pose cybersecurity risks - ProofPoint

Fraudsters are targeting last-minute Christmas shoppers via email and hackers are targeting electronic devices that feature on many wish lists.More

A quick look at the latest ASUS ZenBook notebook range

A new screen tilt design will feature on two products in the line.More

Samsung debuts Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra

The company has revamped the design of the phones from their predecessors, updated camera arrays and features, and debuted new processors — and all are 5G capable.More

Sony announces new Bravia range with cutting-edge processor

Powered by the Cognitive Processor XR, the BRAVIA TV’s use a new processing method designed to replicate the ways humans see and hear. More

Arlo's latest Ultra security cameras now available in NZ

The Ultra 2 Wire-Free Spotlight Camera System is equipped with 4K video and HDR image recording, auto-zoom and tracking, and much more.More

Chch offers start-up support for COVID-19 impacted jobseekers

Residents of Christchurch, Selwyn and Ashburton who lost their jobs due to the pandemic are invited to submit their start-up ideas to a new programme.More

Check Point exposes Android malware vendor using dark net to rebrand products

Check Point security researchers have exposed an Android malware vendor using a marketer on the dark net to rebrand its products, with the intention of supercharging business and throwing off security vendors. More

New year, time to update your passwords

The most popular passwords of 2020 were easy-to-guess number combinations, such as 123456, the word password, qwerty, iloveyou, and other uncomplicated options.More

Dark net vendors wanting Bitcoin payments for unverified COVID-19 vaccines

As the medicines are being offered on the dark net, purchasers have no way of knowing whether they are genuine, according to Check Point.More

Women in tech: Broken rung constrains progress

While the glass ceiling is cracking, the progress is constrained by a broken rung.More