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Bill Bennett
Freelance journalist.
Auckland-based Bill Bennett writes technology and business stories that are directly relevant to New Zealand readers.
His emphasis is on telecommunications, but he also covers other aspects of technology and business. You can find his features in the New Zealand Herald and hear him regularly on RNZ Nine to Noon and the NZ Tech Podcast.
Bennett's The Download Weekly newsletter is published every Friday. You can sign up for it here.
If you want to support his work, you can make a donation to his PressPatron account.
Bill Bennett - Latest News [Page 54]
Office 365 Personal underlines Office 365 Home's value
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:22 pm | Digitl
This week Microsoft added a cheaper option to its Office 365 stable. A one year licence to Office 365 Personal costs NZ$119, that's $46 less than the $165 I paid earlier this month to update my Office 365 Home subscription . More >>
Now that XP stands for expired
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:20 pm | Digitl
When future technology historians look back at our era, they may recognise the early years of the twenty-first as Peak Windows. And for most of that time, the top version of Microsoft's operating system was Windows XP. More >>
One thing Samsung didn't copy from Apple
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:16 pm | Digitl
Samsung and Apple are making lawyers rich again . The latest trial tests if Samsung used Apple patents in smartphones and tablets. More >>
Wearable computers aren't ready yet
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:15 pm | Digitl
Google may have sold a stack of Google Glass during its one day sale last week, but the day after saw Nike lay off its FuelBand division. It turns out that many people who bought fitness bands tossed them after only a few weeks . More >>
Motorola Moto X: A first look at the anti-Galaxy Android
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:14 pm | Digitl
Motorola says the Moto X smartphone will soon go on sale in New Zealand through stores like JB Hi-Fi. More >>
New Zealand's flawed broadband product disclosure regime
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:06 pm | Digitl
Tuanz CEO Paul Brislen nails the problem in Product disclosure . He says the idea of product disclosure is good, but at the moment consumers only get basic information. The more difficult, technical stuff is still hidden. More >>
New Zealand fast broadband connections double in 2013
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:05 pm | Digitl
Akamai’s latest State of the Internet report shows 6.7 percent of New Zealand internet connections were above 10Mbps in the third quarter of 2013. More >>
Mako Networks cuts Telstra security deal
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:02 pm | Digitl
Mako Networks says Australia's Telstra will sell the company's security services as part of a business broadband connection package. More >>
LastPass eases Heartbleed woes
Monday, 28 April 2014, 12:00 pm | Digitl
Heartbleed is a serious security threat. Potentially it means hackers can read everything: your user ids, passwords, credit card details and private information. Most security threats exploit people's laziness or ignorance. Heartbleed threatens those of us ... More >>
New Microsoft Surface versions coming soon?
Monday, 28 April 2014, 11:58 am | Digitl
Sources close to Microsoft tell me the company is preparing new Surface tablets. I'm not one for writing speculative stories, but my sources are good here. More >>
iPad boom over? Don't be ridiculous
Monday, 28 April 2014, 11:57 am | Digitl
One of the silliest ideas in the international technology press over the last week is ' Peak iPad '. ReadWrite expresses the idea cautiously in ' iPad may have peaked '. Or as Galen Grumen at InfoWorld puts it: " The iPad is so over, even Apple ... More >>
Unfinished business in NZ 700MHz band
Wednesday, 23 April 2014, 5:43 pm | Digitl
In Spectrum fight goes on and on Telecommunications Users Association Of New Zealand CEO Paul Brislen reports: The Commerce Commission has again delayed giving clearance to Telecom to buy the last block of management rights for 700MHz spectrum. More >>
Microsoft expands Office Online reach with Chrome App Store
Wednesday, 23 April 2014, 5:42 pm | Digitl
After years of jealously protecting its turf, Microsoft now appears serious about getting its Office software in the hands of as many users as possible. More >>
Westpac NZ claims world first finger scan banking
Monday, 14 April 2014, 9:50 pm | Digitl
Westpac New Zealand says it hopes it's customers will soon be able to use fingerprint scanning as a quick way to get secure access to mobile banking, At the moment it is at the 'proof of concept' stage. When it arrives, it says the technology will ... More >>
NZ Samsung Galaxy S5 plans compared
Monday, 14 April 2014, 8:52 pm | Digitl
Want to get your hands on a Samsung Galaxy S5 without paying the full $1050 asking price upfront? New Zealand's mobile phone carriers have a range of plans that could get the Android smartphone into your paws if you commit to a monthly plan. More >>
Whangarei: New Zealand's first fibre city
Monday, 14 April 2014, 8:42 pm | Digitl
In the next few weeks NorthPower will finish building Whangarei's fibre network. It will be the first city in New Zealand to have a full, ultrafast broadband network. More >>
Xero upbeat as losses double
Saturday, 5 April 2014, 8:07 am | Digitl
Xero is officially upbeat about its latest year-end financials announced earlier today. It turned in an 83 percent increase in operating revenue. Xero says the increase was held back by the strong New Zealand dollar; measured in last year's ... More >>
Microsoft's Office top of the iPad charts
Friday, 4 April 2014, 11:23 am | Digitl
If there was any doubt of a pent-up demand for Microsoft Office on the iPad, the weekend's performance cleared things up. More >>
HTC One M8 coming this month
Friday, 4 April 2014, 11:21 am | Digitl
Update: Telecom NZ says there are delays with the HTC One M8 reaching New Zealand and the phone may not now be available in April. More >>
Cloud driving software market growth
Friday, 4 April 2014, 11:20 am | Digitl
"The software market has been changing shape over the past five years, and cloud is driving the bulk of this change as software vendors acquire and provide applications and infrastructure technology to support the cloud and the Internet ... More >>
