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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 66]
Briefly: Vodafone does Office; 2degrees tap-to-pay
Wednesday, 6 November 2013, 7:21 am | Digitl
Paying for Microsoft Office just got simpler for Vodafone customers. The carrier is now selling Microsoft Office 365 and charging customers on their phone bill. The deal includes added local support and set-up. Microsoft's cloud-based Office software ... More >>
2degrees gets the Google Nexus 5
Tuesday, 5 November 2013, 5:18 pm | Digitl
Yesterday I reported that possibly the best Android phone, Google's Nexus 5 was not officially on sale in New Zealand. Today comes news that 2degrees will be selling the phone. The phone is available from the carrier's branded stores and from branches ... More >>
Where newspapers sit in the bigger picture
Tuesday, 5 November 2013, 1:48 pm | Digitl
While the numbers will be somewhat different in New Zealand, the message is clear. Just three years after the first modern tablets went on sale, they are almost as popular as printed newspapers. More >>
Vodafone offers iPad on plan
Tuesday, 5 November 2013, 1:28 pm | Digitl
Apple's iPad Air is already a huge sale hit. Prices for the iPad Air start at $750 at Apple's online store for a Wi-Fi model and $950 for the lowest cost model able to connect to the cellular network. More >>
Chorus, regulatory black hole and a tough decision for gover
Tuesday, 5 November 2013, 11:32 am | Digitl
Chorus shareholders were quick to react to this morning's Commerce Commission ruling on wholesale copper access prices . When the NZX opened the company's share price was down eight percent on yesterday's price at $2.42. That puts the share price perilously ... More >>
Commerce Commission bumps copper access price $2
Tuesday, 5 November 2013, 8:59 am | Digitl
Today's Commerce Commission final decision is unlikely to settle the row over the price of connecting a home to the copper broadband network. Get ready for an extension of what has been described as a particularly grumpy debate. More >>
Mako Networks scores huge US deal with Sprint
Tuesday, 5 November 2013, 8:26 am | Digitl
Sprint, America's third-largest mobile carrier, is now selling Mako Networks security products in the US. More >>
Nexus 5: Possibly the best Android phone not available in Ne
Monday, 4 November 2013, 3:56 pm | Digitl
If Google's Nexus 5 is not the best Android phone you can buy, it's the best value Android phone. Or at least it would be if only you could buy it in New Zealand. At the time of writing you can't. The screenshot above shows what happens when you reach ... More >>
Rockstar sues Google and partners. What does it mean?
Monday, 4 November 2013, 10:28 am | Digitl
Last week Rockstar Bidco, a group of phone makers including Apple and Microsoft, filed a suit against Google and Android phone makers for infringing five of its patents. More >>
How Android disappoints
Monday, 4 November 2013, 8:14 am | Digitl
Although Android is the most popular smartphone or tablet operating system, it's the least useful and is an inferior experience to iOS or Windows. More >>
BBM: Finally BlackBerry has a hit product... maybe
Saturday, 2 November 2013, 6:40 pm | Digitl
Despite making the credible, if not exciting, Z10 smartphone and the last ditch Z30, former smartphone champion BlackBerry has failed to recover its former customers. At least for phone hardware. More >>
The week’s top stories on digitl
Saturday, 2 November 2013, 5:57 pm | Digitl
Seven things I learned at IITP 2013 . The summary of this year's Institute of IT Professionals’ 2013 Conference was first published last weekend and was popular enough to qualify for the previous week's top stories as well as heading this week's ... More >>
Amazon AWS unit targets NZ start-ups
Saturday, 2 November 2013, 1:40 pm | Digitl
Call it the Xero effect if you like. A tech boom is underway in New Zealand. The start-up scene has been active since Rod Drury and Xero showed it is possible to take on the world with a locally developed product. The NBR frets that we could ... More >>
Briefly: Galaxy Zoom; more 4G coverage, GeoOp lists
Friday, 1 November 2013, 8:43 am | Digitl
Suddenly whacking a whole load more camera features in to a smartphone is a trend. We've seen Nokia go down this path with the Lumia 1020 and Sony with its Xperia Z1 . More >>
Scoop Techlab: My Orange Lumia 625 - not just a day-glo case
Thursday, 31 October 2013, 11:58 am | Digitl
A Nokia Lumia 625 is sitting on my desk. You can't miss it. It’s bright orange. The kind of orange that would match a high visibility safety vest. It makes the phone hard to lose. More >>
Briefly: Telecomms Levy; Chorus AGM; IRD renews Unisys
Thursday, 31 October 2013, 8:17 am | Digitl
The Commerce Commission released its first estimate of the amount carriers will each pay for their share of the Telecommunications Development Levy for 2012-13. The $50 million levy is used to pay for public good telecommunications projects including ... More >>
Making sense of the 700 MHz spectrum auction
Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 6:19 pm | Digitl
New Zealand's 700 MHz spectrum auction went almost to plan. Two of the three bidders, Telecom NZ and Vodafone, walked away with three 5 MHz paired blocks. 2degrees picked up two 5 MHz paired blocks leaving one unsold block. More >>
NZ iPhone 5S plans compared
Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 3:57 pm | Digitl
Want a shiny new iPhone 5S without paying more than $1000 up front? The simple answer is to get the phone on a plan. Vodafone and Telecom NZ offer an array of plans. I've listed them below in an interactive spreadsheet so you can quickly get to the data ... More >>
Telecom NZ data use up and the case for trans-Tasman cable
Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 8:35 am | Digitl
Telecom NZ reports an 83 percent growth in data use on its mobile network in the past year. It says increasing smartphone ownership and video streaming applications are behind the surge. More >>
Briefly: Xero farm guide; Dell private at last; Nokia Lumia
Wednesday, 30 October 2013, 7:56 am | Digitl
Xero may be going global, but the company's New Zealand roots are clearly on show as the accounting-as-a-service company delivers a guide to integrating farm management with accounting software. More >>
