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.

Contact Bill Bennett

Website - billbennett.co.nz
Linkedin
Email - bill@billbennett.co.nz
Mobile - 0275082740

Bill Bennett - Latest News [Page 70]

Briefly: BlackBerry Messenger woes; RSA crypto warning; Touc

Monday, 23 September 2013, 3:05 pm | Digitl

Logistical problems halted the launch of BlackBerry's long awaited BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) apps for Android over the weekend. More >>

French expert: NZ Government drove too hard a UFB bargain

Monday, 23 September 2013, 10:38 am | Digitl

New Zealand’s government nailed its fibre network builders to the floor on price. This may turn out to be less clever than it looks. More >>

French expert says NZ Government drove too hard a bargain on

Monday, 23 September 2013, 10:36 am | Digitl

New Zealand’s government nailed its fibre network builders to the floor on price. This may turn out to be less clever than it looks. More >>

Most NZ wealth not in digital universe, digital divide appar

Sunday, 22 September 2013, 6:28 pm | Digitl

New Zealanders spent $5.4 billion online last financial year according to Roy Morgan Research's Digital Universe report . More >>

Briefly: BlackBerry red ink; Google, Yahoo make-overs

Sunday, 22 September 2013, 1:56 pm | Digitl

Just days after launching the Z30 smartphone Blackberry reveals it lost almost US$1 billion in the most recent quarter as the Z10 and Q10 failed to revive the company's fortunes. The company said it will lay off 4,500 workers around 40 percent of the ... More >>

Government tips $15 m into submarine cable

Friday, 20 September 2013, 10:49 am | Bill Bennett

Besieged by complaints about government favours to network company Chorus, Communications Minster Amy Adam found time for an announcement about government support for a trans-pacfic submarine cable. More >>

Big demand for Vocus AWS service

Friday, 20 September 2013, 10:47 am | Bill Bennett

Vocus NZ sales manager Steven Stanford says there is a high level of interest in his company’s Cloud Connect product which can link New Zealand companies directly to Amazon’s data centre in Australia. More >>

BlackBerry pitches smarter smartphone software

Friday, 20 September 2013, 9:46 am | Bill Bennett

As one door closes for BlackBerry, another one opens with the former smartphone giant aiming to become a smartphone business software giant. BlackBerry has at least one ace up its sleeve if the company’s impressive Z30 smartphone fails to rekindle ... More >>

Mac writing tools 2013 edition

Thursday, 19 September 2013, 11:37 am | Bill Bennett

There's no shortage of choice when it comes to writing tools for the Mac. Bill Bennett takes a personal look at some of the best known options he discovered after moving from Windows. More >>

Briefly: Yacht races test networks, Datacom result

Thursday, 19 September 2013, 11:19 am | Bill Bennett

Telecom NZ scored plenty of media coverage when it reported a huge surge in mobile data traffic as workers live stream America’s Cup yacht races on smartphones and tablets. The company said data traffic doubled during the races. More >>

Big screen BlackBerry Z30 means another roll of the dice

Thursday, 19 September 2013, 11:15 am | Bill Bennett

Earlier today I had a sneak preview of the BlackBerry Z30 smartphone. The BlackBerry Z30 has a large five inch display and a more powerful battery than the earlier Z10. It comes equipped with the latest 10.2 version of BlackBerry’s phone operating ... More >>

Briefly: Galaxy Gear lands in NZ, GreenButton, Bing

Wednesday, 18 September 2013, 1:07 pm | Bill Bennett

Well-heeled gadget fans may be tempted by Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smartwatch. Telecom NZ says the device goes on sale here on October 3 with a hefty $450 price tag. Although that’s a lot of money for not much functionality, there are always those who feel ... More >>

Windows Phone NZ market share at 15%

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 6:01 pm | Bill Bennett

Confession time. I heard Microsoft New Zealand Paul Muckleston say Windows Phone’s market share hit 15 percent in July at a TechEd dinner function last week. The number is in my notebook along with comments about its relatively fast growth. More >>

How UFB and Chorus could turn opinion against the government

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 5:57 pm | Bill Bennett

Vodafone is not to be part of the Coalition for Fair Internet Pricing. Yet words in the telco’s submission to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment on its review of the Telecommunications Act could come from the same song sheet. More >>

New Zealand, the view from Silicon Valley

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 12:22 pm | Bill Bennett

How is New Zealand’s technology start-up scene viewed in Silicon Valley? I asked San Francisco-based ex-pat New Zealander Sean Gourley after he gave the keynote address at this year’s Microsoft TechEd conference in Auckland. More >>

Briefly: New Chorus van; 256 GB compact flash; Dell

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 12:05 pm | Bill Bennett

Chorus uses vans to help company branding. Now it says it has a new van that can improve efficiency. The Chorus van comes with built-in communications technologies and a link to the cloud. More >>

Born global best for NZ start-ups

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 12:02 pm | Bill Bennett

Hong Kong’s AcceleratorHK co-founder Stephen Forte says if NZ start-ups have one advantages over their overseas counterparts it is that they are “born global". By this he means companies founded in New Zealand know they must export from day ... More >>

Are Chorus and UFB now a political football?

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 11:59 am | Bill Bennett

Until now, New Zealand has avoided Australian-style political squabbling over plans to build the UFB fibre network. Is that about to change? Suddenly New Zealand’s plans to build a fibre network is politicised. More >>

This week's top five stories on digitl

Tuesday, 17 September 2013, 11:55 am | Bill Bennett

Before launching a new development suite, Embarcadero Technologies, tested the waters with a global market research survey. Breaking out the New Zealand numbers show our developers face the same problems as everyone else, but there are interesting differences. More >>