What's Going On?
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 22 July 2010
NIWA are installing one of the most powerful super computers of it's kind. The super computer will be hosted in Wellington and amongst some it's more impressive features are the ability to perform 34 trillion operations per second and it has 500,000 Gigabytes of storage!
Read Geekzone's article here.
Posted by Rob Hindmarsh - 09 June 2010
The Football World Cup kicks off this Saturday morning at 2am and you're welcome to enter on-line tipping competition On Game!
If you’ve never played one of our On Game competitions before it couldn’t be easier. Simply select which team you think will win by choosing their margin of victory (we provide some odds to help you with your picks), or select a draw if you think its going to be a stalemate. That’s all there is to it!
To celebrate our 21st Anniversary of delivering software solutions to New Zealand’s largest freight and logistics provider, Mainfreight, we have teamed up with them to provide some awesome prizes:
1st prize is a 32Gb Apple iPod Touch
2nd prize is an International football shirt for any team of your choice.
3rd prize is EA Sports FIFA World Cup 2010 game on any platform you wish
4th prize is a New Zealand All Whites supporters t-shirt
5th prize is a New Zealand All Whites scarf
For each of our round winners we will also be providing you with an All Whites scarf.
So head on over to On Game to register and get your picks in for the first round!
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 01 June 2010
Paul Thurrott has published his thoughts on the iPad. He concludes that it's primarily a consumption device and is indeed a new class of computer. We have similar thoughts but expect it's ability to be a content creation device to improve as Apple updates it's software and developers come up with new ways of enabling content creation.
Read Paul's full article here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 20 April 2010
The Apple iPad has broadly met everyone's expectations been received positively by most of the tech press. The hp Slate has also made it into the wild, with underwhelming initial reviews.
What makes a good tablet experience? In our opinion it's the OS and software -- Read HP Slate leaks its way into the wild: 'meh' and Why the 3G iPad is the ideal mobile business tool and make up your own mind.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 18 March 2010
Microsoft unveiled more about Internet Explorer 9 at MIX'10 this week. Aside from HTML5 support, IE9 is set to provide hardware GPU acceleration. This release will also drop support for Windows XP -- a significant step and a move that may be a catalyst for accelerated migration from Windows XP.
Paul Thurrott has more details here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 08 March 2010
Electronista have some leaked details about the forthcoming Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) release from Microsoft. No real surprises here but Microsoft are expected to have heavy emphasis on bring IE into line with HTML5 support and allowing plug-in free video support.
Read more at Electronista.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 04 March 2010
Virgin America has dropped the use of Adobe Flash because of the lack of iPhone and mobile device Flash compatibility. Avoiding the use of browser plugins is something we believe will become a familiar story in the coming years. Read more
here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 02 March 2010
Gizmodo have a fascinating insight into the extraordinarily slow demise of Internet Explorer 6. You can check out the article
here.
Posted by Krisha Mateparae - 19 February 2010
We like to keep our ear to the ground in terms of social media, the new players in the market and the application of these new tools in our business. Interestingly the NZ Herald this week talks about how Microsoft is in on the action with the future of outlook looking a lot like a social networking site. Facelook anyone?
Read more here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 16 February 2010
In what looks like a complete re-think of the Windows Mobile OS, in Barcelona today Microsoft has unveiled the Windows Phone 7 Series.
Paul Thurrott has a preview here.
Posted by Dave Wrathall - 12 February 2010
Volvo is introducing a new Infotainment system into its XC70 vehicle, based on Windows XP, Wi-FI and a 500 GB Hard Drive.
Read more here Posted by Dave Wrathall - 12 February 2010
The winners of the 2009 Best App Ever Awards have now been announced in the second annual competition honoring the best iPhone apps and games released in the iTunes App Store.
Read more here Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 09 February 2010
Unfortunately not hands-on at Sandfield! However, AppleInsider has a nice write-up and videos with a hands-on experience with the iPad
here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 03 February 2010
Support for Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) seems to be dropping off quickly. Google has announced that Google Docs and Google Sites will no longer support IE6 come March. This is in addition to Microsoft announcing it will not support IE6 in it's Office Online web applications, nor Sharepoint 2010.
Surprisingly IE6 still commands a decent chunk of browser usage - 20%!. Time to move on from IE6 we think, and there are plenty of good alternatives including IE8, Firefox, Chrome and Safari.
You can read more on Google's announcement here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 02 February 2010
Last Thursday (NZT) saw the unveiling of the Apple iPad. Since then the reaction to the iPad has been mixed. The iPad broadly met my expections but it's not the revolution the iPhone was when it was launched. I do believe however that the iPad will be successful in carving out a substantial niche for itself.
A common criticism is that the iPad is just an over-sized iPod touch. I think this criticism is unfair and particularly shallow given that every application that ships with the iPad has been completely re-worked to take advantage of the larger display. This change can not be under-rated. As with the iPhone, the true wow of the iPad is not with the hardware but with the software -- it's the purpose-built multi touch OS and software that will differentiate the iPad from it's competitors such as the hp Slate by providing a very slick user experience.
What are my concerns about the iPad? The lack of a camera is disappointing, but no doubt something that will be addressed in a future version. I would also like to see the iPhone OS the iPad is based on move in a direction where it isn't so dependent on being tethered (or synced) with a PC or Mac. I see the iPad as a computer, one that should be able to operate on it's own. Some form of local file storage (home folder) will be required to store documents, etc that users create on the iPad - we will have to wait and see what Apple plans to support in this area.
For many the iPad will be all the computer they need -- it will be wonderful for internet browsing, email, music, and photos -- these activities probably sum up what most people use their computers for.
The iPad will be an interesting product to watch. More at http://www.apple.com/ipad
Posted by Dave Wrathall - 26 January 2010
An interesting article exploring the continuing emergence of Web 2.0 technologies from a marketing perspective:
Read more here Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 20 January 2010
Windows Mobile, written off by many given the momentum of Android, iPhone and BlackBerry, may just have some life left in it yet. Microsoft is due to show off Windows Mobile 7 in February but for now WMExperts have a comprehensive blog post about the current rumours and expectations:
First, it's not Windows Mobile 7 but just "Seven," so that's how we're going to refer to the OS from now on. Also the phrase "Microsoft Zune Phone Experience" may be tossed around.
Second, we are hearing there will be two versions: Business edition and Media edition — those aren't necessarily the names we'll see them launch with, just different branches of development. We believe this partially explains some of the seemingly contradictory rumors about release dates, as they are not on the same release track.
Windows Phone Seven Business edition (BE) is the version that is nearest in completion, but one we might not see bare naked. It's a more stripped down version of Seven and while it can still do media, it has less thrill than the Media edition (see below).
Windows Phone Seven Media edition (ME) is the big kahuna. The one that Microsoft is really banking on. The one that is not yet nearly as complete, and, yes, if there was one we probably won't have in our hands till 2011, it's this version.
Windows Sensor and Location Platform 'Orion' is a cloud-based assisted GPS system that is supposed to dramatically increase initial location-lock performance. This will guarantee rapid GPS performance across all future Seven devices, regardless of carrier support.
Hardware: The first Seven device that is expected to launch is the LG "Apollo." To us, it sounds like something in the same class as the just announced LG GW990. Make no mistake about LG — it is a big player with Microsoft, having a team in Redmond working with it directly, releasing the first Snapdragon/pico projector/finger print scanner device in the U.S (eXpo) — LG is playing for keeps ... The HTC 'Obsession' is the device we have a better chance at seeing at Mobile World Congress, as the LG device is still going through some development pains. Think of the Obsession as a slightly smaller HD2.
The full blog post is worth reading and can be found here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 13 January 2010
Microsoft recently announced the first CTP of a SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) for MySQL v1.0, which automates aspects of the migration process to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 & 2008 including SQL Azure Database.
Read Microsoft's announcement here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 16 December 2009
Good news for commuters in Auckland -- The Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) and Google have joined to provide public transport information through Google Maps. Those with iPhones will find that the standard Google Maps application also supports this information. Great stuff.
Read Google's blog post about this here.
Posted by Dave Wrathall - 08 December 2009
One of the latest trends in the intersection of technology and traditional business is "Social Media", once the domain of Gen Y with MySpace , Facebook and other consumer focused social networks
Dowload full article here.
Posted by Matthew Keith - 01 December 2009
Google have been hard at work on one of their latest initiatives, Google Wave, which promises to bring us “email as it should be in 2010”. It’s yet another social networking tool, but the difference is it tries to bring many of those tools into one place. Check out the official
Google Wave site, or maybe this potentially controversial article from TechCrunch on “
Why Google Wave Sucks, And Why You Will Use It Anyway”.
Posted by Matt Fekitoa - 27 November 2009
The iPhone is nothing short of a phenomenon, and its momentum continues. Have a look at Gartner’s view of the 10 iPhone apps we’ll be using in 2012.
http://www.shinyshiny.tv/2009/11/the_10_types_of.html
Posted by Krisha Mateparae - 18 November 2009
Do you want to implement a wiki to enable efficient collaboration? Here is a practical introduction based on real world examples:
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2009/11/welcome-to-the-wiki-party.ars
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 18 November 2009
Microsoft on Tuesday released Office 2010 as a public beta. This is an evolutionary update to Office 2007, similar to how Windows 7's improvements can be compared to Windows Vista. We are seeing nice refinements to Outlook functionality and performance and we're also evaluating Microsoft's new PowerPivot BI analysis tool -- we'll be sure to report back our findings.
Paul Thurrott has detailed coverage here.
You can get access to the public beta here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 16 November 2009
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It is an internet service that lets you subscribe to feeds and updates, including newly posted videos and photos, from your favourite web pages and read them in one window.
RSS is handy for keeping up with the latest news and weather reports, blogs, job listings, and currency and sharemarket news. Not all sites have RSS, but most that are updated regularly and have a reasonable following should. RSS feeds link back to their websites, so you can click on them for more information.
Read the rest of Stuff's guide to RSS here.
Posted by Henry Payne - 16 November 2009
The Opera 10 Web browser showcases a sleek design coupled with new Opera Turbo technology, which keeps web pages loading quickly even if your connection slows down.
It does this by passing images through Opera's super fast servers and compressing them to very low quality jpeg images. They are then delivered to the client browswer. This makes browsing much faster on slow connections, such as in the pacific islands or on GPRS.
Download it here: www.opera.com
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 12 November 2009
Geekzone have some of the first tests of Vodafone's new HSPA+ mobile data network. Initial results look encouraging for throughput, but that would be expected on an unloaded network.
Subject to competitive pricing, we wonder if these kinds of mobile data speeds will encourage some away from ADSL?
According to the NBR, Telecom is expected to reveal it's HSPA+ update to the XT Network by the end of November.
You can read Geekzone's article here.
Posted by Dave Wrathall - 09 November 2009
3-D TV, HTML5, video over Wi-Fi, superfast USB and mobile "augmented reality" will emerge as breakthrough technologies in the next few years.
Read more here
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 05 November 2009
Apple announced today it now has over 100,000 applications on it's App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch. These are incredible numbers, further to these impressive numbers Apple has announced there have been over 2 billion application downloads to date. You can read Apples press release
here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 04 November 2009
Windows 7 was released to retail on October 22. If you haven't upgraded yet or are hungry for all the Windows 7 facts, tips and coverage you can get, be sure to check out Paul Thurrott's excellent Windows 7 coverage at the Supersite for Windows.
We've been using various beta versions of Windows 7 at Sandfield for over a year and think it's a significant improvement over Windows Vista and it even runs nicely on Netbooks.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 29 October 2009
Paul Carton, Director of Research at ChangeWave Research, has reported that Apple iPhone is making significant gains in smartphone market share.This is interesting news given that BlackBerry until now has been dominant in the business market. Is this beginning to change?
Read the full article at InvestorPlace.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 29 October 2009
Google announced today they are to release FREE turn-by-turn navigation applications for Android 2.0 and the iPhone (if Apple allow the application). This has the potential to really upset the navigation market -- Tom Tom and Garmin shares fell 16.4 percent and 20.8 percent respectively on the news.
Currently the application is in beta for Android and US-only, but there are plans for release in other markets.
Initial reports on the Android beta indicate that Google have done a fine job of this application.
You can read more here.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 28 October 2009
Telecom has made significant changes to it's mobile broadband plans today which signal that they may be gearing up for more data intensive users, particularly when they launch the HSPA+ high speed network later this year.
For postpaid customers they smallest mobile data plan now starts at 2Gb per month - a significant amount of data for typical mobile use.
Check out iPhone New Zealand for details.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 21 October 2009
Keep the front yard tidy and your lawns mowed! Google cars will be out and about to refresh Google's New Zealand Street View imagery.
Andrew Foster (Google Maps product manager, Australia and New Zealand) explains why the images are being refreshed so soon in his blog.
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 19 October 2009
Microsoft today unveiled what is to be included in Sharepoint 2010. A public beta is expected to be available in November.
Highlights from Microsoft's press release:
• A new ribbon user interface that makes end users more productive and customization of SharePoint sites easy
• Deep Office integration through social tagging, backstage integration and document life-cycle management
• Built-in support for rich media such as video, audio and Silverlight, making it easy to build dynamic Web sites
• New Web content management features with built-in accessibility through Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, multilingual support and one-click page layout, enabling anyone to access SharePoint Server sites
• New SharePoint tools in Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, giving developers a premier experience with the tools they know and trust
• Business Connectivity Services, which allow developers to connect capabilities to line-of-business data or Web services in SharePoint Server and the Office client
• Rich APIs and support for Silverlight, representational state transfer (REST) and Language-Integrated Query (LINQ), to help developers rapidly build applications on the SharePoint platform
• Enterprise features in SharePoint Online such as Excel Services and InfoPath Forms Services, which make it simple to use, share, secure and manage interactive forms across an organization
• The addition of two new SharePoint SKUs for Internet-facing sites, including an on-premises and hosted offer
Full Microsoft press release can be found here.
Posted by Bruce Copeland - 15 October 2009
Some owners of data or content are relaxing their ownership rules and allowing syndication or in encouraging 3rd parties to utilise or develop innovative applications. Developments with iPhone applications is a particularly hot area at the moment.
The NYC BigApps Competition will reward the developers of the most useful, inventive, appealing, effective, and commercially viable applications for delivering information from the City of New York's NYC.gov Data Mine to interested users.
Read more here.
Posted by Henry Payne - 07 October 2009
An interview marking the launch of the Sweet Louise Service in the Wellington Region. Kathryn Ryan from Radio New Zealand’s Nine to Noon talks with Louise Perkins Foundation, Chief Executive Jennifer Clarke and Angela who will be accessing Sweet Louise Services in Wellington. Listen Here (Audio from Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon programme.)
Posted by Justin Knight - 05 October 2009
Orcon, under its iSERVE brand, has launched New Zealand’s first locally-developed cloud computing service for small to medium-sized enterprises.
Read more here
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 30 September 2009
Microsoft Security Essentials, a new security and anti-virus programme, is available (free of charge) from October 1. Read Paul Thurrott’s review of MSE here...
Posted by Carl Millar - 28 September 2009
Whitcoulls and Duffy Books in Homes have joined together to help end booklessness in New Zealand homes by launching Whitcoulls Duffy Book Week.
Read more here
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 18 September 2009
Check out a preview of Microsoft’s Office Web Applications – OWA consists of four web-based versions of classic Microsoft Office applications.
Read more here
Posted by Bruce Copeland - 15 September 2009
Here's something extremely cool! A portable, foldable electronic bike......save on fuel and parking!
Read more here
Posted by Justin Knight - 08 August 2009
Although virtualisation brings many benefits it is advised to proceed with caution before you embark on a virtualisation project. In the article below Jon Brodkin addresses 7 ‘half-truths’ which highlight the need to thoroughly plan your project, have clear requirements and know which benefits you’re hoping to realise. Our opinion is that virtualisation has its place but is not the magic pill some make it out to be, hence some judgement needs to be applied in many circumstances.
As an example, Sandfield is currently undertaking several Disaster Recovery projects and has incorporated virtualisation and the related benefits into these projects. We find the ability to replicate several physical machines to a single highly spec’d virtual server make for a more manageable and affordable DR solution.
Read Jon Brodkin’s article >
Posted by Justin Knight - 28 July 2009
Two recent articles from McAfee Avert Labs reiterate the importance of keeping your computer up to date and being careful out there. The numbers in the graphs below show a major increase in malware (viruses, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, spyware) and equate to over 6,000 new threats added daily, meaning it’s more important than ever to stay protected.
Key steps to improving protection:
- keep anti-virus software up to date with the latest virus definitions
- ensure the OS is updated with the latest patches and service packs
- ensure all applications are fully patched (not just Microsoft applicationss but also Firefox, Adobe, Java, Acrobat, Flash)
As David Marcus says "staying educated and updated goes a long way toward safe computing".
McAfee's advice...
- keep your machine updated
- watch out where you surf
- take care what links or attachments you trust in emails and all other forms of messages
If you are a user at home, the easiest way to keep on top of all these updates is to enable the autoupdating feature included with most products, and be sure to install and reboot when prompted.
If you are a business user, check with your IT provider that your systems are up to date and protected.
Full articles...
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2009/07/22/malware-is-their-businessand-business-is-good/
http://www.avertlabs.com/research/blog/index.php/2009/07/24/counting-badness/
Posted by Matt Fekitoa - 18 June 2009
Check out something pretty cool! at Apple's WWDC event in San Francisco, Apple had a bunch of Cinema Display monitors mounted together on a wall showing what looked to be some sort of pulsating canvas. more>
Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 12 June 2009
Microsoft's Windows 7 has come a long way since its sensational introduction at the October 2008 PDC Conference. Read Paul Thurrott's review of Windows 7 Release Candidate.
more> Posted by Jonathan Clarke - 12 May 2009
Juha Saarinen put in a quick question to Telecom New Zealand about what kind of speeds users of the new XT network can expect. Rebecca Earl, the telco's Sponsorship and Mobile PR manager, responded with:
Regarding speeds our new XT Mobile Network supports average speeds of 3Mbps downlink and 1Mbps uplink, and peak download speeds will be 14.4Mbps downlink and 5.7Mbps uplink. Later in 2009 we're enhancing our new mobile network by upgrading to Evolved HSPA, or HSPA+.
This will allow average speeds of 4Mbps downlink and 1Mbps uplink, and peak download speeds will be 21Mbps downlink and 5.7Mbps uplink. We are one of only a number of networks worldwide who have committed to deploying this cutting edge technology... read more >
By Juha Saarinen | http://www.zdnet.com.au/
Posted by Dave Wrathall - 01 April 2009
Tim O'Reilly, co-founder of the Web 2.0 Conference, discusses 5 technologies that indicate what we can expect in the future.
more>