Amazon Web Services will set up a second Australian-based Asia Pacific cloud infrastructure region in Victoria. The AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region is expected to open in the second half of 2022 and create up to 90 jobs within four years, including data centre operatives and technical engineers. Victorian Minister for Economic Development Tim Pallas… Read more »
COVID-related travel restrictions and the sudden drop in tourism provided an ideal natural experiment to examine the impact of shifts in the supply of short-term rental accommodation. Our research, released today, found even modest reductions in Airbnb listings, as owners switched to longer-term rentals, increased supply of these properties. The result was lower local rents.… Read more »
Accomodation comparison site Trivago has lost an appeal against a Federal Court finding that it misled consumer in its TV and online advertising. In January this year, the court found the German tech company, which is listed on the Nasdaq and operates in Australia, had breachedAustralian Consumer Law, in a case brought by competition watchdog the… Read more »
Australian comedy and satire group The Chaser have had their verified account suspended by Twitter overnight after @chaser changed its name to Donald J Trump, including a photo of the US President and wrote “Don’t vote for me, I’m a massive idiot”. Twitter’s response was surprisingly quick given it occurred while most of the US… Read more »
Quarterly revenue of US$459.5 million, up 26% YoY Q1 IFRS operating margin of 3% and non-IFRS operating margin of 23% Q1 net loss of US$21.6m, compared to q1 FY20’s net income of $69.3m Australian software giant Atlassian has seen revenues jump 26% on 12 months ago in quarterly results for Q1 FY2021 that beat Wall… Read more »
This week the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a lawsuit accusing Google of using “anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in the markets” for search and advertising. It is the most significant antitrust case since the US government took on Microsoft in 1998 for using its dominant position as the provider… Read more »
Apple has released its new smartphone, the iPhone 12, without an accompanying charger or earbuds. Users have harshly criticised the company for this move and will have to purchase these accessories separately, if needed. While some see it as cost-cutting, or a way for Apple to profit further by forcing customers to buy the products… Read more »
The age of the driverless taxi has arrived – at least in parts of Phoenix, Arizona. Self-driving car company Waymo, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, announced its autonomous vehicles are now available to the general public (or at least paying customers). The service is only available in a limited area for now, both because… Read more »
Use of the 3D presentation app by Melbourne augmented reality startup JigSpace is set to soar after the company’s product featured in this morning’s Apple announcement on the new iPhone 12. The phones, which come in four new models costing between $1,199 and a gobsmacking $2,369 for the top-of-line iPhone 12 Pro Max, will be… Read more »
Facebook Messenger and Instagram’s direct messaging services will be integrated into one system, Facebook has announced. The merge will allow shared messaging across both platforms, as well as video calls and the use of a range of tools drawn from both platforms. It’s currently being rolled out across countries on an opt-in basis, but hasn’t… Read more »
Ticket reseller Viagogo AG has been fined $7 million for making false or misleading representations when reselling events tickets in a Federal Court legal action brought by consumer watchdog the ACCC. The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) took on the Swiss-based ticket reseller in 2017 for price-gouging consumers by failing to disclose substantial fees.… Read more »
Facebook has announced the latest version of its successful standalone virtual reality (VR) headset, the Oculus Quest 2. The new device packs more computing power and a sharper screen than its predecessor, and is also US$100 cheaper. Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 (from AUD$479) is a powerful wireless VR headset for gaming and, Facebook hopes, much… Read more »
A disturbing video purporting to show a suicide is reportedly doing the rounds on the popular short video app TikTok, reigniting debate about what social media platforms are doing to limit circulation of troubling material. According to media reports, the video first showed up on Facebook in late August but has been re-uploaded and shared… Read more »
Facebook has announced it will ban publishers and people in Australia from sharing local and international news on Facebook and Instagram if a proposal to force tech giants to pay for news becomes law. The announcement follows the release of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s draft news media bargaining code, under which Google and… Read more »
Facebook’s threat to ban publishing and sharing of local new stories on its platform, as well as Instagram, is “ill-timed and misconceived” according to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) chair Rod Sims. The ACCC has been charged by the government with shepherding the proposed “News media bargaining code” through to law. The proposed… Read more »
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