Life & Technology – 2GB 25th October, 2014

This week brought some good news for those living in NSW and Queensland: NBN Co announced the first 140 suburbs to get fibre-to-the-node broadband over the next 12 months. Click here to check them out!

 

In less than two weeks, we'll all be able to get our hands on Samsung's Galaxy Note 4, and then a week after, the Galaxy Note Edge! In anticipation of the launch, I had a chat with Arno Lenior, Samsung Australia's Chief Marketing Officer to get a few more details. While the Note 4 was meant to be available next week, it's been pushed back to November 5, and the Edge will be available a week after that. Pricing is still the same $969 for the Note 4 and $1,249 for the Edge.

 

In other big phone news, Google recently announced the Nexus 6, a massive 5.9-inch phablet made by Motorola and designed to showcase the new version of Android – Lollipop. Google also announced the Nexus 9, a 8.9-inch tablet to do the same. Both should be available in Australia in November.

 

We wouldn't have phones without phone networks, and Vodafone Australia celebrated their 21st birthday this week. I managed to pull away Dan Lloyd, Vodafone's Chief Strategy Officer and Corporate Affairs Director from the party for a couple of minutes to see what's next for Vodafone. Dan told me that Vodafone has recently started a partnership with Spotify that’s going to result in some great offers for customers, and we might even see 5G soon!

 

Fitbit and Microsoft are both slated to bring out a couple of new fitness tracking devices before the end of the year. While we don't know much about Microsoft's offering, rumours suggest it will be available before Christmas and work across iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices. Fitbit is bringing out three new fitness trackers, the Charge, Charge HR and Surge – click here for more information.

 

I also caught up with Martin Moelle, BenQ's Australian Managing director, to learn a bit about interactive flat panels. Interactive flat panels are different from TVs in that they're essentially giant touchscreens, perfect for the a classroom or boardroom. Not only are these getting bigger, with BenQ's range now reaching up to 84-inches and supporting 4K resolutions, they're starting to ship with anti-glare coating, making them even easier to read.

 

And following the great feedback we had about last week's camera workshop, we've put together a list of the five best cameras for beginners looking to upgrade from a smartphone. Read that here!