World Backup Day is coming up this Tuesday, and while it’s not a public holiday, it’s an important date nonetheless. The idea behind World Backup Day is to raise awareness of the importance of backing up your data.
Internet security software manufacturer Trend Micro has done some research and the findings are a little scary: only 22% of Australians are actually worried about losing the information stored on their devices, and only 43% use any kind of backup software to automate the process.
You should definitely take some time this week to back up your computer, your smartphone and your tablet. While you’re at it, consider a tool for automating back-ups. Trend Micro’s mobile app has this kind of functionality, and iCloud is also able to do this for iPhone users. You can even use a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox or OneDrive for automatic back-ups if you use them as a working drive on your PC or laptop.
Foxtel this week launched its eagerly anticipated iQ3 set-top box. Foxtel’s Director of Product, Mike Ivanchenko, told me the iQ3 is designed to seamlessly blend live TV, free-to-air TV, recordings and internet TV in one simply user interface. We've had a play and it certainly looks like it delivers on that promise! Click here for an expanded look at what's new in the iQ3.
Excited for Windows 10? If you are – and you should be – you don’t have long to wait, Microsoft has announced that their brand new operating system will be launching worldwide this winter. I’m not sure if you remember, but earlier this year Microsoft will be a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers, provided they update to it in the first the year of availability.
KoalaSafe is a simple, Australia-designed device built to help parents monitor their children's online activity. I had a chat with co-founder Steven Pack who had the idea for KoalaSafe when his niece and nephew receive their first tablet and first laptop. After discovering Minecraft, Zac, Steven's nephew, slowly began spending much more time indoors. KoalaSafe plugs into any modem or router and creates a second wireless network that parents can control and monitor without affecting their own. Steven is funding KoalaSafe through Kickstarter, where you can "purchase" one of his boxes for AUD$70.
Amaysim this week switched on its 4G services. The budget telco has until this week been 3G only, but is now offering faster speeds thanks to Optus' 4G Plus Network. I had a chat with the telco's CEO, Julian Ogrin, who said that Amaysim has been given complete access to the Optus 4G Plus network, enabling connectivity to the 700Mhz spectrum and features such as Carrier Aggregation. Amaysim's 4G plans are as follows:
An AUD$54.90 per month plan with unlimited talk and text and 6GB of data.
An AUD$44.90 per month plan with unlimited talk and text and 4GB of data.
An AUD$29.90 per month plan with unlimited text, 500 minutes of standard voice calls and 1.5GB of data.
TAG Heuer, one of Switzerland’s premiere luxury watch manufacturers, last week announced that it will be building a smartwatch with Google and Intel. Details are scares at the moment, but TAG will be building and designing it, Intel will provide the brains and Google will provide the software – Android Wear.
It will be very exciting to see what this watch looks like, how it will compete against the forthcoming Apple Watch, and most importantly, how much it will cost. We expect to know all these things – and to be able to buy it – buy the end of the year.