Archive for the ‘Australia’ Category

Apple Tablet Rumors Spread to Australia

Apple has reportedly met with major U.S. publishers, including The New York Times and Wired.com’s parent company Condé Nast, to discuss the future of digital media — perhaps floated by a touchscreen tablet. Now, even Australian media companies appear to be in talks with Apple, too.

Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday that Australian media companies have received specifications of Apple’s tablet. However, the Herald said none of its sources would go on the record (presumably because they are barred by a non-disclosure agreement.)

Corroborating previous Apple tablet rumors, The Herald claims the device is “tipped to be a larger version of the iPhone,” with a strong focus on e-reader capabilities.

The Herald’s report trails a video making rounds on the web yesterday, in which NYT editor Bill Keller alluded to an “impending Apple slate” during his keynote speech discussing digital strategies. Keller declined to comment when Wired.com requested clarification on the remark; he responded, “I ain’t sayin’” to All Things Digital.

Nevertheless, to date there’s a heap of independent reports citing anonymous sources who claim a media-centric Apple tablet is due out early 2010. To keep up with the news and rumors, read our previous round-up aggregating rumor reports about the Apple tablet.

See Also:

• In-App Sales and iTablet: The Killer Combo to Save Publishing …
• Everything We Know About Apple’s Touchscreen Tablet
• How an Apple Tablet Could Pit iTunes Against Amazon.com
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …

Illustration of an imaginary Apple tablet: Factoryjoe / Flickr

Dell Inspiron 13z goes on sale in Australia

We knew Dell was planning on a whole range of Inspiron Z-series machines way back in August when we previewed the line, and it looks like the 13-inch model is finally ready to join the already-launched 11, 14 and 15 — in Australia. Yep, the Z-series has gone live Down Under, and the Inspiron 13z is part of the lineup, starting at AU$1,199 (US$1,106). That’ll buy you a 1.3GHz SU7300 Core 2 Duo with Intel integrated 4500MHD graphics, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320GB drive, and an LED-backlit screen, all in a four-pound chassis that’s 1.27 inches thick at its chubbiest. Not bad — we’ll see what official US pricing is like before we get any more excited, however.

[Thanks, Toby]

Filed under: Laptops

Dell Inspiron 13z goes on sale in Australia originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Australian power grid attacked by virus, Linux saves the day

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of an institutional virus outbreak — even the crew of the International Space Station had a neat little scare not too long ago — and now various outlets in Australia are reporting that Integral Energy, which supplies energy to homes and businesses in New South Wales and Queensland, has suffered a particularly nasty visit by the W32.Virut.CF virus. When all was said and done, the company had to repair all 1000 of the facility’s desktops. Furthermore, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the company’s anti-virus software hadn’t been updated since at least February. Between the lack of anti-virus updates and the fact that segregation between the company’s main network and the grid was “typically none at all” this story has all the makings of a disaster. Luckily, the grid itself runs on Sun Solaris — and when control systems became infected, how did they fix the mess? That’s right: by replacing them with Linux machines. A word to the wise: they do make anti-virus auto-updates for a reason.

[Via The PC Report]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Australian power grid attacked by virus, Linux saves the day originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve has a censored, Australian version of Left 4 Dead 2 ready and waiting (in case it needs it)

Australia’s crazy anti-violent video game restrictions strike again! Valve submitted Left 4 Dead 2 (aren’t we boycotting that game?) to whatever board is in charge of rating video games down there, and the board replied with this: yeah, this game is too violent for anyone under the age of 18.

Of course, since Valve is, you know, interested in making money, it really can’t have a game out there that’s only playable by the over-18 crowd. To that effect Valve has re-submitted the game with some tweaks here and there in an effort to get passed the censor.

But there’s more! It seems that Valve anticipated this scenario, and has developed a special, Australia-only version of the game. You have to imagine that this version is way toned down, and may not be an accurate representation of the “real” game. So if Valve can’t get the censor to approve the slightly tweaked version of the game, then it’ll activate Plan B: selling the Australian version.

My guess is that, should the Australian version end up being released, then you’ll see plenty of Australians buy that version (in order to support Valve), but then download the cracked American version. That’s probably what I would do, to be honest.

Deja Vu: Apple Sues Someone Because Their Logo Looks Like Fruit [Lawsuits]

As part of a legal maneuver worthy of Monster Cable, Apple has set its lawyers on Australia’s largest supermarket chain because their new logo is (they say) a tad too similar to their own.

Exhibit A, Woolworths newly redesigned logo, is on the left. Apple’s iconic apple logo is on the right. Not that similar at all, but the real issue, at least with Apple, is probably that Woolworths might expand its retail business into electronics and somehow threaten that lucrative iPod business.

“While we can’t rule [computers, musical players, or other devices] out, we haven’t got any plans at the moment,” said a Woolworths spokesman in a statement to AppleInsider.

To Apple’s credit, they’ve moved up from suing school systems to supermarket megachains. Bigger fish, and all that. [AppleInsider]