News
New data from Galaxy Research shows Skype use amongst Australians over the Christmas/New Year period increased considerably over the previous year. The study surveyed a sample of 1,010 Skype users, distributed throughout Australia and asked them about their use of Skype over the Christmas and New Year period with an aim to better understand how […]
Tony Abbott took Australia to the cleaners today, visiting the NSW town of Queanbeyan to meet with a dry cleaner operator who it is claimed will be worse off under the Australian Government’s planned emissions trading scheme legislation. Mr Abbott continued to drive home the Coalition’s message that the ETS will be a “great big […]
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today announced further agreements with major supermarket operators to phase out restrictive provisions in supermarket leases. The ACCC has reached agreement with ALDI Foods, Franklins, SPAR Australia, Australian United Retailers Limited (trading as Foodworks) and Metcash Limited that they will not enter into any new leasing agreement which includes […]
Sensis has just announced that Australia’s White and Yellow Pages directories have been certified carbon neutral, a world first for phone directory publications. The carbon neutral certification has been secured through the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change Greenhouse Friendly program, which certifies a number of carbon abatement providers who adhere to the National Carbon […]
For the first time an inanimate object, “The Internet” has been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. This is despite nominations being kept secret for 50 years by the Nobel Prize committee. In this instance, Riccardo Luna (Editor in Chief, Wired Magazine, Italy) outed himself as nominating the Internet for the prize saying the […]
The Federal Governent has announced it will withdraw its guarantee of bank deposits, instituted during the global financial crisis to prevent investors’ money from being wiped out in the recession. The nation’s top finance regulators—including the Reserve Bank and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority—advised the treasurer, Wayne Swan, over the weekend that bank funding conditions […]
IPA, one of Australia’s largest recruiting firms, showed job vacancies falling six percent throughout the month of January. The latest monthly data also documents a 73 percent surge in candidate applications throughout the same period. “The jump in applications reflects people acting on their New Year’s resolution to change roles,” said Rabieh Krayem, CEO of […]
Developers at Google are working on the first phone able to translate foreign languages almost instantly. Using voice recognition and automatic translation technologies, it could potentially transform the way people communicate around the world by bringing down language barriers. Google are forecasting that they’ll have a basic system ready within a couple of years. Having […]
The heavy discounting offered over the Christmas period will continue into the new year but isn’t expected to eat into the retailer’s margins, said Myer chief executive officer Bernie Brookes. Brookes said Myer’s sales for the month of December were dragged down by the electrical and entertainment goods categories. Those categories had received a boost […]
The winner of our web security survey competition is Tori Edwards, a solicitor at NTSCORP Ltd in Redfern, NSW. She wins the new BlackBerry Curve 8520, courtesy of Research In Motion (RIM) and a case of wine courtesy of Treen Ridge Estate in WA. Congratulations from Team DB.Com! The results of the survey will be published […]
Apple have had a very busy week, releasing a software update for the iPhone and iPod touch on the back of launching the new iPad tablet computer. Designed to iron out a number of reported bugs, the OS 3.1.3 update won’t include any new features but will improve performance for many users. The new update […]
The 2010 International Business Awards (IBAs), also known as ‘The Stevies’, are now open to entries from business executives, entrepreneurs, and the organisations they run. Yvette Adams, a Queensland-based businesswoman who became involved with the awards after being a finalist in the 2008 International Women in Business Awards in New York, says Australian businesses of […]
Internet service provider (ISP) iiNet has claimed victory in a major legal battle over whether it should be held responsible for its customers downloading illegal content. In a landmark case, brought against iiNet by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT), Justice Dennis Cowdroy found iiNet was not responsible for the infringements of its users […]
New research shows generating organic growth to be the key priority, ahead of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), for the post-GFC environment of 2010. The survey of 60 CEOs and senior executive of leading Australian companies, entitled Growth Insights, was conducted by thinkGROWTH, a business growth and innovation advisory firm. Mike Kaye, thinkGROWTH’s managing director, said […]
In a conference to be held at the Object Gallery in Sydney later this month, UK physicist Dr David Vincent will address SMEs on ways to leverage their business for growth in a low-carbon economy, while reducing costs and improving efficiency. In 2001, Vincent helped to establish the Carbon Trust, a UK-based not-for-profit with a […]
South Australia’s Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has done a “humiliating” backflip and announced he will repeal his law censoring internet comment on the state election. After an outraged South Australia took to the AdelaideNow website to post comments condemning the law, Atkinson released this statement at 10pm last night: “From the feedback we’ve received through AdelaideNow, […]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are expected to hand down their interest rate decision today, amidst frenzied speculation of a guaranteed rise that will see many homeowners and small businesses feeling the pinch. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has backed Treasurer Wayne Swan’s warning to financial institutions that there is no excuse for raising interest […]
Australian fashion stationery label kikki.K has been nominated for the Retail Innovation award in the World Retail Awards, to be held in Germany in April. Nominated by the Worth Global Style Network (WGSN), the fashion and style industry’s leading resource for trend analysis and forecasting, kikki.K has the personal backing of WGSN’s managing director Asia […]
A Sydney company’s technology has won the heart of the world diamond industry, where it is being used to monitor thousands of precious gems, Minister for State and Regional Development Ian Macdonald said. Magellan Technology’s electronic tracking technology has been installed in one of the world’s top diamond grading houses, the HRD Antwerp Institute of […]
Drake Australia’s chief executive officer, Matthew Tukaki has refuted an analysis of the job market released this morning by ANZ Bank warning of fragility in the current economic recovery phase. ANZ Bank’s monthly survey of job advertisements, measured by the number of major metropolitan newspaper and internet-based job advertisements, showed a drop of 8.1 percent […]
