Home Technology

Home Technology 09 DECEMBER 2012

Y o u r F ree G u i de t o T H E D I G IT A L L I F E S T Y L E

INSIDE THIS ISSUE… SMARTPHONE STAMPEDE SENSITIVE CAMERAS ULTRAFAST BROADBAND WINDOWS 8 TOUCHDOWN SMART TV ONLINE RETAIL RISE SOCIALNET GOES MOBILE TABLETS TAKE OFF

New Windows 8 Ultrabook Full HD Touch Screen • Acer Aspire S7 Notebook • 13.3” Full HD 1920 x 1080 Touch Screen • Intel Core i7 Processor, 4GB Ram & 128 SSD • Light Sensing Keyboard, Open flat design • Gorilla Glass Cover, Smooth & Beautiful • Instant on, Instant Connect • Ultra Thin, Ultra Light

CONTENTS: HOME TECHNOLOGY 2012 SMARTPHONES DOMINATE: Mobility wins mindshare

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TABLETS REINVENT NOTEBOOKS: PCs still defy death notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FIBRE LOOKING FOR A HOME: Beyond the need for speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

NO COMPROMISE CAMERAS: Supersized image sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

WINDOWS 8 TOUCHES DOWN: Live tiles across platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SHORTCUTS: Touch pen and voice recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

DIGITAL SMORGASBORD AHEAD: Smart TV awaiting instructions

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NOTEBOOK: Seven tips from Hewlett-Packard to consider before you purchase your next notebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SHORTCUTS: On-line purchases escalate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SHORTCUTS: Enhanced game and hard cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CYBERSOCIETY EXPANDING: Virtual networking face off

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SHORTCUTS: Fibre box, Cable cut, Kiwi domains up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CELLULAR CAPACITY CRITICAL: Mobile broadband looming

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All prices were believed to contain GST and accurate at time of publication or based on an average across retailers.

Managing editor Oliver Lee Editor/WRITER Keith Newman wordman@wordworx.co.nz ARTWORK and PRODUCTION Mervyn Hurley Printing Webstar Masterton

Publisher

PO Box 331-667, Takapuna Auckland 0740, New Zealand T: 09 486 6966 E: oliver@oliverleepublications.co.nz

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the publisher for any loss due to use of material in this magazine.

Copyright: Reproduction in whole or in part by any means is prohibited.

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Smartphones dominate Mobility wins mindshare The emergence of slender smartphones with iconic operating systems and interfaces that respond intuitively to a user’s touch have changed the face of both the cellphone and computing markets.

Some analysts claim the burgeoning demand for high-end smartphones is having a widespread impact on the sales of other consumer electronics items including PCs, notebooks, cameras and TVs. More than 50 percent of Kiwis over the age of 16-years own smartphones. Google claims half use them to access the internet at least once a day and 73 percent won’t leave home without them. A quarter would rather give up TV than their phone and most expect to become even more reliant on these handheld computers in the future.

Buyers expect smartphones to fit within their ecosystem of technology, seamlessly connecting with desktop, laptop or tablet computers for sharing and synchronising data such as calendars, documents and email.

The battle for form factor, brand, functionality and ‘look and feel’ has been going on since Apple found mass market appeal with its iPhone back in 2007, now it’s on to the sixth generation with the iPhone 5 released in September.

Apple’s user friendly interface with its gesture-based image resizing and screen that automatically repositions, depending on the angle it’s held at, has spurred the rest of the market to emulate or improve on its innovation.

Over 60 percent of the phones shipped to New Zealand this year were smartphones. The iPhone grew consistently at around 15 percent of the total cellphone market while handsets based on Google’s Android comprised more than a third of the total market and sales were growing rapidly, says IDC.

Galaxy far away Samsung announced it had sold 30 million of its flagship Galaxy III in the five months to November, making it the

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world’s fastest selling smartphone. IDC says the company shipped 56.3 million smartphones in the third quarter, twice as many as Apple, which sold 26.9 million iPhones.

Buyers today expect new generation phones to fit within their ecosystem of technology, seamlessly connecting with desktop, laptop or tablet computers for sharing and synchronising data such as calendars, email and documents.

Having incompatible operating systems prevents that from happening. That’s one of the reasons the PC friendly Android operating system has been the primary growth engine of the smartphone market since 2008. Android was on three quarters of the 181.1 million smartphones shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2012, according to IDC. Although Samsung is the clear leader, it faces increasing pressure as rivals become more price and feature competitive and new entrants nibble around the edges. In second place is Apple’s iOS, recently bolstered by the launch of the iPhone 5, and now being challenged by Microsoft’s Windows 8 for smartphones.

Superphone status IDC believes Windows 8 could grab up to 6.6 percent of the smartphone market by the end of 2013; triple its current hold, and by 2016 could achieve 14.2 percent behind Apple’s 21.2 percent and Android’s 58.6 percent. Locally Microsoft has an estimated 7 percent share of the smartphone market.

According to Informa Telecoms & Media, the new generation of smartphone, including the Samsung Galaxy S III, the HTC One X, the iPhone 5 and the LG Optimus 2X qualify for the superphone category and are expected to generate 50 million sales by the end of this year.

What makes the Galaxy S III super, says the research group, is the embedded features and sensors for communicating and sharing information and reacting intuitively to user actions.

For example face recognition can associate the photograph you’ve just taken with a contact in the address book and then save it in the appropriate friend, family or colleague files, tag it, and even upload to Facebook or Twitter.

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Tablets reinvent notebooks PCs still defy death notice New ultrabooks and super thin and light laptops were supposed to rescue the PC market from the doldrums this year but buyers were more interested in mobility and portability with smartphones and tablets again taking much of the glory.

IDC estimates that tablets will outsell other types of PC in just two years, forcing manufacturers to consolidate, innovate and differentiate with new designs that curiously resemble the devices that are eating their lunch.

Locally laptop and notebook sales now make up 80 percent of the market with desktops stuck at 20 percent. IDC analyst Amy Cheah, says cannibalisation is undeniable and likely to escalate as the tablet evolves from a content consumption device to a productivity tool.

The recent retail focus has been on clearing out Windows 7 product at bargain prices (as low as $500) and promoting new notebook variants with bigger disks (1Tb), more RAM (8Gb) and graphics memory (up to 2Gb), often accompanied with enticing bundles of software, speakers, computer cases and even cameras.

Downward spiral While the industry attempts to defy premature death notices for the PC, the word ‘slump’ is now in common use. Global growth has spiralled downward for three years, and now analysts Gartner and IDC agree annual shipments have dropped for the first time in a decade, down 8-9 percent over 2011.

Locally, market growth has also been trending down a couple of points each quarter. Hewlett Packard continues to dominate, chalking up about a quarter of all sales, although it’s losing share to top five rivals Acer, Dell, Toshiba and Samsung.

Globally, former IBM PC arm Lenovo; in Chinese hands since 2005, is the only manufacturer to increase shipments and now battling Dell for the world’s largest PC maker title.

The success of Apple’s iMac desktop and MacBook notebooks can be directly linked to sales of its iPhone and iPad products through the ‘halo effect’ which encourages loyalty to the family line.

Microsoft seems intent on extending its family heritage through Windows 8 as it claims a place for its smartphonelike, touchscreen capable, interface from the desktop to the tablet and smartphone.

The new operating system has already spawned touchscreen and screen-flipping laptops, tablets with keyboards as covers, and hybrid devices that are desktops when docked but can be split up into a battery powered tablet with or without keyboard.

Taking the tablets Worldwide tablet shipments totalled 27.8 million units in the third quarter of 2012, up 49.5 percent over the previous year, says IDC.

Tablet cannibalisation is undeniable and likely to escalate as it evolves from a content consumption device to a productivity tool, says IDC analyst Amy Cheah.

Android, led by Samsung’s portfolio of product and Amazon’s Kindle Fire, surged ahead at the expense of Apple which slipped from 65 to 50 percent. Sales of Apple’s new fourth generation iPad and the iPad mini were expected to result in a rebound before the year’s end.

ASUS was in the top five with its Google-branded Nexus 7 device and Lenovo also recorded a major slice of sales. IDC says Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets give consumers choice but price will be the critical factor.

IDC, in preparing for its 2013 ICT industry predictions tour, says we’re in the midst of a once in 20-25 year technology shift to a new growth and innovation platform based on mobile devices and apps, cloud services, big data storage, mobile broadband networks and social technologies.

Many consumers however will remain observers as this evolution finds its pace; old habits die hard and despite the death threats, desktops and notebooks are likely to remain a central part of most people’s computing lives for some time to come.

HOME TECHNOLOGY 2012

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Fibre looking for a home Beyond the need for speed Ultrafast broadband is a term that mocks current internet access speeds and while promising fibre connections to most households somewhere around 2016, there are as yet few good reasons why anyone would upgrade.

After years of struggling near the bottom of the OECD broadband top 30, we’re at 17th place for the second year, only one spot higher than 2009. While that’s been applauded as progress, the average New Zealand internet speed remains relatively slow.

Lifting the ceiling on data use means more users can enjoy digital streaming of movies and TV shows, says StatisticsNZ. In the year to June the average subscriber consumed 16Gb compared with 9Gb in 2011.

Those achieving ‘1.5 Mbit/sec or more’ rose more than 180 percent although those using ‘less than 1.5Mbit/sec’ increased three percent over the past two years. While the StatisticsNZ survey says some subscribers have 24Mbit/sec speeds, they are the data elite.

Overall, StatisticsNZ says broadband subscribers increased by 11 percent to 1.6 million by June 2012; 93 percent on fixed line connections – 1.1 million of those on digital subscriber line (DSL) which was up 9 percent. There were 400,000 on cellular, cable and satellite broadband, an increase of 18 percent.

According to Akamai Technology, which monitors our broadband quality, the average speed is 3.8Mbit/sec and only 34 percent are getting over 4Mbit/sec. The US average is 6.6Mbit/sec, Japan is 10.7Mbit/sec, Russia 4.8Mbit/sec and Australia 4.4Mbit/sec.

While that average speed may be sufficient for email, web surfing, social networking and catch-up TV, it’s not enough to stimulate next generation video-on-demand (VOD) providers who are expected to drive consumer interest in the Government’s new ultrafast broadband (UFB) network.

The $1.35 billion UFB network is expected to provide 30100Mbit/sec speeds to 830,000 urban homes, businesses, schools and hospitals by 2019; by November the fibre had passed more than 100,000 homes but only 2400 had signed up.

Orcon began selling services in March and the country’s two largest ISPs, Telecom and Vodafone begin early next year.

Lagging in video uptake While user generated video, for example uploads to YouTube, is growing, IDC’s ConsumerScape 360º report say’s we’re way behind the world average for downloading and streaming video online.

Analyst Shane Minogue, says user caution about data allocations and poor online video offerings has kept a lid on the market, although that’s changing as data caps double or disappear.

StatisticsNZ says half a million broadband subscribers now have a data cap of 20Gb or higher; those with 50Gb increased 800 percent this year while capless accounts rocketed 275 percent.

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Discounts and deals IDC’s Minogue says discounts and deals may have to be done to make it worthwhile for ISPs and their customers on the new lightspeed network, including taking another look at how to deliver video on demand and interactive services. “Unless people have a real demand for speed most are saying why bother.”

The main ISPs are already locked in a battle for customer loyalty offering bundles with varying data caps, free national landline calling and capped mobile calls, and in some cases zero rated TV services, all hovering around the $100 a month mark.

Although primary UFB network company Chorus is offering free installation until 2015, only half the country’s homes will have access by then.

A survey done for the Commerce Commission suggests most homes were unlikely to pay more than $5-$10 above existing broadband charges. Analyst Paul Budde recommends less than $50 a month for 100Mbit/sec service if uptake is to reach the 50 percent threshold where it becomes worthwhile for developers and ISPs to invest in new services.

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No compromise cameras Supersized image sensors Digital camera manufacturers are looking to make up lost ground as the penetration of low end devices reaches saturation point and smartphones with built-in cameras nibble around the edges of their traditional markets.

and directly upload content to the web from the camera using iPhone or Android smartphones.

They’re looking to differentiate at the compact and consumer level and across the hobbyist and semi professional market by focusing on quality, mainly through adopting larger sensors for better light management. The result is cleaner, clearer and higher resolution images.

Jonathan Higgins, Fujifilm’s product and training manager for digital cameras, says another contributor to declining lowend camera sales is that they’ve reached saturation point over the past three years.

Display technology is also improving to consume less battery power while making it easier to see what you’re shooting and what you’ve shot even in difficult light conditions.

OLED (organic light emitting diode) technology, for example, delivers crisper display colours and something called quantum dot filters is sharpening the accuracy of LCD backlit screens.

Touch control will literally put camera functionality at people’s fingertips and now some cameras have GPS capability, wireless connectivity and their own operating systems. While the rapid uptake of smartphone technology has seriously impacted the sub-$200 compact camera market, Nikon product manager Ken Newell says “it’s not as if the sky’s falling”.

Not smart cameras

And the new S800C compact has a full Android operating system and inbuilt wifi so you can upload directly to email or social media sites using a wifi connection or perhaps a smartphone as an access hotspot.

“People have purchased entry level 10-14Mpixel cameras at good prices and there’s been no real incentive to upgrade as the feature sets are pretty much the same.”

More light sensitive Most camera manufacturers have identified that growth will come from the hobbyist or semiprofessional looking for improved output, greater functionality and portability, with larger sensors being the key ingredient.

Fujifilm’s 12Mpixel premium XF1 compact camera, for ex-ample, has a two-thirds of an inch sensor in a slim body and a lens that recesses back into the chassis.

“There are a lot of brains behind this; it’s the biggest sensor you can get in that size, and it does a better job of collecting the light and delivering clearer information.”

While smartphone photo resolution might sound impressive, the reality is the sensor and lens processing engine is only as big as a five cent piece and cannot compete with even a decent low-end camera in less than perfect lighting conditions.

Higgins says mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras deliver the equivalent output to a DSLR with reduced body and size.

While that segment of the market is growing significantly in other parts of the world Kiwis have so far been slow to catch on.

On realising the limitations of smartphones those who are serious will turn to dedicated cameras with a flash, wide angle and telephoto lens and exposure control.

The mirrorless shift is evidenced in the high end consumer lightweight 16Mpixel XE1 with OLED viewfinder which also features a larger sensor.

And while having a single device that can post directly to Instagram, Facebook or Flickr has appeal, cameras are starting to catch up.

Higgins say mirrorless is a way to drag people out of point and shoot consumer compacts and give them more playing power. “We’ve re-designed our cameras in the way they capture the pixels and ensured the product is not restricted by the historical chassis design.”

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WINDOWS 8 TOUCHES DOWN Live tiles across platforms Microsoft’s radical touch-enabled Windows 8 redesign of its world-leading operating system attempts to more clearly define a common and more intuitive ‘look and feel’ across PCs, tablets and smartphones.

Microsoft hopes Windows 8, the biggest change since it included the Internet Explorer browser and Outlook connectivity tools in the Windows 98 operating system, will challenge and expand people’s perceptions of what a PC is about, delivering the best of online, mobile and desktop worlds.

On release there were 30 different models of Windows 8 machines available in New Zealand stores from Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Toshiba and others, with offerings expected to treble by Christmas.

With its huge global desktop penetration, Windows 8 puts Microsoft in a much stronger position against Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems which have revolutionised the tablet and mobile phone market.

Globally about 1.3 billion PCs run on Windows, with 700 million on Windows 7. While the new release isn’t expected to generate an immediate mass migration, most new PCs, notebooks and ultrabooks have it pre-installed and an attractive upgrade path is provided for users of older versions.

Relief for PC market Windows 8 is expected to stimulate growth in the PC market where the numbers have been languishing for several years.

When it was released in October, there were 30 different models of Windows 8 machines available in New Zealand stores from Acer, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Toshiba and others, with offerings expected to treble by Christmas.

Although keyboard and mouse remain the standard interface tools, the system is optimised for touchscreen-enabled hardware, and has already inspired new hybrid devices that look like laptops but operate like tablets with detachable display screens and their own battery power.

The Windows Start screen presents you with a mosaic of live tiles, constantly running updates on incoming email, calendar appointments, the weather forecast, postings on social networks and other applications and services.

The launch of Windows Store means the latest apps, accessories and services are only a click or a tap away, including the cloud capabilities of SkyDrive for backup and storage. A wide range of the most popular apps run across the Windows 8 family, including those customised for Kiwis includ-

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ing TradeMe, Sky TV, Flicks movie trailers, KFC, and leading newspapers including NZ Herald.

Windows 8 for smartphones which uses the same live tiles interface. Samsung, Nokia and HTC are early adopters with a number of models already available across all three mobile networks.

Apps, displayed in separate live tiles, open with a single click or tap and are populated with current activities. The People app, for example, allows you to follow the activities of designated contacts with your latest activities on social media or email.

Analysts believe Windows 8 will propel Microsoft into the number-three position in the smartphone market in 2013, with IDC predicting it could grow its share of the mobile operating system market from 1.8 percent last year to 6.6 percent.

The mosaic of tiles which replaces the old desktop may initially be disarming to some, but those familiar with smartphones and tablets are likely to feel right at home.

Behind the scenes the file structure remains the same with streamlined access to ‘control panel’ and ‘taskmaster’ and an option to revert to a layout that more closely resembles Windows 7.

Windows 8 features Internet Explorer 10, re-imagined for the world of touch, and is optimised to take full advantage of Microsoft Office 2013 on touchscreen devices and for the full broadband experience including 3G and 4G mobile networks.

The new operating system also signals the software giant’s entry into the world of computing hardware with the announcement of its Microsoft Surface tablet, which sold out

Windows 8 features Internet Explorer 10, re-imagined for the world of touch, and is optimised to take full advantage of Microsoft Office 2013 on touch screen devices and for the full broadband experience including 3G and 4G mobile networks. on release in the US. Surface, in a wifi only version with 32Gb disk sells for around $500-$600 plus attachable ‘touch cover keyboard’ for around $150, although it’s not known when it’ll be available in New Zealand.

Developers have full access to create or customise apps through WinRT (Windows run time) which is also pre-installed on new devices.

All Windows 8 tablets include USB, HDMI and memory card slots which are not available in some rival tablet or hybrid devices, making it easier link with monitors, keyboards, printer and mouse.

Windows smartphone Microsoft has also redoubled its effort to engage with the burgeoning world of mobile devices with HOME TECHNOLOGY 2012

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SHORTCUTS Designer touch pen Wacom’s new Bamboo Stylus Pocket is an extendable pen-like device for use with smartphones, iPads and Android tablets to make working with touchscreen technology a more natural experience.

The Stylus Pocket is the latest in a series of styluses from Wacom which produces interactive pen displays and interfaces for digital artists, special effects people and designers.

Dragon goes mainstream The once arcane art of speech recognition is now available for mainstream PC and Mac platforms from Nuance and promises greater accuracy and ease of use.

The company says speech recognition has come of age and is now suitable for all computer users as an alternative means of inputting text. The latest versions turn talk into text faster and more accurately and allows customised commands for emailing, searching the web or controlling your computer.

Nuance says the latest version delivers 20 percent greater accuracy out-of-the box with 100 new features, including those that take advantage of multi-core processing on modern computers.

The $50 device fits easily into a jacket pocket, handbag or accessory case and can be used to digitally write, doodle or navigate through emails or capture ideas on the fly.

Wacom says a stylus is far more accurate and comfortable than finger gestures when editing pictures, drawing maps or creating dynamic presentations, particularly on devices with small keyboards.

The silver, ergonomically designed device is just 9.3 cm long and can be expanded to suit. You can also choose between a soft or firm responsive nib, depending on the pressure preferred.

The Bamboo Paper app, a kind of digital notebook for business, school or home use is handy for writing on a presentation or document or for adding and annotating images and photographs, can be downloaded separately at no charge.

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Correcting and changing can be done more quickly and the system automatically learns your preferences including how you like words, phrases and numbers formatted. It has a new interactive tutorial with a range of exercises to get users up to speed with best practices for dictating, editing and formatting.

It will even read back from text to voice what you have created to help in the editing process and allows you to use Apple or Android smartphones or tablets as a wireless microphone.

You can ‘voice click’ menus, buttons and other controls; with a voice command, and set preferences for accessing specific web pages or posting to Twitter or Facebook.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home edition for PC has a suggested retail of $135, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium Edition & Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac have a suggested retail of $269 each there are also options including digital voice recorders or wireless headsets, Professional and Legal solutions are also available.

NEW ZEALAND FIBER OPTICS TRIPLE PLAY SERVICES DATA – VIDEO – PHONE BROADBAND SERVICES SUCH AS HIGH-DEFINITION (HDTV), MEDIA-ON-DEMAND, AND ON-LINE GAMES DEMAND HIGH BANDWIDTH THAT READILY ADDRESSES FUTURE BANDWIDTH NEEDS. GPON gigabit passive optical networks are becoming available structured by service suppliers using passive Optical Distribution Networks (ODN) and importantly customer side optical Network Units (ONU).

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Digital smorgasbord ahead Smart TV waiting instructions The smart TV is slowly finding its way into the centre of the digital home with its smartphonelike interface for managing stored multimedia content along with broadcast and broadband delivered movies, TV, radio, video conferencing and household security.

Through a set-top box and their own processing power, Smart TVs can smooth out streaming content, handle downloadable apps and provide greater control over recording, storing, viewing and Skype video connections.

Most major TV manufacturers are shipping smart internetconnected TVs with ‘app-like’ interfaces, which now make up around 80 percent of local sales. According to BuddeComm, they’re already outselling 3D TVs in the US and their potential is only limited by available services and fast, affordable broadband.

Around 83 percent of New Zealand homes already view some video content online from their PC, tablet or internet-enabled

TV; with YouTube by default becoming our most popular entertainment channel.

All the major channels now offer catch-up content on the web and TVNZ and TV3 plan to deliver a range of apps for smartphones, tablets and smart TVs from Christmas onward.

New Zealand’s transition to full digital broadcasting by the end of 2013, and the gradual emergence of the Ultrafast broadband fibre optic network, will open the door for a much greater range of content.

Is Sky the limit?

Around 50 percent of New Zealand’s 1.6 million households are on some form of pay-TV. Sky, Freeview, TelstraClear and Telecom-TVNZ’s TiVo all have hard disk-based set-top boxes to access, store, record and replay content as needed.

Sky as the dominant player with 846,931 subscribers in mid-2012 and around 30 percent audience market share.

It also dominates video-on-demand with its iSky service along-side TelstraClear’s cable TV offering, although others are slowly entering the market.

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While the future of free-to-air TV rests with Freeview, accessed by half the nation’s viewers, it’s been trialling a pay-perview channel for users of its FreeviewHD set-top box and certified internet TVs. By Christmas it says about 500,000 homes will be ready to receive its new offering.

Igloo TV, a joint venture between Sky and TVNZ was supposed to launch its pay TV offering in June but faced glitches and was rescheduled for pre-Christmas.

Quickflix debuted in March with unlimited movie streaming on subscription and pay-per-view on new release titles for PCs, TVs, tablet computers, smartphones and major games consoles. US-based Netflix had previously made overtures before discovering the state of our broadband.

Other pay-per-view and subscription contenders include Apple TV, through iTunes and a sub $180 box, and Google TV.

Gigabit gobbler If your ISP doesn’t have a zero rating deal, standard definition movies will chew up 1-3Gb and high definition (HD) movies consume 3-5Gb depending on length. With patchy broadband connections, downloads may take time and streaming may be pixilated or need to re-buffer.

Meanwhile the Commerce Commission is looking at the crossover between broadcasting and telecommunications and whether some form of regulation might be required. It is

also monitoring Sky’s monopoly over key content in case this is limiting competition. A number of ISPs and carriers have signed contracts preventing them sourcing content outside of Sky. Inevitably all players will want to bundle fixed and mobile broadband, voice and data and subscription or pay TV service on one account. Vodafone, now owner of TelstraClear, could have a major influence on how the content battle shapes up.

While the big players argue over digital content rights and get their networks and payment models right, New Zealanders need to make sure technology decisions made today don’t limit their options in the future as TV increasingly goes online, on-demand and on any screen.

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SEVEN notebook features to consider The evolution of notebooks, and the way people use them, has changed rapidly. But with so many options and styles now to choose from, how do you know which is best for you? Here are some things to consider when purchasing your next notebook.

Spend your money wisely Cost is always an issue with notebooks because of their variety of features and add-ons. While the final cost should always be a deciding factor, it’s important to know what features you need and what features you can live without.

Don’t strain yourself If you’re using your notebook in the office, size and weight probably won’t matter, but it’s a different story if you’re a frequent traveller. As notebooks become thinner and lighter –without sacrificing quality, screen size or performance – road warriors now have choices that won’t break your back.

Keep on running Most notebooks come with a variety of battery options, so the more ‘cells’ (4-cell, 6-cell, etc.) you buy, the longer your battery will last. But keep in mind: the bigger the battery, the heavier it gets.

Store more You’ll be surprised by how quickly your hard drive fills up, so a spacious hard drive is always a good idea. You typically have two types of storage: Solid State Drives (SSDs) and optical drives. SSDs don’t have any moving parts, making them more durable but their storage capacities aren’t as large.

Power through work Most notebooks have the capability to handle everyday tasks like email, but what about more intensive business tasks?

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Don’t forget other options Today you can go beyond the keyboard and mouse. The HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 offers a 14-inch multi-touch display so you can swipe and tap the screen. It even comes with a backlit keyboard and subwoofer with Beats Audio so you can power through your day.

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Unless local retailers prove they can deliver e-commerce choice and value equal to international competitors, Kiwi shoppers will continue to use the internet to take their business elsewhere.

The bricks ‘n mortar retail sector is under constant pressure with buyers using the internet to research and compare products and prices then increasingly making their purchases online and offshore.

According to Neilson Research, two million New Zealanders will shop online this year spending an average of $1400 each and while 65 percent would prefer to buy local, 650,000 sales will go to offshore retailers.

Roy Morgan Research says New Zealanders spent $5.6 billion in online shopping in the year to September making it clear that the internet and the prevalence of smartphones and tablets, is impacting the very fabric of retailing.

The company says TradeMe is now one of the largest shopping outlets. With two million Kiwis over the age of 14-years visiting the site in an average four week period, compared with 1.95 million buying something from physical Warehouse outlets.

Roy Morgan says one in five New Zealanders (19 percent) are using online payment systems including PayPal and another 30 percent use credit cards online. Over the 12 months to September, 36 percent went online to pay household bills compared to 10 percent paying with cash and 17 percent with cheques.

The advent of the digital wallet; for example Google Wallet and Apple’s new iPhone iOS6 operating system, will make consumers even more reliant on internet payment mechanisms.

Nielson Research stated the number of online shoppers had reached over 1.6 million (49 percent over 18-years), an increase of 122,000 on the previous year and more than double the 2004 figures.

It found online shoppers were increasing the frequency of purchases; those purchasing six or more items had by May 2012 increased by 21 percent; those buying 11 or more items grew by 38 percent.

The most popular products and services were airline tickets, clothing, shoes and accessories, books and magazines, entertainment tickets and travel related services such as accommodation and car hire.

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SHORTCUTS Performance enhancing bundle Specialist custom PC builder Playtech has pulled together a powerful combination of performance enhancing and speed limit breaking technology from chipmaker AMD that will make gamer’s heads spin.

Playtech’s Assassin Platinum Edition gaming PC bundle incorporates AMD’s latest FX processor with Piledriver multicore architecture, which is 15 percent faster and more affordable than its predecessor.

The central processing unit (CPU) is optimised for video and audio encoding, content creation and gaming and according to AMD, delivers “extreme responsiveness and megatasking”.

The Assassin Platinum package includes the AMD 9 chipset motherboard, AMD Radeon HD7000 graphics card and Eyefinity for multi-monitor support.

To ensure power users get the best possible support, downloadable software upgrades are offered to push performance and help manage the gaming experience.

AMD’s CrossFire technology is also available to harness the power of multiple graphic cards working in parallel. Playtech will add a top game or two in the $2000 bundle, depending on the configuration.

A hard case Investment in an iPad or iPhone is not something done lightly as these devices are constant companions and too often subject to damage through being bumped or dropped so it makes sense to have a sturdy protective case.

Cygnett has expanded its range of folio cases or sleeves for the iPad and add-on keyboard and the new iPad mini plus phone cases for the iPhone range.

Exeed product manager, David Liu, says accessory sales for all Apple iOS devices go through the roof heading into Christmas as they’re an affordable product that protects and personalises the technology investment.

While the new range comes in purple, sand, sky blue and pink, the majority of sales are still in plain old black. However he says some funky designs are on the way, including those done by Aboriginal artists in Australia. There’s also talk of having Maori designs.

Cybersociety expanding Virtual networking face off The nature of social media is changing dramatically, as more people are tweeting, messaging, commenting, liking, blogging and posting from smartphones and tablets while out and about.

Roy Morgan Research in its Digital Universe report says around 260,000 New Zealanders used their mobile phone for social networking, and while still considered an early adopter activity, this was likely to grow rapidly.

The report published in September said 31 percent of those over 14-years had a smartphone and 27 percent used them for social networking. And its not just short message site Twitter that’s driving the trend, Facebook is now a major messaging platform and at the forefront of worldwide mobile data growth.

Newcomers including Instagram are making rapid inroads; imagining the world connected by photos uploaded from Android or iPhone devices, enhanced visually or with location details, then shared through Facebook, for example.

Facebook hits billion Facebook now claims a billion active monthly users and as at November, subscribers had made 140 billion friend connections.

Since it launched in February 2009 there have been 1.34 trillion Facebook likes, 219 billion photos uploaded, 17 billion location-tagged posts including check-ins, and 62.6 million songs played 22 billion times – the equivalent of 210,000 years of music.

A 2012 UMR survey suggested that in the last two years 88 percent of Kiwis under 30-years were using Facebook although 20 percent of subscribers were over 60-years and the number of older users was growing.

The survey said social networking use had risen from 14 percent in 2007 to 54 percent in 2012, growing more than 11 percent in the past two years.

YouTube most viewed A Google Adplanner report on New Zealand’s top 15 social media sites confirmed over half of all New Zealanders subscribed to Facebook and a similar number to YouTube which was the most viewed entertainment site.

The business network LinkedIn had clocked up over half a million subscribers, making New Zealand the fourth largest country using the site. The number of Twitter accounts grew from close to 200,000 in February to over 350,000 by July and was continuing its rapidly ascent.

Kiwis clearly enjoyed sharing their opinions; blog hosting site WordPress had 320,000 subscribers while multimedia microblogging site Tumblr had the attention of 270,000.

Google’s Blogspot had 150,000 New Zealand users as did Pinterest, a content sharing site experiencing explosive growth in the US, where users ‘pin’ images, videos and other objects to their pinboard.

StumbleUpon, which allows you to discover and share websites, had 27,000 and Reddit where people vote on what’s hot and not online, had 32,000.

Travel and accommodation website TripAdvisor was also proving increasingly popular with 110,000 Kiwi users.

Certainly things have come a long way from the days when MySpace and Bebo were the teenage rage; by midyear MySpace had dropped to 64,000 New Zealand users and Bebo, 52,000.

As few people have time to service and maintain multiple sites, loyalty is important; people go where the people are. If you create a personal or group social media site and never say much or don’t entertain your so-called ‘friends’ or followers they’ll lose interest.

Those former market leaders were overshadowed by more flexible sites with better communications tools that allow people to build their own channels of interest and influence and share a wider range of media.

For example in November Socialmedia.org.nz reported that of the 8110 Kiwi Facebook pages it regularly monitors 1532 had no-one talking about them and 1981 sites only had between one and 10 people conversing.

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SHORTCUTS Multi-tasking fibre terminator As New Zealanders hook up to the Government’s new Ultrafast broadband (UFB) fibre network they’ll need a network termination unit that can handle two way, high speed, high quality voice, data and video.

The UFB can deliver 100Mbit/sec which equipment provider Zinwell says is ideal for the delivery of high-definition TV (HDTV), media-on-demand (MOD) and online games which demand high upstream and downstream bandwidth.

Rather than having different devices terminating each service, Zinwell says this can all be done effectively and efficiently on its GPON Triple Play optical network unit (ONU) with multiple Ethernet ports, fibre and cable connections and the ability to handle copper and wireless access.

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Having such a device makes it easier for providers to differentiate their offerings by delivering bundled services to customers over one termination device for billing on one monthly account.

Cable competition curbed Plans for a competing international undersea cable were dashed in August when Pacific Fibre failed to find sufficient investment for its $400 million, 13,000km high speed cable linking New Zealand with Australia and the US. Pacific Fibre co-founder Rod Drury insists the Government’s Ultrafast broadband (UFB) network won’t make sense until there’s competition for international bandwidth to improve access, reduce bandwidth costs and eliminate the need for data caps.

The only current provider is the 50 percent Telecom owned Southern Cross cable which comes ashore at Albany, near

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Auckland. Truenet, an official Commerce Commission broadband tester, confirms the closer you are located to Albany, the faster broadband is likely to be.

Drury still wants to be involved in a private-public partnership for a competitive undersea cable but says the government

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In September the number of dotnz domain names registered by New Zealanders establishing a web presence reached a landmark 500,000, according to the Domain Name Commission, a subsidiary of InternetNZ. The half million milestone was reached a decade after InternetNZ introduced a competitive market for dotnz domain registrations and the latest burst was triggered by the launch of a new second level domain .kiwi.nz.

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Over the past decade the dotnz domain has grown annually by more than 38,000, with no signs of slowing as local businesses put their faith in the local domain name over a generic one such as dotcom.

In the first 15 minutes of the dotkiwi domain becoming available 1000 names were registered. The local domains are available from 80 different organisations.

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CELLULAR CAPACITY CRITICAL Mobile broadband booming Mobile carriers face multiple challenges as they battle to keep ahead of an unprecedented uptake of smartphones, skyrocketing mobile data use and an escalating demand for wider coverage, smarter services and new apps.

The mobile carriers are offering increasingly competitive prepay and post-pay text, voice and data plans with cheaper phones and other incentives to keep customers loyal or lure them between networks. Many subscribers are hedging their bets with accounts on at least two networks, as there are more accounts than people.

Vodafone, Telecom and 2degrees are on an escalating investment and technology curve as they literally try to keep up to speed with the mobile broadband revolution while the market shifts from voice to data, texting to social media messaging and video as a mainstream service.

Vodafone has around 2.37 million subscribers (44 percent), Telecom has 1.98 million (37 percent) and 2degrees has topped the million mark (18 percent) after only three years in the game, although it’s far from profitable. That leaves TelstraClear and other mobile resellers with around 50,000 subscribers.

Research group IDC believes mobile data will grow at a compound rate of 16.6 percent to 2016, depending on smartphone uptake, how data bundles are packaged and how well carriers educate their users.

It says 68 percent of New Zealanders regularly access the internet from their mobile phones, although we’re still catching up other parts of the world where smartphones have displaced basic cellphones and there’s much greater use of video.

Smartphone users grew from 13 percent to more than half of the mobile market this year with low bandwidth activities such as banking and emailing dominating and navigation and social networking on the increase.

Mobile data doubling Statistics NZ agrees smartphone users are in the majority for the first time with the number of mobile broadband subscribers up 34 percent to 2.5 million in the year to June 30 and mobile data use doubling year on year.

Everything about mobile networks is in transition; the cost of calling between networks dropped by a third since 2010, texts are about two thirds cheaper and voice call volumes are in decline. All forms of text and multimedia messaging will continue to grow and social messaging is barrelling ahead through sites like Twitter and Facebook.

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Vodafone continues to dominate with mobile revenue more than double that of Telecom mobile, and following its recent $480 million acquisition of TelstraClear, is likely to offer even more enticing bundles.

Evolutionary leap While existing 3G (third generation) networks are being ramped up to cope with the smartphones and their demanding apps and services, significant investment will be needed to take the next leap into long term evolution (LTE) or 4G mobile technology.

Carriers will need to invest millions to acquire new radio spectrum to be auctioned early in 2013 and available as soon as analogue TV shuts down. Telecom is already trialling the technology which could enable 100Mbit/sec download speeds as early as 2014.

Analyst Paul Budde says the explosion of mobile communications exceeds predictions made even five years ago and momentum is likely to continue with mobile apps including gaming, social networking, location-based services, social networking, mobile TV and video and mobile commerce having a bright future.

Rather than subscriber numbers the future will be about carriers increasing revenue through content and valued added services delivered at speeds complimentary to fibre networks.

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