Google Introduces Chrome OS.

By Benedict Wee

With their fingers in so many pies Google has, on more than one occasion, threatened the status quo of the internet companies with their web-based applications, and now they're taking it one step further by challenging the two major giants in the industry -Microsoft and Apple- with the announcement of their own operating system.

Chrome OS (not to be confused with Chrome the web browser) is the amalgamation of Google's services that relies entirely on the internet to run, which makes sense as most of us out there spend almost all of our computer time on the web anyways.

With Chrome OS you'll be able to carry out everyday tasks like read news, create/edit documents, listen to music and watch videos, just like what you'd normally do with a Windows or Mac computer. And it's super fast, taking only seconds to load from the time you turn on your computer.

The downside to the OS is that being only a web-based application, it won't support hard drives as all your stuff (i.e. music, movies, documents) will be stored on the internet. On the other hand, you could say that the files will be easily accessible from any computer, though you would need to have access to the web in order to retrieve them.

Though it won't possess the same functionality of Windows 7 or Snow Leopard, and businesses would need to rely on these two operating systems to run their 3rd party programs, Chrome OS will appeal to the majority of people who use computers for web-only reasons and if you think about it, that number is big enough for Microsoft and Apple to take Google's new baby seriously.

Chrome OS is expected to hit netbooks (and maybe tablets) next year.

Sources:

Gizmodo - Everything You Need To Know About Chrome OS.

Gizmodo - What is Google Chrome OS? (Explained by Google).

Price Check: Vodafone-made Phones And Modem Sticks.

By Benedict Wee

I've been saying that the telcos in New Zealand have been overcharging for their mobile plans and handsets for a while now -Vodafone being the worst offender of the three- and that finding an alternate method to get that iPhone 3GS or a better substitution to the crippled HTC Magic could easily be done on the internet.

But what about the phones that are made by them? Surely there wouldn't be any major price discrepancies with the other Vodafone branches overseas and that we'll get all the available choices they've got?

Well after quick search online it turns out that even then, we cannot catch a break from the red logo-ed telco.

Vodafone 541 Black

Date Checked: November 10th 2009

Vodafone UK:

40GBP/NZ$90.55

Vodafone NZ:

NZ$300

(before 1/2 price Holiday offer)

How about prepaid broadband then? After a comparing with the prices amongst the other stores overseas it looks like we're stuffed too...

Vodafone NZ:

Modem Stick costs NZ$99, comes with 512MB of data.

Prepaid prices are NZ$10 for 100MB or NZ$40 for 512MB per month.

Vodafone Aus:

Modem Stick costs Au$99/NZ$124.20, comes with 1GB of data.

Prepaid prices aren't available online.

Vodafone UK:

Modem Stick costs GBP35/NZ$78.80, comes with 1GB of data.

Prepaid prices are GBP15/NZ$33.75 for 1GB per month.

For something that they're heavily advertising everywhere, Vodafone NZ doesn't seem to mind that their holiday offerings are still far from the prices the rest of their sister branches are charging internationally. Maybe if they'd spend the resources they used to make mobile orchestras on giving us better deals instead we'd be able to actually get something fair for once.

Vodafone NZ link.

Vodafone Aus link.

Vodafone UK link.

Telecom: Uploading Is Free Till End Of January For Home Broadband Users.

By Benedict Wee

Telecom has just announced today that all of their home broadband customers get to upload as much content to the internet as they want without it affecting their monthly data allowance.

The promotion lasts till the end of January and your data cap is still counted when you're downloading stuff.

Free uploads for summer holidays

Take the rapid growth in photo-sharing sites and social media, add the Kiwi fondness for passing the holiday photo album around the rellies, top it with a bit of Christmas spirit, and you’ve got the recipe for a great broadband summer.

From now until the end of January, all Telecom home broadband customers will be able to upload whatever they want without affecting their monthly data allowance.

“Postcards, Christmas cards, holiday snaps and videos: the great Kiwi Christmas holiday is all about sharing experiences with family and friends,” says Telecom Director of Home Ralph Brayham.

“Letting New Zealanders upload content online for free is our way of recognising and encouraging the modern equivalent of that great tradition.”

Ralph says the past few years have seen an explosion in user-generated content (UGC) on the internet, with sites like Facebook, YouTube and MySpace routinely leading the way in both user numbers and growth rates.

“In mid-October, the 4 billionth photo was uploaded to Flickr, while internet analysts are predicting that more than half of US internet users will be posting UGC within the next five years.

“Our customers are as keen as anyone else to join in, and we want to make it easy for them to do so.”

Downloading data still counts towards the monthly data allowance.

Internet Speed/Cost Chart Shows We're Faster Than Australia But More Expensive.

By Benedict Wee

Shown here is a chart of the 20 top nations in the ITIF Broadband Rankings compared by cost, speed and broadband penetration rate.

Average speed-wise, we seemed to have lost out to first world nations like the US, Canada, UK and a big portion of Europe, coming up in 22nd place though we fared better than those across the Tasman.

Australia does beat in price however, and so does most of the rest of the world as we fall into the $10-20 price per month category for 1mbps.

Despite the high cost, it's good to see that we've got a healthy broadband penetration rate, coming up to the 80% mark alongside Australia and the UK.

Source:

Gizmodo - Internet Speeds and Costs Around the World, Shown Visually.