Internet
From the stables to social media
Australia has launched the world’s first online social racing community, where punters can get tailored content about horses they fancy – like Black Caviar.
Apps ‘more secure’ than mobile websites: NAB
Smartphone and tablet apps are more secure than mobile websites if designed properly, a senior banking technology executive says.
Spotify finally launches in Australia
Music streaming service, which has 10 million users in Europe and the US, offers free listening to a generation that refuses to pay for songs.
BoM defends website advertising trial
The Bureau of Meteorology will run advertising on its website to supplement its government funding, not to compete with The Weather Channel, a parliamentary committee has heard.
Westpac says 1m customers access accounts via smartphone
More than a million consumer and business customers are now using a smartphone regularly to access Westpac accounts, the bank says.
Investors un-friend Facebook as reality sets in
Facebook shares sank 11 per cent in the first day of trading without the full support of the company's underwriters, leaving some investors to switch back to more established stocks such as Apple.
App reviews | Google Drive and Your World
How good is Google’s new cloud computing personal storage app? And can a fun app help us better know our place in the world?
Technology briefs
In further evidence that science fiction is slowly becoming science fact, a 58-year-old woman paralysed in 1996 by a stroke was able sip coffee from a flask using a robotic arm controlled by her brain.
How much Klout do you have online?
Klout measures your social media influence, and “what’s your Klout score?” could well become a regular question in job interviews for positions in sales, marketing or IT.
Gregan uses software to outwit opponents
Former Wallabies captain George Gregan, now a coaching consultant for the ACT Brumbies, says that, in both his sporting and business life, there is a necessity to keep up to date with the latest technology has to offer.
Facebook shares fall 11 per cent in early trading
Facebook shares opened below their $US38 issue price on Monday as support from underwriters of the initial public offering dissipated after its Friday debut.
Content overhaul ‘vital’ for Yahoo!
After a boardroom coup at Yahoo!, the struggling internet company is in the hands of a major shareholder and an interim chief executive who appear to agree on what needs to be done to turn the company around.
Challenge of collecting taxes from IT companies
Attempts to close loopholes that allow multinational technology companies to minimise local tax bills will become more difficult as a growing number of services move online.
Yahoo!7 chief says taxman must ‘follow the cash’
Imminent changes to Australia’s transfer pricing rules have the potential to solve the problem of global internet companies paying low tax if tax authorities can capture all revenues earned here, Yahoo!7 says.
Zuckerberg weds on day after IPO
For Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it was quite a week – from birthday, to IPO, to ‘I do’.
Yahoo! nears deal to sell Alibaba stake
Yahoo may finally be nearing a deal to sell half of its prized stake in the major Chinese e-commerce provider Alibaba, which could be worth as much as $US7 billion.
Twitter restored in Pakistan
Pakistan has restored access to Twitter after briefly blocking the microblog over posts that Islamabad said promoted a Facebook contest involving caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.
Make Google pay more tax: Turnbull
Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull has lashed the amount of tax Google pays in Australia, saying that a coalition government would seek to suck more money out of global tech firms.
Early investors drop Facebook
One of Australia’s biggest investment funds plans to dump its entire Facebook stake quickly as analysts and fund managers predict the social media giant will struggle to boost returns.
Facebook IPO marred by trading glitches
Updated | For a company that is dramatically upending business strategies and social relationships around the world, shares in Facebook made a surprisingly modest debut on Friday.
Google doesn’t care where you are
Fulwood | A local from the small NSW town of Cooma has proved that “Google doesn’t care where you are” when it comes to online business.
Bosses find own online bargains
Macken | While Australians have been shopping for bargains online, their bosses have been shopping for workers online.
Facebook faces its moment of truth
Facebook’s $100 billion initial public offering has its critics but former senior Microsoft executive Daniel Petre believes those who cashed in early would probably see their investments pay off.
What will Facebook do with all its cash?
Following its initial public offering, Facebook’s new wealth will be added to the $US3.9 billion that’s already in its coffers ... so what is it going to do with all that money?
Twitter shows users how to spread their wings
Twitter wants to guide new hatchlings as they venture out of the virtual nest with tailored “follow” suggestions.
I’m no tax dodger: Facebook’s Saverin
Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has rejected claims he renounced his US citizenship and moved out of the country to avoid paying tax on his stake in soon-to-list Facebook.
AFR iPad app to launch this week
Fairfax Media will soon launch the Australian Financial Review iPad app at no extra charge for existing five- and six-day AFR and afr.com subscribers.
Spotify raising values music start-up at $US4bn
The mega funding rounds are back. Spotify, the social music service, is in the process of raising hundreds of millions of dollars in a deal that would value the company at as much as $US4 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were private.
Pinterest valued at more that $US1bn
Move over, Facebook. Pinterest, the social site that lets people “pin” pictures and content to create collections of interest, has become the latest company to be valued at more than $US1 billion.
Facebook IPO prices at $US38 a share
Naysayers have failed to dampen enthusiasm for Facebook’s hotly-anticipated initial public offering, with the social network pricing its stock at the high end of a recently increased value range.
