| The Google Podcast App has arrived
Google has unveiled a podcast app for Android devices, available globally in the Play Store. This has the potential to help double podcast listenership worldwide over the next couple of years, which means it is a unique opportunity to grow your audience. |
Optus offers free subscription to sport service after World Cup streaming fail
Optus has opened up its Optus Sport subscription broadcasting service to all Australians for free until the end of August and surrendered its exclusive broadcasting rights of the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage to SBS in a bid to make peace with disgruntled customers.
initially set to show the lion’s share of football games under exclusive licence from SBS, but backlash from viewers experiencing patchy streams in the opening days of the tournament has seen Optus work to mend customer confidence in addition to its connectivity woes.
Chief executive Allen Lew took a press call on Monday night to announce it would cede some of its exclusive FIFA World Cup broadcast rights to SBS for 48 hours as it worked to solve disruptions.
Then, after six games were simulcast across both Optus Sport and SBS earlier this week, Lew was back Wednesday night to say the technical issues had been addressed, and to announce the free trial.
Since Monday, Optus has delivered the last six matches without issue. This has provided the confidence we needed to reassure the Australian public that we have addressed these issues and that our efforts have worked.
“We have also listened to feedback. As a gesture of goodwill for Australian fans, Optus will also simulcast the group matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in conjunction with SBS through the Group stages.”
Apple fined $9 million as Federal Court finds repairs policy breached Australian Consumer Law
The Federal Court of Australia has fined Apple $9 million after it ruled that the company’s repair policies breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
Justice Michael Lee ruled that Apple engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, or conduct that was likely to mislead or deceive, ruling that its refusal to provide free repairs to Apple devices previously serviced by a third party was in contravention of the ACL.
“If a product is faulty, customers are legally entitled to a repair or a replacement under the Australian Consumer Law, and sometimes even a refund. Apple’s representations led customers to believe they’d be denied a remedy for their faulty device because they used a third party repairer.”
Apple admitted in court it had represented to at least 275 Australian customers affected by the error that they were no longer eligible for a remedy if their device had been repaired by a third party.
The problems occurred after Apple released its iOS 9.2.1 mobile operating system, which contained a factory test intended to verify the Touch ID fingerprint authentication scanner on a device was genuine.
However, the test caused Apple devices that had been repaired by an unauthorised party – such as to replace a cracked screen – to display an ‘Error 53’ message that bricked the iPhone or iPad.
The ACCC alleged that Apple “routinely” refused to look at or service these defective devices because they had been repaired by third parties – even if the repair was unrelated to the OS fault.
The company also said it would provide new replacement devices “if the consumer requests one”, rather than give them a refurbished product.
Amazon brings Prime to Australia after geoblocking furore
Amazon began offering its paid subscription service in Australia on Tuesday, wooing premium users with a way around the geoblock
Australians will pay less than a third the price of Prime in the US, where it costs US$12.99 ($17.50). A Prime subscription costs $4.99 in Australia with an introductory offer that runs until 31 January 2019 before rising to $6.99.
Customers get free two-day delivery to major metro areas, including all state and territory capitals other than Darwin and a host of larger cities such as Armidale, Geelong and the Sunshine Coast.
Prime also offer free standard international delivery on orders over $49, as well as typical Prime perks including access to the Prime Video streaming service.
Amazon’s vice-president of Prime International, Jamil Ghani, said in a statement that Prime in Australia would offer free international delivery on products sold on Amazon’s US website, which shoppers could order on the Australian site, circumventing the geoblocking.
Since the day before Amazon started taking orders in Australia, shares of the country’s top department store chain, Myer Holdings Ltd, are down 41 percent. Shares of No. 1 electronics retailer Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd are down 17 percent and shares of smaller JB Hi-Fi are down 5 percent.
Optus is finally killing its dial-up internet in Australia
Optus is killing off its dial-up internet service – some 20 years after the carrier entered the Australian internet market, three years after Telstra announced it was retiring dial-up services, and two years after the Australian Bureau of Statistics stopped counting dial-up in its half-yearly report.
The Optus Dial Up Internet Service will be closed from 15 July 2018
The ABS counted 90,000 dial-up internet subscribers in June 2016
In contrast, in March 2003 there were 4.6 million business and household dial-up connections in Australia
Domain name businesses ordered to pay $2 million for “misleading and deceptive” correspondence
The Federal Court of Australia has ordered two domain name registration companies to pay a combined $1.95 million for attempting to dupe Australian customers into buying new domain names by issuing deceptive ‘renewal’ invoices.
The ACCC alleged in August that from November 2015 to April 2017, the businesses sent about 300,000 unsolicited notices to customers that resembled renewal invoices for the recipient’s existing domain name, but that the notices were in fact for the registration of a new domain name costing between $249 and $275.
Domain Name Corp Pty Ltd was ordered to pay $1.5 million, while the affiliated Domain Name Agency, which also traded as Domain Name Register, was ordered to pay $450,000.
The court also ordered the companies each be restrained for three years from sending unsolicited notices containing an offer to register a domain name that is similar to a domain name already held by the recipient, without clearly including on the face of the notice the words: “This notice does not relate to the registration of your current domain name. This is not a bill. You are not required to pay any money.”
The same conditions applied to Bell for a period of five years. The director has also been disqualified from managing corporations for the same amount of time. He will also pay $8000 towards the ACCC’s legal bill.
Joe
YouTube Premium
https://www.androidcentral.com/youtube-premium
YouTube Premium has finally launched !
YouTube Red has now being replaced by YouTube Premium, so if you already had YouTube Red before 18/06/2016 – it will be upgraded to Premium for Free.
– On Monday the 18th of June 18
– Gonna Cost about $11.99 per month for YouTube Premium
– Or you can pay about $9.99 per month for YouTube Music Premium
– If you subscribe to YouTube Music but decide you want to upgrade to YouTube Premium later on, you can make that change at any time.
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