Disillusioned with social media, a pair of American tech entrepreneurs decided to launch an app that encourages people to interact in real life. Co-founder and epidemiologist Jesse Berns explains why that meant making an unexpected shift to Aotearoa. While Covid-19 forced most businesses to change their plans one way or another, few seem to have … Read more
How do productive people use their phones to their advantage? In the first part of a new series, The Spinoff asks Vodafone NZ’s head of platforms Sharina Nisha how she makes her phone work for her, and the apps she considers crucial. Sharina Nisha is the head of platforms at Vodafone NZ, a short title … Read more
When it works, wifi feels like magic; when it doesn’t, it feels like the world has stalled. The Spinoff spoke to Vodafone wifi expert Mark Beaton about how its rapid evolution is changing the way we live and creating better connections. In the early years of the internet, it was all about plugging in. Surfing … Read more
The global pandemic forced millions inside and online, changing the way the world interacts and does business, and accelerating technology adoption. George Driver discovers how this year, New Zealand brought the future a little closer. March 22, 2020: I am standing at the door of my tent in a deserted campground on a Northland beach, … Read more
There are many unanswered questions about how technologies are being used, why they are necessary, and whether they risk infringing on human rights or privacy, write Andrew Chen and Kristiann Allen. The idea of “emergence”, in a philosophical sense, is the notion that a system can have properties, behaviours and naturally forming rules or patterns … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ government adds voice in global encryption fight, a whole bunch of election stuff happens, and more than half the country believes house prices must fall. Should governments be able to access the encrypted data held by technology companies? That is being debated after New Zealand … Read more
Today The Spinoff launches Ako, a new series made in partnership with Spark NZ to highlight their Kupu app, with a piece introducing three very different te reo Māori learners. Despite being indigenous to Aotearoa, the history of te reo Māori is a fraught one – it wasn’t until the late 1980s that it was … Read more
Apple has finally announced its long-anticipated content bundle Apple One. So what do you get, and for how much? What is Apple One? Apple One is a new content “bundle” that gives you access to the company’s music, TV, games and storage offerings via a single subscription. It was announced this week in a virtual … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Dr Ju Zhang, CEO of Formus Labs. Hip and knee replacements are fairly common surgeries, but you’d be … Read more
Without a strong legal and ethical framework and clear policy for use, FRT can have grave implications for individual and collective rights, writes Nessa Lynch. Automated facial recognition technology, which involves the use of an algorithm to match a facial image to one already stored in a system, is used in automated passport control and … Read more
Russell Brown talks to Auckland business RUSH about the challenges and rewards of being an ethical business in the competitive world of technology design. “We design technology to better serve humankind.” It’s the first thing you read on RUSH’s website, and it’s also written on a banner in the middle of its Parnell office. It’s … Read more
Mistrust in the government and generational trauma mean Māori communities are more at risk of falling victim to conspiracies relating to the 5G spectrum. Alice Webb-Liddall finds out what needs to be done to combat this dangerous misinformation. The real danger of conspiracy theories can sometimes be hard to grasp. When comments on Facebook link … Read more
In the 90s, the so-called information superhighway was more of a dirt road. Now it’s a multi-lane motorway. Vodafone NZ’s Sharina Nisha explains the technology that makes it all possible. They used to call it the information superhighway. Back in the heady days of the 1990s, the term was used to describe the burgeoning potential … Read more
The technology industry has been singled out for its significant growth potential in post-Covid New Zealand. Now, as the country returns to relative normalcy, we speak to students working towards careers in the sector. When the government made the decision to move the country into level four lockdown, every aspect of our collective lives was … Read more
As we transition out of a Covid-focused world and prepare for what comes next, New Zealand’s ICT industry is gearing towards growth. From app development helping track the Covid-19 virus to website engineering keeping businesses in touch and online, ICT knowledge has been crucial to keeping New Zealand working over the last few months. But … Read more
New Zealand’s startup community continues to flourish despite Covid-19 – so much so that an Australian accelerator is expanding across the Tasman to help unlock the potential. As Covid-19 forces businesses and economies across the world to tighten their belts and count their pennies, it’s a promising sign of growth that an Australian company called … Read more
Technology has helped Māori assert a strong, independent response to help stop the spread of Covid-19, but the crisis also exposes telecommunications vulnerabilities. The 1918 influenza epidemic hit Māori hard. Around 2,500 died in under two months at a rate of 50 per 1,000 people – eight times that of Europeans. So, when Covid-19 arrived, … Read more
With more than a thousand locations in 250 cities worldwide, UK company Stasher allows travellers to store their luggage while offering local businesses a way to earn extra cash. Having recently launched in New Zealand, co-founder and CEO Jacob Wedderburn-Day explains how the business works. How did Stasher start and what was the inspiration behind … Read more
Have we reached peak smartphone? Henry Burrell reviews the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, an engineering marvel which all but highlights how few ways there are to improve phones in 2020. In the age of smartphones, notifications and constant communication, you might wish for a simpler time when the old flip phone in your pocket was … Read more
EVolocity is using innovation, creativity and the incoming electric vehicle revolution to encourage kids into STEM education. Madeleine Chapman talks to its founders about the how and why of their mission. If the kids make an electric vehicle that can travel faster than 50km per hour, there may have to be an intervention. That’s too … Read more
Its arrival has been said to herald the next generation of innovation, but in a world where we’re already conditioned to expect near-instantaneous speed from our mobile internet, what kind of change can we actually expect to see from 5G? It’s easy to forget that much of what we take for granted – browsing Facebook, … Read more
An upcoming three-day conference in Auckland aims to ‘envision our future’, but the Ed Hillary-branded event appears to feature some odd guests, including one who thinks astrology can explain important historic events, and a self-help guru who’s been labelled a fraud. David Farrier reports. A new year, a new pricey three-day conference, this time courtesy … Read more
In the fifth episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect Artificial Intelligence has on our lives, Russell Brown discovers that maybe AI has better musical taste than humans. Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below. To download this episode right click and save. I am a middle-aged man and suddenly my … Read more
How New Zealand startup myReflection is making bespoke, affordable, mass-produced breast prostheses using 3D printing. In a garage on Auckland’s Te Atatu Peninsula, dozens of 3D printers work mechanically away to a rhythmic, whirring hum. On a nearby table sits an array of white “blobs” – some large, some small, some more spherical than others. … Read more
New Zealand banning Huawei’s 5G network equipment won’t impact you nearly as much as the US’s recent moves against Huawei phones, writes Henry Burrell. Twenty years ago, you would have shown off your flash new Ericsson or Nokia. How times change. Now, those two entities exist only to provide mobile network equipment, (Nokia’s Android phones … Read more
Spark ramps up its Internet of Things (IoT) network with a leading investment in Kiwi tech company Parkable. Auckland-based startup Parkable has raised more than $4.6 million in its first funding round led by telecommunications giant Spark. The funds will be used to increase Parkable’s international expansion and continue developing its technology and product. Currently, the … Read more
When Josie Adams broke her laptop last week, she knew she’d never find love like that again. Can the Asus Chromebook Flip C213SA offer a new kind of technological relationship? She reviews how it stands up to everyday use and the cosmic forces that seek to destroy her. Last Thursday I accidentally gave my old … Read more
The NBR’s Rich List is always a big day for New Zealand’s wealthy elite. So who’s on it, who’s up, who’s down, and how did they get there? Here are 10 things we learned. Technology still isn’t a golden ticket. Among the top 50 entries, there are a grand total of four tech entries. And of … Read more
Is Slack really the force for productivity it claims to be, or just another form of social media in disguise? Jihee Junn talks to Slack co-founder and chief technology officer Cal Henderson on the right (and wrong) ways to use his messaging platform. Every morning, Cal Henderson spends around 50 minutes walking to work, not … Read more