In the future personal technology will be so seamlessly built into our lives it will be almost invisible. Claire McCall spoke to Ivy Ross, the woman in charge of designing Google’s hardware, ahead of her appearance at the Future of the Future conference next month. Ivy Ross doesn’t see the future. She feels it. It’s … Read more
Next month some of the most high-powered people from the most important companies in the world are coming to Auckland to speak to local business leaders. Charles Anderson spoke to the organisers of the Future of the Future conference about why and how they pulled it off. On August 15 the future is coming to … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the world’s first hydrofoil e-bike. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Manta5. We’ve … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Mathew Jury, founder of award-winning company Taska Prosthetics which makes state-of-the-art prosthetic hands. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Taska Prosthetics. The Taska product is a … Read more
The US banned Huawei and now Google is breaking up with the Chinese smartphone maker. How did all go so wrong? I’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few days. What happened? Earlier this week, Google announced plans to restrict access to its apps and services on Huawei products. That means no more … 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, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Amber Taylor from Ara Journeys and Callaghan … Read more
What is Wish? Is it legit? And why does it advertise so damn much? “If Wish targeted ads are a window to your soul, then my soul is an absolute nightmare,” food editor Alice Neville quipped in the office one day. On Facebook, she’d received ads for a severed ‘finger’, a gimp suit, a wig-beard, … Read more
There are serious flaws in the theory that the ‘jobpocalypse’ is nigh, and technology is not about to replace New Zealand workers anytime soon, according to a new book. ‘Machines as ministers to man’, screams the US newspaper headline. Apart from the slightly old-fashioned language, the banner could be describing the conventional modern wisdom that … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week, we talk to Melodics founder Sam Gribben, who’s created software to help people learn how to play musical instruments. Having spent a decade at audio software company Serato, ex-CEO Sam Gribben … Read more
How is Facebook not just eroding our privacy, but changing our lives – and not just our lives? Most of us know tech platforms such as Facebook and Google track, store and make money from our data. But there are constantly new revelations about just how much of our privacy has been chipped away. The … Read more
A Canterbury investors’ group is the latest example of crying ‘hacked’ when it’s really nothing of the sort, writes Dylan Reeve. It’s so common now that we barely bat an eyelid – some company holding troves of personal information is hacked and personal data is leaked online… sometimes even on the dark web! But this … Read more
From extracting hemp oil to African artificial insemination programmes, a Christchurch-developed super refrigerator is taking the business of freezing to new levels. An obscure piece of kit that began life in a government science lab is now on the verge of creating a new $100 million export industry for New Zealand. Christchurch company Fabrum Solutions … Read more
Two 20-year-old Auckland students have created an app that combines the brevity of Q&A platforms like Yahoo Answers or Quora with the visual nature of websites like YouTube or Instagram. Now, they’re competing against 11 other teams all across Asia in one of the biggest student tech competitions in the world. A few years ago a … Read more
What role can technology play in our overburdened, underfunded health system? Jihee Junn spoke to some of the innovators working to ease the pressure on healthcare in New Zealand. Health has become a major focal point for the tech industry in recent years and nowhere has this been more apparent than at CES, the annual … Read more
He’s 23 years old and runs a $9 million video company that interviews successful business leaders and then posts them online. Who is Unfiltered co-founder Jake Millar? And what even is Unfiltered? “Who’s got a couple of thousand dollars to spare?” One hand, two hands, three hands go up – for a Dick Frizzell, a … Read more
Demand for its e-scooters has been rabid since opening its first New Zealand store two weeks ago. But it turns out, Chinese electronics retailer Mi sells a whole lot more than just tiny modes of transport. For just $679, you could own your very own Lime. Well, not a Lime exactly, but an e-scooter of … Read more
New Zealand’s film industry has always been about location, location, location, but what about everything else? What about all the stuff that comes after filming? Jihee Junn talks to Department of Post’s Katie Hinsen at the company’s new state-of-the-art headquarters about her mission to make Auckland into a post-production powerhouse. For much of late 2016, … Read more
A 1999 Waitangi Tribunal report said Māori have rights to the radio spectrum, what we know as the 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks. The Crown disagreed. Now, 20 years on from the original claim, the government has the opportunity to right past wrongs when it makes its 5G allocation. Next year will mark 20 years … Read more
A new product from the upmarket US audio company promises to lull you to sleep. Toby Manhire takes them to bed. Fruit flies need it, homo sapiens need it, we all need it, even if scientists may not know all the reasons why we do. And the moments we know most of all that we … Read more
It’s natural to assume that the IT revolution will continue forward at a cracking pace, but what if there are limits on how much energy humanity can actually put towards it? That’s the focus of Professor Michael Fuhrer’s research, who is speaking at the Materialise conference this week in Wellington. The theory is called Moore’s … Read more
Kerri Jackson reports from a future of work seminar and concludes that the good news is, with revolution comes huge opportunity. The bad news? The starter gun’s gone off and New Zealand business is still milling about. We’ve all had those heated dinner party discussions about whose job will soon be handed over to the robots, … Read more
At the beginning of Te Wiki o Te Reo 2018, a new app was launched that translated images into Māori. Karyn Tattersfield looks at the legacy of John Moorfield ‘s famous dictionary, and the revolutionary new technology of Kupu. The extent of the late Professor John Moorfield’s impact on te reo Māori is hard to quantify. … Read more
This week, Airbnb announced the New Zealand-wide launch of its ‘experiences’ guided tours and the forthcoming Airbnb Plus. These extensions to the global brand’s business got Henry Oliver thinking about the future of travel and the places we call home. Friends, I have seen the future. And, I must say, it’s a little underwhelming. Rather … Read more
Keen to cure your addiction to the small screen? Alex Beattie has nine quickfire suggestions. A flash on your screen, a ‘vrrrr’ in your pocket, the universal ‘DING’. The digital world is rife with distractions, some of which are by design. Thanks to smartphones and social media, we live in an attention economy where the … Read more
Trusting machines to predict citizens’ need for targeted resources can be damaging and increase bias. New Zealand has no choice but to get onboard. When you think about it, a lot of the services the state provides are ones that you might not wish to be party to: criminal prosecution, incarceration, tax investigation, deportation, and … Read more
Jihee Junn heads along to the newly opened Tesla showroom on Auckland’s Karangahape Road. It’s a hard life being a billionaire. Just ask tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who’s been vilified over the past few days for his (unprompted) involvement in the recent Thai cave rescue mission. First, they rejected his offer to use his custom-built … 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, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week Simon talks to Hadleigh Ford of SwipedOn. If you’ve headed into an office … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Abhi Kala of Titan Ideas who’s reimagining cross-cultural storytelling through augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and mixed reality (MR) technology. ONE: How did Titan Ideas start and what was the inspiration behind it? I … Read more
Ka puta Matariki ka rare whānui, ko te tohu tēnā o te tau e! Matariki reappears, Vega starts its flight. The new year begins! Matariki is a period of reflection and renewal. An opportunity to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future. As we move into the new year, it … Read more