Category: Australia

Google says its free services are ‘at risk’ over Australia’s proposed law

[ad_1] Google’s YouTube blog pits large publishers like News Corp against individual creators. “Under this law, big news businesses can seek access to data about viewers’ use of our products,” it wrote. “They could use [that data to] try to appear higher in rankings on YouTube, disadvantaging all other creators.” The company added that the […]

AppleCare+ monthly plans move abroad to Canada, Japan and Australia

[ad_1] Apple first rolled out monthly payments for Applecare+ last year, but so far the service has been limited to to US. Now, Apple is expanding the program abroad to three additional countries: Japan, Australia and Canada (via MacRumors). AppleCare+ extends your regular warranty and includes accidental damage coverage. As in the US, the lump-sum […]

Google expands Play Pass to nine countries beyond the US

[ad_1] Almost a year after Google introduced Play Pass on Android, it’s expanding the game and app subscription service outside of the US. It’ll be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom this week. If you’re interested, you can check out Google Play Pass for free with […]

Google’s true wireless Pixel Buds are now available outside of the US

[ad_1] A few months after Google released its second-generation Pixel Buds in the US, they’re now on sale in some other countries. Folks in Canada, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Singapore and Spain are among those who can get their hands on them from the Google Store. Color availability varies by territory for […]

NASA upgrades Australia’s Deep Space Station for future missions to Mars

[ad_1] NASA is in the midst of upgrading Deep Space Station 43 — one of its Deep Space Network’s largest antennas located in Canberra, Australia — to prepare for future missions. The agency’s Deep Space Network is a collection of dishes that make communication with robotic spacecraft possible, and DSS 43 is the only one […]

Australia aims to launch locally-made hybrid rockets by 2022

[ad_1] Australia is increasingly keen on greater independence in spaceflight. The University of Queensland and Gilmour Space are moving forward on a domestically-made “next-generation” hybrid rocket that could start launching satellites into low Earth orbit in 2022. Crucially, all the rockets and components would be made in Australia — they wouldn’t have to lean on […]

The first ‘AI Eurovision’ song contest winner was trained on koalas

[ad_1] Other tunes are, shall we say, less than comforting. The song from runner-up Germany, Dadabots x Portrait XO’s “I’ll Marry You, Punk Come,” is about as disturbing as you’d expect from an AI trained on acapellas, death metal and a fake news generator — “extinction is the only way” isn’t exactly the feel-good lyric […]

Australia exposed data for over 774,000 migrants

[ad_1] Carelessness with data is dangerous as a general rule, but it’s particularly damaging when it affects vulnerable groups. The Australian government is facing criticism after its home affairs department left the personal details of over 774,000 existing and would-be migrants exposed online. As The Guardian observed, the country’s SkillsSelect digital platform made it all […]

Australia rolls out COVID-19 tracking app with privacy concerns

[ad_1] Germany, meanwhile, is going in the opposite direction. The country has ditched its centralized approach to COVID-19 tracking, based on Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT), in favor of a “decentralized architecture” that only stores contact data on devices. this more closely resembles the approach Apple and Google will take when their beta tracing tools […]

Australia will make Facebook and Google pay for news content

[ad_1] Internet giants are about to face more government oversight in Australia. The country has ordered its Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to create a mandatory code of conduct that would ask Facebook, Google and others to pay news outlets when they use its content. The code would also dictate data sharing, news ranking and […]