Mr Morgan also advised that Pacific Fibre have set a timeframe on closing their financing – the raising of capital required for building their fibre optic cable across the pacific – linking the United States, New Zealand and Australia. “We have had great engagement with global institutional funds and are now bringing our fundraising to a close” said Mr Morgan. “We expect to announce completion in mid-June.”

The biggest part of the news was confirmation of a 2014 opening of the the new cable in Sydney. Its anticipated that Pacific Fibre’s launch will help reduce the price (and improve the speed) of internet connectivity between New Zealand, Australian and the United States.

“We will be cutting the ribbon on a new trans-Pacific cable in Sydney on July 16^th 2014 – introducing a more competitive market for international bandwidth and helping the NBN to deliver on the promise of vastly better connectivity.”

In highlighting the importance of the new undersea fibre optic cable, Pacific Fibre noted that the volume of data downloaded by Australians doubled between 2010 and 2011.

The Pacific Fibre cable will be of significant benefit to the long term success of New Zealand’s Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative – and Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN).

Good news for those interested making a start (or a step up) in an IT Support career. Gorilla Technology (Auckland, New Zealand) is looking for a keen and enthusiastic person to join our team at a junior level. Could that be you?

Potential

We’re looking for someone who both learns technical things quickly and has great people skills. That person might already working in IT support or maybe they have just finished studying. It’s possible they are currently in a role at a call centre, or working at a retailer. All that doesn’t matter too much – one thing we are looking for is potential.

If you’re just looking for ‘another job’ then this probably isn’t the role for you. At Gorilla we work differently from other companies and we’re looking for someone who stands out from the crowd and is ready to grow.

The Gorilla Way

There is much to Gorilla’s special sauce (we call it ‘The Gorilla Way’) that differentiates us. From an employee perspective you’ll benefit from:
• Being part of a tight knit and friendly team who work closely together – supporting and learning from each other while sharing knowledge and ideas
• Working with the newest and best technologies available. As part of ‘The Gorilla Way’ we use the freshest technologies to make ourselves and our customers more successful. Currently we’re testing both Windows 8 and Apple OS X Mountain Lion in-house.
• Huge growth potential - most people move ahead faster than the industry standard for career development whilst at Gorilla

Skills

Skills that would be beneficial for you to bring to the table include:
• Great people skills and an ability to communicate with people at all levels
• Technical skills – such as: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008/R2, Mac OS X, Exchange Server 2007/2010, Forefront TMG Server, Cisco, Firewalls, TCP/IP, iOS, Linux

At Gorilla though, we don’t believe in technology for technology’s sake – using it has to make business sense so our team learn business and communication skills too. That helps them relate the benefits of great technology to our clients.

What next?

Note that applicants will need a drivers license and their own vehicle. If you’re keen to come aboard with Gorilla Technology then drop us a line with a covering letter and your CV and forward it to: careers@gorillatechnology.com

In a discussion with Orcon at their UFB pricing announcement this week I was advised that UFB should pass 50,000 homes, businesses and schools by mid-2012 and this is expected to increase to pass as many 125,000 properties by mid-2013. To check if your home, office or school is one of the lucky ones jump to the Chorus Fibre availability map, or visit the NZ UFB page on the NZ Tech Podcast website.

This morning Microsoft have made the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (something we’d usually called a beta) available for download. You can locate it here and it’s available in both 32-bit and 64-bit variations.

This release is a jump forward from the Windows 8 Developer Preview made available last year. It’s likely that Windows 8 Consumer Preview will be made the primary operating system for many technology enthusiasts.

Windows 8 marks the first step away from the Windows desktop and start menu which was introduced with Windows 95 some 17 years ago. This release includes a ‘touch first’ interface that designed to be equally functional on tablets, laptops and desktop computers.

There are numerous new features that make use of the new user interface which draws from the Metro design language that Windows Phone has become known for. Also included is the Windows Store – a place to find and download apps.

Minimum system requirements are:

• 1 GHz or faster processor
• 1 GB RAM (32-bit install) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit install)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit install) or 20 GB (64-bit install)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
• 1024 x 768 minimum screen resolution (or 1366x768 for the Snap feature)

(More information to follow)

Stay tuned to the NZ Tech Podcast as we’ll be featuring Windows 8 heavily on the next episode.

This special edition of the NZ Tech Podcast features interviews from Webstock 2012. Paul Spain spoke with guests Raffi Krikorian (Twitter), Scott Hanselman (Microsoft) and Derek Handley (The Hyperfactory). He also chatted with Tim Fraser and Jeremy Geros from GoVocab who won the BNZ Startup Alley competition featured at Webstock.

Would you like to join the NZ Tech Podcast live? Most Tuesday evenings around 6pm or thereabouts we join with Geekzone for a live audio stream from the studio and a hosted chat room. Details here.

Get the Podcast here:

• Listen to Episode 57 directly
• Subscribe and listen via iTunes
• Subscribe and listen via Zune
• RSS Feed

Please look out for the latest NZ Tech Podcast updates via Twitter @NZTechPodcast, the NZTechPodcast.com website and facebook page.

As first mover WorldNet have an opportunity to dictate initial pricing in the market. Based on WorldNet’s ADSL pricing plans compared with other ISPs it’s likely there will be some variance when others start announcing pricing soon.

WorldNet (Auckland, Christchurch) – residential UFB packages:

1. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 10G data, 1 phone line: $69.95
2. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 50G data, 1 phone line: $79.95
3. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 100G data, 1 phone line: $89.95
4. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 150G data, 1 phone line: $99.95
5. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 200G data, 1 phone line: $109.95
6. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 250G data, 1 phone line: $119.95
7. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 300G data, 1 phone line: $129.95

WorldNet (Auckland, Christchurch) – business UFB packages:

1. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 50G data, 1 phone line: $99
2. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 100G data, 1 phone line: $119
3. 30Mb/s (down), 10Mb/s (up), 200G data, 1 phone line: $189
4. 100Mb/s (down), 50Mb/s (up), 350G data: $299
5. 100Mb/s (down), 50Mb/s (up), 550G data: $439

Pricing for Whangarei has been available for sometime as UFB has been available in the region since last year.

Ubergroup (Whangarei) – residential and business UFB packages:

1. 50Mb/s (up/down), 150GB data, 1 phone line: $99
2. 50Mb/s (up/down), 250GB data, 1 phone line: $199

More detailed coverage can be found on the original NZ Tech Podcast page covering UFB in NZ. Also, be sure to check out NZ Tech Podcast – Episode 43 where John Greenhough – CTO of Crown Fibre Holdings was interviewed.

It’s clear from market statistics that Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android are the predominant smartphone platforms currently. But if the buzz at CES is anything to go by, Windows Phone will soon emerge as a strong contender to sit alongside these brands and associated ecosystems.

So how with its small market share how did Windows Phone come out as the winner at CES? It would have seemed unlikely heading into CES – particularly as there were dozens of other products vying for attention - from new cars (Ford launched the 2013 Fusion/Mondeo at CES), to dozens of Android tablets and handsets, OLED TVs, Ultrabooks amongst others.

Summing up why Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform got so much attention at CES is actually simple: Windows Phone is ready in just about every way. To break that down a little more there are five areas where it stands out:

1. Ecosystem – In the US at least, Microsoft have built a broad ecosystem around Windows Phone (and their other platforms). Music, Video, Xbox Live Gaming, Bing Search, Maps and more. Microsoft assures me this ecosystem will continue to expand globally in 2012.
2. Native compatibility - Windows Phone naturally ties closely with Xbox and Windows. These are the world’s top gaming, entertainment and computing platforms. And built in compatibility with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft Office, Exchange Server and Microsoft’s cloud offerings are second to none.
3. Wow factor – the newest Windows Phones have it, particularly the Nokia Lumia 900, it’s sibling the Lumia 800 and some handsets from HTC and Samsung.
4. Ease of Use – this is probably the easiest mobile platform to use right now. Most people would expect Apple to get that crown, but Microsoft are in the process of reinventing the touch user interface with Metro – a ‘design language’ that will soon span Windows Phone, Xbox 360 and Windows 8. If you’re using another platform and don’t believe me I suggest you try out a Windows Phone handset loaded with your email, contacts and social networks.
5. Nokia – Microsoft’s partnership with Nokia is invaluable. Though Nokia lost market share in recent years their brand still carries a lot of weight and they still sell more mobile phones than anyone else. When Nokia came to CES with the Lumia 900, pro journalists, bloggers and podcasters alike took notice. It’s a gorgeous Windows Phone 4G handset featuring a beautiful large screen, Carl Zeiss cameras and bundled apps that are actually useful.

To be fair, Windows Phone isn’t perfect yet, though neither are the other mobile platforms. It’s main shortcoming is missing apps. The current pool of 50,000+ apps meets most needs – but if you’ve been using another platform there is a chance one or more of your favourite apps isn’t launched on Windows Phone just yet.

Longer term missing apps should be less of a problem as analysts predict that Windows Phone will be more popular than the iPhone by sometime in 2015. And when popularity arrives, so do apps.

Despite a few shortcoming I see Windows Phone as the winner of CES 2012. Now when will Vodafone, Telecom and 2degrees launch some new Windows Phones into the NZ market? (Apparently very soon in the case of Vodafone and Telecom)

You can catch more coverage of CES 2012 by listening to recent episodes of the NZ Tech Podcast. For more on Windows Phone visit Windows Phone NZ.

Good news - Gorilla Technology is looking for a keen and enthusiastic person to join our team. Could that be you?

I’m looking for someone who both learns technical things quickly and has great people skills.

If you’re just looking for ‘another job’ then this probably isn’t the role for you. At Gorilla we work differently from other companies and we’re looking for someone who stands out from the crowd.

There is much to Gorilla’s special sauce (we call it ‘The Gorilla Way’) that differentiates us. From an employee perspective you’ll benefit from:
• Being part of a tight knit and friendly team who work closely together – supporting and learning from each other while sharing knowledge and ideas
• Working with the newest and best technologies available. As part of ‘The Gorilla Way’ we leverage fresh technology to make ourselves and our customers more successful. As an example virtually all of our PC users run Windows 7 (and naturally we work with Mac too). And in-house we’re testing Windows 8.
• Huge growth potential - most people move ahead faster than the industry standard for career development whilst at Gorilla
At Gorilla though, we don’t believe in technology for technology’s sake – using it has to make business sense so we teach all our staff about business and communication so we can relate the benefits to our clients.
Attributes you must have:
• Permit to work in NZ
• Great spoken and written English
• Ability to start within 4 weeks
• Experience in the Auckland arena

Skills that would be beneficial for you to bring to the table include:
• Great people skills and an ability to communicate with people at all levels
• Technical skills: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008/R2, Mac OS X, Exchange Server 2007/2010, ISA/TMG Server, Cisco, Firewalls, TCP/IP
Note that applicants will need a drivers license and their own vehicle.

If this sounds like you, please drop us a line with a covering letter and your CV to: careers2011@gorillatechnology.com

Episode 36 sees the NZ Tech Podcast speak with NZ’s world beating Free Range Robotics team and remember Apple founder Steve Jobs who sadly passed away last week.

Other highlights covered include the Apple iPhone 4s, the new Facebook app for iPad, Sony’s Netflix box and a review of the HD Homerun.

As usual you will find our latest updates via Twitter @NZTechPodcast, the NZTechPodcast.com website and our facebook page.

Get the Podcast here:

• Listen to Episode 36 directly
• Subscribe and listen via iTunes
• Subscribe and listen via Zune
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In this special episode of the NZ Tech Podcast two of NZ’s most experienced social media strategists. Piero Liguori (ex 2degrees) and Tom Bates (Contagion, ex Air NZ) joined Paul Spain to discuss a range of topics. High on the agenda was the new Facebook including new features such as Facebook Timeline and associated privacy concerns. And we pondered what opportunity Google+ has since opening up the beta gates so anyone can join without an invite.

General news topics this week included discussion of the Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 5.0 (Android), Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) and we discuss November iPhone 5 availability in New Zealand.

And The Onion’s ‘Facebook CIA Project’ was a point of entertainment – if you haven’t seen it before this is well worth a quick watch.

Video discussed during NZ Tech Podcast episode 34: Facebook CIA Project

You can stay tuned for latest NZ Tech Podcast updates via Twitter @NZTechPodcast, the NZTechPodcast.com website and the facebook page.

Get the Podcast here:

• Listen to Episode 34 directly
• Subscribe and listen via iTunes
• Subscribe and listen via Zune
• RSS Feed