Articles

Ansearch Limited has today signed a deal to represent mapping and navigation provider NAVTEQ exclusively in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

A subsidiary company of Nokia, NAVTEQ provides all map and navigation data to every Nokia phone through its Direct Access program.

Nokia controls about 39% of the global mobile phone and devices market, and is equal in size to its four main competitors - Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG - added together.

The NAVTEQ-Ansearch deal gives Ansearch the exclusive Australasian rights to provide location based advertising for clients.

For example, banks could plot all their ATMs and branches on a map which would appear on any Nokia mobile phone or other device.

The fourth annual industrywide survey to assess year-to-year changes in SEM spending and resource allocation was announced today. It is to be conducted through early January, 2008, with preliminary results being accessible in February, 2008. A full report is expected in late Q1, 2008.

SEMPO have been surveying search marketers since the inception of the organisation. The 2007 survey will be open to all search engine marketing agency professionals, whether or not they are SEMPO members. Individuals are encouraged to log on to http://www6.intellisurvey.com/run/sempo2007 to take the survey, which will contribute to explaining the state of the market to-date.

Yahoo have reportedly failed to respond quick enough to rapid changes in the market for display ads, online banner ads and other advertisements wanted by corporate brand managers.

A disappointing couple of quarters have resulted, prompting Wall street to press for radical action, suggesting substantial layoffs and the possible sale of the company. Fortunately for Yahoo, the most recent quarter's results have bought some time for Chief Executive Jerry Yang, and has subsequently prompted a 100-day strategy review of Yahoo's businesses.

Yahoo President Susan Decker told a news conference in South Korea that the leadership that placed Yahoo ahead of competitors in the first decade was not amenable to newer market shifts.

Given this, Yahoo intend to shift their strategy away from being a media company that strives to keep audiences on site. Instead, Yahoo plan to become a technology platform that facilitates users in getting tasks done.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) is a very high-speed connection that uses the same wires as a regular telephone line. By way of contrast, naked DSL plans enable users to bypass costly line rental charges, maintaining only the broadband connection.

Australian broadband providers, including iiNet, Engin, TPG and Internode, are gearing up to launch the product as early as November of this year.

Alternative internet connections without the added cost of a landline are largely limited to either cable, which has limited coverage, or slower wireless broadband.

Farming is set to become more economical in the next two to six years with the introduction of CSIRO-developed farm sensors.

These sensors are solar-powered and are the size of a mobile phone battery. The device is designed to be attached to farm stock via a collar.

This product will be capable of producing reliable information regarding stock location utilising GPS navigation.

Motion detectors will reveal the animals activity and collect and transmit data on temperature, sunlight, plant characteristics and soil moisture.

The physiological term "singularity" refers to the the centre of a black hole, the point at which the laws of physics no longer makes sense.

This notion of singularity in terms of technological progression was discussed at a recent conference in San Francisco whereby hundreds of Silicon Valley techies and scientists from abroad gathered to discuss the ethical considerations associated smarter-than-human technologies.

The conference was titled "The Singularity Summit: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity". The task of this group was to conceptualise a future of self-programming computers and brain implants that would permit humans to think at speeds nearing those of current microprocessors.

This issue clearly calls for implemented guidelines to ensure that technological advances and processes such as these are used to benefit rather than harm society.

At the conference, a robotics professor from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology confidently asserted that once self-programming and brain implants are introduced "who is us and who is them is going to become a different question", further stating that "we and our world won't be us anymore".

Whirlpool founder Simon Wright has been accused of alleged "injurious falsehood" and is being sued by by accounting software company 2Clix Australia for for at least $150, 000 in damages.

The outcome of this court case could potentially set a precedent for the restriction of individuals' freedom of expression. This decision is significant in that it could ultimately change the nature of the the game for Australian and eventually international website operators and their users.

The Statement of Claim filed with the Supreme Court of Queensland states that there were recorded statements on the defendant's website "relating to the Plaintiff and its software" in manners that are "both false and malicious".

Two threads consisting more than 30 posts were reportedly published on the Whirlpool forum between late last year and July this year including, amongst others, the following posts taken directly from the statement: