Author: Stephen Fenech

Sonnen’s promise to customers to reduce their electricity bills to $0 is already underway with the first Australian residential installations of the SonnenFlat system by Natural Solar. The German battery-maker, in conjunction with Natural Solar – Australia’s leading solar and battery installer, has plans to turn houses around Australia into one huge connected power station with SonnenFlat. SonnenFlat systems have already been installed in the company’s home country of Germany as well as across Europe in more than 30,000 homes. The first people in Australia to have a SonnenFlat system installed is the Ridey family from North Ryde in NSW.…

Start your weekend right with Episode 322 of the Two Blokes Talking Tech podcast where Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long break down the biggest tech news of the week. On this week’s show, Telstra to refund customers after over-selling the NBN, Foxtel unveils the Foxtel Now box and RMIT University partners with Apple to offer app development as a course. Also on the show, we run our eye over the Call of Duty: WWII game, the new Family Link that helps parents keep an eye on their child’s device and German battery-maker Sonnen’s plans to lower…

Lucasfilm has announced there will be an all-new Star Wars trilogy set in a galaxy far, far away which will be written and directed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson. The new trilogy will reportedly involve the new characters introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens including Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren and Poe Dameron. It is understood the new films will be separate to the episodic Skywalker saga and will introduce a whole cast of new characters from an area of the Star Wars universe that is yet to be explored. Johnson wrote and directed Star Wars…

Apple has revealed a major update with its Clips app which makes it possible to create amazing 360-degree selfies against a background and locations including aboard the Millennium Falcon. The Selfie Scenes takes advantage of the TrueDepth camera system on the iPhone X so it can place you in a bustling city, a beautiful landscape and in the Star Wars universe onboard the Millennium Falcon and a Mega-Destroyer from the upcoming film Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Each scene provides a full 360-degree experience so you’re literally surrounded on all sides no matter how you move your iPhone. The scenes…

When the iPhone was introduced in 2007, little did we know it would spark an incredible boom as developers turned their skills to creating apps. And now you will be able to study it at university following Apple’s global expansion of its Everyone Can Code initiative. RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia’s largest higher education institution, will now add App Development with Swift to its curriculum in one of the broadest deployments of the course in the world. It is a full year course created by Apple’s engineers and educators to teach app design and coding to students of all levels.…

Kogan has released its latest affordable smartphone – the Agora 8 Plus – which gives customers on an entry-level budget the option of having a feature-packed device. The Agora 8 Plus has a Gorilla Glass scratch-resistant 5.5-inch full high definition 1080p screen and has a dual SIM card slot so you can have both a private and work number in the same device. One of the slots can support 4G while the secondary SIM is limited to 3G. Kogan’s Agora 8 Plus has a fingerprint reader on the rear panel for added security and is powered by an octa-core processor.…

Panasonic has unveiled its latest creation – the Lumix G9 – a camera aimed at the professional and enthusiast photographer that has new best-in-class features to deliver stunning images. The Lumix G9 has improved in four main areas – responsiveness, image quality, precise operability and mobility. The Lumix G9 is Panasonic’s latest product in its mirrorless category it is compact enough to become a valuable travel companion. It is also designed for you never to miss a moment thanks to the fastest in class burst shooting at 20 frames per second (AFC)/60 fps in 20-megapixel full resolution including RAW. There…

Foxtel has just revealed the Foxtel Now box – a device that makes it easier to stream your favourite programs and sport from service on the best screen in the house – the TV in your lounge room. The Foxtel Now box is a compact product that can be connected to your TV to stream Foxtel Now content including live or on demand programming in high definition. The unit also has a built-in tuner so you can watch all your free to air channels through the box as well. Customers with a Foxtel Now subscription can already enjoy the world’s…

Telstra will be providing a refund for more than 42,000 customers who were sold NBN internet plans which promised speeds that their NBN connection was simply not capable of delivering. The ACCC has accepted Telstra’s decision to improve information provided to customers after it was revealed the telco was found to have misled customers on the actual capabilities of their connection. Telstra pointed out not all customers can receive the maximum speeds on the NBN especially at the higher 100Mbps tier sold by NBN Co to retailers like Telstra because the technology used in the NBN rollout might not be…

Improving connectivity in our home is always an important mission for customers everywhere and Netgear has introduced a product that utilises your power lines for a fast connection. The Netgear Powerline Wi-Fi is a simple plug-in solution that uses your home’s electrical wiring to link to your modem or router. The product consists of two adapters – a powerline adapter that connects to your modem or router and a second device plugged into another room in your home that can then connect to the product. For example, your modem might be located in a room at the front of the…

Twitter has expanded tweets from the previous limit of 140 characters and doubled it to 280 characters from today to make it easier for users to express themselves and tweet more often. The move comes after a trial launched in September which offered a small group of people, including this writer, the ability to write longer tweets. The attraction of Twitter since it was launched more than 10 years ago, was brevity – short and sharp tweets which gave the user no choice but to get to the point. But Twitter found this was a turnoff for lots of people…

Stay updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news, reviews and interviews with Episode 273 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast hosted by Stephen Fenech. On this week’s show, we give our verdict on the iPhone X and also play some VoiceBytes from our listeners who also share their thoughts on Apple’s popular new device. Also on the show we chat with Sonnen CEO Phillip Schroeder about the German battery maker’s plans for Australia and how we can use solar and battery to reduce our electricity bills to $0. In the Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at…

German battery-maker Sonnen has big plans for Australia – it wants to help customers pay $0 for their electricity and it’s also thinking of opening a factory to build its storage solutions and create jobs. Phillip Schroeder, Sonnen’s CEO, was in Australia recently and spoke to Tech Guide about the opportunities that exist here. “We see a big opportunity for Australia,” Mr Schroeder said. “We’re even considering at the moment to build a factory here in Australia to create jobs. “Australia could be a role model for other electricity and energy markets because you have the highest per capita penetration…

Call of Duty WWII is the latest instalment of the blockbuster franchise and it has gone back to its roots with a stunning game set in the European theatre of the Second World War. The game’s storyline follows the progress of the allies from the unforgettable storming of the beach in Normandy and doing battle all the way to Paris and into Germany. COD: WWII is a welcome return for players with the game going back to where it all started. And Sledgehammer Games and Raven, the title’s publishers, have captured perfectly the gritty, boots on the ground battles with…

We know Nespresso as the creator of portioned coffee in pods that allows customers to make quality espresso at home. Now Nespresso has introduced Vertuo – a new way to make great-tasting coffee. Nespresso’s popularity is a combination of its pods and range of machines designed to extract decent coffee. But now the company is taking that to the next level with Vertuo – a system that uses different shaped pods in a variety of sizes. Australians love espresso based coffees like cappuccinos and lattes but Nespresso also discovered nearly half of Australians (47 per cent) prefer to drink larger…

OK, so you’ve just bought Apple’s new iPhone X – a device that is all screen on the front and with a glass rear panel – so it would a good idea to buy a case to protect your investment. The iPhone X went on sale yesterday with Australia one of the first countries in the world to be able to purchase it. READ TECH GUIDE’S COMPLETE iPHONE X REVIEW AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMERS FIRST IN THE WORLD TO BUY iPHONE X Tech Guide has rounded up the most popular cases for the iPhone X which come in various styles and sizes.…

Anyone who gets their hands on the new iPhone X will notice one little that’s missing – the home button. But don’t worry – despite it being a feature of the iPhone for 10 years – you won’t miss it. There’s not even a virtual home button symbol on the display as we’ve seen with other smartphones that have opted to go full screen and remove all the buttons from the front of the device. What you need to do is learn a few new gestures and you’ll be able to navigate the iPhone X like a pro. We’re going…

Australians customers became the first in the world to get their hands on the highly anticipated iPhone X with customers camping outside Apple’s Sydney store for up to 10 days to buy it. There were more than 500 people in the line before the store doors swung open at 8am to loud cheering and clapping. Because of the time difference, Australian customers got a 16-hour headstart over the US. It was the same story outside the Apple Store in Bondi where there were more than 150 people waiting for the store to open. READ TECH GUIDE’S iPHONE X REVIEW The…

Alcatel has just released the PLUS 12, the company’s first 2-in-1 connected tablet powered by Windows 10 in Australia, to give users a mobile office that’s both sleek and affordable. The device has a 12-inch full high definition display with 4GB RAM and 32GB of onboard memory that’s expandable to 128GB. The Alcatel PLUS 12 is available now through Vodafone for $558 or from $35 a month on a 24-month data plan. Customers who purchase the PLUS 12 on a plan will also receive a free Pocket WiFi hotspot. It is powered by the Intel Celeron N3350 processor and includes…

Natural Solar, Australia’s largest solar and battery installer has closed a $90m distribution deal with Sonnen – the world’s largest producer of battery storage systems – to enter the Philippines and Malaysia – the fastest growing renewable energy markets in the world. Over the next two years, more than 10,000 combined solar and battery storage systems are expected to be installed in these countries. The move is a coup for Natural Solar and Sonnen and the whole global renewable energy markets. In the Philippines and Malaysia, solar market growth has experienced between 200-300 per cent year-on-year growth during the last…