Author: Stephen Fenech

The interest around the iPhone X could not be higher and harks back to the time when we were waiting for the arrival of the very first iPhone. That’s the sort of anticipation there is for this device. And the iPhone X certainly doesn’t disappoint. It is a massive departure from what we usually get from an iPhone. For a start, the home button that’s been a fixture of the device for 10 years, is gone. And in its place, is even more real estate for the dazzling 5.8-inch Super Retina display. It goes edge to edge and is one…

Stay updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news and review with Episode 272 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech. On this week’s show, the iPhone X pre-orders kick off – and not everyone is happy, David Jones unveils its new premium technology zones and we take a long drive in a Tesla without getting battery anxiety. In the Tech Guide reviews we check out the Fitbit Ionic sport watch, BlackBerry unveils the KEYone Black Edition and Telstra re-invents messaging for Android users. In the Tech Guide Help Desk, we troubleshoot an issue for…

Boost Mobile, one of Australia’s leading prepaid providers, has just unveiled a range of new Anytime Plus plans which will offer customers as much as 24GB of data per month. Data hungry customers will enjoy a Double Data offer to allow them to stream more content on the move. New customers can enjoy double data on the first two recharges on plans of $30 or more if they activate their SIM card before February 6, 2018. Customers on the $30 plans and above will also be able to roll over any unused data into the next month. The $30 plan…

We’ve heard of battery anxiety when it comes to smartphones. But what about the battery anxiety when taking a Tesla electric car on a long drive for a weekend away? This was our challenge when we drove the Tesla Model X to the Hunter Valley to attend the Midnight Oil concert at Hope Estate. We decided to make a weekend of it so we packed up the Model X and headed off. The Tesla Model X P100D has the same wheelbase and motors as the Model S P100D that we drove a few months ago. You still get the instant…

David Jones from next week will offer its customers a premium technology experience so they can get their hands, eyes and ears on a selection of the world’s most premium tech and audio/visual brands. The store is taking a new and innovative approach to its technology offerings which will be showcased as lifestyle and fashion items rather than focusing on the “speeds and feeds”. There will be premium technology zones in eight key stores across Australia with highly-trained staff offering expert advice. The goal is to give customers the opportunity to experience innovation as lifestyle technology and be shown how…

Fitbit has made quite a name for itself and dominated the fitness tracker market but now the company has moved into the smartwatch space with the impressive new Fitbit Ionic. The device brings most of the features and data from the excellent Fitbit app and brings them to your wrist in living colour. And like the Fitbit trackers, Ionic can count your steps, tell you how many calories you’ve burnt and also tell you how well you slept. It has also added several fitness features like built-in GPS, a heart-rate monitor and the ability to load music and hear it…

The iPhone X is now available to pre-order ahead of its November 3 release and Tech Guide has rounded up every plan from every telco to make it easier for you to choose the price and plan that suits you. Telstra and Optus both offer plans to either buy or lease the phone over 24 months while Vodafone has contracts that allow customers to pay off the phone in 12 months, 24 months or 36 months. The iPhone X has a 5.8-inch edge to edge screen with no home button so it uses Face ID to unlock the device. WATCH…

Pre-order stock for Apple’s highly-anticipated iPhone X has sold out within minutes after eager customers flooded the Apple website and telco sites to reserve their device ahead of the next week’s launch. Customers were able to pre-order from 6.01pm online and within minutes the estimated delivery time was already moving out to 4-5 weeks. But some customers were angered when sites crashed under the weight of pre-orders while the Apple Store and Apple Store app weren’t available until seven minutes after the 6.01pm pre-order time. The most popular version of the iPhone X initially was the 256GB model and it…

Samsung has added a touch of colour to the Galaxy Note8 by introducing the eye-catching Coral Blue version. Tech Guide had the chance to meet the designers who came up with the look and colours of the Note8 on our recent trip to the Samsung headquarters in Seoul. We spoke with Jiyoung Lee, Product Designer and Sae-Hee Lee, Colour Material and Finish (CMF) for Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications through an interpreter. Coral Blue is one of the colours, along with black, gold and grey, offered for the Note8. Australian customers can now purchase the Coral Blue Note8 now for $1,499…

The BlackBerry KEYone has been a huge success with the original model sold out in Australia. But the good news is BlackBerry has just released a stylish new KEYone Black Edition. And the device delivers the trademark features of BlackBerry that redefined mobility including sleek design, a physical keyboard and industry-leading security. The new BlackBerry KEYone has black aluminium frame and a matte black finish with a soft grip texture. It has a stunning 4.5-inch touchscreen display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. Under the hood the new Black Edition of the BlackBerry KEYone also has some improvements from the silver…

Telstra is reinventing the humble SMS message that’s been connecting Australians for more than 25 years with a smarter service for the latest Android devices to keep it relevant to today’s users. Telstra Messaging uses a new standard called Rich Communication Services (RCS) and introduces features more commonly seen in other popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Features like group chat, file sharing and read receipts will now be part of Telstra Messaging which will effectively combine traditional SMS, MMS, chat and even voicemail in a single messaging thread. Telstra Messaging also changes the way we receive voicemail.…

Join Tech Guide editor Stephen Fenech and EFTM’s Trevor Long – the Two Blokes Talking Tech –  as they dissect the week’s biggest stories and products in Episode 320 of the podcast. On this week’s show, we have a frank discussion about the NBN, where it is failing, where it is succeeding and where it can be improved. The blokes also talk about Telstra TV, Epson’s EcoTank printers and the NRL’s international streaming deal. Also on the program, Domino’s deliver anywhere, the FitBit Ionic smartwatch and Sony’s latest noise cancelling wire-free headphones. You can listen to the show right here…

Swann, already a well-known brand when it comes to security, has just unveiled its new wire-free Smart Security Camera to make it even easier to keep an eye on your home from anywhere. The Swann wire-free Smart Security Camera provides full high definition 1080p video so it can easily capture things like faces and car number plates. It also has a wide 120-degree viewing angle and night vision so you’re not going to miss a thing day or night The Swann camera is fully weatherproof with an IP65 rating which means it can be used inside and outside. The cameras…

Samsung has released a new rugged tablet – the Galaxy Tab Active2 – that’s built to handle being used outdoors and in industries like transportation, public safety, construction and manufacturing. Not all of us use our tablets in the comfort of our homes or aboard an aircraft so Samsung has stepped up with the Galaxy Tab Active2 which incorporates most of the features from its regular tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab Active2 is powered by the Android operating system and has an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 along with fingerprint security and S Pen capabilities so…

The NBN has unveiled new broadband technology called G.fast which can provide seriously fast speeds over the much-maligned copper lines that make up part of the national network. The announcement comes just days after widespread criticism of the NBN and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull labelling it a “massive waste of money”. This new G.fast technology will be deployed in 2018 and could address the customer concern that old copper wires aren’t up to the task for a high-speed network. G.fast can be used with FTTB (fibre to the building) and FTTC (fibre to the curb) where the fibre connection is…

If you’re tired of having to constantly replace your inkjet cartridges then Epson has the solution after launching its latest EcoTank printer range which included enough ink to last two years. The new line-up, which has twice the yield of its predecessors, include the Expression EcoTank home models, the WorkForce EcoTank printers for small to medium businesses as well as two new photo printers. Each of these multifunction printers include integrated ink tanks which can be filled easily with the included ink bottles which will last two years before the tanks need a refill. “Existing EcoTank models have an ink tank design…

Do you want to help fight cancer in your sleep? Well, you can by putting your smartphone to work for the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the Vodafone Foundation. It all starts by downloading the Dream Lab app, available for iOS and Android, which combines the processing power of Australian smartphones connected to the internet. This set-up creates the world’s first distributed supercomputer working on cancer research. Users can get started by donating the power of their smartphone while they’re sleeping. The aim of the Garvan Institute and the Vodafone Foundation is to get one million Australians to download…

Tune in to Episode 271 of the top-rating Tech Guide podcast, hosted by editor Stephen Fenech, to stay updated and educated about the latest consumer tech news and reviews. On this week’s show – the NBN labelled “a massive waste of money” by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the new 4K Telstra TV and Amaysim enters the energy business. In Tech Guide reviews, we take a look at the TravelGuard products that can protect you from credit card skimmers, Samsung’s latest smart appliances and the latest Star Wars gadgets for young Jedis. In the Tech Guide Help Desk, we talk about…

There’s a lot of finger pointing going on when it comes to the NBN. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says it’s all Labor’s fault and that the NBN was set up the wrong way with billions of dollars wasted. And today if a customer complains about their NBN service the telco blames the NBN and the NBN blames the telco. And the customer is still stuck with the problem and paying for speeds they’re just not getting. It was Malcolm Turnbull – when he was Communications Minister after the Coalition came to power in 2013 – who put the kybosh on…

Telstra has launched the latest version of its Telstra TV device which can bring together free-to-air TV, subscription TV and on-demand streaming into one unit which is capable of displaying 4K HDR content. The new Telstra TV will be available to Telstra fixed broadband customers from October 31. It is a Roku-powered device like the original which sold more than a million units – outselling Apple TV and Chromecast. And as well as bringing together lots of content in one place, the new Telstra TV includes a handy universal search feature that runs across all streams and catch-up services so…