With eBay under fire, the Trading Post has swept in and launched its free listing auctions classified site this week, set to compete with the online shopping giant. Angus Kidman of Gusworld writes that “whether adding auctions to Trading Post will manage to establish itself is an open question, but it certainly makes the market more interesting”. The release is bad timing for eBay, as their users are still up in arms about the prospect of a PayPal only payment option. The Trading Post, on the other hand, has no enforced selling methodology, with cash-on-delivery, cheques, postal orders, bank deposits, PayPal and PayMate all being accepted. Not only that, but an Australian-based telephone support service will be available on the Trading Post. On the eBay service, there is no way of contacting eBay directly so that buyers and sellers alike are forced to deal with a US Call Centre. Meanwhile, the ACCC is yet to make a decision on eBay’s compulsory PayPal plans but will do so before June 17, when the enforcement will take place.

Nintendo has announced yet another development designed for the Wii remote, with the launch of the Nintendo Channel in Australia on Friday. Fuzzy Logic reports that “Nintendo is giving you more reasons to keep that Wii remote in your hands and TV watchers at bay”. It can be downloaded for free off the Nintendo Shop Channel, offering game and movie trailers, mini-documentaries, TV commercials and downloadable game demos for Nintendo DS owners. On top of this, the channel provides a recommendation service where players can contribute their opinion on games they have played for more than an hour. Nintendo appear to be expanding their online content with little sign of stopping any time soon.

This week, the construction shields around the first Apple store in the southern hemisphere were pulled down, inviting Sydneysiders to ‘drop in soon’. Located in the Sydney CBD on King St, the store is said to be modelled around the Apple flagship store in New York City. Pocket Mojo speculates that “the Apple store in Sydney will open on June 20 with iPhone 2.0 as the main entertainment”.

Fuzzy Logic, techAU, Pocket Mojo, ScreenPlay, Alex Kidman

Tower Blog, Online Communities, I Started Something, Frankarr, One Size Doesn’t Fit All

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Tracey Yong at tracey@espressocomms.com.au.

This week we saw an industry first, with Telstra announcing that they will be offering to sell laptops like mobile phones. Stephen Fenech from Connect writes that customers will be able to purchase a “laptop computer on a three-year plan with $0 upfront” included with 1GB of Next G mobile broadband, for $99 a month as part of the deal. The catch? The offer is only available for business owners and the laptop cannot exceed the value of $700, unless of course you are willing to pay the excess. Furthermore, if 1GB of mobile broadband is not enough, it will cost a whopping 25c for each additional MB. In Stan Beer’s words, “the $0 upfront mobile broadband laptop could end up costing $7000 or even more over three years under Telstra’s plan”.

There’s been big news in the gaming world with the launch of Nintendo’s WiiWare service in Australia this week. Instead of going to your local gaming store, customers are now able to purchase Wii games online at the Wii Shop Channel. Jason Hill from Screenplay reports that “WiiWare offers brand new titles and is an opportunity for video game developers to create innovative new games”, at a much more affordable price. Customers are also given the opportunity to comment and vote for WiiWare games, directly influencing the success or failure of each release.

In other gaming news, Activision, creator of the widely popular Guitar Hero, announced that the game’s 4^th instalment will feature drums and a microphone, on top of guitar and bass. TechAU writes “one of the amazing new features is the ability to create custom songs that are shareable with your friends through PSN or XBox Live”. Guitar Hero World Tour will also feature 8 player ‘Battle of the Bands’ and be available on all console platforms, including Wii.

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  Fuzzy Logic, Screenplay, Business and Blogging, Pocket Mojo, Mobile Mojo

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: Tower Blog, Online Communities, RSS’ing Down Under, techAU, MSFT

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Tracey Yong at tracey@espressocomms.com.au.

This week we’ve seen a flurry of excitement surrounding the highly anticipated Apple iPhone. Pocket Mojo writes that ‘the iPhone won’t be sold exclusively by one carrier’ as Optus announced that they would also be offering the product in Australia. The question of whether the iPhone will be available on the 3G network still remains unanswered. However, Pocket Mojo has posted some exciting images that give a sneak peek at possible models of the 3G iPhone.

Continuing the smartphone theme this week RIM also released the new Blackberry Bold. Fuzzy Logic comments that the release is “RIM’s attempt to deflect some attention from the upcoming 3G iPhone” but is also “the best BlackBerry yet”. It is a 3G device, also with enhanced security capabilities, multimedia functions and new in-built noise-cancellation technology designed to reduce background noise when in use. On the other hand, the email facilities still lag behind that of the iPhone. Pocket Mojo reports that the iPhone “delivers a richer email experience” than the Blackberry Bold. The BlackBerry smartphone never conveys emails in their entirety unless they are smaller than 2KB. The iPhone does not have these kinds of restrictions and always delivers emails in the full form.

In gaming news, the WiiFit was released in Australia in the last week, with Nintendo generating plenty of hype for its new innovative game. Jason Hill on Screen Play reviews the WiiFit, commenting that “Nintendo has achieved the seemingly impossible – making daily exercise actually fun”. The game works on a wireless balance board on which you perform aerobics, yoga, muscle workouts or balance games. It is designed to make you fitter, tracking your progress and determining your ‘Fit Age’. At a cost $150, the game is cheaper than a gym membership or personal trainer but it is expensive if you’re just looking for some fun.

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  Fuzzy Logic, Screenplay, PDA Guy, Mobile Mojo, Business and Blogging

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: Tower Blog, Online Communities, RSS’ing Down Under, techAU, Hey Jude

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.

This week, Vodafone’s announcement that it will sell the Apple iPhone in Australia has sent the tech world abuzz. Mobile Mojo comments that the announcement only provides a “small amount of extra clarity” about the release of the Australian iPhone. There was no mention of exclusivity, hinting that Apple planned to use several telcom carriers to launch its popular smartphone. Since the announcement, Telstra has jumped on the bandwagon, revealing that they too will be selling the iPhone in Australia in late June this year. Still Apple has not revealed an official release date. No doubt we will see a rush of announcements in the weeks to come, hopefully a little less ambiguous.

Following on from the last perspective, the eBay debate continues strong as ever. Angus Kidman of Gusworld comments on the public meeting held for sellers in Melbourne with eBay Vice-President Simon Smith. The booing began within four minutes of the meeting proceedings as sellers complained about decreased sales since the announcement to accept Paypal only payments. The meeting soon turned into a complete debacle with every defence from Simon Smith met with loud and prolonged booing. While Smith outlined all the benefits for buyers, there were scarcely any mentioned for sellers. So with an audience of worked up sellers, Smith’s speech didn’t really get very far.

In the gaming scene, Grand Theft Auto 4 has completely surpassed expectations, with the sale of 500 million copies globally in the first week. These figures beat any game in history, including Halo 3. TechBlorge reports that GTA4 “could soon become the most successful video game of all time”. Sony also appears to be reaping the rewards, selling 5 million PS3 consoles since its release and beating out the Xbox 360 sales in the European market.

Also this week, details about the release of the upgraded version of the widely successful Asus sub-notebook, Eee PC 900, were announced. Stan Beer of the Beer Files writes that “the affordable sub-notebook charge has begun in Australia”, citing the worldwide success of the original Asus Eee PC. The new version to be released at the end of May will be available for the first time on both a Microsoft and Linux platform, with the Linux version selling for $50 more and with 8GB of extra space. Stan Beer suggests the availability of a Windows XP version could mean the demise of the Linux one, as popular applications like iTunes are only compatible with Windows.

Top five journalist bloggers of the week: 
Tech Blorge, Screen Play, The PDA Guy, Business and Blogging, Mobile Mojo

 
Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week:
Tower Blog, techAU, Online Communities, RSS’ing down under, Hey Jude

 For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.