Tag Archives: australia

Qantas Launches New iPhone App With Passbook Support

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Australian airline Qantas has always been quick to embrace new technology. Back in October 2010, it became one of the first airlines to offer iPads as in-flight entertainment systems, and one of the first to embrace Passbook last November.

Today the company launched a new iPhone app that allows users to search and book flights, find accommodation  and store digital boarding passes in Passbook.

The app’s called Qantas Airways, and it’s a free download from the App Store. It boasts a ton of features that frequent flyers will love, such as the ability to search for the best fares and book flights, and create personalized alerts that will notify you whenever there are sales or offers, or when fare pries fall below your “preferred price.”

Once you’ve booked your flight, the app provides you with a digital boarding pass that you can store within Passbook. You can also use the app to book over 100,000 hotels worldwide, access up-to-the-minute flight status, and view your frequent flyer points balance from the home screen.

If you’re a Qantas customer, the app is sure to enhance your flying experience.

Apple launched Passbook last September alongside iOS 6, and although a number of big companies have supported it, adoption has still been fairly slow — particularly outside of the United States. Qantas is one of the few international companies to have embraced it.

Source: App Store

Via: AppAdvice

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Apple opening two new Australian stores, in Melbourne and Adelaide

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melbourneApple has announced that it’s opening a new store in Melbourne on Saturday, based in the Highpoint Shopping Centre in the western suburbs. While the company already has five stores in the State of Victoria, this is the first in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city …

Highpoint is a major shopping centre, with 500 stores serving over 15 million shoppers a year. Deliberately or not, the store is said to be located directly above a Samsung Experience store, modelled heavily on Apple Store designs.

Macnn reports that Apple is also believed to be close to opening its Adelaide store:

594986-harris-scarfe-site

The store was reportedly delayed after the local planning authority rejected Apple’s initial designs almost a year ago, describing them in an Adelaide Now report as ‘unimaginative’ and ‘slavish’.

The state’s peak planning body has rejected a revised ground-floor design for the new $384 million Rundle Place shopping centre – on the old Harris Scarfe site – after it was changed to fit specific shopfront requirements of an “international brand tenant” who will “be a significant drawcard to Rundle Mall” …

In his own submission to the DAC against the changes, the state Planning Department’s chief architect Philippe Mortier criticised the building design as putting “the manicured world image ahead of local amenity” and that it was an “unimaginative and disappointing slavish application of generic corporate style”.

Revised designs were apparently approved. Adelaide will be Apple’s 20th store in the country. Apple now has over 400 stores worldwide, with its US stores generating more revenue per square foot than any other retailer.



Apple Blames High Australian iTunes Prices On Music & Movie Labels

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iPad-australia

Back in February, the Australian parliament demanded explanations from Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft over the prices charged for their products down under, with some goods costing as much as 70% more than they do in the United States. Apple has today responded to the inquiry, but don’t expect the Cupertino company to be reducing its prices anytime soon.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Apple Australia boss Tony King “blamed ‘old-fashioned notions’ of record labels, movie studios and TV networks for inflated prices of digital media paid by Australians on the iTunes store,” which sometimes leads to mark-ups of over 70%.

“The pricing of this digital content is based on the wholesale prices which are set through negotiated contracts with the record labels, movie studios and TV networks,” said King. ”In Australia, they have often set a higher wholesale price than the price of similar content in the United States.”

King also argued that the price of Apple’s iTunes content in Australia was comparable to prices from other Australian online stores, which proves competitors are offered the same wholesale pricing.

Labor MP Ed Husic probed King over Apple’s ability to influence the price of digital content, given the stature of the company, but King maintained that “the cards are in the hands of the folks who own the content.”

But what about hardware? Apple can’t blame content providers for that, but there are other factors the company must take into account, including freight charges, local sales taxes, import duties, competition, and local laws regarding advertised prices. What’s more, it also had to contend with exchange rates.

Sometimes devices may appear like they cost more in Australia than they do in the U.S. because of exchange rate fluctuations. But King said that based on last week’s exchange rates, the difference in price on Apple’s entire range of Macs, iPhones, iPads, and iPods was on average just 5%.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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Apple under fire from governments in both hemispheres over alleged anti-competitive practices

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Apple may face an anti-trust investigation in Europe over its iPhone contracts with carriers as it defends itself against separate investigations for alleged price gouging in Australia.

Apple was informed last year that it would be required to attend a hearing by Australia’s Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications to explain why its pricing of digital content was higher in Australia than in the United States. The hearing is now underway, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, with Apple asked to explain why content sold through iTunes is marked up between 30 and 70 percent higher than in the U.S. Apple is blaming wholesale pricing agreements in the country.

“The pricing of this digital content is based on the wholesale prices which are set through negotiated contracts with the record labels, movie studios and TV networks,” said Mr King, who is Apple’s vice president for Australia, New Zealand and South Asia.

“In Australia, they have often set a higher wholesale price than the price of similar content in the United States.” Mr King said in the digital age “the content industry still runs with perhaps old-fashioned notions of country borders or territories or markets” … He said the price of digital content sold on iTunes in Australia was “comparable to other Australian physical and online stores” and this indicated competitors were offered similar wholesale pricing.

The hearing is looking at Australian pricing across the IT sector, with Microsoft and Adobe also in the dock. Apple’s hardware pricing has also come under fire, though price premiums there have been found to be in the more modest 3 to 10 percent range once taxes and currency differences are accounted for.

Meantime, The New York Times reported that the European Union is considering whether Apple’s contracts with European phone carriers may contravene anti-trust regulations. Several French carriers have reportedly submitted details about their contracts with Apple, although no formal complaints have yet been filed, forcing them to commit to buying large volumes of iPhones if they wish to sell them at all. It is suggested that pressure to sell all of this stock results in carriers pushing iPhones to consumers who might otherwise have been offered competitor handsets.

Some of Apple’s competitors complain that the big purchases Apple requires from carriers strongly pressure them to devote most of their marketing budgets to the iPhone, leaving little money to promote competing devices, said an executive at one of Apple’s rivals, who declined to be named to avoid jeopardizing carrier relationships.

The EC competition commission said only that it was “monitoring the situation,” and the next step is likely to be informal discussions with carriers and Apple before any formal proceedings are considered.



The Apple Vs. Samsung Case In Australia Is So Big It Needs Two Judges

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iPhone-4S-with-Galaxy-S-III

Apple and Samsung have been exchanging blows with each other in the Australian courtroom for the past two years. Neither side has emerged as a clear favorite to win, but the case is already breaking records.

Because of the enormity of the case, Australia’s Federal Court has appointed two judges to hear the case together. It’s the first time Australia’s Federal Court has ever needed to have two judges hear a case together.

The Australian court system usually relies on one judge to hear a case, and then if there is a disagreement on ruling and reasons, panels of an odd number of judges will sort out the rest.

Justice Annabelle Bennett, who has heard the case since it began in 2011, was joined on Monday for the first time by Justice David Yates. The two judge’s task will be sift through the complex pile of patents and filings to determine who infringed whom.

In AFR’s report, Watermark senior associate lawyer, Mark Summerfield, said the case is unprecedented in its length and complexity.

“It’s got to be far and away the most complicated [case] that’s ever been heard before the Federal Court. Nobody who’s ever litigated in this country has ever had deep enough pockets to just try to drive each other into the ground.”

Apple is suing Samsung for infringing on 19 of its patents, on a total of 120 grounds, that include nine smartphones and two tablets. Samsung claims that Apple infringed on several of its wireless patents.

Samsung and Apple have been litigating against each other for a number of years now, with both companies scoring wins. The most high profile case was won by Apple in the U.S., where a jury awarded Apple over $1 billion.

Source: AFR

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iPad mini now in stock in many countries through Apple online store

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Screen Shot 2013-02-19 at 1.35.27 PM

After improving to “3-5 days” shipping time in most major markets late last month, the iPad mini is today listed as in stock for all models in at least the United States, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, and Canada. Some other stores, such as the United Kingdom’s online store, is still quoting an estimated shipping time of “1-3 business days”, but Apple’s listing of the device as in stock in the U.S. likely means the company is starting to catch up with demand. At Apple’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPad mini remains constrained and high in demand. He also noted that Apple would significantly increase the supply but wasn’t sure if it would reach a supply/demand balance on iPad mini during the current quarter.

 “we sold 23 million iPads, we obviously could have sold more than this because we could not build enough iPad minis to come into a demand balance… Im sure there was some cannibalization of Macs there.”

(via @iphonehackx)



Australia Is Killing 1,300 iMac G4s After They Lasted A Full Decade

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Steve Jobs unveiling the iMac G4 at Macworld 2002

The 2002 iMac G4 is one of our favorite Apple products ever. It had a dramatic design that no one had ever tried by emulating the sunflowers growing in Steve Jobs’ backyard.

Apple discontinued the iMac G4 in 2004, but thanks to Apple’s solid build quality and engineering, a herd of over 1,300 iMac G4′s have lasted a full decade in the service of Australia’s Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) offices. Sadly, they’re getting thrown away and replaced by Acers.

Back in 2004, the RTA’s chief information officer Greg Carvouni made an unusual decision to implement the 1,300 iMac G4s in the RTA offices. The move was actually a pretty big story in Australian tech news because no one in Australia had gotten behind the Mac in such a major way.

Carvouni has since left his post as chief information officer, but the 1,300 iMacs have stuck around even after the RTA merged with the Roads and Maritime Authority.

New Acer terminals will replace the 1,300 aging iMacs because they’ve started to reach the end of their usefulness. We think they’re probably still more useful that a bunch of crappy Acer terminals, but if the RTA wants to send us a few beat up iMac G4s, we’ll be happy to take them off their hands and make them into something nice.

Source: iTNews

Via: Delimiter

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Are Australians Being Gouged On The Price Of Apple Products? Parliament Wants To Know

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australiaiPad

Overseas customers of Apple products often feel like they are paying a premium for Apple products, but Australians believe they have it extra rough, and Australian parliament wants answers: Apple, Microsoft and Adobe have been called in to appear before a committee investigating potential price fixing in the land down under.

Last July, in response to complaints from Australian consumer bodies saying that Australian buyers were being price gouged, the House of Representatives set out to see if there was any truth to the idea that some goods were more expensive in Australia than n other places in the world.

How bad can prices get in Australia? According to parliament member Ed Husic, some goods in Australia cost as much as 60% higher than in the United States.

“Given the widespread use of IT across businesses and the community, the prices paid for hardware and software can have a major commercial and economic impact,” the politician was quoted as saying.

“Getting downward movement on IT prices and easing the bite of price discrimination should be an important micro-economic priority – so I’m looking forward to hearing from these firms about their pricing approaches,” he added.

Looking over the Australian Apple Store, Apple’s prices don’t look that bad. A 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro starts at approximately $1,950.69, compared to $1,799 on the American Apple Store. That’s an 8 percent difference. However, in Australia, retailers are required by law to display prices inclusive of sales tax. If I add Massachusetts sales tax to the price of that MacBook Pro, the prices are only about $39 USD off. But that’s just the price differential on Apple’s most expensive laptop model. The iPad mini fares worse in a comparison: an entry-level iPad mini in Australia costs almost $50 USD more than it does in the States.

Apple will have to appear before Parliament on March 22nd to answer questions about the way they price products in Australia.

Source: BBC
Via: Macgasm

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Are Australians Being Gouged On The Price Of Apple Products? Parliament Wants To Know

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australiaiPad

Overseas customers of Apple products often feel like they are paying a premium for Apple products, but Australians believe they have it extra rough, and Australian parliament wants answers: Apple, Microsoft and Adobe have been called in to appear before a committee investigating potential price fixing in the land down under.

Last July, in response to complaints from Australian consumer bodies saying that Australian buyers were being price gouged, the House of Representatives set out to see if there was any truth to the idea that some goods were more expensive in Australia than n other places in the world.

How bad can prices get in Australia? According to parliament member Ed Husic, some goods in Australia cost as much as 60% higher than in the United States.

“Given the widespread use of IT across businesses and the community, the prices paid for hardware and software can have a major commercial and economic impact,” the politician was quoted as saying.

“Getting downward movement on IT prices and easing the bite of price discrimination should be an important micro-economic priority – so I’m looking forward to hearing from these firms about their pricing approaches,” he added.

Looking over the Australian Apple Store, Apple’s prices don’t look that bad. A 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro starts at approximately $1,950.69, compared to $1,799 on the American Apple Store. That’s an 8 percent difference. However, in Australia, retailers are required by law to display prices inclusive of sales tax. If I add Massachusetts sales tax to the price of that MacBook Pro, the prices are only about $39 USD off. But that’s just the price differential on Apple’s most expensive laptop model. The iPad mini fares worse in a comparison: an entry-level iPad mini in Australia costs almost $50 USD more than it does in the States.

Apple will have to appear before Parliament on March 22nd to answer questions about the way they price products in Australia.

Source: BBC
Via: Macgasm

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Are Australians Being Gouged On The Price Of Apple Products? Parliament Wants To Know

Leave a reply

australiaiPad

Overseas customers of Apple products often feel like they are paying a premium for Apple products, but Australians believe they have it extra rough, and Australian parliament wants answers: Apple, Microsoft and Adobe have been called in to appear before a committee investigating potential price fixing in the land down under.

Last July, in response to complaints from Australian consumer bodies saying that Australian buyers were being price gouged, the House of Representatives set out to see if there was any truth to the idea that some goods were more expensive in Australia than n other places in the world.

How bad can prices get in Australia? According to parliament member Ed Husic, some goods in Australia cost as much as 60% higher than in the United States.

“Given the widespread use of IT across businesses and the community, the prices paid for hardware and software can have a major commercial and economic impact,” the politician was quoted as saying.

“Getting downward movement on IT prices and easing the bite of price discrimination should be an important micro-economic priority – so I’m looking forward to hearing from these firms about their pricing approaches,” he added.

Looking over the Australian Apple Store, Apple’s prices don’t look that bad. A 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro starts at approximately $1,950.69, compared to $1,799 on the American Apple Store. That’s an 8 percent difference. However, in Australia, retailers are required by law to display prices inclusive of sales tax. If I add Massachusetts sales tax to the price of that MacBook Pro, the prices are only about $39 USD off. But that’s just the price differential on Apple’s most expensive laptop model. The iPad mini fares worse in a comparison: an entry-level iPad mini in Australia costs almost $50 USD more than it does in the States.

Apple will have to appear before Parliament on March 22nd to answer questions about the way they price products in Australia.

Source: BBC
Via: Macgasm

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