New tech: Samsung, Jabra, Microsoft and Huawei

Paul Spain and Bill Bennett discuss the latest tech news including current geopolitical matters and share thoughts on the latest tech including the Samsung Note 20 Ultra, Jabra Evolve2 65 bluetooth headset, Jabra Panacast conferencing camera, Microsoft Surface Go 2 – and a first look at Huawei’s upcoming MateBook 13.

This high-tech sign language glove could speak to your smartphone

A new innovation from UCLA can translate sign language with 99-percent accuracy.

Apple’s latest iOS update takes cues from Android 

There's a certain thrill when Apple releases an iOS update ‒ it’s almost like getting a new phone.

Meet Aroha: A chatbot to help young New Zealanders cope with stress

The Aroha chatbot was designed to help young New Zealanders during COVID-19. It’s part of the growing HABITs ecosystem of digital self-help tools.

Windows apps coming to Chromebooks

A plan to make native Windows apps available on Google Chromebook for the first time could be a game-changer, says one IT provider to the education sector who is seeing growing demand for the entry-level laptops.

What it takes to keep healthcare up and running in a pandemic

Mobile Mentor is a New Zealand-led international enterprise mobility solutions provider, with some critical healthcare service clients.

Wearables for social distancing – what will it look like, who will use them?

In many countries, staying apart from one another remains critical to counter the current pandemic.

Digital identity in health – NZHIT networking event

We firmly believe in the value of cloud technology to enable the New Zealand digital health sector in meeting the demanding economic imperative to cut costs and improve the quality of patient care. To deliver this value Umbrellar work collaboratively across the health sector to ensure members are best informed of the latest ICT trends to stay ahead of the curve.

The Digital Council’s advice to the New Zealand Government about building an empowered digital economy, post pandemic

Yesterday, the Digital Council, the Government's digital advisory group, released its statement of recommendations post-COVID-19 recovery. I spoke to Mitchell Pham, Council Chair, just after the release, for more detail.

Gisborne District Council’s new intranet improves communication with Office 365 and Information Leadership

Gisborne District Council (GDC) is a local government authority based in the North Island of New Zealand. Information Leadership partnered with GDC to deliver an intranet on their existing Office 365 platform. This sets them up to take advantage of the Office 365 toolset and incorporate cloud technology enhancements as required. The purpose of the project was to improve communication and bring staff together.

What next on the radar of micromobility for smarter cities of the future?

With commuters edging to get out of the house and back on the roads, governments are called to re-think e-scooter schemes and what a micromobile future might look like.

Engaging and empowering staff in a new work world

The question top of mind for many business leaders: how can they keep their remote employees engaged and invested? After all, as the pandemic pushes us towards new ways of working, the steps business take now could impact how they fare into the future.

A healthcare strategist on the industry’s shifting dial

“The virus and it’s spread has been described by futurists as being hyper-global and hyper-local at the same time."

Business resilience and community with David Downs and Scott Arrol

In this episode David Howden (Head of Cloud, Umbrellar) is joined by David Downs (Task Force Lead, MBIE) and Scott Arrol (CEO, NZHIT) as they discuss resiliency and community within New Zealand businesses

De-stress your mind with these 5 tech hacks

Even with our work computers a more permanent feature in our homes, it’s still important that we maintain effective strategies for looking after our mental health. Here are some practical ways to use technology that’ll boost your inner calm.

WhatsApp halts mass forwarding to counter info-demic

The global chat platform aims to separate itself from claims of misinformation.

Real-time, contactless payment systems shown to be the way of the future with Covid-19 – GlobalData

Real-time payment systems, where money is digitally deposited and instantly transferred between accounts, is gaining in interest as the Covid-19 lockdown continues, according to a GlobalData report.

Study finds New Zealanders’ notions of ‘back-to-business’ are changing

Understanding consumer behaviour is more vital than ever for business amid Covid-19 lockdown, but it’s sometimes not as predictable as one might think.

NZ Spinal Trust and the hope factor

New Zealand Spinal Trust work to empower people with spinal cord impairments and their whānau to embrace positive futures.

LIC future proof technology platform with Microsoft Azure

Murray Polson – Meaningful health

Evidence-based HealthTech is the approach of the future, but are New Zealand companies keeping up? Listen to Dave and Murray Polson (Managing Director at Erudite Group) chat about's behind a passionate health technologist and what's next for health digitisation and modernisation. Erudite’s HealthTech approach is heavily rooted in epidemiology: the study of how health exists within specific communities.

Microsoft role-based certification roadmap

Microsoft Certifications are the industry's premier credentials - but with so many options, it can be difficult to know where to start and focus your energy.

Hybrid cloud in health – Dave Howden at HiNZ

Who are the IT team?

Is your data backup solution out of the ark?

In the presence of constant pressure to meet the expectations of internal and external customers for continuous product and service innovation, capabilities that are well hidden from view can linger continuously at the back of the funding queue.

Is your IT downtime getting customers worked up?

Fuelled by unrealistic marketing and customer service promises, today’s consumer expectation organisations will be always-on is running ahead of reality. Downgrading customer expectations is not an option, so organisations must consider a step change or risk considerable damage to their brand equity.

Too busy to back up? Automate! Replicate!

“We don’t have time!” is the most common reason people give for not backing up their data and applications. And it’s particularly true in small-to-medium businesses, where bad IT habits can be hard to break. Yet effective backing up is one of the easiest things to automate.