Lifehacker Australia

No Australian Plans Yet For Google’s Knowledge Graph

Angus Kidman — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:00:30 +1000

Google is making a big splash in the news today with its new Knowledge Graph search technology, which claims to catalogue more than 500 million objects in the world and 3.5 billion facts about them to make search results more useful. It sounds impressive, but there’s no word yet on when Australian Google users will get access to it. Google says that its Knowledge Graph collation of informati ...

Dealhacker: 3-For-2 Blu-ray/DVD At Big W

Angus Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:30:01 +1000

From tomorrow for a week, Big W has 3-for-2 deals on all its Blu-ray and DVD titles (which in effect means you get the cheapest one in a bundle for free). Big W rarely has the range of rivals such as JB Hi-Fi, but this could still be a cheap way to enhance your collection or stash some presents. [Big W via OzBargain] ...

Raspberry Pi Will Cost $41 In Australia

Angus Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:42 +1000

There’s still a massive shortage of stock right now, but official Australian distributor RS Components has confirmed that the Raspberry Pi “computer on a board” will sell for about $41 in Australia, including delivery. While it’s not the first example of an operational computer on a chip, the Raspberry Pi has attracted global attention, and the first run earlier in April th ...

App Deals: iPhone, iPad, Android, WP7

Elly Hart — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:30:50 +1000

MotoHeroz for free on iOS, Demolition Master HD: Project Implode All for free on iPad, ProCapture for 75 per cent off on Android, Power Planner for just 99c on Windows Phone 7, plus more in today’s app deals roundup. Be quick! These prices could go back up at any time. iOS • LiveSketch for free (normally $1.99) • MotoHeroz for free (normally $0.99) • Photo Power for free (n ...

How To Prepare For A Move Overseas

Elly Hart — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:30:33 +1000

So you’ve decided to move overseas for the long term. You’ve got your visa sorted, you’ve booked your plane tickets, and now you need to get ready for a new life in a new country. It’s easy to lose yourself in the excitement, but you’ll need to tie up loose ends and prepare yourself for one what will be one of the most stressful experiences you’ll ever have in l ...

Foxtel On Xbox 360 Adds Kinect Voice And Gestures

Alex Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:45 +1000

If you’re a subscriber to the Foxtel app on Xbox 360, you might have noticed that basic Kinect voice controls don’t work so well. An update due to roll out today should fix that, making Foxtel fully Kinect compliant.You should be prompted for an update — I’ve not yet switched on my own 360 to confirm this — and sign back into Foxtel on Xbox 360 in order to get Kinec ...

Virgin Australia’s New Baggage Rules Begin Today

Angus Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:30:16 +1000

A reminder: as of today, Virgin Australia’s new baggage rules — which focus more on the number of items you have than their weight — kick in. Hit our full guide to how they work and how to save money on baggage when flying with Virgin. (If you have a pre-existing booking, the rules that applied when you made it should still be in place.) ...

Australia: Two iPhones For Every Android

Angus Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:30:33 +1000

Here’s a statistic from Google’s recent survey into smartphone usage in Australia which the search giant understandably didn’t emphasise: if you own a smartphone, you’re twice as likely to have an iPhone as an Android device. Of the 520 Australians who Google surveyed and who owned a smartphone, 49 per cent had purchased an iOS device. 25 per cent used Android (which Google ...

Aussies Use Smartphones More Than Yanks

Angus Kidman — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:45:08 +1000

Despite often getting new models months after the rest of the world, turns out Australians still really, really like their smartphones. Research by Google suggests that we’re one of seven countries in the world where more than 50 per cent of the population uses smartphones. That puts us alongside the UK, Sweden, Norway, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. More significantly, it puts us ahead of the US ...

How Do IKEA’s Prices In Australia Compare?

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:15:13 +1000

We like IKEA’s cheap homewares, but if you’ve ever spent time looking at its prices elsewhere in the world, you’ll realise Australians sometimes pay a premium for its products. Just how much of a premium? The honest answer: it varies. Picture by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images While watching The Voice last night (judge me if you must), I saw an ad for a story on ...

Extra Proof You’re Not Going To Get A Pay Rise

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:45:52 +1000

Getting a pay rise is never easy. Extra evidence it’s not getting any easier: a recent survey of business owners suggests that one-quarter of Australian business owners deferred pay rises last year because they’re concerned about the economy. Picture by Alpha Sage’s Business Sentiment Index for 2012 surveyed 503 Australian businesses about their expectations for the comi ...

Floq Is A Good-Looking Online Survey App

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 +1000

There are plenty of sites which offer online survey functionality, but not all of them produce particularly attractive-looking results. Australian-developed Floq doesn’t fall into that trap, produced attractive surveys that are easy to share and collate. Floq, which has just exited private beta, includes some good-looking templates for automatically creating common team surveys, such as perf ...

App Deals: iPhone, iPad, Android, WP7

Elly Hart — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:45:43 +1000

Tower Defense: Lost Earth for free on iOS, popular EA games discounted on iPad, GPP Remote control for just a dollar on Android, Breakrusher for only 99c on Windows Phone 7, plus more in today’s app deals roundup. Be quick! These prices could go back up at any time. iOS • TomTom Australia for $59.99 (normally $74.99) • Jet Worm for free (normally $1.99) • Tower Defense: Lost E ...

New flybuys Earns Discounts Faster (But They’re Not Good Discounts)

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:30:37 +1000

We’ve been talking about the new flybuys loyalty scheme quite a bit here at Lifehacker, but I realise that coverage has skipped one relatively central point: whether points are easier to earn under the new scheme than the old one. It turns out that the new flybuys is marginally more generous, but neither offers anything like the level of savings you’ll get from shopping around and find ...

Have You Ever Found Twitter’s Discover Recommendations Useful?

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:30:31 +1000

Twitter has just launched a weekly email in which it promises to point out interesting tweets and content you might otherwise have missed. Given the spectacular failure of its existing Discover option, which is supposed to perform the same function in real-time, I’m dubious as to how well this will work. As someone who uses the basic Twitter site rather than a client, I like the idea of the ...

Windows 8: Fewer Parental Filters, More Parental Reports

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:30 +1000

Earlier generations of Windows have offered parental controls to track younger users, but much of the emphasis has been on filtering out inappropriate content, which is always a precarious business. Windows 8 will take a different approach, sending a weekly email report to parents telling them what their kids have been up to. Microsoft’s Building Windows 8 blog outlines the changes to the Pa ...

Better Educated People Less Likely To Die, Provided They Live Long Enough

Angus Kidman — Tue, 15 May 2012 05:00:50 +1000

Knowledge is power. If you’re better educated, it seems logical that you won’t die as young (you’ll earn more, you’ll have access to better health services, you’ll be more aware of the risks). However, a wide-ranging study covering 1.2 million Swedish children suggests that any death-dodging benefit from additional education isn’t statistically evident until muc ...

How Apple Will Make A Fortune From The Voice

Angus Kidman — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:30:03 +1000

Lots of companies will make a fortune from The Voice, including broadcaster Nine (which can sell ads at high rates thanks to the weekly 2 million+ TV audience) and Universal (which signs up the winning artists). But it’s only just becoming evident just how much coin Apple will also score via iTunes sales on the series. Here’s how — and why fans shouldn’t give Apple ...

eBay Australia Changes Postage Caps To Reflect Higher Costs

Angus Kidman — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:30:38 +1000

eBay has made one of its periodic increases to the maximum postage rates it allows in some categories (notably CDs and DVS). Australia Post increased its charges back in April, so the new rates reflect that, ensuring sellers can charge a vaguely fair price. Most notably, caps have been dropped altogether for books. eBay is also introducing a new fee structure this week. [eBay] ...

Foxtel On Demand Offers Catch-Up TV Via The iQ Set-Top Box

Angus Kidman — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:23 +1000

Foxtel has offered catch-ups since 2009, but you needed a PC to access them. Its new catch-up offering now works directly to your set-top box, letting you catch up with up to 1,000 pay TV shows on your TV. Foxtel On Demand catch-up services are free with your existing subscription if you have an iQ box and have it connected to the internet. You also need to activate the service, either by calling ...