Considering it was budget week, there was always going to be some NBN news this week. But it wasn’t the only story – not by a long shot. More »
In last year’s budget, the federal government introduced a $9.8 million program to assist ISPs in offering voluntary filtering measures. In last night’s budget announcement, that program was scrapped. Turns out, nobody actually wants internet filtering… More »
The 2011 Budget promises to return Australia to surplus by 2013, but for individuals, the devil is in the immediate detail. Here’s Lifehacker’s rundown of the key changes that will affect your wallet. More »
Every Jackass in America has a cheap HD camcorder in the US these days, thanks to models from Flip, Creative, Sony, Kodak and god knows how many other manufacturers. Meanwhile, here in Australia, we’re left with pretty much nothing. Luckily, Kodak’s decided to offer us some hope with the Zx1, a weatherproof 720p camcorder that’s just $299. Now every jackass in Australia can record their misadventures in HD for YouTube glory! More »
The Memorex MVBD-2510 fills that getting-the-job-done-for-cheap niche, but Gizmodo readers should know we don’t actually recommend it for purchase. It costs only $US270, but sacrifices Profile 2.0 and the ethernet that accompanies it. So it’s a pass, but a positive trend for the industry all the same. [prnewswire]
You may recognise Hop-On from their wide array of cheap-o disposable mobile phones and budget-friendly mobile devices. The company is looking to build on this reputation by unveiling six new phones including the US$125 HOP 1801 smartphone and the HOP1809 which they claim will be one of the cheapest 3G capable phones you can buy. It will also feature a camera, Bluetooth, and support for MPEG-4 media playback.
Last night K-Rudd unleashed his government’s first federal budget. It was riveting stuff for anybody even remotely interested in what kind of economics are involved in planning the finances for an entire country.
Considering I struggle to balance my household budget, the chances of me paying attention to last night’s events were slim. However, our good friend Angus was kind enough to sort through all the boring bits about childcare and health, and come up with a down-to-earth guide of the important technology bits for APC.
To be honest, I can’t say that I am surprised to hear that the government has allocated US$1.5 billion to inform 17 million citizens about the digital TV transition. After all, those uninformed few would undoubtedly take up arms if they missed out on sports broadcasts and NBC’s Thursday lineup. However, I was a little surprised to hear that the total proposed budged for literacy education in 2009 stands at a paltry US$574.6 million. Once again it seems that our government does not have its priorities in order. That having been said, does this represent a proper allocation of taxpayer money in your opinion? How does broadband access fit into the mix?
I have a confession to make: I’ve never owned a digital camera. I’ve played around plenty with friend’s point-and-shoots, and I have picked up a DSLR on occasion too. But I never saw the point of paying US$300 for something my iPhone could pretty much do well enough. Now that summer’s coming up and the price of high-megapixel cameras is going down, though, I figure it might be time to pick one out for myself—on the cheap. Let someone else waste money, I want to know what’s good at US$150 and not a penny more. I’m gonna be picky: I only want a camera that can take shots that make me look like a photography genius while in truth I’m a photography dumbass, but still, the key is to keep the price down. I tried out five US$150-and-under cameras, and here’s what I found:
