Happy Friday, hope you’re keeping dry. It’s been a big week in the tech world, here’s the latest.
1. Netflix ad tiers are upon us
We’ve finally got some concrete details on the long-rumoured Netflix ad-supported tier, this time straight from the horse’s mouth. Netflix’s Basic with Ads will launch on November 4 and will cost $6.99 per month. Basic with Ads will offer users “a limited number of movies and TV shows won’t be available due to licensing restrictions”. Basic with Ads will have 5-to-10 per cent less titles than its ad-free plans.
From November, Netflix will also be available in Australia from $6.99. Basic with Ads, Netflix’s new lower priced ad-supported plan. A plan for every fan! https://t.co/Qy1R8HyQpK
— Netflix ANZ (@NetflixANZ) October 13, 2022
2. Medibank suffers ‘cyber incident’
Yesterday news broke that Medibank had fallen victim to a ‘cyber incident’. It said that in response to this incident, the organisation took immediate steps to contain it, and engaged specialised cybersecurity firms. Unlike the Optus data breach we’re all familiar with by now, Medibank said at this stage, there is no evidence that any sensitive data, including customer data, has been accessed. Investigations into the cyber incident are ongoing, and Medibank said it will provide regular updates.
3. EV sales are booming, but we need more
New electric vehicle sales in Australia have increased by 65 per cent in 2022 but uptake still lags far behind other countries (in the UK, one in five new cars are electric). As brought to our attention by The Guardian, a new State of Electric Vehicles report by the Electric Vehicle Council has said EVs now represent 3.39 per cent of all new car sales. The highest number of sales occurred in the ACT where 9.5 per cent of all new cars sold were electric.
4. Amazon same-day satellite internet
Amazon is getting ready to launch two test satellites for its Project Kuiper satellite internet constellation, as The Verge notes, built to compete with services like SpaceX Starlink and OneWeb. The prototypes, Kuipersat-1 and Kuipersat-2, will be riding into orbit on a Vulcan Centaur rocket from the United Launch Alliance (ULA) in early 2023. Once in orbit, Amazon’s plan is to “deliver fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world”.
5. No more Microsoft Office
Microsoft is making a major change to its Microsoft Office branding. After more than 30 years, Microsoft Office is being renamed “Microsoft 365” to mark the software giant’s collection of growing productivity apps. While Office apps like Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint aren’t going away, Microsoft will now mostly refer to these apps as part of Microsoft 365 instead of Microsoft Office.
BONUS ITEM: As we head into the weekend, we want the bonus item to incite fun. This corgi is really cute and hates cops. Not a whole lot else to it.
he’s innocent pic.twitter.com/75tuyvcdkG
— ᴘᴀᴠʟᴏᴠ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏʀɢɪ (@PAVGOD) October 13, 2022
Have a great weekend.