Hello and welcome to Tuesday. We’ve got another morning tech news briefing if you’ve got three minutes.
1. Apple reportedly planning new products
Kicking off again with Apple today and it’s good news for all those iMac fans pounding the table for another all-in-one device from the company. One oft-cited Apple analyst said we may see another iMac drop later this year, coming much sooner than previously anticipated and potentially boasting an M3 chip. We could also be getting a new MacBook Pro powered by an Apple-designed chip (namely the M2 Ultra), to complement the current 2023 MacBook Pros with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. The company is also supposedly aiming for a new, long-rumoured 15-inch MacBook Air along with an updated 13-inch model.
2. Belong to give $100K to 3 local projects
Australia’s first carbon-neutral telco, Belong, has announced its newest green project, committing a total of $100,000 to be distributed among three local sustainability projects. There’s one catch: the funding will be awarded based on the outcome of customer voting. The program, called Cash for Climate, will see the telco support projects from the Australian Red Cross, Earthwatch Australia and the Indigenous Desert Alliance, and is part of a long-term plan to demonstrate the impact of the telecommunications industry on carbon emissions. The $100,000 will be split using the results, with first place taking home $60k, second with $30k and third will receive $10k. Voting closes June 30, 2023.
3. Japan re-attempts first faunch of H3 rocket
Japan’s highly anticipated H3 rocket sputtered on the launch pad during its first launch attempt, but its space agency is now ready to perform a do-over. The H3 medium-lift rocket is scheduled to take off today, Tuesday, March 7, during a brief six-minute launch window that opens at 10:37 am local time (12:37 pm AEDT). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will broadcast the launch through the live stream below. Coverage is set to begin at 11:40 am AEDT.
4. TikTok banned by 25 government entities
According to a report from the Australian Financial Review, 25 government departments and agencies have banned TikTok on work-issued devices and 12 others have implemented a partial ban. The report states that a further 11 permitted the app while five agencies did not respond or failed to answer directly.
5. IT contractor arrested for fraud
The Australian Federal Police issued a notice over the weekend that detailed how a third-party IT contractor working at the Australian National Maritime Museum allegedly accessed its accounting system and “illegally changed bank account details stored in the system to his own”. According to the AFP, the financial details of several individuals and businesses were also unlawfully obtained, resulting in the man allegedly using credit card information to make a series of unauthorised purchases. The Sydney man, aged 23, was arrested and charged by federal police and appeared in court on Friday last week.
BONUS ITEM: Stunning pics from the World Nature Photography Awards.
See you tomorrow.