Hello and welcome to a brand new week. This week, aside from the cold, we can expect a handful of tech, telco, and climate announcements from the Australian Federal Budget on Tuesday night and Google to drop its Pixel Fold (and hopefully some other things) at its Thursday 3 am I/O developer conference. For now, though, here’s what we’ve got for you.
1. Google and Sonos face off in court
Sonos Inc and Alphabet’s Google will face off in a San Francisco federal trial on Monday (U.S. time) over claims that Google copied Sonos’ patented smart-speaker technology in wireless audio devices like Google Home and Chromecast Audio. Per a report from Reuters, we learn the case is part of a sprawling intellectual property dispute between the former business partners that includes other lawsuits in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Sonos has asked the court for $US90 million in damages from Google.
2. Google to move away from the ’10 blue links’
Staying on Google for a minute and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is shifting the way it presents search results to incorporate conversations with artificial intelligence, along with more short video and social-media posts – this is instead of the list of website results that we’re all used to. The report notes that the changes represent a response to big shifts in the way people access information on the internet, including the emergence of AI bots like ChatGPT. Ugh.
3. Government spent $1.92B on IT contractors
Moving away from the consumer side of tech for a second and iTnews is this morning reporting that the former federal government spent at least $1.92 billion last financial year on outsourcers, contractors, and consultants to plug ICT and digital skills gaps in the public sector. We’ve reported before that over 650,000 people will need to enter the tech sector in Australia by 2030 to reach 1.2 million tech jobs, the Australian Public Service isn’t immune from being impacted.
4. COVID is officially over (kinda)
Moving over to science now, and three years after COVID triggered lockdowns and upended world economies, the public health emergency is now over. The World Health Organization (WHO) said even though the emergency phase was over, the pandemic hadn’t come to an end, noting recent spikes in cases in South-East Asia and the Middle East. There were 4,445 reported cases of COVID-19 in Australia last week.
5. It’s probably a scam
The ACMA has issued a warning for people to be wary of callers pretending to be from well-known companies or government agencies, claiming there’s a problem with your account or device and wanting remote access to fix it. The ACMA said it’s aware of impersonation scams using well-known brands such as NBN, PayPal, and eBay. The caller will generally create a sense of urgency – for example, by claiming there are suspicious transactions on your account, or that your information has been compromised in a recent data breach. The caller may already have some of your personal information (from public or stolen sources) and might ask you to confirm your name, address, driver’s licence or credit card number. Be careful out there.
BONUS ITEM: Still a pretty friend-shaped fluttery thing.
Enjoy your week.