Stories by Andrea Malcolm

Cash and kind help R&D

When it comes to getting assistance for the R&D phase of software development, it pays to think in broader terms than just finding money to fund it.

Tablets cure slow data headache

AUCKLAND (03/01/2004) - Media research company ACNielsen believes it is one of the first in its industry in the world to use tablet PCs to survey the newspaper and magazine reading habits of a nation.

Messaging gets a hurry-up

AUCKLAND (02/12/2004) - Instant messaging (IM) has taken a step forward with the industry's standards body approving an open source-developed protocol, and a New Zealand firm is already using a related technology to offer IM services on mobile phones.

Massey goes agile for admin system

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines the word agile as “quick moving, nimble and active”, which also describes how Massey University’s application development team wants to be as it takes on the redevelopment of its student management system.

Embedded systems call for efficiency

While embedded systems hardly constitute an emerging market for development, they are a platform that is hugely on the rise but often goes unnoticed.

SMS rises up from WAP ashes

People’s ability to keep in touch and get information from anywhere is an assumed part of business these days. That’s helping to fuel demand for applications for mobile phones and PDAs.

Fun and games with consoles

When it comes to computer games New Zealand is almost wholly a consumer: it ranks second in the world for ownership while only 10 or so companies in the country actually develop games.

R&D funding rules easier but still murky

If you think gaining Technology New Zealand funding is some sort of dark art, a clarified definition, from the funding body regarding what constitutes software R&D, might illuminate matters.

Air NZ CIO thinks twice about IT

What's the point of spending money on IT if your customers don't see the value? The question is foremost in the mind of new Air New Zealand Ltd. chief information officer Rob Fyfe. Appointed in December and now in his seventh week in the job, Fyfe is wary of spending on projects that don't give customers value -- and that customers don't perceive as giving value.
It's an issue which Fyfe recognizes from his former roles as head of ITV's pay-TV subsidiary in the U.K., manager of Telecom's consumer division and National Australia Bank's group general manager of marketing, distribution and electronic banking.

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