Technology: What Geeks are talking about from ZDNet

How a Formula 1 team protects itself from hackers and data breaches
Graeme Hackland, IT director at Williams Martini Racing and Williams Advanced Engineering, tells ZDNet how the organisation works to avoid the nightmare scenario of getting hacked.

NBN staffers suspended over leak investigation
After it was revealed that an NBN staffer had taken dozens of pictures of seized documents during the raid, NBN has confirmed that two employees have been suspended.

Thin-skinned NBN succeeds in throwing spotlight on Turnbull decisions
For a company that accepts criticism with all the grace of a steel hammer hit right between the eyes, the NBN has found itself, and by extension Malcolm Turnbull, in the spotlight thanks to its own decisions.

Qantas, NAB, and Westpac behind Data Republic’s AU$10.5m funding round
Sydney’s Data Republic has scooped up AU$10.5 million in funding from three large Australian organisations, hoping to use the funds to bolster its presence in the United States.

7 Chinese companies that will shape the future of the tech industry: My week in Beijing
Technology companies in China have leapt forward in Usain Bolt-like strides in recent years, as they’ve evolved from remarkable copiers to legitimate innovators.

Telstra: Friday outage caused by device fault; Sunday outage by ‘faulty hardware’
Telstra has added to its network woes with a brace of outages on Friday and Sunday, with the first due to a device fault between network and modems and the second to faulty hardware.

Canberra-based startup Instaclustr targets $3b big data market
With the copious amounts of data produced every day as its motivator, database-focused startup Instaclustr is positioning itself to take on the $3 billion big data market.

Fifield did not tell Turnbull about AFP investigation into NBN leaked docs
Australian Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has said that while he was aware of the investigation of leaked NBN documents by the Federal Police, he did not tell other ministers or his prime minister.

Why Uber is watching your smartphone’s battery level
Yes, ride-sharing firm Uber is collecting information about your smartphone’s battery life, but it promises it’s not using that information to make you pay higher fares, despite the fact that it knows you probably would.

NSA whistleblower Snowden: Google Allo without default encryption is ‘dangerous’
While NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden weighs into Allo controversy, Google ‘cyber overlord’ Thai Duong argues end-to-encryption is nice but what people really want is disappearing messages.

With Google Awareness, Android apps will know what you want before you ask
Google has launched its Awareness API to help tell Android apps where users are, what they’re doing, and what’s around them.

Think you’re not being tracked? Now websites turn to audio fingerprinting to follow you
Online trackers add audio fingerprinting to their arsenal of tools to identify and follow people on the web.

Mulesoft: Using APIs to unlock the enterprise
Mulesoft’s founder Ross Mason on making connections quicker using APIs.

Samsung Pay partners up with Alipay in China
Samsung Pay and Alipay can be used together in China following their MOU as Samsung attempts to expand its mobile payment services there.

Regional startup Rundl targets Australia’s geographic isolation
Hailing from a country town in the centre of New South Wales, Rundl has taken on geographic isolation, developing a platform that allows for multi-party business collaboration.

Turnbull ‘going after whistleblowers’ on NBN leaks: Shorten
The government is preventing the media from being free to report the truth about the NBN by referring the matter to the AFP, the opposition leader has said.

Deakin Uni develops haptically-enabled robotics tool for ultrasounds
Deakin University, in conjunction with Telstra, has developed haptically-enabled robotics technology to allow the remote controlling of ultrasounds from up to 1,000 kilometres away.

ACCC seeking submissions on Telstra’s NBN migration plan amendments
The ACCC has released a discussion paper on the changes Telstra wants made to the NBN migration plan, and is seeking submissions on whether to extend disconnection dates.

Hyderabad receives shot in the arm as Apple inaugurates maps development office
Multinational firms like Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Cognizant have already opened their offices in the south Indian city.

Telstra suffers ADSL and NBN outage
Customers of Telstra have yet again been hit by an outage, this time to ADSL and NBN services across much of the nation.

Labor questions prime minister’s involvement in AFP raids over NBN leaks
Mark Dreyfus and Jason Clare have questioned whether the prime minister, his ministers, or their staff were involved in NBN’s referral to the AFP to investigate a series of leaks.

Huawei pushes Pacific island connectivity through subsea cables, 4G, datacentres
Subsea cables, 4G, datacentres, and the deployment of smart devices will allow the Pacific islands to join the digital economy, according to Huawei.

Xiaomi releases new TV set-top box for the US market
In the latest attempt to expand its reputation in the US, Chinese Xiaomi has launched a new tailor-made 4K Android TV-based set-top box for the US market, rather than any of its well-known handset products.

Federal police confirms NBN referred leak investigation
The AFP has confirmed that the NBN leaks culminating in a raid of Labor premises followed a referral of the matter from NBN, with seized documents to be handed over to the Senate.

Microsoft commits to providing choice to cloud customers
Microsoft has reinforced why the company believes its Azure cloud services is still superior than offerrings from its key competitors.

Google VR to build its own headset, announces Unreal and Unity support
Google announced it is building its own headset and controller for the new Daydream platform, while developers can start building their own content.

SAP’s Plattner has sight set on building ‘a flurry of applications’
SAP chairman and co-founder Hasso Plattner said the company will be looking to build applications for healthcare, the Internet of Things, big data, machine learning, and for the management of cities.

Federal police conduct raids on Labor members over NBN leaks
The Australian Federal Police has conducted raids on several Labor party members’ homes and offices, including Stephen Conroy, after a referral from NBN.

Smartphone sales: iPhone slides as Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi close in on the leaders
Android continues to grow at the expense of iOS and Windows Mobile, but that doesn’t mean all is rosy for Android makers.

Inside Android Wear 2.0: Big update with standalone apps, tiny keyboard, new UI
Android Wear 2.0 is the most significant update to Google’s wearable OS since it was released in 2014.

Google stokes up Firebase to create unified platform for app developers
Google has added a dozen new products to Firebase, its backend services platform for iOS, Android, and web apps.

Internet speed test? Here’s Netflix’s simple new way for you to check how fast you’re downloading
Internet not working properly? You can now use Netflix’s fast.com to test your true broadband speed and lobby your ISP if the results are consistently terrible.

SAP to deliver data-as-as-service with Sybase 365
SAP is entering the data business with the launch of SAP Consumer Digital Insight that will rely on insight collected from the company’s Sybase 365 arm.

Google to introduce family sharing for apps
From July, Android users will be able to share apps among family groups.

Graduates now need life experience as well: Oracle
According to Tim Ebbeck, Oracle Australia’s managing director, a university degree is no longer enough to secure a technology-based job upon graduating from university.

Salesforce to expand UK HQ to meet growing demand
The cloud-based CRM specialist says demand from the UK is helping make Europe one of the firm’s fastest growing regions.

Uber drivers gear up to be licensed in Perth
Under new transport reforms in Western Australia, drivers for ride-booking service Uber will have to be licensed, while taxi drivers will receive compensation.

Telstra CEO advocates AI-led customer experience innovation
In an AMCHAM speech, Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn has said machine learning and AI are the future for improved customer experience.

iiNet email outage caused by software bug
A software bug caused iiNet’s email outage, with the resulting high number of calls to the contact centre then bringing down that system.

LG Pay to get one-time password, IC chip
LG has added integrated circuit and one-time password technology to its yet-to-be-launched namesake mobile payment service.

Telstra ups live sports offering with netball broadcast rights
Telstra will compete with Optus on live sport broadcasts by adding the national netball league to its digital rights stable, with the Telstra TV also due to break the 200,000 user mark in June.

Virgin Mobile back up after outage
Customers on the Virgin Mobile network complained of being unable to make voice calls on Thursday morning, with the telco saying it has now restored services.