Australia

Australian police: flawed Google Maps putting people’s lives at risk, too

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

Look, digital maps are imperfect - some more than the others. Australian police earlier in the week issued a public safety warning over a major flaw in Apple Maps which incorrectly put the town of Mildura in the middle of Australia’s Murray Sunset National Park.

It wasn't Apple's fault entirely as the company was working on data from The Australian Gazetteer, a company run by the Geosciences Australia agency which supplies Gazetteer with mapping data sourced from the state of Victoria itself.

And now, we learn that the police in Colac, west of Melbourne, warn of safety concerns from Google Maps. Ouch!

Australia Maps snafu was the government’s fault

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

When the town of Mildura was showing up inside iOS Maps in the middle of Australia's Murray Sunset National Park, users were quick to point out that Apple's data was 43 miles off the town's actual location. It was already too late: the police issued a public warning as some iPhone-totting travelers had gotten lost in the Park's maze-like roadways. That the area has poor cell reception and lacks water supply didn't help either.

Apple has corrected the problem since and now we've learned that particular snafu wasn't Apple's fault in the first place: the company simply re-used the data supplied by the state of Victoria...

Apple quietly fixes dangerous Maps glitch in Australia

Cody Lee ∙ December 10, 2012

Apple's Maps app took another hit earlier today, when word got out that police in Victoria, Australia had issued a public warning regarding the software. Apparently, they had been receiving a number of calls from travelers who were getting lost in a nearby National Park due to the app's inaccurate data.

The problem was that the town of Mildura was showing up in the middle of Murray Sunset National Park, about 43 miles south of its actual location. And since the Park has maze-like roadways, poor cell reception and no water supply, this was a potentially dangerous situation. But don't worry Apple is on it...

Australian police issue warning regarding Apple Maps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Apple's Maps application has had nothing but problems since it was released to the public back in September. Users have complained that the company's in-house replacement for Google Maps has inaccurate location data and other bugs.

But if you thought Maps was bad before, wait until you hear this. Police in Victoria, Australia issued a warning this weekend regarding the mapping software after several travelers became lost and stranded due to receiving poor directions...

AC/DC music finally available in iTunes

Cody Lee ∙ November 19, 2012

Rock and roll fans rejoice! As noted by several other publications, AC/DC has finally made its music available in the iTunes Store. Up until now, the Australian rock band, who has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, had been avoiding selling its music through iTunes in an effort to help preserve the album format...

Apple hit with $29 million Aussie tax bill

Ed Sutherland ∙ November 16, 2012

Not even Apple can avoid taxes - although it tries. According to a Friday report, the Cupertino, California company owes the Australian Tax Office a nice 28.5 million Australian dollars in back taxes, or approximately $29 million in US currency. Apple's tax bill for the entire fiscal year 2012, which ended September 24, sits at $94.7 million on $4.9 billion in revenue in local currency. Earlier this week, the French government demanded Amazon pay $252 million in back taxes. The government charged the online retail giant operated a network of smaller units, including a Luxembourgh-based tax haven...

Apple fined $2.29 million over “4G” iPad claim

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Apple has bent the truth by advertising its iPad in Australia as having "4G" capability, thus misleading would-be buyers. For that, Cupertino has now been fined a whopping $2.29 million, Associated Press reports.

The case was brought by regulators shortly following the iPad's release in Australia, when the company began advertising the tablet as "iPad with WiFi + 4G" though it cannot connect to Australia's fourth-generation LTE network. Apple will also have to pay 300,000 Australian dollars in litigation costs...

Apple settles Australian ‘4G’ iPad dispute for $2.25 million

Cody Lee ∙ June 8, 2012

Apple has taken a lot of heat over the use of the '4G' term in the name of its latest iPad. While the tablet is indeed LTE-capable here in the States, it isn't in most other places. And some folks found that misleading.

Perhaps its most public battle has been in Australia, where Apple has been getting sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over the moniker. But the headache appears to be almost over...

Apple renames ‘iPad Wi-Fi + 4G’ to ‘iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular’ in several countries

Cody Lee ∙ May 12, 2012

Well it looks like after months of fighting with the Australian government, and several other organizations, Apple has finally broken down and removed the '4G' branding from its tablet.

9to5Mac made the discovery just a few moments ago, pointing out that the one time named 'iPad Wi-FI + 4G' tablet model has been renamed to 'iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular' in Apple's online store...

New evidence suggests RIM behind Wake Up stunt

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Last week's childish Wake Up protest outside Apple's retail outlet in Sydney has really infuriated fans of Apple as well as a bunch of observers - yours truly included - who pointed the finger of blame at Samsung on shady clues.

While the South Korean conglomerate denied organizing the flashmob-style stunt, coincidental evidence and the ambiguous official wording have left room for some speculation.

New strong pieces of evidence that surfaced last week link the campaign to the embattled BlackBerry maker, Canada-based Research In Motion, as part of their upcoming BlackBerry OS 10 launch on Wednesday. Who knew, right?