Tech & Innovation

You don’t need to be a geek and waste money on programs to carry out PC maintenance. Some of the most effective programs are free with no strings attached, and Windows’ built-in tools are up to the task. Here are the Top 5 tips to keep your computer in top shape – and spend less on computer repairs!

Six people with academic specialties ranging from chemistry to the creative arts have been added to the Australian Research Council, which advises the Gillard government on investment in research and development.

A service that employs a real person to call you each day to tell you how awesome you are -- and charges $45 a month for this 'feel good' moment -- was the forehead-slapping winner of Ovum's annual Wireless Turkey Awards.

While Australian dive deeply into social media for their personal lives, they aren't using their online prowess nearly as much to advance their careers, recent research by LinkedIn suggests. Only 3% said they would be comfortable being approached for jobs via Facebook and 1% via Twitter.

Five billion apps downloaded in 2010. A 347% jump in Twitter mobile usage. Mobile Future, a coalition of businesses, non-profits and individuals pushing for advances in wireless technology, wants us to know that mobile is going to be really, really big in 2011.

Possibly the least sexy aspect of running your own business, backup and data security are nonetheless fundamental to the operation of any enterprise. Think about it: what would happen if you lost all your files and contacts? Catastrophe, for sure – but this won’t ever happen to you, right?

RetailMeNot co-founder Guy King has much to be thankful for this holiday season. In early December, he and co-founder Bevan Clark sold the online coupon directory to WhaleShark Media for a reported US$90 million. The business was launched four years ago with only $30.00 in startup funding. Anthill's James Tuckerman caught up with King in the studios of Media Saints shortly before the 2010 Christmas break.

If your reaction after watching this video is "they're yanking my chain," you're not alone. We had a similar reaction. It doesn't seem feasible than an app could not just translate the words on an object, but project the translation on the object itself. Right?

Just how do you guarantee your security, whatever you deem it to be, when you are “in the cloud”? Well, unlike actually being in a plane and in the clouds, security and safety is up to you. A seat belt, a sick bag and the foetal position won’t help you. If you want it secure, secure it yourself.

A clear majority of Australians today value their laptops more than their TVs, according to a survey commissioned by Intel. With all the talk of the internet becoming a fourth utility in households, that finding may not surprise. But just how internet dependent are we? According to the same survey, a lot of us are now OK chatting online or Facebooking with someone within earshot.

How would the story of the Nativity play out if Joseph, Mary and the Three Wise Men had access to email, smartphones, online social media and Internet shopping? A Portuguese web-development company put together a cheeky video Christmas card that offers a early 21st century version of the birth of Jesus.

A 'who's who' of leading Australian entrepreneurs and business builders gathered last night at Melbourne's 24 Moons Bar in AC/DC Lane to celebrate Anthill Magazine's 2010 Cool Company Awards. Winners were presented with as Australia's biggest award in business -- a 1.2 metre personally branded trophy bean-bag. In addition to the formal accolades, attendees were treated to party games for entrepreneurs, such as 'Pin the Idea on the Venture Capitalist'.

Start with one person. Give them some light. Show them the way. That's what Barefoot Power is doing in developing communities in Africa and elsewhere. By replacing kerosene-fed lamps with its highly innovative and practical solar-powered LEDs, it provides the poor with access to electricity and one very necessary tool for economic development… light. For their tireless efforts toward raising up their fellow humans (while cleaning up the environment), Barefoot Power is king of the hill, top of the heap — the Coolest Company in Anthill’s 2010 Cool Company Awards!

Melbourne-based Optalert markets a product designed to detect the early onset of a long-haul driver's drowsiness by measuring his or her level of alertness, quantifying to both driver and company the "Fatigue Risk Profile." Optalert is this year’s Innovation Award winner in the Anthill Cool Company Awards.

There's something inherently cool about the idea of world-class scientists battling it out for the honor of creating the most elegant solution to a sticky, real-world problem. Four men in a Melbourne office created the arena for these clashes. Kaggle is this year's X-Factor winner in the Anthill Cool Company Awards.

Freelancer.com has a long, long reach. Headquartered in Sydney, the web-based company connects business and individuals who need a task done with those who have the talent do it. Freelancer.com has more than 2 million users. The company describes itself as a marketplace of talent -- an eBay of people, if you will. The company so impressed our august panel of Anthill Cool Company Awards judges that it took top honors in two categories: Global Growth and Online Business.

Energy Matters is one of Australia's leading sellers and installers of sun-borne energy. The company has embraced its role as an online trailblazer, serving as a vocal advocate for renewable-energy legislation and being available when the media needs an expert sound bite. Energy Matters describes itself as "the Fonzie of solar. It doesn’t get much cooler than a company that is helping to cool the globe!" Eyyy!

Three Australians visited Silicon Valley two years ago with the goal of getting a jump on the electric-vehicle era. Today, they say they're poised to give battery-powered cars a jolt. An EV driver will now be able to find a charging station on an iPhone app and, once plugged in, track the charge while he grabs a cuppa.

Gretha Oost is an innovator with a passion for environmental protection and a knack for marketing her own ideas. Her latest creation is 321 Water, a portable, on-the-go water filter. The name refers to the three litres of water required to normally make one litre of bottled water.

iiNet likes to call itself a challenger brand. First and foremost, that means taking on communications behemoths like Telstra and Optus (sometimes in court). But it also means challenging itself with breakthrough products, such as Naked DSL in 2007, phone-modem combo BoB in 2009 and internet TV in 2010.