Author Joshua Riddiford

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In your face, cards: ANZ turns smartphones into payphones with app update
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Talk of the cashless society has abounded at least since the beginning of this century, but a surge in contactless payments suggests cash may not be king for much longer. And cards could be on the way out too, because, following on from the launch of Semble earlier this year, ANZ has announced the release of its goMoney wallet, which lets customers to pay with their smartphones.

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MediaWorks comes out on top as The Block beats MKR NZ
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Cantabrians Brooke and Mitch took out the latest edition of the Block NZ Villa Wars selling their renovated property for $1,350,000 netting them a windfall of $290,000 but the big winners for The Block NZ Villa Wars were MediaWorks, which returned very high rating numbers for the Sunday evening finale.

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Scoop reaches Pledge Me target, but the fight’s not over
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Alastair Thompson, editor and co-founder of Scoop Media says the online news organisation now has a “fighting chance” after reaching a crowd-funding target of $50,000 on Pledge Me to establish the Scoop foundation for public interest journalism. But the longevity of the project is far from guaranteed at this point.

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Putting the face in Facebook
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Depending on your viewpoint, Facebook is set to get either creepier or more effective because the social media giant has announced the introduction of photo recognition to its popular Messenger app.

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Tip Top taps into the rise of bourgeois burgery, calls on Kiwis to offer up their best suggestions
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Burgers are so hot right now and weirder and more wonderful offerings at popular events like Wellington on a Plate’s ‘Burger Wellington’ competition have shown the levels of experimentation burger eaters are willing to indulge. These gentrified consumer tastes have given rise to the ‘better burger’ movement, a niche occupied by chains like Burger Fuel and Burger Wisconsin and popular restaurants like Auckland’s Burger Burger. Even that bastion of standardised beef and cheese, McDonald’s, has announced moves to posh up their burgers by allowing customers to create their own. But ‘bourgeois burgery’ has now moved to the humble Kiwi BBQ, if the entries to Tip Top’s ‘Build a Better Burger Challenge’ are anything to go by.

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Vodafone’s newly connected granddad spot wins Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for September
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The digital divide between generations is something that will presumably always be with us (and will be presumably always be equal parts entertaining and frustrating for the young folk who have to teach the oldies how to use new technology). But Vodafone reckons its tech ninjas can help. And its TV spot featuring a grandfather who is taught how to communicate with his grandson has taken out Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award for September.

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Boundary Road’s Brewniversity offers a bachelor of beer
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With hefty student loans and a growing consensus among international businesses that undergraduate degrees aren’t necessary for entry-level jobs, some are beginning to question whether dedicating three years to a single certificate is really worthwhile. Fortunately, Boundary Road’s Brewniversity offers an alternative. And the best part is that it only takes five minutes to complete the exam.

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