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6 Jul 2025

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Telcos defends response after Tasman mobile outages
After being criticised by the mayor and derided by locals, the Telecommunications Forum is defending the response to reception outages during Tasman’s storms.

Prime Minister's office only given hour's notice before Winston Peters' speech dismissing 'trade war'
While he didn't name Luxon in his speech, it was seen as a veiled swing at a series of phone calls the Prime Minister made to other world leaders over US tariffs.

Rats, not weather, to blame for Golden Bay's mobile phone and internet outage
About 1100 households were affected with some residents unable to access 111 emergency services.

Intel’s excellent Unison PC-to-phone app shuts down for good
Intel’s ambitious plan to tie together your laptop and phone into a single, unified platform — Intel Unison — is dead, unless you own a particular brand of PC. Intel’s Unison page notes that the program “will soon be discontinued,” and a related Intel Knowledge Base article also claims that the app has reached its end of life. Dell puts it even more plainly: “The Intel Unison application is being discontinued and will no longer function correctly or be available for download after June 30, 2025.” Intel had said earlier this year that it planned to discontinue the Unison app, probably because the company is working to cut costs in the midst of a downturn that has produced company layoffs and a reported recalibration in its manufacturing processes that will see its next-gen 18A process assigned to internal use only. For a time, device makers were obsessed with making mobile devices interact with laptops. Dell’s Mobile Connect — which still appears to be alive, for now — was one option. Intel Unison was another, and one that wasn’t confined to any specific device maker. Intel talked boldly about Unison becoming not just an app, but a platform for cross-device connectivity. Microsoft, however, had other plans, with the Your Phone app for Windows, which was later renamed Phone Link. Unison offered closer connectivity between Windows and Apple iPhones than Phone Link originally did, but Phone Link covers all Windows PCs, and not just Intel-powered ones. Phone Link not only can oversee iPhone messages and calls, but it’s also being integrated into the Windows Start menu itself. However, there is one PC vendor which will continue using Unison: Lenovo. “Lenovo Aura PCs will retain service,” Intel said, apparently throughout the remainder of the year. These Aura Edition PCs will still use Unison: the Lenovo Slim 7 14ILL10, ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 10, ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13, ThinkPad X9-14 Gen 1, ThinkPad X9-15 Gen 1, Yoga 9 2-in-1 14ILL10, Yoga Pro 7 14IAH10, Yoga Pro 9 16IAH10, Yoga Slim 7 14ILL10, and the Yoga Slim 7 15ILL9. Intel once made Unison a key feature of its Evo program for premium laptops. While Intel’s Evo appears to still be alive and well, one of its selling points is officially going away.

Ring’s battery-powered video doorbell drops to best price ahead of Prime Day
There’s a certain peace of mind that comes from being able to see who’s outside your door before you even get up from your seat. If you haven’t yet made the jump, or you want an upgrade, the Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is on sale for its very best price of $150 ahead of Prime Day. The Ring Battery Doorbell Pro is usually available for $230 and, unlike other similar products, it’s not constantly on sale, making this 35% discount even more enticing. The video doorbell captures head-to-toe images in 1536p, which means you’ll get a full view of who’s outside your door, what’s on the porch, and well beyond that. There are many useful features you’ll end up loving. For instance, it doesn’t even matter if there’s very little light outside, because the doorbell comes with sensors that help it enhance the video so everything remains perfectly visible and clear. When friends are picking you up, you can use the two-way audio feature to tell them you’ll be right there. Oh, and you’ll get alerts on your phone when packages are delivered if you get the Ring Protect subscription. Don’t miss out on the chance to get the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus for its best price of $150. This is a Prime deal, so you’ll need to have a subscription to access it. You can start a 30-day free trial at any point or just take the plunge and subscribe for $14.99/month or $139/year. Now’s the perfect time to do it since Prime Day starts July 8th. Make sure to also check out the best early Prime Day deals on video doorbells and our main Prime Day hub. One of the best video doorbell for its best price.Buy now at Amazon