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4 Jul 2025

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Provider of covert surveillance app spills passwords for 62,000 users
Creators say app is intended for parental monitoring. So why the emphasis on stealth?

‘Oh hell, yeah’: Pensioner moves from leaky caravan to new elder village
A pensioner living in a leaky caravan with no power for six years now has a new home to call his own.

Remember the point-and-shoot digital cameras? Gen Z wants them
Young people are embracing the grainy, nostalgic vibe of early digital cameras so they can spend less time on their phones.

Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen dies aged 67
The actor, a near-constant presence in Quentin Tarantino movies, is believed to have died of cardiac arrest.

Prada accused of copying Indian fashion with new $1200 sandals
Prada has acknowledged that the sandals' design was inspired by the centuries-old Indian sandals which sell for about $10.

Weather live updates: Hail, storms to lash North Island as emergency extends in flood-hit south
The civil emergency in Nelson-Tasman was extended for seven days.

David Seymour criticises Rawiri Waititi for 'insane views' about African leader Ibrahim Traoré
Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traoré has drawn praise from the Te Pati Maori co-leader, provoking the ire of ACT.

A glimpse into the 2025 Pacific Mini Games - voices of athletes in Palau
Amid the action and energy in Palau on Thursday, RNZ Pacific caught up with a few athletes on the ground to hear about their experiences so far.

France name eight debutants to face All Blacks in first test
Only three players remain from their Six Nations decider in March, while there are five from the team that beat New Zealand last November.

111 service failed in bad weather, prompting new call for future-focused upgrade
The failure happened just as it was needed most.

Australia says knowledge is harmful to minors
Could New Zealand end up following Australia down a horrible path of control over who can and can't access information using search engines on the internet?

Maori-Greek artist takes a slice of Aotearoa to the Big Apple
Jimmy James Kouratoras' Hei Tiki - For the Love of Our Ancestors painting is currently being shown in New York's Theatre District and has featured on a 10-metre high digital billboard.

Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr ‘arrested by US immigration police for deportation’
Chávez Jr has been arrested for entering the United States illegally and will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organised crime charges, US officials say.

Fresh push for four-lane highway from Rolleston to Ashburton
A woman fed up with seeing near-misses is campaigning for State Highway 1 between Rolleston and Ashburton to be increased to four lanes.

‘Dogs deserve better’: Councillors back campaign to curb roaming dogs
Local politicians warn that roaming dogs present serious risks not only to people and communities, but also to the dogs themselves.

Seymour criticises Waititi for 'insane views' about African leader
Burkina Faso's Ibrahim Traoré has drawn praise from the Te Pati Maori co-leader, provoking the ire of ACT.

New Zealand woman killed by elephant in Zambia - reports
Another woman from the UK, was also killed.

More rough sleepers on Auckland streets: 'NZ doesn't have to be this way'
Makeshift shelters of cardboard and blankets are dotted along the street near Auckland City Mission, which is struggling to support an increase in rough sleepers.

Harbour Bridge crash causes peak-hour delays in Auckland
Delays in both directions after crash near Curran Street on-ramp.

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.