“ASIO has fallen victim to Chinese hackers,” the report stated.

The breach in ASIO reportedly revealed all the plans to the spy agency’s brand-new headquarters, which would give significant advantages to spies attempting to infiltrate the building, either physically or electronically.

“The stolen blueprints included the building’s security and communications systems, its floor plan, and its server locations,” the ABC said in another statement.

One of the affected companies is a military technology company, Codan, that makes communications equipment for military and law enforcement use in America and Britain. Codan was penetrated, hacked, and had industrial secrets stolen. And top government bodies such as Parliament House, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Defense Department had their classified email and secure networks breached.

The overall effect, according to a secret source, is that huge amounts of secure, private, and in some cases very sensitive data has been lost — over a number of years.

This is nothing new to American companies and security agencies, which have been dealing with Chinese hacking attacks for years.

The Pentagon accused China of international electronic espionage just weeks ago, saying that “China is using its computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. diplomatic, economic, and defense industrial base sectors that support U.S. national defense programs.” Chinese cyberspies infiltrated a UK-based defense contractor and stole American military secrets, according to reports surfacing earlier this month. And American companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple have accused China of hacking attacks.

Wikilieaks documents have shown the vast breadth of Chinese hacking attempts, which seem to be state-directed.

China, for its part, typically denies the allegations.

“Cyberattacks are anonymous and transnational, and it is hard to trace the origin of attacks, so I don’t know how the findings of the report are credible,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in February in response to a report that a Chinese military hacking group stole hundreds of terabytes of data from 141 U.S. organizations since 2006.

At some point, however, where there’s smoke … there’s fire.

And we probably just have to all accept — and deal with — the fact that there is a vast global cybersecurity war occurring right under our noses, probably from both sides, with unseen wins and losses for all sides.

Image credit: Illustration by Tom Cheredar/VentureBeat

Tapjoy will dedicate resources and expertise toward fostering the burgeoning app-developer economy down under. Tapjoy, whose platform is used in 97,000 apps, plans to invest in iOS and Android developers and give them marketing and distribution support and money.

“The Australian development community is one of the hottest, up-and-coming talent pools in the mobile space,” said Chris Akhavan, the senior vice president of global partnerships at Tapjoy, in a statement. “We want to offer them the tools, consultation, and resources necessary to bring their apps to market, reach a global audience, and monetize effectively. Through the Tapjoy Australia Fund, we are reinforcing our commitment to the outstanding Australian-based mobile development talent.”

Developers can apply via Tapjoy’s site.

“Tapjoy’s reach and experience in the free-to-play space will be invaluable for our developer community,” said Antony Reed, the chief executive officer for Game Developer Association of Australia. “They are the market leaders and have the insights and distribution power needed to succeed on mobile today. With the help of Tapjoy’s marketing strength and free-to-play consulting experience, as well as Australia’s $20 million Interactive Games Fund, Australia’s indie developers will find the road to success a little less bumpy.”

Tapjoy’s ad and monetization platform enables users to select personalized ads to view in exchange for earning virtual rewards in games or apps. Users on more than a billion devices can watch videos, subscribe to services, install apps, and participate in other ads to obtain them.

“We’re excited that Tapjoy is focusing specifically on Australian developers with their new fund,” said Morgan Jaffit, the co-founder of Defiant Development, the first studio to be accepted to the Tapjoy Australia Fund. “There’s an incredible depth of indie talent in Australia, and Tapjoy offers an ideal way to monetize their applications and take advantage of the free-to-play opportunities in the mobile market. It’s very forward-thinking to focus on enabling Australian developers to reach further with their games, and it helps to take the UA and monetization questions that all developers are tackling at the moment. I can’t wait to see what comes from the collaboration.”

Tapjoy’s backers include J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rho Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, InterWest Partners, and D.E. Shaw Ventures.

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July 9-10, 2013
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After being Amazon.com’s best-selling laptop for 149 days straight, Google is taking its Chromebook show on the road, both internationally and at home.

Today, Google and its hardware partners Acer, HP, and Samsung will begin selling Chromebooks in six new countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands. And in the U.S., Chromebooks will now be available at over 1,000 Best Buy stores nationally, which doubles the number of physical stores that Google’s  the-browser-is-the-operating-system laptops are sold in.

International pricing will be roughly similar to the U.S., with Canada getting Chromebooks at $250-330, and $300-350 in Australia. But expect to pay a little more in Europe — in France and Germany, they’ll start at around 300 euros, which is close to $400 U.S.

It’s not exactly $99 education pricing, but it’s still fairly cheap.

Google’s first international expansion with Chromebooks to the UK appears to have been a success. Google reported that Chromebook accounts for more than 10 percent of laptop sales in leading UK electronics retailers Currys and PC World.

Google recently released a high-end touchscreen Chromebook for $1,299, which is not being released internationally, and with HP the biggest Chromebook yet, a 14″ model.

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Australia has thriving environment for surfing, tourism, and wildlife. It does not, however, have a vibrant startup ecosystem. The University of Melbourne in Australia is attempting to invigorate the local scene by forming its own accelerator program to support student-run startups.

The Melbourne Accelerator Program is modeled off Standford’s StartX student incubator, which nurtures aspiring entrepreneurs through “experiential education.” MAP also seeks to smooth the journey from idea to market and spur innovation. The first six-month program began in June and included four companies. Participants received $20,000 in funding, mentoring, and office space.

Post-graduation, two of these endeavors have successfully raised a combined $730,000, a substantial number for Australian seed stage startups. Venuemob is a venue recommendation website that matches people with venues to suit their needs. Similar to American-based Venuetastic, Evenues, and Cvent, Venuemob is built on a large database of locales that accommodate a range of budget, party size, and vibes. It raised $472,000 led by Optus, the Australian subsidiary of SingTel, a Singaporean telecom company with an active venture arm.

SoundGecko raised $262,000 for its service that turns any website, blog, email, RSS feed, or PDF doc into an MP3 audio file. SingTel also invested in SoundGecko as well as the Melbourne-based VC fund Adventure Capital.

A few months ago, I sat down with Simon Walker, an entrepreneur from Melbourne. He told me about the challenges of getting a startup off the ground in Australia, namely the absence of early stage funding and a supportive community of entrepreneurs. To him, Silicon Valley seemed like the Promised Land, a place anyone with an idea and a little passion could build a successful company.

Stanford University is a significant contributor to the Silicon Valley startup scene, with strong programs in engineering, business, and entrepreneurship. It also has a vast alumni network that keeps the startup ecosystem flowing. Building up an entrepreneurial ecosystem not only requires bright entrepreneurs and technical talent, but also investors and mentors interested and willing to support it. Otherwise, anyone with the dream of building the next big tech company will leave the Land Down Under and build their legacy elsewhere.

Reuters is reporting that Los Alamos discovered and removed at least two switches which were in the process of being installed at the lab.

The fear is that China’s military — which does have notoriously close relationships with the nation’s top companies — has infiltrated the company and potentially put backdoors into communications equipment, which China can then use to spy on the U.S and its top companies.

That exactly what Congress said just a few months ago, releasing a draft report that stated, in part, that Huawei and other Chinese vendors “cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence” and that, therefore, U.S. companies should “seek other vendors.” Australia’s government has similar concerns, having banned Huawei products from its new nationwide high-speed Internet network early last year, and as far back as seven years ago, Huawei was blocked from Indian government telecommunications projects.

So what’s a poor Chinese-based multinational to do?

Well, call in the Chinese government, for one. The Chinese government’s commerce ministry struck back at that Congress report, saying it was “suggestive guesswork” and obliquely warning of trade consequences for the “speculative” claims.

Huawei VP of external affairs William Plummer also struck back, telling Reuters that “there has never been a shred of substantive proof that Huawei gear is any less secure than that of our competitors, all of which rely on common global standards, supply chains, coding and manufacturing.”

A little more of that might help — repeated calls to Huawei’s press contacts in North America were not returned in time to add their comments to this story.

Even better, Huawei might consider allowing trusted third parties — or even government inspectors — review their equipment and code in full detail to prove or disprove their innocence once and for all.

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People like to touch things they are intrigued by. The smooth curve of a surfboard. The soft fabric in a well-made shirt.

Tapit, an Australian startup that just pulled in $2.3 million in its first institutional round of funding, is turning that need-to-touch into a marketing opportunity. The company makes chips that can be placed on physical objects like outdoor ads, retail shelves and windows, product packaging, public transportation, tourist information points, etc.

Once tapped with an NFC-enabled phone, these chips open up a world of content that matches that tag. Content is brand specific, and could be a brochure, a coupon, a link to social media network or app download center, or a competition entry form.

Many mobile phones these days have NFC capabilities, and Tapit seeks to capitalize on this trend by providing customer engagement opportunities to advertisers. The platform collects consumer data as well, and offers it clients analytic reports on their behavior. Clients include Microsoft, Samsung, Johnson & Johnson, Coca Cola, and Virgin Mobile.

This Series A round was led by Monash Private Capital, an investment firm based in Sydney. The money will expand Tapit’s presence around the world. Read the press release.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is starting his own political party in Australia and plans to run for a senate seat there. First, however, he needs to shake off that pesky U.S. investigation regarding his involvement in secret diplomatic cables being leaked to his website.

According to The Age, Assange says his Wikileaks party is nearing completion and that he already has supporters from a number of well-liked figures in Australia. It also notes that in order for the party to actually come into existence, Assange needs more than a few political figureheads willing to run under the Wikileaks party name. Five hundred people must sign up as party members, and Assange will likely turn to his wide audience of Wikileaks supporters on the Internet.

The hope for this party is to put someone who supports government transparency into a position of political power. Wikileaks is famous for its desire to make governments open. For example, the website published the previously mentioned U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010, later referenced as “CableGate,” as well as a number of e-mail and internal documents from Syrian officials later called the “Syria Files.”

Assange is currently staying in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he has remained since gaining asylum from the Latin American country. He is wanted in Sweden for alleged sex crimes and would be extradited to the country for a trial if he ever comes out of the embassy and steps on U.K. soil. His fear is not Sweden, however, but a third extradition to the United States, where he is wanted for espionage.

Julian Assange image via Shutterstock

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Apple has updated the maps that Australian police warned about yesterday, moving the town of Mildura out of Murray Sunset National Park and back where it belongs. But there are still problems right here at home.

Aussie police had recommended that motorists not use Apple’s Maps app, noting that some travelers had been stranded for up to 24 hours in a very desolate and hot desert area with no water supply.

As the Guardian notes, and VentureBeat has confirmed, Apple has fixed that issue.

Which is great for Australians. But the middle of the Australian continent is not the only place where drivers are being put into danger.

I received this email yesterday from an American driver, Joey Newell, who had a Friday the 13th episode with Apple Maps:

This past Saturday night, my girlfriend and I were returning from a company Christmas Party in Yazoo City, Mississippi (an area we are unfamiliar with) headed home to Brandon, Mississippi just after midnight … it was raining.

iOS Maps suggested we take the Hwy 3 exit … which we did …

It then suggested we take a right onto Eagle Road … which we did … a near fatal mistake …

After traveling along the road for approx. 10 miles it suddenly turned into a gravel road … please keep in mind this is a desolate road … no homes, no lights, no businesses … just pitch black, muddy fields, and trees … we were in the middle of nowhere …

As we continued to inch down the muddy gravel road it became treacherous due to the rain and we noticed that we were sliding … if we slid off the side of the road we would be stuck for sure 10 miles from anywhere in the dark of night in the rain …

iOS Maps told us we had 6 miles to the Highway so we pushed forward … my girlfriend was terrified …

As we got closer to the Highway were were confronted by a strange man in the middle of the road trying to flag us down … Bizarre because this is the middle of nowhere … He was holding something in his hand which we couldn’t make out due to the darkness and rain … We both became terrified and had to make a decision … We knew it was dangerous because if we slid off the gravel road we would be stuck and then would be confronted with this individual whose intentions were unknown … this was a bad situation … One we never should have been placed in … we should never have been directed down a dangerous, isolated gravel road.

We took the chance and slid around him on the gravel road nearly getting stuck and pushed on … It was something straight out of a horror movie … Total fear … We will never use iOS Maps again and I strongly advise nobody else does either … It can get you killed.

I can’t confirm all those details, although I have asked Newell for more exact departure and arrival addresses (and will update when and if they arrive). But there are clearly significant issues in Apple’s Maps in various places.

A personal pet peeve: Maps is rather brain-dead about helping you when you give it limited information. I noticed two examples on a recent trip to pick up a sofa.

In both cases, I searched for a street name, assuming (or hoping, the second time) that Maps would find a street somewhat near me, around Vancouver, Canada. Instead, in the first case it found not the Hastings Street in Vancouver, just a few miles from where I was, but the Hastings Street in the UK, thousands of miles (including, by the way, an ocean) away.

In the second case, Apple’s Maps didn’t look in my nearby vicinity for a “Johnson Street,” choosing instead to find a Johnson Street 12,520 kilometers away (amazing but true, see below).

In either case, you would expect a user-friendly, intuitive mapping application from a company like Apple to default to nearer options, which are more likely to be the ones you are searching for. Particularly when oceans intervene, and there won’t be any driving directions possible between the users’s currently location, and the mapped one.

Apple is apparently hard at work on fixing Maps, which is a good thing. Because it desperately needs it.

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Whatever problems you’ve had with Apple’s Maps application in iOS 6, it’s probably not nearly as bad as what some Australian motorists have experienced. Several drivers were led to the middle of a national park with scorching temperatures and no water.

A recent warning from Victoria, Australia police notes that people looking for the city of Mildura are actually getting sent into the middle of Murray Sunset National Park (above), which is around 70 kilometers away from the city.

“Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue,”  Victoria’s Acting Senior Sergeant Sharon Darcy noted in the warning. “Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception.”

The news shows an extreme and dangerous example of how Apple fudged its mapping roll-out — something that reportedly led the company to boot former executive Scott Forstall. In addition to inaccurate directions, Apple Maps’ 3D rendering featured plenty of glitches at launch, including the absence of major landmarks like the Statue of Liberty.

Like many people, I’ve had plenty of issues with Apple Maps. Searching for Chinese restaurants has sent me to locations in China, and a recent search led me to an address several blocks away from my actual destination. But at least I wasn’t stuck in the middle of a desert.

Officer Darcy notes that police have been in touch with Apple about the issues, but for now they’re recommending alternative map applications.

Via MacRumors

July 9-10, 2013
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There must never be a dull moment in Kim Dotcom’s life.

Sure, he is a massive publicity hound, but he’s an interesting publicity hound. Fresh off rebranding his defunct MegaUpload service as a sparkling new file-sharing service called Me.ga — yes that’s Mega, but it’s also ME dot GA — Dotcom now wants to help build a new fat pipe to online content in the U.S.

Specifically, in fact, to Los Angeles, home of the Hollywood execs who instigated his MegaUpload mega takedown.

One way or another New Zealand needs Pacific Fibre. I think it is important to reboot efforts to make it happen.

—
Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) November 03, 2012

Pacific Fibre was an attempt to create a second link between Australia, New Zealand, and Los Angeles. However, the consortium failed to attracted the $400 million in investment required to lay the 10,500 kilometer (6500 mile) cable and closed its doors as of August.

Now Dotcom, who lives in New Zealand, is proposing rebooting the project — which would surely be helpful to his new file-sharing business, as it needs high-speed global connectivity.

But while Dotcom’s legal problems may be slowly clearing up as both the American and New Zealand governments have significantly fumbled the copyright infringement proceedings against him, he is almost certainly still persona non grata to officialdom and content czars in both countries.

In other words: Dotcom agitating for a new intercontinental broadband cable may very well be the kiss of death to the project. That is, if it weren’t dead already.

At least one Internet user in New Zealand, however, who dubbed the effort megacable, pointed out the fatal flaw:

While I admire the @KimDotcom #megacable plan, there is a tiny flaw. US permission required to connect to USA m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/articl…

—
Rod Drury (@roddrury) November 03, 2012

Image credit: Pacific Fibre; Hat tip: Ars Technica

Over 500,000 credit card numbers in Australia were discovered compromised today, stolen through a hack on a business’ point of sale system.

Law enforcement suspects a group of Romanian hackers is behind the attack.

According to SC Magazine, law enforcement was alerted to the scheme when banks started noticing fraudulent activity on the credit cards. It is expected that the 500,000 credit cards will be sold on the black market. The banks have already shut down access to those credit card numbers.

The hack was allegedly executed by the same Romanian hacker ring that stole credit card information from point of sale terminals in Subway restaurants across the United States. Reports say the hackers were able to access the point of sale systems using Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol, which was left open and unprotected so that the company could “monitor stocks.” From there they installed a program to grab credit card information when a card is swiped.

Australian law enforcement has otherwise not disclosed the name of the business due to the ongoing investigation.

In March, a similar hack occurred on Global Payments’ point of sale system. Over 1.5 million credit card numbers were stolen from systems installed in New York City parking garages. The attack was uncovered when Visa and Mastercard suddenly began warning banks about a large number of compromised credit cards. By the time the story surfaced in April, law enforcement said the issue was “contained.”

hat tip Wired, via SC Magazine; Photoshop via Meghan Kelly, Australian Flag and POS images via Shutterstock

July 9-10, 2013
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Australian airline Qantas will provide economy and business passengers on all 767 flights with iPads, a move that pushes the state of in-flight entertainment forward.

Not only will iPads make flying Qantas more attractive to economy and business customers, the addition will help Qantas keep up with rival Virgin Australia, which has lots of in-flight entertainment options. The iPads will be equipped with a program called QStreaming, which can provide 200 hours of television and audio entertainment.

Because Qantas has 23 Boeing 767 airplanes, the company will likely purchase more than 5,000 iPads to make sure every passenger gets one. The iPads will be placed in each seat pocket, and the service will be free.

iPads will begin showing up on Qantas airplanes in the fourth quarter of 2012 and will be found mostly on Australia’s east coast and Perth routes.

Photo credit: Global X/Flickr

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Apple has agreed to pay $2.25 million to settle a legal complaint accusing the company of misleading Australian consumers about whether the new iPad included “4G” data abilities, according to The Australian.

In late March, we heard the Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission intended to sue Apple for “misleading” claims when it comes to the latest iPad offering 4G, because the device is not compatible with Australian 4G networks. Apple said that it would give people their money back if they felt misled about the 4G labeling. But now it appears it will pony up a few million bucks to be completely done with the matter with a court settlement.

The settlement in Australia has not received final approval from a judge, but if it is approved, Apple will be done with the issue in that country.

Apple also took heat in the U.K. over the iPad’s 4G branding. In response to the U.K., Australia, and other countries, Apple changed the branding to “Wi-Fi + Cellular” instead of “Wi-Fi + 4G.”

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Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission plans to sue Apple for “misleading” claims when it comes to the new iPad offering 4G, because the device is not compatible with the country’s 4G networks.

The new iPad has proven quite popular since its release earlier this month, with more than three million units sold in the first weekend of release in 10 countries, including the U.S. and Australia. The device has been accused of running hot and charging slowly, but now it could attract a legal offer over its networking abilities. Apple’s website says that 4G LTE is offered “only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S., and on Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada.”

The ACCC says it wants Apple to correct the labeling of the 4G version of the device and to educate Australian consumers that the device does not support its 4G networks.

“The ACCC alleges that Apple’s recent promotion of the new “iPad with WiFi + 4G” is misleading because it represents to Australian consumers that the product “iPad with WiFi + 4G” can, with a SIM card, connect to a 4G mobile data network in Australia, when this is not the case,” the ACCC said in press release. “Additionally the ACCC is seeking final orders including injunctions, pecuniary penalties, corrective advertising and refunds to consumers affected.”

Australian wireless provider Telstra launched the country’s first 4G network in a few cities last year. Apple’s new iPad is not compatible with the 1800MHz frequency Telstra uses. However, a consumer could pair a Telstra 4G hotspot with an iPad to get 4G service, much like U.S. consumers could do with the iPad 2 and Verizon Wireless a year ago.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

New iPad photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

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Samsung executives’ moods are no longer down under. Australia’s High Court removed its country-wide ban on the company’s tablet, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, today.

Australia’s court prohibited the sale of the tablet when Apple filed an infringement suit against the Galaxy Tab, a decision Samsung called “grossly unjust.” Apple’s iPad launched in Australia after releasing in the United States. The Galaxy tab shares similarities with the iPad, and can be counted among its biggest competitors. The tablet is a little too close for Apple’s comfort given that Samsung produces chips used in Apple products.

Mobile rivalries are bound to happen, especially when one tablet takes on a very similar look and feel to another. The unfortunate part of the tablet, however, is it’s a tablet. There aren’t a lot of shapes for it to come in. That is, other than the Pyramid tablet sold at Dunder Mifflin in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It’s the internals that really count, and when one company recognizes features they feel are unique to its own tablet, wars are bound to flare.

An angry Samsung stated in November that the judge handling the injunction against the Galaxy Tab didn’t properly look through Apple’s intentions in the suit. Samsung has, however, also filed a similar suit to stop sale of Apple’s iPhone 4S in Australia. A hope for a French ban was recently denied.

The Australian courts have agreed to hear the case in March 2012. The tablet has, however, already been on ban since July. If Apple does flush the Galaxy Tab down Australia’s toilets, maybe we’ll finally find out if the water swirls the other way.

[via Reuters]

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Device maker Samsung says an Australian judge who banned the sale of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in that country does not know the basic facts of the case, and her reasoning  is “grossly unjust.” Lawyers for Samsung are appealing a temporary injunction that has frozen the company out of the market due to claims that Samsung  ”slavishly copied” the iPad when creating its own tablet, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Samsung’s attorneys claim the judge in the case did not properly evaluate the merits of Apple’s infringement suit before issuing an injunction, which “stopped dead,” any efforts by the company to sell its tablet computers in Australia.

“We contend that the primary judge made a series of fundamental errors in her disposition of the interlocutory application. They were all errors of principle,” Samsung’s lawyer told the court.

A final hearing is not scheduled until March of 2012, and Samsung would be prevented from selling the tablet in Australia until the matter is resolved. The company’s lawyers want to undo this ruling and speed up the time table for a final ruling.

While Samsung continues to fight in the legal arena, others are left to wonder just how closely the company copied the iPad.  Samsung, which produces the A6 chips that will be in future Apple iOS devices, maintains the originality of the intellectual property in its product. Apple’s quadcore A6 chips are produced by Samsung in its Austin, TX foundry, and are the brains that power applications on the phone. Despite the tense relationship, Apple is still dependent upon Samsung to manufacture the chips, but has rival TSMC has begun making test batches, according to EE Times, which would give Apple significant leverage in the future.

However, it’s not the first time that Samsung has been accused of stalking Apple.

Check out this picture of a Samsung store in Italy with several logos for Apple’s Safari browser printed on the back wall. This is important, because at the very least it indicates that Samsung is very reckless with its brand, or it could further indicate the extent to which the company really does follow Apple’s every move.

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Australian mobile music startup Filter Squad hit one million downloads for its iOS app Discovr today, released a version of the app for Macs and closed a $1.1 million seed round of funding.

Discovr lets you find music by entering an artist you like in the search field. Based on that artist, the app will show you an interactive map of potential songs and artists you would enjoy. And believe it or not, the company is seeing the most traction from neither Australia, nor the US. It’s coming from Japan.

“[The Japanese] are technophiles. They love technology and they have a strong musical love as well,” explained Filter Squad founder and chief executive David McKinney in an interview with VentureBeat. “There is a really great intersection of different [technology] cultures in Japan. [Discovr is] music meets apps meets mobile, and they seem to be gobbling it up.”

The Mac app is Discovr’s third version. “People use desktops in a different way than mobile devices,” said David McKinney, founder and chief executive of Filter Squad, in an interview with VentureBeat. “We’ve had a lot of people asking for the desktop app. We tried to satisfy.”

Yuuwa Capital saw something in the company’s traction and decided to inject another seed round into Filter Squad. The company originally received a $200,000 seed round from Yuuwa in January. Filter Squad plans to use the money to make more hires and focus on product development. Currently, the company is halfway through coding its first Android version of Discovr.

There has been a recent push to enrich the Australian technology scene, which McKinney says is not very big at this point. According to him, many Australian companies look to the United States to stay in the tech-know. Investing in Australia, however, has seemed to pick up, with Filter Squad as the latest example. (Design outsourcing company 99 Designs recently decided to double its Australian team to solidify itself in the country’s burgeoning tech culture.)

Currently, Discovr is a number one app in 28 countries. Filter Squad was founded in January 2011 and has four employees. Check out how it works in the video below:

The money will help Brammo solidify its position in the market against electric bike rivals such as Zero Motorcylces, and to reach new customers. Brammo also produces and distributes the Brammo Digital Drivetrain, and the Brammo Power battery back, which can be used by manufacturers in their vehicles.

“We are excited to add Polaris Industries as a valued strategic partner. Brammo and its partners are combining forces to gain dominance in the EV powersports market,”said Brammo founder and chief executive officer Craig Bramscher, in a statement. Alpine Energy also participated in the round.

Polaris makes a wide variety of vehicles for outdoor recreation, such as golf carts, off-road vehicles and snowmobiles. Polaris also makes light-duty electric vehicles, such as the Gem, which is like golf cart designed for grounds teams.

Based in Ashland, Ore., Brammo is the maker of all-electric motorcycles, such as Encite, the Empulse, Engage and  the Enertia (pictured).

Brammo previously raised $10 million Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital and  Best Buy Venture Capital

Australia’s new clean energy projects drop sharply — The country is generally considered progressive in its pursuit of smart grid upgrades and renewable energies. Australia’s electricity output from new wind, hydro and solar power plants dropped almost 80 percent this year due to struggles to raise financing, according to an industry group; the industry added 210 megawatts of capacity in 2010, compared to 933 megawatts in 2009. The government plans to adjust incentives to meet its goal of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, Bloomberg reports.

Think launches four-seat version of electric car (pictured) — The Norwegian company recently started producing its classic two-seat electric car in the U.S. It has announced it has added two more seats to the original Think City car without making it much bigger, Green Car Reports notes. The four-seat version won’t be available in the US anytime soon.

Wind turbines could be a boon for crops — Turbines are often criticized as a visual blight in rural areas. But a new report from Iowa State University finds that the turbulence created by the turbines’ blades could help corn and soybean plants stay cooler, dryer, healthier and more productive in extracting carbon dioxide from the earth and atmosphere, Reuters writes.

Smart grid’s Trilliant broadens Asia reach with UMC investment — Smart grid communications company Trilliant announced an investment from the venture arm of the Taiwanese semiconducter foundry company United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC). It will also broaden its Asia reach by opening an office in Asia, and will get some unspecified assistance from UMC in its regional expansion. The release states that Trilliant has an advantage in international expansion thanks to its technology being based on an international spectrum.

[Image via Green Car Reports]

Opal’s operations in Canberra, Australia’s capital, give GE a platform from which to test products in a developed country with a supportive stance on clean energy while building ties within Asia.

“By bringing Opal Software’s proven technologies together with GE’s solution platforms, our talented teams will drive the next wave of software solutions. Opal Software will help secure GE as a smart grid technology leader and meet the needs of the fast-growing Asia Pacific region,” said Matt McKenzie, general manager, Asia region for GE’s Digital Energy business in a company statement.

Opal makes software that allows utilities to switch between various platforms and offers data migration services that will allow GE software to communicate with non-GE products. Opal software products also help manage the building and management of networks that utilities use, thus allowing GE to broaden its smart grid services beyond meters and power grid equipment, Earth2Tech explains.

It looks like Australia understands the value it has for companies looking to pave a road to China. Greentech Media cites Paul Adler, an official at the Australian Trade Commission as saying, “Many view Australia as a stepping stone into the big pie . . . Australia is a fantastic incubator.”

Other companies doing cleantech work in the Australia region include building management systems startup Building IQ, which was a finalist in the innovation competition at GreenBeat 2009; Grid Net, which is teaming with utility company Energy Australia on smart grid offerings; and Aurora Algae, which plans to open a pilot plant in Australia. Fellow biofuels player LanzaTech is based in neighboring New Zealand.

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July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Email marketing services provider ExactTarget acquired its reseller mPath Global on Tuesday for an undisclosed amount in a bid to expand its services in Asia and the Pacific. mPath has since been re-launched as ExactTarget Australia.

ExactTarget offers marketing and market research tools that use text messaging, voice messaging, social networks and websites to reach potential customers. Expedia.com, Fairfax Digital and Best Buy are among its clients.

All former mPath employees have accepted positions in ExactTarget Australia, according to a company release. ExactTarget will capture more than 150 former mPath clients in Asia Pacific through the deal, including Fairfax Digital, Lend Lease and Tennis Australia.

ExactTarget and mPath have done business since 2005, when mPath became the exclusive distributor for ExactTarget’s technology in Asia Pacific. mPath founder and CEO Chris Gartlan will captain ExactTarget Australia.

This is the third acquisition for ExactTarget in the past 12 months. Earlier acquisitions include San Francisco-based Twitter platform CoTweet in March and U.K.-based KeyMail Marketing in September.

ExactTarget has raised $155 million in venture capital funding from investors including Technology Crossover Ventures, Battery Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, Ontagu Newhall and Scale Venture Partners, according to peHUB.

[photo: travellingtamas]