Gartner's 2016 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies indicates that machine learning is at peak hype, blockchain and the connected home are close behind, and the hype for SDx is starting to fade. [ + ]

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is providing funding for ITP Renewables' Battery Trial, which will compare the real-time performance of home batteries from eight leading vendors. [ + ]

Hyper-converged appliances bring faster deployment, simpler operation and lower operating costs. What's not to like? But while it's good for some, it's not for everybody. [ + ]

Business intelligence professionals find internal data to be more valuable than external data, and express a preference for data that can be stored in databases and easily searched, research indicates. [ + ]

Power chargers based on the new USB Type-C cable standard will be certified for interoperability under a new USB Implementers Forum program. [ + ]

Nearly 3 million households across Australia are now able to order an NBN service, and the company more than doubled its network reach, active subscriber base and revenue during FY16. [ + ]

Optus has reported an 11.9% decline in profit for the June quarter to $173m as a result of regulation-based costs and falling operating revenues associated with intense competition. [ + ]

LinkedIn has filed a lawsuit seeking to identify and obtain an injunction against unknown attackers who have been illegally scraping data from the enterprise social media platform since December. [ + ]

Palo Alto Networks' first Australian cybersecurity summit will bring together a number of local and international experts to discuss how organisations should shape their security strategies. [ + ]

Social media is influencing Australians' media consumption and entertainment habits, with millennials leading the charge towards treating the internet as Australians' top entertainment destination. [ + ]

Telstra has increased its planned capex to sales ratio for the next three years to its highest rate since FY09, as the company seeks to win back customers following a series of network outages. [ + ]

Symantec says many targets have been attacked with 'Strider' malware, ACCC to scrutinise competition in the comms market, and Telstra to test Ericsson's 5G technology. [ + ]

Advocates of digital transformation say it will unlock innovation and a new route to productivity. However, a review of the data shows that it is not that simple. [ + ]

IT security strategies are not complete unless they protect access to administrator credentials and improve domain controller security. [ + ]

The government is sending mixed signals as to the cause of last night's eCensus system outage, with the ABS blaming DDoS attacks and the Prime Minister attributing the cause to hardware failures. [ + ]