Dick Smith was among the five most improved electronics brands in a grading of efforts to ensure their supply chains are free of worker exploitation, but the entire industry needs to do more, a report states. [ + ]

Apple has issued patches for over 100 vulnerabilities in iOS 9, including multiple kernel bugs capable of triggering malicious code, and has responded to the reports of the 'error 53' that is bricking some iPhones. [ + ]

The impact of ICT on Australian productivity in terms of human capital appears to have slowed over the past decade, government research shows, but benefits are being felt in other areas. [ + ]

The wide availability of reliable broadband due to the NBN will trigger a trend of city dwellers moving to country or coastal "lifestyle towns" in pursuit of lifestyle happiness, a report predicts. [ + ]

Optus, Telstra, TPG and Vodafone have all secured regional 1800 MHz spectrum, the most popular LTE frequency band worldwide, in a recent hotly competitive auction. [ + ]

NEC Australia's new 6000 m² Australian HQ and innovation centre in Melbourne's Docklands will employ around 600 staff. [ + ]

nbn has announced it met or exceeded its targets for the last six months of 2015, with end-user activations growing 128% and revenue up 152%. [ + ]

While the complexity and diversity of application services is fast evolving, their success will rely heavily on ensuring consistent, smooth and secure operations. [ + ]

Apple has been told to pay $871.8m in damages after being found liable of patent infringement with its FaceTime, iMessage and VPN On Demand services. [ + ]

Gartner expects the Australian business intelligence and analytics market to exceed $700m this year as the shift towards business-led, self-service analytics passes a tipping point. [ + ]

Yahoo to close five offices and cut workforce by 15%, Google pays out US$2 million to bug finders, and migration policy for fixed-line NBN services released. [ + ]

Australian data centre service provider Micron21 has successfully defended against the largest DDoS attack it has ever faced using mitigation technology from NSFOCUS. [ + ]

You can play a part in shaping technology innovation by entering the only international technology awards program in Australia — the iAwards. [ + ]

Microsoft's Project Natick involves creating capsules designed to host data centre equipment that can be submerged underwater, run on renewable energy and have long life spans. [ + ]

Standards Australia has released a new technical specification to guide governance bodies and executive management with their IT-enabled investments. [ + ]