Briefly: Xero docs, Red faces over Windows Blue

While Windows 8.1 was in development the software’s code name was Blue. Perhaps it should have been Red going by the faces of Microsoft execs. Over the weekend the company pulled the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store two days after it first became available for download.

Microsoft was coy about the reasons for pulling the upgrade, but there have been many online tweets and comments from people claiming the update process was difficult. Some reports claim the update caused devices to stop working.  So perhaps Blue, is in Blue-screen-of-death was right after all.

• It seems computer makers will try anything to reboot flagging sales. Lenovo’s latest idea is a laptop with Android as its operating system. Yes, I don’t think that’s going to work either. On the other hand, it’s hardly a premium product with prices starting at around US$250 or NZ$300. Lenovo says it will go on salein Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, but there’s no word if that includes New Zealand.
• Xero has upgraded the document storage in its cloud accounting software. Previously it was possible to attach a PDF invoice to an account entry. The new Files features makes it possible to add other records in the cloud.
• Meanwhile rival accounting software company MYOB says it now has a conversion service for customers wanting to switch from Xero or Quickbooks to the company’s cloud service AccountRight Live.
• Paul Spain of New Zealand Tech Podcast fame has branched out with a more general business podcast. In his latest edition he gets insights from San Francisco-based Kiwi Landing Pad director Catherine Robinson. She explains why  New Zealand businesses should avoid thinking they’re in a ‘David vs Goliath’ battle when competing internationally.
• Will big data transform healthcare or will it just become big brother? That’s one of the questions  The National Institute for Health Innovation (NIHI) at The University of Auckland aims to answer at its symposium on big data in healthcare. The symposium is being held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Events Centre on October 31. Speakers include Rod Oram, Dr Shahram Ebadollahi, director of IBM’s Health Informatics Research and Professor Tony Blakely of the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington.