The Two Blokes Talking Tech podcast – Episode # 739. Sender ID for SMS – what is it? And new coverage maps for Mobile

Two Blokes Talking Tech — Episode 739

Podcast: Two Blokes Talking Tech
Date: 2 July 2026
Hosts: Trevor Long & Stephen Fenech

[00:00:00] Trevor Long: All those, attention everyone, we are rolling. Stephen, rolling. Check. New Australian government regulations require that I advise Stephen that the tax changes on July 1st were huge. Also podcast rules have changed. You need to explicitly let people know you’re recording. Didn’t you know about that?

[00:00:17] Stephen Fenech: No.

[00:00:18] Trevor Long: Yeah, it’s not a Jim Chalmers thing. It’s more a—

[00:00:21] Stephen Fenech: A Trevor Long thing?

[00:00:21] Trevor Long: Yes, I don’t know. I was trying to think of another member of parliament.

[00:00:24] Stephen Fenech: No sneaky—

[00:00:25] Trevor Long: Richard Marles seems like the kind of guy that would wanna know. You know what I’m saying?

[00:00:28] Stephen Fenech: You think so? Penny Wong maybe?

[00:00:30] Trevor Long: Penny wouldn’t have done a podcast in her life. She also wouldn’t know what one is.

[00:00:34] Voice Over: Yeah.

[00:00:34] Trevor Long: Hi Penny.

[00:00:35] Stephen Fenech: She’s out there representing us to the rest of the world. How good’s that?

[00:00:37] Trevor Long: That’s just who you want out there representing you.

[00:00:40] Stephen Fenech: Two blokes talking politics.

[00:00:43] Trevor Long: That’s the private feed this week. Oh yeah, yeah. It is a bit political. It was a lot of political.

[00:00:48] Stephen Fenech: But we dip into our finances too, or Trevor’s finances and how he’s doing very well.

[00:00:52] Trevor Long: I don’t think I wanna publish that now. Yeah, he’s doing very, very well.

[00:00:55] Stephen Fenech: Wants to pay himself more money, folks. Does that mean you were underpaid before?

[00:01:01] Trevor Long: I think so.

[00:01:01] Stephen Fenech: Or you think you’ve just risen to a new tax bracket?

[00:01:04] Trevor Long: No, I think I’ve been underpaid for a year and a half. A year and a half.

[00:01:07] Stephen Fenech: Okay. Yeah.

[00:01:09] Trevor Long: And I just went, you know what? I deserve more.

[00:01:11] Stephen Fenech: There you go. Well, you’re the boss, mate. You make this decision.

[00:01:15] Trevor Long: Beautiful. There was no negotiation involved.

[00:01:17] Stephen Fenech: God love him. The old man used to say, son, when you run your own business, make sure you pay yourself first. I said, “Done.” Good call. Yeah.

[00:01:25] Trevor Long: Good call. Well played. I did pay myself twice this month though.

[00:01:28] Stephen Fenech: Oi.

[00:01:28] Trevor Long: I will say.

[00:01:29] Stephen Fenech: Hello.

[00:01:29] Trevor Long: Well, so we had to delete—

[00:01:31] Stephen Fenech: Use the ATO listing.

[00:01:31] Trevor Long: We had to delete all of the transactions that had been programmed to pay the wages, right? And so I put ’em in. So this morning at 4:30 or whatever, I logged on and I’m like, “Ah, didn’t get paid. I must have set it.” And I looked, the scheduled payment was next one was 1st of August. Ah, stuffed that up. So I did them manually. And then at 8 o’clock or something, I got this another notification of a payment coming to my account. I went, “Oh no, what’s happened here?” And they had then processed. So I’m like, “Oh, now I gotta go and reverse it.” reverse half of it. Oh man, I should have put faith in the scheduled system.

[00:01:59] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, you’re a victim of your own efficiency.

[00:02:00] Trevor Long: I know, apparently banks do process stuff early but don’t put it in the system anyway.

[00:02:05] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, that’s a whole other story.

[00:02:08] Trevor Long: Stephen, it’s a pretty big week.

[00:02:11] Stephen Fenech: Big week.

[00:02:11] Trevor Long: 700 episodes, mate.

[00:02:13] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, thank you. I was wondering where you’re going with that. Thank you very much. Yep, Tech Guide episode 700 in the can.

[00:02:19] Trevor Long: Do you think you’ll ever catch two blokes?

[00:02:21] Stephen Fenech: I’m on the trail, mate. I’m on the trail. The gap seems to continue on 39 episodes. Doing 2 a week. Oh, that’d be hilarious. Imagine that. Hey, I’ve beaten 2 blokes. Hang on, that’s me. But no, no, all good. 700, some good prizes if you want to get a chance to have a listen, win all the structure.

[00:02:39] Trevor Long: You gotta listen to win though.

[00:02:39] Stephen Fenech: You can’t just listen to win. Yeah, you can’t just, you know, just micky it up. You got to wait and get the code words, and I’ve strategically put them right near the end, so you got to listen through. You got to find it. I suppose now that I’ve given it up, you got to go to the end.

[00:02:50] Trevor Long: Is it the very end? No.

[00:02:52] Stephen Fenech: Okay, not the very, very end.

[00:02:53] Trevor Long: Did you put all the code words at the end? No.

[00:02:56] Stephen Fenech: Okay. Oh no, it’s a code phrase.

[00:02:59] Trevor Long: Oh, you idiot.

[00:02:59] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:03:00] Trevor Long: You should have made it like one at the start, one in the middle, one at the end.

[00:03:02] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I should have.

[00:03:03] Trevor Long: But come on, mate, we’ve got to have promotional meetings before you do this.

[00:03:05] Stephen Fenech: People are going to listen through the whole show anyway, mate. It’s just compelling stuff.

[00:03:08] Trevor Long: I’m going to break it to you, they’re going to look at the transcript and go quickly to the code word.

[00:03:12] Stephen Fenech: There you go. Anyway. But you need to also listen out for the instructions and what you need to do.

[00:03:17] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:03:17] Stephen Fenech: It’s very specific.

[00:03:18] Trevor Long: Very specific. Yeah, very specific.

[00:03:20] Stephen Fenech: But anyway, thank you.

[00:03:21] Trevor Long: But you don’t look a day over 699 episodes.

[00:03:23] Stephen Fenech: There you have it. Hey, there we go. 700, baby. Yeah, so my first podcast for Tech Guide— well, we started in 2011. Yeah, February 2011.

[00:03:33] Trevor Long: Yep.

[00:03:33] Stephen Fenech: First episode of Tech Guide was June 16th, 2012. Right.

[00:03:38] Trevor Long: Yeah, because EFTM launched October 2011, the website.

[00:03:43] Stephen Fenech: So really, was it that year, 2011?

[00:03:46] Trevor Long: Yeah, it was your Tech Life before that.

[00:03:48] Stephen Fenech: Okay, of course it was. Yeah, of course it was. And you had, and then the podcast also transferred from Your Tech Life to EFTN.

[00:03:55] Trevor Long: It was a while before I changed the name of the podcast.

[00:03:59] Stephen Fenech: ‘Cause you’d already been podcasting up at that point?

[00:04:01] Trevor Long: Oh yeah, I’d been podcasting.

[00:04:03] Stephen Fenech: Before Two Blokes, so that outdates Two Blokes Talking Tech for you.

[00:04:06] Trevor Long: Yeah, it may not in episode numbers now because there was a while I was doing like fortnightly and there was probably a few months where I didn’t do any and there’s been some staffing issues. So there’s some changes to who did the show.

[00:04:18] Stephen Fenech: Yes.

[00:04:18] Trevor Long: So I, yeah, there’s no number on it because I don’t number the episodes, but Its first episode was in 2009, I would have thought. Right. Yeah.

[00:04:28] Stephen Fenech: Well, by the time people are listening to this, the Tech Guide is already in the feed. So comes in on Tuesday, Tuesday afternoon. So you probably already listened.

[00:04:37] Trevor Long: People listening to this right now, they’re going, “We’ve listened already.” We know, we’re on it.

[00:04:40] Stephen Fenech: We’ve listened already.

[00:04:41] Trevor Long: They already think they’ve won the prize. When is the prize drawn?

[00:04:44] Stephen Fenech: It’ll be Sunday night. I’ll do it. So it’ll be a week.

[00:04:48] Trevor Long: For the next episode.

[00:04:48] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. So in time for the next episode.

[00:04:50] Trevor Long: Yeah. Gotcha. Well, you know, time flies when you’re having fun.

[00:04:54] Stephen Fenech: It does. Yeah, it’s been good. I’ve had some great feedback, a lot of people entering. It’s great. And a lot of nice messages too from the people in the industry, from working around. It’s different companies have contacted me. It’s really nice.

[00:05:06] Trevor Long: That’s good. Yeah, that’s what you want.

[00:05:09] Stephen Fenech: That’s what you want. That’s all you want. You want people listening. You want people listening to your show where, you know, you’re still relevant 14 years in. You’re still ranking. You’re still getting a decent, you know, regular audience and hopefully new audience. I’m gonna try a few new things this year. Now after this episode, going to try to sort of win some people in, drag people in who normally wouldn’t listen to a tech podcast. Got a few ideas on how we could do that.

[00:05:34] Trevor Long: Nice. Yeah, very good. Well, my congratulations. Thank you very much. Milestones are there to be savored.

[00:05:40] Stephen Fenech: That’s it.

[00:05:41] Trevor Long: And then we will move on and work.

[00:05:43] Stephen Fenech: And that’s it. Yeah, that’s it.

[00:05:44] Trevor Long: And then the work begins.

[00:05:45] Stephen Fenech: It’s in the review already. Working on 7.0.1.

[00:05:49] Trevor Long: Just relax. Get through the week. Okay. Yeah. You’re entitled to a week. Yeah.

[00:05:53] Stephen Fenech: That’s fair.

[00:05:55] Trevor Long: Okay.

[00:05:55] Stephen Fenech: All right.

[00:05:55] Trevor Long: Well, we’re entitled to— and just for those on YouTube, 6 minutes on the dot.

[00:06:02] Voice Over: Welcome to Two Blokes Talking Tech.

[00:06:04] Trevor Long: Not a bad price.

[00:06:05] Voice Over: With Trevor Long from eftm.com.

[00:06:07] Stephen Fenech: Really handy device.

[00:06:09] Voice Over: And Stephen Fenech from techguide.com.au.

[00:06:13] Trevor Long: Great to have your company. Two Blokes Talking Tech. I’ve ruined it by crashing over it there, but who cares? Episode 739. Thanks to the great people at Netgear and Arlo. We’ll tell you more about them shortly because why wouldn’t we, you know? They are the great sponsors of this show and they have been for a very long time. Stephen, great to be with you, mate.

[00:06:28] Stephen Fenech: Yes, likewise. Plenty to talk about as usual. There’s 39 more episodes than you, but you know, there was so many ideas for this show, we just had to narrow them down, didn’t we?

[00:06:38] Trevor Long: I mean, it was important.

[00:06:39] Stephen Fenech: So many things we could talk about.

[00:06:40] Trevor Long: The pre-show meeting required us to make some tough decisions. Tough decisions were made. Now, the first one I want to talk about though is a fascinating one because I’ve been contacted by a few people who are like confused about this.

[00:06:53] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:06:53] Trevor Long: And it’s a July 1 ruling by the ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, around sender ID. This is an SMS thing.

[00:07:01] Stephen Fenech: Yes.

[00:07:02] Trevor Long: Now, sender ID requires that any business wanting to send an SMS message under their name must be registered with that name with ACMA, basically. Yeah. To be able to send a message under their name. And the best example I can give you is I have EFTM. If you log into the EFTM app, you get a text message that says says, here’s your verification code. The message is from EFTM. There’s no phone number and you can’t reply to it. It’s a one-way message. But for the last however many years, a scammer in India, a scammer in Kazakhstan, a scammer in Melbourne could choose to send a message to anyone, anywhere, anytime, any way, and label it EFTM. There’s no way of me stopping that. And so the obvious examples here are AusPost, CommBank, Telstra.

[00:07:49] Stephen Fenech: And there’ve been plenty of those.

[00:07:50] Trevor Long: You get a message from, AusPost or from ANZ.

[00:07:54] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:07:55] Trevor Long: And it would say, click here, this is a thing. And what would happen is if you had legitimate messages from that bank or that organization previous— excuse me, previously, this scam message might appear in fact in a thread. Yeah, I’ve seen it with your traditional, you know, here’s your ANZ login code with the actual thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:08:13] Stephen Fenech: And you know, people thinking, oh, this must be legit. It’s in the thread, looks, looks real, looks just like it.

[00:08:18] Trevor Long: And it gives it legitimacy. Yeah. If you, if you get an ANZ message in the same message thread that you received yours, or two-factor authentication.

[00:08:25] Stephen Fenech: A home loan approval or something.

[00:08:27] Trevor Long: Or just your login password for your two-factor code for the last login attempt. You’ll go, oh, that’s real. And so the ACMA worked with the telcos on this and they established this thing called Sender ID. And so what it requires is, so what I had to do as a business in the enterprise system that I used to send out SMSs, I had to go through a process. I had to upload documentation, approve my ABN, all this kind of stuff, and essentially be approved, verified to use EFTM as a sender ID. ANZ, CommBank, AusPost, Netflix, whoever the heck wants to send a message have to do the same.

[00:08:59] Stephen Fenech: So it’s like, you know, when you receive emails from, and you know, they might be pretending to be, it might say CommBank in there and you hover your mouse and it’s just all this gobbledygook, right?

[00:09:10] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:09:10] Stephen Fenech: So similarly with SMSs, the scammers were doing that. They’ll basically, let me just put EFTN in there.

[00:09:16] Trevor Long: You can type anything. Yeah. You could literally put anything.

[00:09:18] Stephen Fenech: And that’s only stopped now.

[00:09:20] Trevor Long: As of, as of the time of reply.

[00:09:23] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:09:23] Trevor Long: And so what happens now is if a scammer tries to EFTM or ANZ or anything, it’ll, it’ll come into the telco system and it’ll go, well, this is an unauthorized sender of this message.

[00:09:34] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:09:34] Trevor Long: And it’ll go, it’ll come to your phone, you know, assuming they don’t, it doesn’t, it gets through their scam filters or spam filter. It’ll come to your phone, but it’ll be in a different thread called unverified. So you may have a bunch of text messages from unverified.

[00:09:48] Stephen Fenech: So, you know, that’s suspicious. But wouldn’t they, if the telcos are part of this and say— we’ll use EFTM as the example again— if some text from with EFTM name on it came through, rather than just sending it through unverified, can’t they say, sorry mate, you’re not EFTM, what are you doing?

[00:10:06] Trevor Long: I think there’s— it’s a good point, and I was thinking about it as I said it just then. You need the unverified list because what if a business didn’t sign up? What if they haven’t signed up for a sender ID yet? They’ve stuffed up and they, they still want to send out a message, right? So you’re not preventing businesses from sending a message, just preventing them from using a name.

[00:10:22] Stephen Fenech: Now I think you You’re right though.

[00:10:26] Trevor Long: I think the system should be such that if I’ve registered a name, yeah, you can’t do it. It should. No, but well, it can’t because it won’t get to the end user, but it should be automatically blocked or bounced back or excluded.

[00:10:39] Stephen Fenech: It’d be like me. It’d be like, you know, like our URLs, right? Like eftm.com. You own that. tickgod.com too. I own that. No one else can own that. No, only me and you.

[00:10:48] Trevor Long: Yeah, right.

[00:10:48] Stephen Fenech: So no one else can have a website that brings you to that address. So isn’t it sort of in a similar way you’re sort of claiming your, yeah, your your domain really, aren’t you?

[00:10:58] Trevor Long: And, you know, I think the telcos should assume that if they receive a message from a sender ID that has been registered but that is not the sender that it claims to be, red flag. Just, no, no, don’t even send it to the unverified, just knock it back. Yeah, just mark it as spam.

[00:11:12] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, I think that’s, that’s a great step in the right direction, don’t you think? It is.

[00:11:16] Trevor Long: Oh mate, it’s, it’s great news for, for consumers because it should stop some people falling for scams, but The confusion I think has been people thought they had to register for a SIM card.

[00:11:26] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, you know, the telcos were sending it out and at first glance you’re thinking, what do I need to do here? It’s basically the message I got. I’m with Vodafone. I got a message from Vodafone and they— and it was basically explaining what it was. Yes. And saying, you know, when it said by July 1st, but everyone’s thinking, hang on, what do I need to do here? Nothing. Unless you’re a business, you just got to just, just know that this is the thing.

[00:11:46] Trevor Long: Yeah, that’s it.

[00:11:47] Stephen Fenech: And they’re basically warning us about the unverified.

[00:11:49] Trevor Long: Yes, if you receive it, they’re basically saying you’re going to get unverified stuff. I did get a bit of— I wouldn’t call it pushback, but I got a bit of concern from the telcos, like people didn’t know. And I’m like, I don’t think people are too stressed about it. I think it’ll be win-win for consumers.

[00:12:01] Stephen Fenech: But if you’re a business that uses SMS, yeah, you need to, you need to establish that.

[00:12:06] Trevor Long: Well, no, no, but, but be, be clear, it’s only if you do bulk SMSing under a name. Like, we have a phone number, 0477 657 657, which we use to SMS people, because when someone contacts the EV Show or EFTB, I gotta message them back, I reply to them and it comes from that number. That doesn’t have a sender ID and it doesn’t need to, right? Because it’s just a phone number. It’s a real, it’s a real—

[00:12:27] Stephen Fenech: but if you wanted to, could you put two blokes on that, register it if you wanted to?

[00:12:31] Trevor Long: Yeah, we could. No, no, no, you don’t have an ABN. No, you don’t have a business name.

[00:12:35] Stephen Fenech: Damn.

[00:12:35] Trevor Long: But we could. But see, the problem is that sender IDs are not reliable. So we just have text message conversations because we need to plot.

[00:12:44] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, of course, of course.

[00:12:45] Trevor Long: Whereas if you get a message from EFTM, you can’t reply to it. So yeah, the message for people sending small numbers—

[00:12:51] Stephen Fenech: people who would love to have a number like that where they can just send messages but not get replies.

[00:12:55] Trevor Long: Oh yeah, but you now can’t send them from a random name or number though. It has to be registered, linked to a business name. But if you’re a small business, let’s say you’re a plumber or something who has a— even if you’ve got a, you know, system that allows you to send— so my hairdresser, for example, sends a text message 2 days before going ‘You booked in for this, reply yes or reply no if you’re cool to come in.’ That’s coming from, I know it’s coming from an automated system like his booking software, right? He doesn’t have to do anything because it’s coming from a mobile number. I can just hit reply.

[00:13:25] Stephen Fenech: And you need to say Y or N.

[00:13:27] Trevor Long: I’m saying Y or N. You don’t have to do this unless you’re someone, a big organization looking to use a word as the sender. You basically wanna create the sender details.

[00:13:38] Stephen Fenech: Well, you know, if there’s one feature that can help people avoid scams, Good on them. They need to work on other areas now. But a step in the right direction, I’d say.

[00:13:49] Trevor Long: I think so.

[00:13:49] Stephen Fenech: Because, you know, now the scammers have discovered, like, whether it’s through calls or messages, that everyone’s got a phone, everyone’s there. And so it’s really easy to contact people now.

[00:14:00] Trevor Long: Well, let’s use this as a segue into the news of the week, which is WhatsApp allowing usernames.

[00:14:05] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:14:05] Trevor Long: And I got the message and I immediately click, oh yeah, I want my username because on every platform I’m like, I want my username. You know, of course you do.

[00:14:11] Stephen Fenech: Except Instagram.

[00:14:12] Trevor Long: But then I went, hang on a minute, Trevor Long’s not available, Trevor Long AU’s not available. This is weird. Oh, it’s linked. So what I found out was Meta has saved all of the kind of Facebook and Meta and Instagram usernames so that people can’t apply for them unless it’s their own.

[00:14:27] Stephen Fenech: Well, I did it in front of you, remember? I said, oh, hang on, my name’s taken there. And then it said, oh, use Instagram or use Facebook.

[00:14:32] Trevor Long: Yeah. And so here’s the thing I wanna preempt for people if they’re thinking about getting a WhatsApp username. Yeah, the problem with a WhatsApp username is most people will choose the username that’s linked the same as their social profile, like we, we first looked at. Yeah, but remember that if you’ve got a social media profile and then someone can look at that and go, I’m just going to message them on WhatsApp. Firstly, they can message you on WhatsApp, like, that’s, yeah, that’s your phone. Like, I, that’s a very personal thing to me.

[00:15:01] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, true.

[00:15:01] Trevor Long: Messaging me on WhatsApp is a very private thing. I would say, like, I would say that’s a private space for me. Yep. If I had a listener or a random person, there are people who have my number, I don’t care. But I’d be like, I’d ignore it. I would instantly archive it.

[00:15:16] Stephen Fenech: You know, I’m the same. It is a pretty, like there’d be obviously people who can send you a DM on Instagram, but that’s sort of hived off to Instagram. But WhatsApp, now you’re right, that’s more personal communication space to me.

[00:15:29] Trevor Long: And so I think that imagine a scammer going, “Righty-o, our next scam is to find an Instagram profile.” find photos of parents with kids. And now what’s to say they’re not gonna, I don’t know, ransom them, blackmail them, whatever, let alone trick them into going, hey, hi mum. Remember the hi mum text messages?

[00:15:47] Stephen Fenech: Yes.

[00:15:47] Trevor Long: So what’s to stop them doing that? So you create a username. So the scammer creates a username that is, you know, Jackson Long 1732, right? And I get a message from Jackson Long 1732, says, hey dad, you wouldn’t believe it, I’ve lost my phone. Can’t log into WhatsApp ’cause it needs a two-factor code. ‘Can you send me $20?’ Whatever. Right now I’m not going to fall for that, but yeah, other people would.

[00:16:09] Stephen Fenech: Yes. And so isn’t it, uh, does it like WhatsApp obviously taps into your contact list?

[00:16:16] Trevor Long: Uh, yeah.

[00:16:16] Stephen Fenech: So can’t you— isn’t there some sort of security setup where the person, say that someone wants to contact me, and do that person coming through on whatever contact they’re using, can’t they— it only goes through if they’re in your contact list already?

[00:16:31] Trevor Long: I mean, I don’t know if that’s actually a setting in WhatsApp already that allows—

[00:16:35] Stephen Fenech: Because at the moment you need to know the person’s number, and that’s a personal thing too, right? If someone knows your number, they’re not just a random on the internet just contacting you.

[00:16:43] Trevor Long: Yeah, but see, anyone can, anyone can just send you a WhatsApp from any number. You don’t have to be in their contact.

[00:16:50] Stephen Fenech: But don’t they need to know my number though? Yes. But if they don’t know my, like scammers don’t know my number.

[00:16:56] Trevor Long: That’s right.

[00:16:56] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:16:56] Trevor Long: And that’s why this is such a risk.

[00:16:58] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:16:58] Trevor Long: I’m trying to see whether there appears to be anything, block unknown account messages. Protect your account will improve device performance. WhatsApp will block device— block message from unknown accounts if they exceed a certain volume, whatever that means.

[00:17:10] Stephen Fenech: What? I’m turning that on.

[00:17:12] Trevor Long: Yeah, protect IP address in calls. Yep, I’ll take that.

[00:17:15] Stephen Fenech: I think I’m just going to keep it how it was, mate.

[00:17:17] Trevor Long: Yeah, you’re not going to set one up?

[00:17:18] Stephen Fenech: Probably not now you’ve talked me out of it. I was good, we’re all ready to do it and you’ve talked me out of it.

[00:17:23] Trevor Long: I, I think, I think despite my penchant for owning my username Everywhere.

[00:17:30] Stephen Fenech: Which you don’t on Insta. Still not.

[00:17:32] Trevor Long: I still have Trevor Long AU. I’m fine with that.

[00:17:34] Stephen Fenech: Have you made him another offer, mate?

[00:17:35] Trevor Long: No, I might do that soon.

[00:17:36] Stephen Fenech: Where does he live? The US?

[00:17:37] Trevor Long: He’s in the US, yeah. If he announces you’re getting engaged, oh mate, how’s a wedding present for you, bro? What will that take?

[00:17:44] Stephen Fenech: Have you ever decided to drop around, mate?

[00:17:47] Trevor Long: No.

[00:17:47] Stephen Fenech: Is he a young guy? Old? Do you know who it is?

[00:17:49] Trevor Long: He used to be a teenager, so he’s now like in his early 20s. He’s like early 20s now.

[00:17:53] Stephen Fenech: So he’s a younger guy, right?

[00:17:54] Trevor Long: He’s a redneck, Trump-loving car fan.

[00:17:57] Stephen Fenech: So I think I could. So @TrevorLong is this guy and you’re Trevor Long AU on Instagram.

[00:18:03] Trevor Long: Wow.

[00:18:04] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I’ve got all my names on Twitter.

[00:18:06] Trevor Long: I think if everyone hit Trevor Long up with a DM saying, hey mate, which laptop should I buy? I think he’d start getting really annoyed by it.

[00:18:13] Stephen Fenech: What are you trying to say, mate?

[00:18:14] Trevor Long: I’m saying, could you all hit him up, DM him so that he can say, here he is.

[00:18:18] Stephen Fenech: No, then the boss of—

[00:18:19] Trevor Long: there he is, there’s that guy there. Oh, all right. Yeah, okay.

[00:18:23] Stephen Fenech: But then the boss of SeaWorld, he’ll blow up too, won’t he? Or is he retired?

[00:18:27] Trevor Long: No, he’s fine. Don’t worry about him.

[00:18:28] Stephen Fenech: Retired now, Trevor Long?

[00:18:29] Trevor Long: He’s fine, don’t worry about him.

[00:18:29] Stephen Fenech: The boss of the Today Show, the boss of SeaWorld on that was on the Today Show and thinking, what’s Trevor Long now about? Do they get across to Trevor Long at SeaWorld? What the hell’s going on there?

[00:18:38] Trevor Long: Trevor Long in Florida graduated.

[00:18:41] Stephen Fenech: Oh, is that where he lives, eh?

[00:18:43] Trevor Long: Graduated in May 2024. He hasn’t posted much. He does more stories than anything else. But yeah, we’d love— he does post stories.

[00:18:53] Stephen Fenech: You’re not checking in on him much, eh?

[00:18:54] Trevor Long: Yeah, no, mate, he knows I’m watching. Because if you’ve got 700 followers, how many people watch your stories?

[00:18:59] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, not me.

[00:19:00] Trevor Long: You know what I mean? He’d be like 70. Yeah, right. So he knows I’m there. I’m blue check appearing in his list and he’s, you know, he’s heavy into Stalker USA.

[00:19:11] Stephen Fenech: Really? Yeah. Well, I mean, have you made him another offer yet?

[00:19:15] Trevor Long: One team, one goal.

[00:19:16] Stephen Fenech: Have you actually reached out and asked him if you can do it?

[00:19:18] Trevor Long: 100%.

[00:19:19] Voice Over: I did.

[00:19:19] Trevor Long: Really? Yeah.

[00:19:20] Stephen Fenech: Was this a monetary offer or what was it?

[00:19:22] Trevor Long: Look, I’ve definitely had communications with him.

[00:19:24] Stephen Fenech: Okay. Geez, you have had them too, hey? Slipped into his DMs, made him an offer, an offer he couldn’t refuse.

[00:19:30] Trevor Long: Here we go. So like at one point I must have said something to him. He goes, next thing he’s doing the tinting on the windows. And I said, that looks like a big rig for you and thanks, I’d rather have my truck or whatever. And I’m just trying to chat, you know. And then I go, in 2017, I go, mate, what’s your price? And he doesn’t reply.

[00:19:47] Stephen Fenech: Oh damn.

[00:19:48] Trevor Long: He’s just brushed me since then.

[00:19:50] Stephen Fenech: Boom.

[00:19:50] Trevor Long: No replies.

[00:19:51] Stephen Fenech: Make him another offer, mate. He might be doing it tough.

[00:19:53] Trevor Long: Make him another offer. 2019, 2 years later, I’ve gone, just touching base. Be great to chat about the handle.

[00:19:58] Stephen Fenech: So 2019.

[00:19:59] Trevor Long: So happy to help out financially with some study support or car mods was what I said.

[00:20:03] Stephen Fenech: Wow, you’re desperate for just to get the username.

[00:20:06] Trevor Long: Wow.

[00:20:07] Stephen Fenech: Wowee. Well, mate, he’s playing you off. He’s waiting for another offer. You’re due.

[00:20:15] Trevor Long: I mean, I’m long overdue.

[00:20:16] Stephen Fenech: 4 years too late for the next offer.

[00:20:18] Trevor Long: Yeah, I’m 7 years in now.

[00:20:20] Stephen Fenech: 7 years in.

[00:20:21] Trevor Long: Wow. It’d be nearly 10 years.

[00:20:23] Stephen Fenech: And he’s still posting.

[00:20:24] Trevor Long: He’s still posting. He’s still active. Wow. I mean, and there’s a, like, there’s a Trevor Long actor who was in Ozark.

[00:20:33] Stephen Fenech: Oh yeah, there was too.

[00:20:34] Trevor Long: Yeah, and like, he’s like Trevor1732 or something on Instagram.

[00:20:38] Stephen Fenech: Even he can’t get it, mate.

[00:20:40] Trevor Long: Well, yeah, I mean, maybe he—

[00:20:41] Stephen Fenech: if I was Trevor Long from Florida, I’d be playing us off each other. Are you claiming that you’re the most famous Trevor Long in the world?

[00:20:46] Trevor Long: No, Trevor Long the actor would be more famous.

[00:20:48] Stephen Fenech: You think so?

[00:20:49] Trevor Long: Yeah, I’ve got no doubt.

[00:20:50] Stephen Fenech: Oh yeah, in Australia, outside of Ozark. What’s he done though, mate?

[00:20:53] Trevor Long: Not much, because I get Google Alerts, you know. If he’s in the press, I know about it. You know what I’m saying?

[00:21:00] Stephen Fenech: Wow. Okay.

[00:21:01] Trevor Long: You have Google Alerts on yourself, don’t you?

[00:21:03] Stephen Fenech: Nope.

[00:21:03] Trevor Long: That’s stupid. You’re an idiot.

[00:21:05] Stephen Fenech: I don’t. Why would I?

[00:21:06] Trevor Long: It’s the best way to get press clippings. So if you went on Sky News Afternoon and they do, because they don’t often post it online, it’ll appear. You’ll get a Google Alert. Okay. Also narcissist. Ego. What are we talking about here?

[00:21:20] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:21:21] Trevor Long: You know what I’m saying? Okay, I’ll do it anyway.

[00:21:24] Stephen Fenech: I’ll Google myself.

[00:21:25] Trevor Long: And you just set up a Google Alert. If you’re a person who runs a business and you haven’t put yourself on— of course, your business on Google Alert. Yeah, like there’s some young up-and-coming sports people called Trevor Long in the USA. A couple, like there’s a footballer, young footballer, and a young baseballer. I’m like, boys, don’t make it to the big leagues, okay? Because I don’t need—

[00:21:41] Stephen Fenech: it’s gonna be a problem.

[00:21:42] Trevor Long: I don’t have to.

[00:21:42] Stephen Fenech: Whereas my name, I know there is another Stephen Fenech. Is this— PH, and he’s a photographer. He’s like a famous photographer.

[00:21:53] Trevor Long: Yeah, really?

[00:21:54] Stephen Fenech: You’re looking him up now, are you?

[00:21:55] Trevor Long: I’m looking up just Stephen Fenech. You’re the whole first page, so you’ve got no risks.

[00:21:59] Stephen Fenech: But, um, yeah, there’s another Maltese guy, of course. Fenech’s a Maltese name, and he’s a world-famous photographer.

[00:22:06] Trevor Long: Yeah, Stephen Fenech, IMDb. Is this guy— he looks like a surfer. What is buzzing, mate? Can you delete your phone? Uh, Stephen Fenech was born in Toronto, Canada. Maltese parents.

[00:22:17] Stephen Fenech: There you go.

[00:22:18] Trevor Long: Alfred Finnick, a television producer.

[00:22:21] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:22:22] Trevor Long: Doris, that’s my mother, working mum.

[00:22:26] Stephen Fenech: It’s my mother.

[00:22:27] Trevor Long: That’s— this is another dude.

[00:22:29] Stephen Fenech: What? Wow, his mother’s name’s Doris as well?

[00:22:32] Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:22:33] Stephen Fenech: See, and what’s his first name?

[00:22:35] Trevor Long: Stephen.

[00:22:35] Stephen Fenech: Is that Stephen Finnick?

[00:22:36] Trevor Long: Stephen Finnick.

[00:22:36] Stephen Fenech: And he’s got his mother’s name’s Doris as well?

[00:22:38] Voice Over: Yes.

[00:22:38] Stephen Fenech: He’s copying my life.

[00:22:39] Trevor Long: This is unbelievable. He worked in the— he’s got an honors degree in television and broadcasting, worked in the TV industry.

[00:22:47] Stephen Fenech: Wow, they might confuse us.

[00:22:49] Trevor Long: He may be a— Stephen Fenech was one of the 600 selected candidates for initial roster of 203,000 applicants for the Mars One mission.

[00:22:56] Stephen Fenech: I don’t know, imagine that, getting an email like that saying they might mistake him for me and say, listen mate, you’re on the Mars mission. I’m thinking, what?

[00:23:03] Trevor Long: He lives in Toronto. But get this, the best part of this IMDb mini biography Is it tells you who wrote the mini biography?

[00:23:10] Stephen Fenech: And he did.

[00:23:10] Trevor Long: Yeah, righto.

[00:23:14] Stephen Fenech: He literally Googled himself.

[00:23:16] Trevor Long: He created a Google result.

[00:23:18] Stephen Fenech: Wikipedia’d himself, did he?

[00:23:20] Trevor Long: Yeah, right. That’s so good. Okay, Stephen Fanning. Because when you got images, you’re like, that bloke stands out a bit.

[00:23:26] Voice Over: Wow.

[00:23:27] Trevor Long: Yeah, who’s this guy? Thanks. You know what, mate, there’s another Google image of the same guy because that’s the same guy, just older, but we’re in the same Same.

[00:23:36] Stephen Fenech: He loves that beanie.

[00:23:38] Trevor Long: Yeah, he’s really attached to that beanie.

[00:23:40] Voice Over: Wow.

[00:23:40] Trevor Long: Books, biography, latest update. Let’s get involved. This is the same guy, born in Toronto, Canada.

[00:23:46] Stephen Fenech: Ah, Stephen Fenix, a very talented man.

[00:23:48] Trevor Long: About the author, what did he write? All books. Hang on, standby, folks.

[00:23:52] Stephen Fenech: Holy hell.

[00:23:54] Trevor Long: Lines of Blood: Bond, Book 4 of the Blood Scion Saga.

[00:23:59] Stephen Fenech: So he’s an author as well.

[00:24:01] Trevor Long: Well, he’s an Amazon author. I don’t know if that’s—

[00:24:03] Stephen Fenech: okay, that’s okay.

[00:24:04] Trevor Long: I’m saying it doesn’t count. I don’t know that it’s ranked in the, what do they call them, bestsellers list.

[00:24:10] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:24:10] Trevor Long: Hang on, just finally before we move on. Lines of Blood, book one. Book one of the Blood Scion Saga. Beyond the Starborn, the evil days have returned. Long foretold in the cusp, a primeval tome of history and prophecy for Blood Scion champions of the Creator. Yeah, I think it is, mate. Yeah.

[00:24:28] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:24:29] Trevor Long: Yeah. It’s, mate, it’s $10.

[00:24:31] Stephen Fenech: You should buy it.

[00:24:31] Trevor Long: Buy it in paperback, $33.40. Hey, give the bloke a hit. Come on.

[00:24:35] Stephen Fenech: That’d be one of those ones they just print on the spot for you. I don’t think there’d be—

[00:24:39] Trevor Long: 552-page print length.

[00:24:41] Stephen Fenech: Copies. Oh geez. Wow.

[00:24:43] Trevor Long: That’s crazy.

[00:24:44] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:24:46] Trevor Long: Crazy. All right, well, we all know about Stephen Frenick from Toronto, whose mother is Doris.

[00:24:52] Stephen Fenech: That’s amazing.

[00:24:52] Trevor Long: That is crazy to me.

[00:24:54] Stephen Fenech: Amazing. Well, my mother’s name actually isn’t Doris. My mother’s official name is Maria Dolores, is her actual name. On her passport it says Maria Dolores. Dolores. Yeah, DeLorean. Seinfeld. Good on you. But that’s— Yeah. So when, like, when she got a bodybuilder—

[00:25:14] Trevor Long: Which, by the way, doesn’t rhyme. You know what I mean? Kind of does. It’s a stretch. That’s a writer’s room stretch.

[00:25:21] Stephen Fenech: Maybe. But yeah. For those of you who don’t realize the episode we’re talking about, you want to search Mulva. Search Mulva. Yeah. Her name rhymes with a female bodybuilder.

[00:25:34] Trevor Long: Molnar? So good. Anyway, not what we’re here to talk about. Let’s, uh, let’s continue on. Oh, I’m not connected.

[00:25:43] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech with Trevor Long and Steven Fenech.

[00:25:49] Stephen Fenech: Two Blokes Talking Tech, proudly supported by Arlo. Arlo is the company to look for when you are looking for your security cameras, and I gotta say, I’m really really loving the Pan-Tilt range. These are— the cameras could do two things. One, when they lock onto a subject— I know I’ve got one in my yard, and whenever I walk down into my backyard, it, it lock— it puts the light on if it’s nighttime. It tracks me and back and forth, and that’s great. If you need to cover wider areas in your home, then that’s the ideal version. There’s an outdoor version and an indoor version. But the other part I like about it too is if I want to log into it, I can actually pan and tilt it remotely myself. So even if it’s not— and you’re not looking at a notification, you can get to the live view of the camera and then pan around and tilt around to see whatever’s happening in your yard. Uh, so the great, great new way to A, cover more area, B, pan and tilt and check out what’s happening, give yourself even more, more sense of security for where you are. They will send you the notifications as they are the cameras do. And we recommend too you get the Secure Plan, so you’re getting the 30 days of storage, of video storage in the cloud, as well as all of the smart, uh, smart notifications as well. So there is a camera for you. There’s a range of them in the, in their portfolio. But if you are starting out, give Arlo a try. If you already have Arlo cameras, then maybe add a pan-tilt-zoom to your, your camera, your portfolio as Check them out at arlo.com.

[00:27:28] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech.

[00:27:32] Trevor Long: All right, an all-new set of coverage maps has appeared on the telco websites. Now, uh, this kind of comes about because last year, mid-early year, Vodafone went nuts on Telstra.

[00:27:46] Stephen Fenech: They sort of— they call them out a bit.

[00:27:48] Trevor Long: They called them out because they, they basically challenged how Telstra was making its claims of coverage uh, which essentially pushed this towards the ACMA, the Australian Communications Media Authority, who regulate the telco industry, and started a whole range of conversations about how we portray coverage to consumers so that they know whether or not they can get coverage in a certain place. And what happened over a course of time was, in really simple terms, the, the ACMA and the telcos agreed, unwillingly in some cases, on, um, a measurement I’m not even going to get technical on it, but the bottom line is there’s a, you know, there’s a decibel level that a mobile signal reaches that they go, this is a level where a mobile phone will and won’t work. Yep. Now, now it should be made clear that Telstra is not a fan of this. Okay, Telstra used to live their life quoting 99-point-something percent of population covered.

[00:28:46] Stephen Fenech: Yep.

[00:28:47] Trevor Long: Telstra now no longer will publish a percentage number. Really?

[00:28:52] Stephen Fenech: Nope. Is that because they’re not allowed to or they don’t want to? They don’t want to. Really? Because what is it, brings them back to the field a bit, does it?

[00:28:58] Trevor Long: Or— it does, yeah. So they’re not telling us a number. What they are willing to do now is talk about the fact that they have a network that is 800,000 square kilometers bigger than anyone else.

[00:29:06] Stephen Fenech: Okay.

[00:29:06] Trevor Long: Which is true. Yep, they do have a bigger network. But if you zoom in on a small town somewhere, you might be surprised to see where the Telstra coverage runs out and where the others start or run out. Now Telstra, again, I should be very clear, Telstra um, talk about this in, in a way of saying, look, you know, the, the map might have changed, the colors might have changed, but the strength of our network has not changed. What they say is, and I’ll quote them here, under the new national standard set by the industry regulator, a more conservative signal threshold is used to determine what can be shown as predicted coverage. Okay, you may still have access to services in no coverage areas. And they say that Telstra’s data shows that 1.5 million customers have used their network each month in areas that now show as being no coverage.

[00:29:56] Voice Over: Wow.

[00:29:57] Trevor Long: And, and look, the same may well apply to Optus and Vodafone. They may have people making calls and using data in areas that show us no coverage. But I mean, as much as I want Telstra to, you know, understand, or us to understand, and the consumers to understand Telstra’s position What really matters is all 3 telcos are now required to use the same system and same standards, and that’s—

[00:30:18] Stephen Fenech: they’re singing out of the same hymnbook. Yeah, it’s what you want. I’m on the Vodafone website right now and I’m checking the coverage map for my home, and according to them, there’s a lot of 5G around and obviously plenty of 4G, but I don’t often get 5G on my phone.

[00:30:33] Trevor Long: I think your problem is, is your house is literally in a gully.

[00:30:36] Voice Over: Yeah.

[00:30:36] Trevor Long: And, you know, coverage maps are not ever going to be 100% because A million things can be conditional based on a tree, a building, or whatever. We’re really talking about regional areas here, Stephen, not your home.

[00:30:48] Stephen Fenech: I do notice that Vodafone has got quite an aggressive ad campaign with Ali Wong.

[00:30:54] Trevor Long: Have you seen that? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:30:55] Stephen Fenech: They’re really good.

[00:30:56] Trevor Long: I think they’re good ads.

[00:30:57] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, they’re really smart. And they’ve called out Telstra as well. And then the lawyers go, you can’t say that, that they’re cheaper and all that sort of stuff. Like, is that true? They can’t say that? Mustn’t be if they’ve made an ad about it.

[00:31:09] Trevor Long: I mean, they’re pretty feisty. The lawyers and the telcos about how these companies advertise. We’ve told the story before about when I did the first Vodafone speed test and they put it in MX magazine and it was like, you know, this is faster than Telstra and they got legals on it. It’s like, that’s my testing. What are you talking about? Yeah, right. But you know, the maps, the thing is the maps are not identical. They still look slightly different. They use different colors or whatever. Yeah. But when I like zoomed in on Young, I was— you could see that there was coverage from all three networks. So the challenge is what we really need is the ACMA to be the single source of maps. So you could just go, I want to zoom in on a spot and go Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, which one?

[00:31:46] Stephen Fenech: That’s a good idea. Why don’t they do that?

[00:31:48] Trevor Long: I don’t know.

[00:31:49] Stephen Fenech: Why do they leave it to, like, if you’re gonna talk about yourself, you’re gonna talk yourself up on your own websites.

[00:31:56] Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah.

[00:31:58] Stephen Fenech: But now, but you’re saying now that the measurements of the coverage now has to be done equally, the same, in the same manner.

[00:32:04] Trevor Long: In the same manner. And I’ll tell you, because it was interesting, and on the morning that I wrote my articles, which would have been the 30th, I think, I think, um, I took all these screenshots of the Telstra thing and I started writing. Well, you know, the way Telstra has represented the graphics is very bold and it still looks very chunky, the coverage. And then I went to get one more screenshot and the map had changed. So I’m like, it only just launched, and this was the new map. And I’m like, oh wow. So they did, they changed from being like blocks of coverage to these kind of, you know, disparate, you know, edges to the circles. And it looks more like the others, but you can still— so So if you had a before and after of the maps, it looks like Telstra lost coverage. And I think Vodafone at the time, TPG, were quoting that Telstra were overestimating their network by like the size of New South Wales.

[00:32:47] Stephen Fenech: That’s a big— that’s a long way.

[00:32:49] Trevor Long: Well, Telstra, but yeah, but it’s across Australia, does it really matter, right? But Telstra are now throwing that, I think, back at TPG, Vodafone, by saying, well, yeah, but our coverage is— so I can read the on-record statement under the new standard. Our predicted coverage footprint is 2.14 million square kilometres. By their own numbers, our networks, our competitor networks, cover 1.2. Telstra’s network is 900,000 square kilometres larger than any other mobile network under the new standard. That’s an area greater than the total size of New South Wales.

[00:33:24] Stephen Fenech: So could they— could Telstra come out legally now and say—

[00:33:27] Trevor Long: that is what they’ll say—

[00:33:28] Stephen Fenech: Telstra were almost twice as big as everyone else?

[00:33:30] Trevor Long: I don’t think they’ll say almost twice, but they should. Yeah, we’re close. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So basically, I’ll tell you why they’re not doing percentage, because it’s not— because it’s a lower number than it used to be, right? For a start, of course. But Telstra’s argument is that percentage of population tells you where, where there’s mobile coverage where people live. It doesn’t tell you where there’s mobile coverage where people go. So where people really use their mobiles, out and about on the road.

[00:33:58] Stephen Fenech: It’s true, true.

[00:33:58] Trevor Long: Just around town. On, not at home, is what matters. So they’re now using that as a reason not to quote the population coverage and just going with a raw number.

[00:34:09] Stephen Fenech: I remember one of the early ads with Ali Wong, it had her out in the middle of nowhere with an ostrich and she was saying, oh, what’s this, an overgrown chicken? And who’s gonna be using their coverage out here? But now that you’ve said that, imagine if I wanted to go to that area and camp or something, then you’d want coverage there, wouldn’t you? So where does it start?

[00:34:28] Trevor Long: So that’s why these maps are important, right? Because what ACMA wants and what Vodafone and Broadband, but they didn’t really get vocal on it, was they want you to be able to go, okay, let’s zoom in on the map where I’m going to camp. Is there any coverage there?

[00:34:40] Voice Over: Yeah.

[00:34:41] Trevor Long: Now while Telstra will say there might be, there really might be. Well, what ACMA wants— no, no, but forget satellite, just ignore satellite. What Telstra wants you to know is there might be because we we really do have coverage elsewhere, but they can’t say that now. What Vodafone and Optus want you to do is go, there’s just no guarantee, which I think is the right move. Yeah. If you can’t— your example is perfect. If you’re about to go camping, four-wheel driving, bushwalking, you should know for certain that there’s going to be coverage. Now, the example you gave about your house, I get it, but within 5 meters you could probably walk somewhere and it will work. So it’s a big difference between a bushwalking area, whatever. But yeah, I, as much as Telstra have lost this battle because they’re not happy about it. They would prefer not to be using this map. Yeah, I think this is a good thing. I think this is, this is a win for consumers.

[00:35:28] Stephen Fenech: In an area, a competitive area like this, transparency has to be important. And so having them all, they’re all consistently reported now rather than them handing in their own homework and say, this is us. Now it’s done through the body, which still astounds me that that wasn’t the case up until now.

[00:35:46] Trevor Long: Yeah. ACMA have made a decision on what, what determines mobile coverage and the telcos have to implement. And we should again note this is computer-generated theory as well. It’s not like they’ve been to every square meter of Australia. They’ve put a tower out and based on the, the landscape or whatever and the power of the tower, they can work out what they think the coverage will be. Yeah, yeah. It’s still not an absolute guarantee, but it certainly won’t extend beyond where it could or should be. That’s the broad message.

[00:36:15] Voice Over: Absolutely.

[00:36:16] Trevor Long: I think it’s a good thing.

[00:36:18] Stephen Fenech: Fair’s fair.

[00:36:19] Trevor Long: You’d struggle to find a consumer who thinks this is a bad thing.

[00:36:21] Stephen Fenech: Absolutely right.

[00:36:21] Trevor Long: If they do, they probably work for Telstra. I mean, let’s be real. If someone’s complaining about this—

[00:36:27] Stephen Fenech: So you said Optus not so vocal?

[00:36:29] Trevor Long: Optus not vocal. They put a statement out, but they—

[00:36:31] Stephen Fenech: Because they’ve got a decent size network.

[00:36:32] Trevor Long: They weren’t doing that proactively. Yeah, but their network is the same as Vodafone now broadly.

[00:36:35] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, of course.

[00:36:35] Trevor Long: You know what I mean? They’re sharing their network.

[00:36:37] Stephen Fenech: Let Vodafone do the heavy lifting for them.

[00:36:38] Trevor Long: Yeah. Why get involved in an argument you don’t need to?

[00:36:41] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:36:41] Trevor Long: Fair call. Well, if CPG’s willing, you should take note of that, what you just said.

[00:36:45] Stephen Fenech: Why get involved in an argument you’re not, you’re not part of? Oh, hello Trevi. Oh, he’s commenting again on Threads. Oh, what’s he said here? Oh, okay. Hey, sometimes people need to be called out, and you think you’re the person to do that?

[00:36:59] Trevor Long: Hey, sometimes, yeah.

[00:37:00] Voice Over: Wow.

[00:37:01] Trevor Long: Why not?

[00:37:01] Stephen Fenech: And I can’t believe you have the time.

[00:37:03] Trevor Long: Especially Americans, they’re idiots.

[00:37:04] Stephen Fenech: Time. If you’ve got time to do that, then, mate, there’s Americans who think they’re going to win the World Well, they’re the host nation. What about Paraguay beating Germany? Yeah, that’s amazing. We had a draw with them and then they went on to beat Germany.

[00:37:17] Trevor Long: Hello.

[00:37:18] Stephen Fenech: How good is that? It’s great. When is this Australia game? Friday morning or Saturday morning?

[00:37:21] Trevor Long: Saturday morning, 4 AM. Yeah, but Friday or no, it’s tomorrow, 10 o’clock.

[00:37:27] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:37:27] Trevor Long: Bosnia-Herzegovina plays USA. I’d love them to win. Wow.

[00:37:34] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, yeah. They’re not a bad side though, the American team. They’re pretty good.

[00:37:37] Trevor Long: But I’d love the Bosnians to win.

[00:37:38] Voice Over: But how’s that?

[00:37:38] Stephen Fenech: The Germans are out.

[00:37:42] Trevor Long: Unbelievable. So the Netherlands.

[00:37:43] Stephen Fenech: To who do we play? Egypt.

[00:37:44] Trevor Long: Egypt.

[00:37:45] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, it’s Saturday. You’re getting up to watch it all?

[00:37:47] Trevor Long: I think I will.

[00:37:48] Stephen Fenech: 4 AM. Are you normally up that time anyway?

[00:37:50] Trevor Long: Or no, not on Saturday. No, but Vivi doesn’t have netball, so I’ll go back to bed afterwards. Okay. So yeah, I’ll get up. I, and I’ve said this a million times, I’m not a soccer fan, but I love supporting Australia.

[00:38:00] Stephen Fenech: You like the spectacle, of course.

[00:38:01] Trevor Long: Yeah, I love cheering for Australia.

[00:38:03] Stephen Fenech: It’s the greatest thing. Same.

[00:38:04] Trevor Long: Yeah. How can you not be patriotic about an Australian team doing well?

[00:38:07] Stephen Fenech: And I love how many people that I know on social media, they’re there. They’re doing the tour. They’re going all over. I love it.

[00:38:14] Trevor Long: How much would that cost?

[00:38:15] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, it’s solid.

[00:38:17] Voice Over: Yeah.

[00:38:17] Stephen Fenech: I said to Jo, I said, wouldn’t you love to? Would you like to do it? She said no.

[00:38:21] Trevor Long: Yeah, I could have answered for her then.

[00:38:22] Stephen Fenech: I said, what about if it was in Europe? And she went, maybe.

[00:38:25] Trevor Long: You know what would happen though? She wouldn’t come to the game. She’d just go to the local Louis Vuitton store while you’re at the game.

[00:38:32] Stephen Fenech: Maybe, maybe. But no, I don’t want to paint Jo as like just going shopping for expensive things, although she loves doing that. But No, she’d come along, mate. She enjoys the spectacle as well.

[00:38:43] Trevor Long: You’re looking forward to having a home one day?

[00:38:45] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, she’ll get there soon. I was thinking of renting my house out to Airbnb, mate. It’s that empty. But anyway, we’re all good, we’re all good, mate. I’m still alive, you know, still feeding myself and doing my washing and looking after myself. Still working.

[00:39:01] Trevor Long: Grandpa Steve doing his best.

[00:39:02] Stephen Fenech: All good, mate.

[00:39:03] Trevor Long: All right, mate. Grandpa Steve doing very well.

[00:39:09] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech. With Trevor Long and Steven Fenech.

[00:39:16] Stephen Fenech: Well, we kind of called it. We were talking last week about the iPhone and Tim Cook basically saying next iPhone’s gonna be more expensive.

[00:39:23] Trevor Long: Basically, he just said Apple products are gonna be—

[00:39:25] Stephen Fenech: did it actually say that? Yeah, well, that we, we interpret—

[00:39:28] Trevor Long: everyone interpreted as an iPhone.

[00:39:30] Stephen Fenech: But what I speculated, this is my article on Tech Guide, I said, well, who’s to stop them putting up the prices elsewhere? And guess what? Up they go. I did.

[00:39:39] Trevor Long: And not by a little amount either, but they’re also not on the existing iPhones.

[00:39:43] Stephen Fenech: Well, my advice to everyone, I’ve been saying this on the radio all week, if you need a new iPhone, buy it today because the iPhone 17s are the same price. Buy it today because the iPhone 18 is going to be more expensive.

[00:39:57] Trevor Long: I still stand by the fact that I don’t think it’ll be $150 at the top end. I think it’ll be—

[00:40:01] Stephen Fenech: they put the entry-level iPad up by $150. You reckon they’re going to blink an eyelid putting the iPhone 18 Pro up $300.

[00:40:11] Trevor Long: $300? No way, mate.

[00:40:13] Stephen Fenech: I’m telling you now, it’ll be—

[00:40:15] Trevor Long: I’ll—

[00:40:15] Stephen Fenech: we’ll have a bet, it’ll be $200 minimum. No pricing.

[00:40:20] Trevor Long: I’m under $200.

[00:40:21] Stephen Fenech: $200 Aussie dollars.

[00:40:22] Trevor Long: Okay, on the iPhone 18 Pro Max, Pro Max, it’ll be $200. Yeah, I’d say it’ll be less.

[00:40:29] Stephen Fenech: Minimum.

[00:40:29] Trevor Long: It’ll be less.

[00:40:30] Stephen Fenech: You reckon it’ll be less than that? All right, what about the 17, the 18 Pro? And in Pro I reckon 200 minimum.

[00:40:37] Trevor Long: Yeah, I think it’ll be, I think, 18 Pro, 150.

[00:40:40] Stephen Fenech: You think about this, right? Would you agree that the iPhone is probably their best-selling product?

[00:40:46] Trevor Long: That’s why. So because you look at iPad or MacBook or anything like that, and we’ll talk about MacBook Neo in a minute because I think it’s a critical one. Yeah, but they sell a lot, but they don’t sell anywhere near the quantity they do of the other stuff, right?

[00:40:57] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:40:58] Trevor Long: And so I think their buying power on the huge multi-million dollar numbers allows them to still get get a higher price, but a better price.

[00:41:06] Stephen Fenech: But do you, don’t you think though, so they, the iPhone, we agree, their most popular product.

[00:41:12] Trevor Long: No doubt.

[00:41:13] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. And therefore needs more components than the other products.

[00:41:17] Trevor Long: Yes, but it’s not about, it’s not about the component, it’s about their ability to buy the component. And when you go in saying, I wanna buy 20 million of something.

[00:41:24] Stephen Fenech: But it’s a memory, the memory.

[00:41:25] Trevor Long: If you’ve ordered 4 shirts with Tech Guide on it, it costs you $5 a shirt. If you order 400, it’ll cost you 40 cents a shirt.

[00:41:33] Stephen Fenech: I understand the logic, but it’s— we’re talking about at a time now where the processor has to be able to support Apple intelligence. So it’s a really critical part of the device across the board, not just for Apple. So don’t you think that with— there’s greater need for the components, so they’re producing in greater numbers? So you’re saying that the economy of scale is going to make it so that because we’re making so many of them, we can can afford to put the price not as high as other—

[00:42:03] Trevor Long: whatever they need to buy in that they’re not making themselves or raw materials will be better for them on the higher yield, higher quantity products.

[00:42:12] Stephen Fenech: Well, I—

[00:42:13] Trevor Long: their biggest issue is the MacBook Neo at $899 has become a $1,049 product, and that takes a massive shine off a great device, doesn’t it?

[00:42:22] Stephen Fenech: Another thing I was talking about on the radio, and the iPad, I reckon iPad at $599, that was great. Now it’s $749. If you had, if you had gone in on Friday and bought it, you would have gone, beautiful, you got a $599. You go in on Saturday and get it, $749.

[00:42:38] Trevor Long: You should have bought it on Friday and sold it on Saturday, you know, $50 less than retail.

[00:42:42] Stephen Fenech: Maybe made a profit.

[00:42:44] Trevor Long: Well, but $899 up to $1,049 for the MacBook Neo. See, see, it’s a weird thing. It’s only $150, right? But it puts it into another category.

[00:42:52] Stephen Fenech: But it’s 20% increase. It’s like, well, no, 17% increase, but it puts it into another category.

[00:42:57] Trevor Long: Yeah, you know, people, when I truly believe people search on price. Yeah, so they go, my budget is up to $1,000.

[00:43:03] Stephen Fenech: Big number.

[00:43:03] Trevor Long: There’s an app, there’s a Mac there. Now if you’re searching for a sub-$1,000 laptop, you no longer have a Mac there.

[00:43:07] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, no, I agree.

[00:43:08] Trevor Long: It’s phenomenal that they let that happen.

[00:43:11] Stephen Fenech: Well, that was one of the highlights. I did the iPad, the Neo, because what— that’s all we were talking about, the price. That was the best feature of it apart from the hardware. The best feature was how much, how cheap it was.

[00:43:23] Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:43:23] Stephen Fenech: Now they can’t, they can’t be saying that anymore.

[00:43:25] Trevor Long: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it’s— and these price rises, you say, are big numbers, but I just truly believe that overall quantity-wise, it’s a much different market to talk about their iPad and their MacBook market. Yeah.

[00:43:42] Stephen Fenech: Then, okay, so you’re saying that because these aren’t as big selling as the iPhone, that’s why the prices are slightly higher? Like, I’ve got the list in front of me here, the percentage increase, like the Neo that you were talking about. $899 to $1,049. That’s $150. That’s a 17% increase.

[00:44:00] Trevor Long: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:44:01] Stephen Fenech: And the Neo with the Touch ID has gone up $1,099 to $1,249. And again, $150 up.

[00:44:09] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:44:10] Stephen Fenech: 14% increase. But have a look, if you’re buying a Pro, like the Pro MacBooks, they went up. The MacBook Pro 14-inch with M5 went up $500.

[00:44:20] Trevor Long: Great.

[00:44:20] Stephen Fenech: And that’s 19% more.

[00:44:22] Trevor Long: So Apple, and it’s rough, but Apple sells 50 to 60 million iPads a year. Apple sells 20 to 25 million Macs a year. Apple sells 250 million iPhones a year.

[00:44:34] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Okay.

[00:44:35] Trevor Long: It’s a vastly different size.

[00:44:36] Stephen Fenech: So you don’t reckon they’re gonna go light, they’re gonna go light on the increase?

[00:44:40] Trevor Long: I don’t think they are choosing that. I think they’re able to buy the components cheaper when they are at a higher quantity. I believe that. It’s really interesting. Mate, if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I’ve been wrong before. Yeah, it’s happened.

[00:44:54] Stephen Fenech: But have you heard of other companies? And look, I don’t really— look, I know there’s— you’d say you go to HP’s website and there’s 15 different versions of the same laptop. It’s hard to see the price rises.

[00:45:02] Trevor Long: There’s definitely been price rises, okay, in other brands as well. No doubt. And Samsung’s S26 went up like 50 to 100, 150 bucks. 50 to $150 more at the bottom end than the top. So the S26 went up $150, the S26 Ultra only went up $50.

[00:45:14] Stephen Fenech: 50.

[00:45:14] Trevor Long: Yeah, right. And, and I think that if Apple’s— because remember, this year in September, we believe they’re only launching an 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max and the Ultra, and the Ultra Fold. If, if they— if the 18, which is a $1,999 or $2,149, I can’t remember— if the 18 Pro goes up by what I think, $150, that’s a big price rise in the news.

[00:45:37] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:45:37] Trevor Long: If it goes up by what you think, $250, $300—

[00:45:39] Stephen Fenech: that’s what I’m tipping, $200 bucks.

[00:45:41] Trevor Long: That is, yeah, that’s devastating for their market.

[00:45:45] Stephen Fenech: Let me put that—

[00:45:46] Trevor Long: They can’t afford to lose 10% of sales.

[00:45:48] Stephen Fenech: But let me put the business cap on, right? What have I been doing? Apple, no, no, I mean like the business, the profit cap on. Apple’s a business, right? Shareholders, they’re a business. So don’t you think that their highest selling product, for them to stay super profitable, they’re going to tax it. They’re going to put the tax on it to get those extra profits, don’t you think? Or do you think because they’re going to sell 20 million of them, they’re only going to put it up less than the products they sell less amount?

[00:46:19] Trevor Long: I think you can’t compare a MacBook to a phone because it’s different factories, different components, different everything, right? All I’m saying is I think Apple’s ability to buy whatever the components are for iPhone is stronger at a 250 million unit purchase than it is for a 20 million purchase on MacBooks, right? I, I I think, who was it? Al Jazeera. I did, I spoke to Al Jazeera this week about this, and they asked me a couple questions about it. I said, like, they were like, why do consumers, you know, cop the brunt of the, you know, the overall change? Like, why are consumers being charged for it? I said, listen, it’s Wall Street, it’s capitalism. That’s the problem. Because if Apple wasn’t a public company and they weren’t beholden to making huge record profits every single year and making more money every year then I genuinely believe that a company like Apple would go, you know what, let’s for 2 years—

[00:47:10] Stephen Fenech: We’ll just cop it.

[00:47:11] Trevor Long: Let’s ride it out and actually benefit from this. ‘Cause others, the price would go up. But see, Wall Street would kill them if they did that.

[00:47:18] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, the shareholders would say, what’s happening? Yeah, of course.

[00:47:21] Trevor Long: Which is insane.

[00:47:23] Stephen Fenech: They’re beholden to them.

[00:47:24] Trevor Long: They are. So yeah, I think from a business perspective, they could easily make it less or be better, but they’re not going to.

[00:47:31] Stephen Fenech: The reason I’m going on the high side is because Tim Cook’s already set our expectations.

[00:47:39] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:47:40] Stephen Fenech: So it’s not like if they do put it up $200 and people turn around and go, what is this? And they— Apple could turn around and say, we told you, we told you this was going to happen.

[00:47:50] Trevor Long: Yeah.

[00:47:50] Stephen Fenech: So the fact that he’s come out and said it, I think, has kind of cushioned the blow a little bit for him if and when it happens. Now Well, what do you say? $150 max? I say $200.

[00:48:02] Trevor Long: I’d say under, if we’re going with $200, I’ll just go under $200. But my number would be $150. Okay.

[00:48:07] Stephen Fenech: Yep. Well, we’ll see. Yeah. Apple surprised us many times positively with price. They’ve kept price the same. They’ve even dropped prices in some occasions. So, you know, they can surprise us either way.

[00:48:22] Trevor Long: All right.

[00:48:22] Stephen Fenech: We’ll see. So what is it? September the what? What? Early, early first Tuesday in September, is it normally?

[00:48:29] Trevor Long: Second.

[00:48:30] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, second Tuesday.

[00:48:31] Voice Over: Okay.

[00:48:32] Trevor Long: What is this, the Melbourne Cup?

[00:48:35] Stephen Fenech: Well, it’s normally our Melbourne Cup. You can set your watch by it.

[00:48:38] Trevor Long: Mate, I’ve booked flights by it.

[00:48:40] Stephen Fenech: So yeah, look out, they might just cancel it this year. I did see, imagine they said, you know what, Trev, we’re not going to launch an iPhone this year. We’ll wait till next year because the price, the chip shortage, we might just give it a miss.

[00:48:49] Trevor Long: It’d be a pretty big inconvenience for me, to be honest. But I did see, and I think it was bloody Gehrman, who’s often right, It’s like, how does he do that?

[00:48:57] Stephen Fenech: I want his job. Can I be that person?

[00:48:59] Trevor Long: It’s like, you know, let’s call it Labor Day. There’s some holiday on the Monday and it’s like, so it could happen on the next day. And I’m like, dude, that’s the day I’ve got to see my family. That’s the night I’m going to meet my family. And the next day is when I’m leaving for New York. So whoa, that could really—

[00:49:13] Stephen Fenech: Oh, so he’s saying it could be later.

[00:49:14] Trevor Long: One, just one day later.

[00:49:15] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, one day later. And that could stuff you around just one day.

[00:49:18] Trevor Long: Yeah. Wow.

[00:49:19] Voice Over: Yeah.

[00:49:19] Stephen Fenech: Just hyper, hyper accurate bookings by Trevor.

[00:49:22] Trevor Long: I’ve pegged it on iPhone day and then like briefing, briefing day the next morning and then that night I’ll go and you’ll see the kids.

[00:49:29] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, but they’ll be in, they’ll be in California.

[00:49:31] Trevor Long: They’ll land the day after the event. Right.

[00:49:35] Stephen Fenech: Yeah.

[00:49:35] Trevor Long: So I’m, yeah, there is some concern.

[00:49:38] Stephen Fenech: Apple, a lot hinges on this. Travel, the future of the Trevelong family. Tim, the family. John, John, come on, mate.

[00:49:47] Trevor Long: Bro, reach out to my man John Turnus. John.

[00:49:50] Stephen Fenech: That’s right.

[00:49:50] Trevor Long: He takes over.

[00:49:52] Stephen Fenech: Tim who? Yeah, but who makes John Turnus, mate?

[00:49:55] Trevor Long: John.

[00:49:55] Stephen Fenech: Tim would have made the decision.

[00:49:57] Trevor Long: He’s already pulled the trigger.

[00:49:57] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, he’s already set the date. John’s just sort of— he just accepted the calendar invite. He said, yeah, thanks, mate, I’ll be there then. I’ll be the boss then, but I’ll take it.

[00:50:07] Trevor Long: John’s sitting there going, I would have gone a day earlier, but whatever, just for Trev.

[00:50:11] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, look after our man, something.

[00:50:14] Trevor Long: Wow, wow. Two Blokes Talking Tech.

[00:50:18] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech with Trevor Long and Steven Fenech, and we do things a to the great people at Netgear for your home Wi-Fi needs.

[00:50:28] Trevor Long: Netgear’s got you covered from their Nighthawk range to their Orbi range and their mobile hotspot range from Nighthawk as well. There’s something for everyone. I love that, um, mobile hotspot. It’s a fantastic device. Take it overseas, get it—

[00:50:38] Stephen Fenech: don’t leave home without it.

[00:50:39] Trevor Long: Absolutely. Get an eSIM, whatever country you’re in, you can get an eSIM and stay connected. It’s fantastic. But of course, at home, it’s as simple as Orbi will get you connected across your whole home, no matter what internet you’re paying for. Make sure that you’re getting those speeds across your entire home, otherwise you’re a mug. You’re paying for speeds you can’t even use. Netgear Orbi is system you can trust, and you can find out more and shop online at netgear.com.au.

[00:51:02] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech.

[00:51:05] Trevor Long: Well, we both went pretty hard on the vacuums this week. Uh, yep, I blame David.

[00:51:11] Stephen Fenech: It was my end of financial year review, that one.

[00:51:13] Trevor Long: Oh really?

[00:51:13] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, yeah.

[00:51:14] Trevor Long: I, um, yep.

[00:51:16] Stephen Fenech: So how do you say Tineco? Tineco?

[00:51:18] Trevor Long: No, Tineco. I was taking the mickey earlier when I said it. I’m sure you’re trying to plant something. So I’m going to start off by saying this. This is a stick vacuum.

[00:51:26] Stephen Fenech: Mate, what’s wrong with your internet here, mate?

[00:51:27] Trevor Long: I don’t know, mate.

[00:51:27] Stephen Fenech: What sort of offices are you running here?

[00:51:29] Trevor Long: It’s working fine for me. I’m going to read you the first 3 or 4 lines of the EFTM review.

[00:51:35] Stephen Fenech: Okay.

[00:51:35] Trevor Long: Which was written by Amanda Long.

[00:51:37] Stephen Fenech: Is it? She got a byline on your story? Yeah, it’s by Amanda Long.

[00:51:39] Trevor Long: Yeah, actually, what’s her bio say? Trev’s wife loves pretty things but hates gadgets.

[00:51:46] Stephen Fenech: Oh, great.

[00:51:47] Trevor Long: It’s a match made in heaven. Anyway. Wow. She says, for as long as I can remember, we’ve had Dyson stick vacuums. Our house has very little storage, so a stick vacuum has always made sense. And thanks to Trev, we’ve also had a revolving door of robot vacuums over the years. The thing is, I’ve never really thought the Dyson lived up to the hype. Do they look good? Absolutely. Do they clean as well as everyone says? In my experience, not really. Eventually I’ve had enough and told Trev we need something different. This is fact. So he came home with a Tineco stick vacuum, the Tineco Pure One P50. And we’d already been using, as she says, the Tineco Floor One, which is a wet and dry vacuum. But then she said, says, my first impression wasn’t great. Felt much lighter than I expected. I’m reading this going, oh Jesus. Um, it also a bit cheap, almost a bit cheap, and I didn’t have particularly high expectations. I was completely wrong. This thing is brilliant.

[00:52:34] Stephen Fenech: Wow.

[00:52:35] Trevor Long: What?

[00:52:36] Stephen Fenech: How good’s that?

[00:52:36] Trevor Long: He’s knocked it out of the park.

[00:52:38] Stephen Fenech: Well, I called it— I was positive too. I called it a premium and flexible cleaning powerhouse.

[00:52:43] Trevor Long: There you go.

[00:52:44] Stephen Fenech: Which is flexible, literally flexible. I like the old wand that bends, you know, 180-degree wand there.

[00:52:49] Trevor Long: Yes.

[00:52:49] Stephen Fenech: Get under the furniture. Yes.

[00:52:49] Trevor Long: So I said in And you’re a bachelor now, so you’ve been using it.

[00:52:53] Stephen Fenech: That’s right, I have been actually, yeah, smashing it. I said in my, you don’t have to be a yoga master to get under the furniture. There you go.

[00:53:01] Trevor Long: Also, a lot of stick vacuums, you know, you really basically need to get literally on the floor to get down that low.

[00:53:05] Stephen Fenech: I resisted using the D-word in my review. I didn’t want to mention them. I’m thinking this is on its own merits, needs to be on its own merits.

[00:53:14] Trevor Long: But the fact is, people are flocking to Dyson because of their reputation.

[00:53:17] Stephen Fenech: —That’s true. And you may want—

[00:53:19] Trevor Long: still want it for its looks, and I don’t think this is an ugly machine. I quite like it. But you need to know that there’s other things that will clean as well, if not better than the Dyson.

[00:53:26] Stephen Fenech: I think, I think, you know what, the opponents have caught up to them. Yeah, I know the branding is still very strong, very strong, but in terms of the actual product suction and all that, the other brands, I think, have— they’ve caught up. Well, there’s a couple of things.

[00:53:39] Trevor Long: This thing has like a zero-tangle head, which Dyson has on some of its as well. But Amanda was blown away by that. She’s like— there’s two girls in our house with long hair, Amanda and Victoria. It’s normally a nightmare for vacuuming.

[00:53:47] Stephen Fenech: How many times How many times have you had to go in with the scissors and cut all the hair out?

[00:53:52] Trevor Long: And she wrote in her review, I don’t think Trev’s cleaned that out. And I’m like, no, I didn’t. I didn’t touch it.

[00:53:56] Stephen Fenech: Oh, so it’s the machine did it by itself. And it channels it in down so you’re not getting any blockages.

[00:54:01] Trevor Long: Yeah, it’s great. I struggled to work out how to open the bloody thing. I was sitting by the beer.

[00:54:06] Stephen Fenech: There’s one big button, mate.

[00:54:07] Trevor Long: I know, but I was looking on the bottom for it. Yeah, I stuffed that right up, but worked out in the end.

[00:54:11] Stephen Fenech: So there’s a little screen and then the button sort of towards the front. It’s actually, you know, like having it on the bottom, you might not accidentally hit it. Having it on top, Although you got to sort of reach a fair way forward.

[00:54:23] Trevor Long: It would be a long reach, yeah.

[00:54:23] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, you’re not going to accidentally do it. But they got the green LED light, which is like, let’s be clear, Dyson did that first. Yes. But you know, it’s like all cars have 4 wheels, you know, all cars have got a steering wheel and 4 wheels.

[00:54:36] Trevor Long: The stand for it, Amanda made a good point. The stand, if someone, like if it was in a high traffic area and one of the kids bumped into it, it would fall over. Well, it kind of just sits in one little slot.

[00:54:46] Stephen Fenech: And you know what, the stand is not, that one, my only downer was you couldn’t wall mount the Charge. You couldn’t wall mount it and hang it up. Oh yeah, because the actual charger needs the head, the cleaning head, to connect, not the actual battery. But did you know the battery is detachable? Yeah, so you can take the battery off and just plug that in and put that in the cupboard and then store, you know, charge it and discreetly somewhere. You can have a second battery. Although, yeah, whole house clean, 95 minutes in the Eco mode, but it’s like, I reckon, an hour in the Auto mode and sort of the iLoop, you know, coming in to see what’s— what’s doing. Not dramas at all. Yeah, I cleaned upstairs and down on one charge. I am—

[00:55:23] Trevor Long: I, I was very kind to my wife ’cause in one of the, ’cause Harry and I took the photos, right? So it’s just me with the, like the vacuum going under something. And I put a caption on that. All right, image shows Trevor vacuuming. Note, this in fact was purely to get the photo and was not actively part of the household cleaning process. I didn’t want anyone thinking I actually did it.

[00:55:39] Stephen Fenech: So Amanda’s written a review. I’m gonna tell Joe that Amanda’s writing reviews for us.

[00:55:43] Trevor Long: She’s done Dyson hair dryers before. Yeah, the Dyson Supersonic. Okay. I don’t know why she’s written a Donut King story before and some last minute gift guides. She’s done 2 Dyson Supersonic reviews.

[00:55:54] Stephen Fenech: So she publishes or she just gives you the word? Word documents. She gets in the backend, mate.

[00:55:59] Trevor Long: She’s definitely not logging in. She does know how to use WordPress though.

[00:56:02] Stephen Fenech: I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.

[00:56:03] Trevor Long: Yeah, no, no, no, I moved on from that. She doesn’t know how to use WordPress though. Ah, I see, I see. So she would be fine if I go—

[00:56:09] Stephen Fenech: So she is in your backend there, that’s great. I’m not gonna say a word. Well, mate, I’m gonna say to Joe, Amanda’s written for Trevor, well, what’s the story? Yeah, yeah, sure, maybe you know, put some— I said, Jackie, you can write me a story. She says, my review would be, it is very good. I’m thinking, okay, I need to expand on that a little bit.

[00:56:30] Trevor Long: I only asked for dot points and I would have expanded on them. So didn’t she write it? Didn’t she write it?

[00:56:34] Stephen Fenech: That’s her— what you wrote was she— what she— yeah, what you read was what she wrote.

[00:56:37] Trevor Long: That’s right.

[00:56:38] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Wow. She’s got a great turn of phrase, tell her, mate. Okay.

[00:56:40] Trevor Long: Yeah. I’ll tell her you’re— you’re a— give her a gold star. But no, seriously, it’s just because— and the reason we mentioned Dyson is because it is the brand people go to.

[00:56:49] Stephen Fenech: Of course.

[00:56:50] Trevor Long: And so I think people should know that you can willingly look at other things. I think a lot of people will still end up up with the Dyson because it is reputable and all those things. Of course. I was talking to Dyson the other day and I said, listen, one of the things I think you need is you need to educate people on the servicing and cleaning process because I think that’s— and that may be my bad— I think maybe some of the Dysons we’ve had over the years we haven’t looked after properly.

[00:57:12] Stephen Fenech: And you’re just assuming they’re so efficient that they look after themselves.

[00:57:15] Trevor Long: Like, how often am I cleaning out the filter?

[00:57:16] Stephen Fenech: And see, my problem is it tells you when you need to clean the filter, mate. We clean out regularly.

[00:57:22] Trevor Long: Yeah, but the problem with like properly washing the filter and washing the whole unit is you only get, you only think about it when you need to do the cleaning and then it’s like, oh, it’s good. You gotta wait 24 hours to dry.

[00:57:32] Stephen Fenech: So it should give you a heads up to say you might want to clean the filter now. Yeah.

[00:57:36] Trevor Long: Instead of when you pick up the machine. I feel like it may be that we need to look after that.

[00:57:42] Stephen Fenech: Because I compare, like, it’s fair to say Dyson is the Apple of the appliance world. No question. They set the tone. They’ve got style and they’ve got fans and they’ve got a great brand reputation. So any other brand that is sort of in the same space, of course, that people, they use them as the reference, don’t they? Of course.

[00:58:00] Trevor Long: And that’s why I think, you know, even though Amanda’s been quite harsh, for her, that’s the measure. That’s how it works. We had this thing which everyone wants for, and she thinks this is better.

[00:58:10] Stephen Fenech: No, I think, you know, Jo’s expressed the same thing. So she’s taken our Dyson to Moore Park. They’ve got a little thing up there a couple of times to get parts and stuff. Stuff and yeah, she’s got stuff, bought new filters and yeah. Okay. She’s off. She’s often done that. There you go.

[00:58:24] Trevor Long: Take your Dyson in for a service is the lesson from this.

[00:58:27] Stephen Fenech: Yes. But also check out the Tineco Pure One at P50 Pro, techguide.com.au and aftm.com.

[00:58:35] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech with Trevor Long and Steven Fenech. All right.

[00:58:42] Trevor Long: Well, it’s Thursday, the day that people were —everyone listens to this show on Thursday.

[00:58:46] Stephen Fenech: Oh, Thursday, okay, that’s when they’re listening.

[00:58:48] Trevor Long: Friday is when you’ll get the private feed. Saturday is when you get the Best Movies You’ve Never Seen and the Two Blokes Talking Tech.

[00:58:54] Stephen Fenech: Now normally Sunday— normally we have a day off, like God.

[00:58:57] Trevor Long: It’s a day of rest.

[00:58:58] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, like God suggests.

[00:59:00] Trevor Long: The Lord’s day. Yeah, the Lord’s great day. Good enough for God, good enough for us. Praise be. Is that sacrilege for me to do that? Because I’m— you’re zero religion. Yeah, right. Really? Wow. Am I— is it wrong for me to say that? No, that’s okay, mate. You’ll be right. Are you going to have an exorcism or something for me later? No, no, I’m just sort of trying to give you a blessing. Okay. Spectacles, testicles, wallet, and watch. I’m across it. Anyway, this Sunday in the Two Blokes Talking Tech feed, a special edition of Two Blokes. It’ll be Two Blokes Talking Amazon Prime Day.

[00:59:34] Stephen Fenech: Prime Day, baby.

[00:59:35] Trevor Long: With thanks to Amazon Prime, we are going to head out to an Amazon fulfillment center.

[00:59:40] Stephen Fenech: We’re doing it live at the fulfillment center. We’re at Christmas.

[00:59:42] Trevor Long: We’re recording it live at Kemps Creek in Sydney, the robotic fulfillment center, because we want to talk about what is Amazon Prime Day. We want to talk about some of the fulfillment processes they have out there. We want to talk to someone from Amazon. Plus, I really want to talk to someone who sells on Amazon.

[00:59:57] Stephen Fenech: Yes, a business. We’re going to offer— so we’re going to talk to a company that sells through Amazon. We’re going to be talking to Amazon execs as well, you know, shopping tips as well, brands that are involved.

[01:00:08] Trevor Long: It’ll be everything. A lot happening. Prime Day is next Tuesday the 7th through to the following Monday.

[01:00:13] Stephen Fenech: So Prime Day prime week.

[01:00:16] Trevor Long: Prime week. I’m really looking forward to it. And look, you know, I think we’re just flagging it because it’s going to be an extra episode in the feed for you. You’re going to think, what’s this? And that’s going to complicate your Monday if your downloads are happening on a Monday because you’re going to get the EVG on Monday morning too.

[01:00:30] Stephen Fenech: But we’re just going to flood you with podcasts.

[01:00:32] Trevor Long: Why don’t we put out the— because we haven’t discussed this, we’re just going to have a business meeting, just bear with us. Why don’t we put this out at 10 AM on Sunday? Why not? So that if you—

[01:00:41] Stephen Fenech: I was going to say 9:30, but that’s fine. 9:45.

[01:00:47] Trevor Long: Sold. That way, if you’re home on Sunday or Sunday night, you’re bored, we’ll have something for you. Watch it. And it’ll be video, so you better watch it on YouTube or you can listen to it if you’re out in the world.

[01:00:57] Stephen Fenech: So if you’re on YouTube now watching this one, then hey, bonus, you’re going to watch us again. Correct.

[01:01:02] Trevor Long: But if you’re not on YouTube, get on YouTube.

[01:01:05] Stephen Fenech: If you’re just listening, Stephen’s very handsome. This will give you, as is Trev, this will give you— Oh, thanks, mate. Especially if you’re listening on a Sunday, like you’re not driving, you’re at home.

[01:01:13] Voice Over: Can we be honest, right?

[01:01:15] Stephen Fenech: You know what, use this as an excuse not to mow the lawn or something. I’ve got to watch the Two Blokes. Also, Sunday, watch it.

[01:01:22] Trevor Long: Bring the missus in. Yeah, because it’s about prime shopping. That is sexist. I know what I’ve just said.

[01:01:27] Stephen Fenech: Well, you know what? I know I’ve just been sexist. Share the wealth, right? Even bring your kids in there. There’s all kinds of brands that appeals to everyone in the household.

[01:01:35] Trevor Long: Let’s be honest, right? You’re just, you’re clutching at straws now. Let the kids do what they want to do, okay? If they want to play bloody Minecraft, let them do it. Yeah.

[01:01:41] Stephen Fenech: Mum and dad can cuddle up on the couch.

[01:01:43] Trevor Long: So you’re watching the Two Blokes. Mum and dad cuddle up on the couch watching the Two Blokes. Hey, how romantic.

[01:01:49] Stephen Fenech: How—

[01:01:50] Trevor Long: watching two, two our ugly nuts, two old fat guys talking Amazon Prime Day. That’s not going to be the title of the episode. No, no, it’s not.

[01:01:58] Stephen Fenech: But it is broadly what you’re listening to. Yeah, that’s right. Anyway, that’s good.

[01:02:02] Trevor Long: I’m looking forward to it. Me too. We’re literally heading out to the Amazon Robotics warehouse.

[01:02:06] Stephen Fenech: I’ve actually got to drive further than I do when I drive out here.

[01:02:09] Trevor Long: Can you believe it?

[01:02:09] Stephen Fenech: Like, honestly, fair dinkum. What is it with recording podcasts and having to drive into the country? Every time.

[01:02:14] Trevor Long: What’s up with that? Well, you gotta, you gotta go where the, where the show goes, right?

[01:02:17] Stephen Fenech: That’s right, that’s it.

[01:02:19] Trevor Long: I’m looking forward to it. So that’ll be your Sunday morning, 9:45 AM. Yes, if I get it edited in time. You’ll be right, mate. I think there’s a Grand Prix this weekend, so Silverstone, and so I might be able to just edit while I’m watching the Grand Prix or something.

[01:02:33] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. What ended up happening to Oscar Piastri? Did he get penalized for what?

[01:02:37] Trevor Long: I didn’t get it.

[01:02:38] Stephen Fenech: Wasn’t there some sort of penalty he was looking at? Didn’t he come 4th or 3rd or what? Yeah, yeah, I read somewhere there was a— he was facing penalty.

[01:02:44] Trevor Long: But anyway, I don’t believe he got penalized. Okay.

[01:02:47] Stephen Fenech: What do you think of that race? It’s a good race. Yeah. Yeah. So who won it?

[01:02:51] Trevor Long: George Russell. George Russell. Yeah.

[01:02:53] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. Kimi second or third?

[01:02:55] Trevor Long: Kimi second. Great question. I don’t know. No, Lewis was second, I think.

[01:02:58] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I think he came third, didn’t he?

[01:02:59] Trevor Long: Yeah. Kimi was third.

[01:03:00] Stephen Fenech: And he didn’t do well. Who? Kimi.

[01:03:03] Trevor Long: Yeah, but the gap’s closing. Lewis is closing in on him. Yeah. So I actually think, as I would have put my house on Kimi a month ago, I think it’s going to be a really tight championship.

[01:03:11] Stephen Fenech: But isn’t he there now in Europe? So like, isn’t this his backyard? Shouldn’t he be racing better?

[01:03:16] Trevor Long: Everyone’s backyard.

[01:03:16] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, I suppose. Yeah, right, of course.

[01:03:18] Trevor Long: Literally everyone’s backyard.

[01:03:19] Stephen Fenech: Yeah. So they have an Italian Grand Prix? Yes. When’s that?

[01:03:22] Trevor Long: Uh, soon. That’s going to be nuts for Kimi, mate.

[01:03:25] Stephen Fenech: That’s gonna be nuts.

[01:03:26] Trevor Long: Monza goes mad.

[01:03:27] Stephen Fenech: Yeah, well, that’s right.

[01:03:29] Trevor Long: Yeah, yeah, well, it’s, it’s huge. And then there’s Imola, the San Marino. Well, there’s two. Well, it’s not— San Marino is a province within Italy. It’s not part of Italy, it’s just within the, in the boot of Italy, you know what I mean? Good enough. Um, but Imola, where Ayrton Senna died. Yeah, right. I think they’ve still got a Grand Prix there this year. Um, anyway, I don’t know. Um, but yeah, you’ll have a good year, but I’m looking forward to it. I think it should be close. Cracker. All right, folks, we’ll see you on Sunday. Yes. Hey, ring the bells, subscribe, hit all the buttons, and, uh, we’ll be here for you. 9:45 for you. I might turn up at 10. I’ll be on my own for 15 minutes.

[01:04:04] Stephen Fenech: That’s fine.

[01:04:05] Trevor Long: We’ll see.

[01:04:05] Stephen Fenech: I’ll do the warm-up. We’ll see who wins that battle.

[01:04:07] Trevor Long: Yeah. All right. See ya, mate. Ciao.

[01:04:11] Voice Over: This is Two Blokes Talking Tech with Trevor Long and Steven Fenech.