MINNAAR PIETERS
Technology Analyst in the Retail Sector, Editor of BandwidthBlog
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- Jan 27, 12
General Motors and the FUTURE LAB at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel have collaborated to create the Windows of Opportunity Project (WOO). General Motors challenged the students at the design academy to develop a technology that conceptualizes new ways for vehicle passengers, especially children, to have a richer and more interactive experience while on the road.
According to World Car Fans, the WOO project was “inspired by psychological studies indicating that car passengers often feel disconnected from their environment. GM asked the Bezalel students to turn car windows into interactive displays capable of stimulating awareness, nurturing curiosity and encouraging a stronger connection with the world outside the vehicle.”
One concept involves children interacting and playing with the window by drawing on it as one would with cold temperatures outside the vehicle. Another app involves a little creature that travels with passengers as they’re on the move while interacting with the vehicle’s speed and changing landscape. The enabling technology for the apps is the same technology used for augmented reality.
Thomas Seder, GM R&D lab group manager for human-machine interface explains that, “Unlike my generation where I explored the world with my dad’s tools, the kids today are exploring the world with a digital toolbox. So we’re trying to create applications that they can use to really understand in an intuitive way how the world works.”
They’re also looking at social networking through the utilisation of an interactive display that allows passengers to share music and content on the window display like a virtual bumper sticker.
Some cons to consider include having to manoeuvre your body to face the window in order to use the technology which may be uncomfortable after a long period of time and experiencing car sickness.
Watch the GM advanced tech window concept in the video below:
Source: The Next Web
- Jan 27, 12
Twitter today announced that it would for the first time start censoring content based on a user’s location, at the request of governments. If a country has a law or is about to pass a law that restricts global interpretations of freedom of speech, Twitter can abide by specific country’s requests. While it has not yet been implemented, Twitter did give some examples of what it might refer to on their blog:
As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content.
Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.
Twitter has not used the system yet, but when it does, it will inform the user why their tweet might have been censored. Twitter is very clear about this policy only being about different location’s interpretation of freedom of expression, and not a way to inhibit the freedom of information flow.
But it makes one wonder – will it reach a point where a company can request that all tweets about a certain topic must be removed? Too many revolutions in 2011 occured which were somehow connected to Twitter and social networking. Twitter is saying they will be transparent about any censorship it does apply. Right now you can see which cease and desist notices Twitter have received so far at Chilling Effects.
- Jan 27, 12
In a post-recession climate, commercial software continues to lose traction in favour of Free and Open Software Solutions (FOSS), particularly in the corporate environment. However, with a lack of support available both locally and internationally, companies are left having to fend for themselves, or forced to pay handsomely for specialised technical support.
South African development company, Snapt, has launched a series of revolutionary user interface tools that effectively utilise this open source software to provide powerful and economical solutions for corporate clients. Snapt’s high-end customized open source software tools are not only easy to use, but at the same time offer the kind of support and reporting traditionally associated with commercial software offerings.Despite being relatively new to the market, it hasn’t taken long for Snapt to get noticed by some heavy hitters at both a local and international level, with NASA JPL, EuroVPS, and NeoAssist already among their pedigreed list of clients.
The company’s two initial software offerings – Snapt HAProxy and Snapt Squid – have been built with business in mind, and afford enterprises the ability to effectively manage server capacity, as well as to maintain and monitor network systems and intranets.
“Our mission in the creation of Snapt was essentially to make open source software accessible and useable for big businesses,” says Dave Blakey, CEO of Snapt. “The user interfaces we’ve created can empower enterprises to really harness these existing frameworks, and ultimately manage them in the same way they would with commercial software, but at a fraction of the cost.”In addition to an impressive clientele, Snapt has also managed to garner the support of 4Di Capital, a venture capitalist firm who immediately saw the potential of the company to deliver real return on investment for corporate firms.
“We immediately identified with the opportunity to make FOSS network and server applications more accessible to a broader market,” says Douglas Cherry, a partner at 4Di Capital. “Snapt offers a rich supplementary layer of value-added functionality, delivery and management capabilities, and we see it as being perfectly positioned to present an advantageously disruptive product to the network and server management space.”
With on-going investment and support from some of the world’s biggest brands behind them, Snapt’s future is bright, and, according to Blakey, this is just the beginning of the journey.
“The potential of FOSS is unlimited, and we’re always looking to deliver an increased range of enterprise-ready offerings to a broader market,” says Blakey. “The need for such solutions is apparent, and we will continue to devise unique, user-friendly interfaces to efficiently and cost-effectively service the full spectrum of corporate requirements.”
- Jan 27, 12
Pretoria based online company SnapBill is a billing system aimed at small and medium sized businesses requiring automated subscription or recurring billing with payment collection facilities. Unlike many other billing solutions, SnapBill fully automates direct debit orders via a variety of payment gateways.
SnapBill offers a comprehensive mix of invoicing, billing, client management and payment collection features and can be fully customised for your branding . It has integrated service provisioning functionality so you can add and sell your own services while it fully automates your recurring and subscription billing.
SnapBill is secure, automated and always available. Use it anywhere in the world, from any web enabled device and at any time.
SnapBill was developed by South African entrepreneurs Jaco van Wyk and Josh Yudaken. It grew out of the need they had for a billing system at Lusion Technologies, their web and reseller hosting business. The main goal behind SnapBill was to bring affordable enterprise level billing to any business. Snapbill was launched in beta form in Mach 2010 to local businesses and after thorough user testing and extensive detailed refinement, was launched internationally in March 2011.
“We are uniquely positioned amongst other billing solutions in the sense that SnapBill provides a highly customisable, out-the-box, billing and client management solution,” says co-founder Jaco van Wyk. “We do have an API available but our focus has been on providing businesses with a system they can immediately put to use.”
Debit order automation is another great benefit unique to SnapBill. SnapBill automates the entire debit batch generation, submission and reconciliation process for EFT and NAEDO type debit collections. Debit batches are automatically created containing all clients who wish to be debited on a specific day, based on their outstanding invoices and chosen debit dates.
Since launching internationally in March 2011 SnapBill has continued to see an increase in growth rate of South African users as well as a promising uptake of SnapBill over 6 continents and 60 countries worldwide. It currently has over 4000 registered users actively billing in more than 40 currencies. Some users automate billing for over 50000 clients and invoice to the value of R100 million (approximately USD 15 million) per month.
As for future developments, Jaco says that “We have a few big ideas in the pipeline. I cannot say too much about them at the moment, but included is a SnapBill SMS based billing solution, a completely free simple invoicing system and integration with various popular third-party services.
Other than SnapBill, Jaco and Josh are currently in the process of developing a revolutionary white-label cloud reseller hosting solution, HostDeploy which runs on the Amazon Web Services cloud and features complete SnapBill integration for billing and service provisioning.
View screenshots of some of SnapBill’s services below:
- Jan 26, 12
Skype is currently a video chat experience commonly used between two people across devices, be it a mobile phone or PC, that are low resolution encounters. The telyHD, a new device developed by a mall Silicon Valley startup called Tely Labs is about to change the Skype experience as we know it.
The telyHD, a black, horizontal bar less than a foot long and under 3 inches high with a wide-angle lens and multiple built-in microphones is mounted on top of the TV screen using a built-in clamp and allows for a group of friends or family in one room to chat in high definition. The device, displayed at CES 2012, is easily installed and comes with a remote control that is used to answer and terminate calls, zoom in and pan you screen image. It can connect to any other Skype-enabled device including PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets however, some of its more advanced features require a telyHD on both sides of the conversation for the device to be fully optimised.
TelyHD isn’t just a webcam but a small computing device, powered by Google’s Android operating system. It contains software and Internet capabilities that most TVs lack, some of which go beyond simple video calls including the ability to send and receive video voice mails, retrieve pictures from a flash memory card and share with and copy pictures from another telyHD user.
Currently available in the U.S. for $250, the telyHD is free to use like current Skype calls and Tely Labs requires no monthly fee for its use. Users can also make free Skype-to-Skype audio calls, and audio calls to regular phones can be made at Skype’s normal rates.
The All Things D review of the device stated that the telyHD is ”part of the race to reinvent the television—to make it a smarter, more versatile digital device. So-called smart TVs, Internet-enabled sets that connect to the Web and run apps, are offered by most major manufacturers. The telyHD device brings added functionality and connectivity to existing “dumb” HDTVs that lack built-in online features.”
Tely Labs plans more versions of telyHD as well as more features. A more expensive model for small businesses is currently being developed which will allow live file sharing with an improved camera and a keyboard. A second software version that will allow the unit to send videos to a TV screen from Apple’s iPad and will also support photo sharing from online services is also on its way.
- Jan 26, 12
9to5 Mac has received some information from a reliable source at Foxconn Technology Group in China that the next iPhone, known as the iPhone 5, is currently being geared for production.
The source revealed that there are various sample devices around but it is impossible to tell which of them is most likely to be the final product. However, there are a few features that are common among all the devices. They include:
- 4+ inch display (made by LG on at least one of them).
- Rather than a teardrop shape, samples are all symmetrical in thickness
- None of the samples have the iPhone 4/4s form factor
What is important to note here is that iPhone 4S production did not gear up until late spring of last year. If a pattern is followed and an approximate five month lead time is given, it would appear that Apple is back on its new iPhone launch for summer/WWDC pattern that it maintained until last year.
The source that provided this information was the same source that indicated to 9to5 Mac late last summer in the U.S. that the iPhone 5 was not about to be launched, against the prevailing tide of information, and that Apple was building the iPhone 4S model instead.
Any thoughts on all the emerging iPhone 5 details?
- Jan 25, 12
How do the different South African App stores compare? Apposition Consulting decided to monitor and track one of their apps called ExpenZa on the Android Market, Vodacom App Store and Samsung App Store. This is a summary of their experiences and while not necessarily applicable to all apps, does raise some interesting points.
ExpenZa is a free Android app and automates expense tracking by intercepting the expenditure SMS message sent by your bank. It uses the information contained in the SMS message to automatically populate your expense list. ExpenZa can also be used without a bank’s SMS service by manually adding expenses, for keeping track of the cash in your wallet for example. The app allows the user to create a monthly budget with different expense categories and a budget amount for each category. The total spent for each category is shown which gives the user a continuous overview of their spending throughout the month. This helps them to make adjustments necessary to keep to their budget.
All the app stores were configured to allow only downloads from South Africa. The app also went through five updates during the period under study. This was mostly to add the functionality to recognise a larger variety of sms’s, but some additional features requested by users were added (e.g. to be able to import historical sms’s from your inbox) and the un-escapable bug fixes. What is encouraging is the amount of user feedback received as well as the variety of users who forwarded sms’s not currently recognised by the app to be included. App downloads were tweeted daily from their account (@AppositionC) with hashtag #MarketDownloadChallengeZA.
Some overall stats:
● The app was launched on 24 November 2011 at Mobile Web Africa
● This analysis covers the period up to 18 January 2012
● Total days: 54 days
● Total downloads: 2044 (The metric used was total downloads and not nett downloads as only the Android market supply information on uninstalls)
● Average downloads per day: 40The graph above indicates the following results per app market:
In the Android Market, the app showed a very high initial growth rate but thereafter tapered off. This could be as a result of all the initial press releases and overall mobile marketing pointing to the Android Market. Thanks to Google and InMobi for their sponsorship of some ad credits! Another important consideration to take into account is that it is difficult to have your app promoted as a feature app on the Android Market.
In the Vodacom App Store the app showed a slower initial growth but then overtook the Android Market. This could be as a result of ExpenZa being listed as one of the featured apps in the store and that the app was mentioned in an official press release issued by Vodacom that was published in both the paper and digital media. The results indicate that users are excited about and receptive to a local carrier app stores and they trust a brand like Vodacom. The tapering off of the app could be as a result of the market often being unavailable for downloads due to overload conditions.
Samsung Apps showed a very slow start. Apps in the Samsung App Store follow a rigorous certification process before they are published and can take approximately two weeks. Therefore the Samsung App Store was always at least 2 weeks behind the other stores in terms of releases. Sometimes, the next release was available on the other stores even before the release was certified in the Samsung Store. However, growth continued at a high rate which shows no indication of slowing. This could be as a result of Samsung users preferring the Samsung Store to the Android Market and the promotion of the app by Samsung as a listed featured app. In addition Samsung’s large market share of Android smartphones in South Africa is highlighted when taking into account that more than 50% of downloads on the Android Market and an unknown amount of Vodacom App Store downloads are Samsung devices. Adding an app to the market is difficult as every device group has to be added individually (In ExpenZa’s case more than 10 times).
Conclusion:
So which App store should you publish to? Unfortunately developers have to go through the effort of publishing to all three as they appeal to different users. The extra visibility gained by being featured on the Vodacom and Samsung Stores is very valuable, and they seem to do more to help promote local apps from local developers.
The results also highlight what seems to be an out performance of the Android Market by Vodacom’s App Store. This shows that there is room and enthusiasm for carrier apps stores and other niche app stores in South Africa from established brands that consumers trust.
Apposition Consulting will keep on monitoring the situation and provide an update in the future. In the mean time, follow Apposition Consulting on Twitter (@AppositionC) for a daily update under the hashtag #MarketDownloadChallengeZA.
- Jan 25, 12
The BlackBerry Curve smartphone is a pretty regular sight in the hands of South African users. For many users, the BlackBerry Curve is almost the first logical jump from the average feature phone into the world of smartphones.
Even though RIM (Research In Motion) might have been in a lot of trouble in recent months, I have always had a healthy respect for the BlackBerry Curve. In fact, the 2 year old BlackBerry Curve 8520 was still Bandwidth Blog’s choice for the “cheap and cheerful” gadget category in our favourite stuff of 2011. And the 9300 has always a good deal as well, and a logical jump up from the 8520.
While much of the smartphone world and technology press is focused on the high end smartphone market, BlackBerry has quietly built a huge following in the developing nations with their BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service) service. R60 a month is a mighty good deal for anyone who cannot have regular access to the internet.
The new BlackBerry Curve 9360 replaces the older BlackBerry Curve 9300, and aims to still keep its cheap price. But can it convince users to not jump ship to other brands?
Build and Design
It is quite simple – the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is pretty, if somewhat sombre looking phone. It would definitely not look out of place in a boardroom next to BlackBerry Bold smartphones and iPhones. It continues the BlackBerry Curve 9300 smartphone’s tradition of a silver rim around the edge of the device, but this time RIM took away some of the silver “bling” and gave it a classier matt gunmetal rim. The rest of the phone is built from shiny black plastic, except for the small rubber edging around the back. It is also very thin (11mm), and that combined with its very light weight (99 grams) makes it very nice phone to use every day.
Let’s face it – most of the tech media focuses on high end phones that are built from expensive feeling materials like steel, glass or carbon fibre. In fact, the major criticism to some high end phones is that they are built from plastic. But the BlackBery Curve 9360 is aimed at a different market. The advantage to the plastic construction is that the Curve 9360 has a much lighter weight than most other smartphones. You might want some heft with some higher end phones, but you will not even notice this phone in your pocket.
Part of the reason is that the BlackBerry Curve 9360 has a very smooth design with almost no hard edges. Its shape follows the BlackBerry Curve 8520, with a rounded rear, and beveled sides. The only edges are around the front of the device around the screen and keyboard, which makes it easy to hold when typing. The keyboard is pretty standard BlackBerry fair – it feels more comfortable to type with than the 9300, but it is not as broad as the BlackBerry Bold 9900. Seeing as the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is not a touch screen device, you have to use the little trackpad under the screen. But you can immediately feel that RIM has improved this compared to previous generation BlackBerry devices. The tracking with your thumb is a lot more consistent.
There is a few buttons around the edges, with the volume keys on the right, with a small mute button in the middle, which I found handy. The “convenience key” is also found on the lower right, which I guess most people will use as the camera button. There is no keys on the right – only a small Micro USB port, which serves charge or sync duties. On the top there is a simple unlock button and headphone port, but RIM also did away with those music control buttons on the top. Some people might miss these (maybe joggers?), but personally I never did.
The only issue I have with the build is the battery cover on the rear. While the whole device feels first rate considering its target market, I don’t know why RIM would build the battery cover with shiny plastic. After only a few days of use the battery door had some hairline scratches already. So get a case if you are considering the BlackBerry Curve 9360.
Display:
The one disadvantage to the BlackBerry Curve range has always been the poor resolution screens compared to the higher end BlackBerry Bold range. Luckily the BlackBerry Curve 9360 arrives with a healthier 480×360 resolution, compared to 320 x240 in the past. The screen is still relatively small at 2.44 inches, but if your eyesight is OK you should not have any problems. The screen is plenty bright, and despite its size, actually pretty good for looking at photos. The increased resolution also makes web browsing a lot better, and of course interface elements like icons are a lot more legible.
Like I mentioned, the display is not touch screen like the BlackBerry Bold 9900 – but the trackpad button works very well. Keeping the target market in mind, I don’t think it is a bad move by RIM. Overall I was more than happy with the screen – the high pixel per inch count makes it a pretty great display to use. Outside viewing was also impressive.
Performance and Battery:
I have always dreaded using BlackBerry Curve smartphones for anything more than simple messaging tasks, because the processor always seems to get bogged down, with even the most simple web browsing.
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 luckily fixes that – it ships with a 800MHz processor which does seem to speed things up a lot. The Curve 9360 ships with the new BlackBerry OS 7, which works a treat. I was skeptical at first, because the other OS 7 devices run at 1.2 GHz. But everything ran fine – there was some slowdowns when updating multiple apps in BlackBerry’s AppWorld, but web browsing and media playback was dealt with smoothly. Overall the Curve 9360 feels snappy, and a major step up from previous phones from the Curve range. There is also 512MB of RAM, and 512MB of built in storage. In the box you will also find a 4GB microSD card, which can be upgraded to 32GB if you want.
When I unpacked the BlackBerry Curve 9360 I noticed a very small battery of 1000mAh, which made me worry about battery life. After all, the Bold 9900 did not exactly have stellar battery life. But I was pleasantly surprised by the 9360 – with constant usage of corporate enterprise mail enabled, and a lot of browsing and WhatsApp usage, and occasional Wi-Fi usage, I got about a day and half of battery life. This also included a few calls that amounted up to about an hour. I asked around what BlackBerry Curve 9300 users get, and it seems that the older BlackBerry Curve smartphone got about the same battery life from a larger 1150mAh battery, so clearly RIM improved the efficiency somewhat, even with a new faster processor.
Still it makes me wonder – if the BlackBerry Curve 9360 can hit almost two days on a battery, and the BlackBerry Bold 9900 can only hit a day, it might have been a good thing to not go with the high end 1.2 GHz processor.
Talking about performance – it is all to easy to forget that this is a phone as well. Voice quality was great, and the built in speakerphone was nice and loud. One aspect I really like about BlackBerry is the smart dial feature – you simply start typing the name of the person you want to call right from the idle screen, and press the call button. Compare that to multiple presses to find a contact on an iPhone or Android device. This is one area where one can never fault a BlackBerry smartphone.
Web browsing was pretty brisk over 3G, which might be because of 7.2 HSDPA support. You are of course at the mercy of your BIS or BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Service) network speeds. I was lucky that during my review period the BIS was pretty fast everywhere I went (I was on Vodacom by the way). The phone also has built in Wi-Fi, which supports 802.11n as well – which I used at home. A2DP Bluetooth support is also there, so you can also use wireless headphones (or stream music to compatible systems). Oh and by the way – the BlackBerry Curve 9360 even has NFC built in – you can see the NFC antenna built right into the rear battery cover. While it might not be worth much right now, it is hopefully only a matter of time before some banks start supporting it.
Camera:
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 ships with a 5 megapixel Extended Depth of Field fixed focus camera, which is definitely not performance focused. If you are interested in detailed macro shots, you might want to look elsewhere. This time round RIM also includes a flash, which has been absent on previous Curve models. There is also Face Detection, and image stabilization, which should should look to much better, less blurry shots.
Instead RIM is aiming the BlackBerry Curve 9360 towards simple social photos – quickly taking photos of a group of friends and sending it off to Facebook. Which works great by the way – because BlackBerry allows apps to integrate into the menu system. Simply take the photo, and then send to Facebook. Easy as pie.
Image quality was good, especially on outdoor shots, and a massive update from previous BlackBerry Curve devices.
While the camera allows video recording, it is limited to VGA and 30 frame per second. Again, perfect for the occasional video, which can then be loaded up to your favourite social network. Considering the phone’s target market, I cannot complain.
Software:
While the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and BlackBerry Torch 9810 was the first BlackBerry smartphones to ship with BlackBerry OS 7, the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the first Curve smartphone to do so. Thankfully the higher resolution display shows off the new OS pretty well, but the major changes has not gone into the interface. The biggest improvement have gone into the speed of the OS – while it might simply be because of the improved processor, the OS has definitely gotten an efficiency improvement.
The BlackBerry OS 7 implementation of “drawers” or panels on the screen works remarkably well, and before I knew it, most of my daily use was simply using the frequent menu. You get the feeling that RIM cleaned up a lot in the OS. While the almost legacy looking screens still exist in many deeper menus, the typical BlackBerry-of-old cryptic menu options are not there anymore. First time setup is especially easy, with the phone quickly guiding you through mail, social media and other accounts setup. BlackBerry Protect is also pre-installed, with which you can track your phone, and remotely wipe it should it get in the wrong hands. But it can also be used to easily transfer data from your old BlackBerry to this one very quickly.
Seeing as this is a BlackBerry smartphone, the major focus is still on messaging. Using the hardware keyboard means that seasoned BlackBerry users can still crank out mails a lot faster than most touchscreen smartphone users. BlackBerry is also of course user-friendly when it comes to corporate mail integration – registering with my company BES servers was quick and easy, and 5 minutes later I was using my corporate email address. Gmail access was easy, and the two mailboxes lived side by side without any problems.
The browser has also gotten a major upgrade from previous Curve models. BlackBerry OS 7 ships with a WebKit browser, which really does seem to speed things up a lot. Also, page rendering is a lot better – with elements of the page staying where they should. This was not always the case with the previous Curves.
All new BlackBerry phones now ship with AppWorld pre-installed. I was especially harsh when reviewing the BlackBerry Bold 9900 due to the lack of apps, but once again I have to remind myself who the target market for the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is. While the AppWorld is nowhere close to the volume of the Android and iOS appstores, the essentials are there (apparently developers make more money out of BlackBerry apps compared to other platforms, and there are already 57,000 apps in there). I quickly loaded up my must have apps – News24, Dropbox, Shazam, Google Talk and WhatsApp, and it’s all installed without a hitch. And because of BIS, I had no worries about data charges wherever I went. Great.
Final Points
Reviewing a BlackBerry smarpthone is always fun – while other phones might sport massive screens or massive processors, RIM seems to stick to few key principles to make a decent smartphone. In the case of their Curve smartphones, price is of course a concern. And the BlackBerry Curve 9360 looks, feels, and performs great considering the price. The build is decent, and it feels like it could easily last a good few years. Seeing the number of older BlackBerry Curve smartphones still in people’s hands I bet the BlackBerry Curve 9360 will continue that tradition.
The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is also a very decent phone. Call sound quality was first rate, and dare I say it, better than some high end phones I have tried. Messaging and E-Mail is handled without any problems, and the OS has a great Inbox system which can throw all your messages, regardless of source, into one inbox (old news for BlackBerry users, I know. But I still appreciate it.).
But the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is very much focused on one market – the type of user who needs constant online access, be it web or email, without needing to break the bank on an expensive phone, or a high end phone contract. In fact, a large portion of the users stick to prepaid for BlackBerry usage. And this is where the BlackBerry Curve 9360 still shines considering its lower price.
No other smartphone allows you to simply just use it day in, and day out without worrying about data costs. Sure, you might be a high end user who might have uncapped data and Wi-Fi networks at home and work – great for you. But this phone is not meant for you – this is for the out and about user who just does not want to care about data usage. No need to find Wi-Fi networks, or curb your web browsing. Just use the phone.
Seeing as the BlackBerry Curve 9360 comes in at a low price, it is very easy to recommend to the BlackBerry fans out there, and also to many of the people still using feature phones. But the big question is whether users will choose this above new lower cost Android smartphones. My bet is yes – while the Android phones might sport fancy interfaces, the BlackBerry Curve 9360 is great to use, and BIS still holds a great value proposition.
Rating:
Build: 9/10
Display: 7/10
Performance: 8/10
Connectivity: 10/10
Software: 6.5/10Overall: 8/10
Pros:
Good Performance
Great build
Light weight
Good value
Cons:
Scratchtastic rear, fingerprint magnet.
Current Price: From R3276 on all networks.
- Jan 25, 12
Apple has just announced its financial results for its fiscal 2012 first quarter which spanned 14 weeks and ended December 31, 2011.
Apple had $97.6 billion in the bank as of the end of its first quarter and that amount has almost certainly crossed the $100 billion mark by now. Apple sold 37 million iPhones in the quarter, more than Wall Street was expecting and the sales of iPads and Macs also beat estimates. Apple also posted twice as much revenue and profit as Microsoft did in its holiday quarter.
Apple CEO, Tim Cook announced that “We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs. Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”
However, Cook did emphasise that the company can do even better. He was quick to point out that Apple had been struggling with shortages all quarter. Tragic floods in Thailand have led to poor availability for components across its devices, the company was not able to make as many iPhone 4Ss as it would have liked and due to the rampage in Mainland China on launch day, was unable to sell any new iPhones.
When asked about Apple’s success during his first four months as CEO, Cook was adamant about praising the work of his colleagues and that he was lucky to be surrounded by them. When asked to elaborate, Cook simply pointed to the company’s monster earnings to make his point. During a conference call with analysts Cook said “I think the team is doing a fantastic job. We feel really good about where we are.”
Apple’s quarterly iPhone sales, at more than 37 million smartphones, are numbers that its competitors would strive to have for one year, let alone a quarter and while recent data for the U.S. shows Apple alone nearly even with the entire Android world in market share, Cook doesn’t believe that Android is its only competitor.
As for which direction Apple is heading in the future, Cook stuck to the company’s standard secretiveness, although he did offer a few geographical insights. He confirmed that China, remains the company’s largest focus as an emerging market, with Brazil a distant second in terms of focus and investment. India saw its sales increase threefold from a year earlier, but from a very small base.
While Cook revealed no details about the rumoured launch of an Apple television, he said the company sold 1.4 million Apple TV units in the December quarter, as compared to 2.8 million devices for the entire prior fiscal year.
Sources: All Things D, Mashable, Apple Press Info
- Jan 24, 12
You are kindly invited to the first Girl Geek Dinner Cape Town event of 2012 taking place this week.
The event will welcome guest speaker Catherine Lückoff:
Catherine Lückhoff is the Head of Brand Strategy for Bozza.mobi, a mobile App which offers artists, filmmakers and entrepreneurs a mobile platform through which to distribute their content. Before Catherine joined Bozza she was the founder and CEO of one of South Africa’s leading communications and PR agencies; Mango-OMC. Catherine just doesn’t see things the way others do. And she brings that ability to shift perspective to her work, where she continually marries tried and tested methods with radical new ideas, which is how she has built Mango-OMC into one of the country’s top PR agencies.
She was also named as one of 38 emerging tech entrepreneurs to watch in the Old Mutual Do Great Things Guide.
When: 26th January 2012
Time: 7pm – 11pm
Where: Cape Royale Hotel, 47 Main Road, Green Point, Cape Town
Cost: R165 for a cocktail dinner and goodie bag. (Drinks for your own account).
To RSVP or for more information click here. Places are limited!
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Tweets
- Haha latest Big Bang Theory features Siri...
- Hands On Review: BlackBerry Curve 9360 http://t.co/MpSZuKg7 via @bandwidthblog
- While I don't quite trust #22seven enough yet, this ABSA statement just irritates me. https://t.co/dW4tbFDd
- SA Developers, Snapt, to Deliver Accessible and Affordable Server Management Solutions http://t.co/s12iFZco via @bandwidthblog
- Looks like the calculators at the One and Only bar do not seem to work... http://t.co/iaPni4mm
- We should not blame #22seven for security concerns.The banks should have decided on an API long ago like in the US.
- TelyHD: TV-add on device turns Skype chat into a room-sized experience http://t.co/m2Mh8YWs via @bandwidthblog
- So who here has read Inside Apple? Good read?
- BandwidthBlog: MTN Raises Uncapped Maximum Download Speeds http://t.co/QT71J74m
- Apple Reports First Quarter Financial Results: Best Quarter Ever http://t.co/zDL8nxw4 via @bandwidthblog
- “@chrismoerdyk: @Mpieters Not sure if continuity of supply is part of the Consumer Protection Act and if not it should be.” Good point.
- @HadleeSimons Hehe thought same thing. Good combination I reckon :-)
- Bought an OralB Sonic Complete toothbrush last year, now they do not bring in the brush heads to SA anymore. Great.
- 12 Tips to Help Protect You From Online Scams http://t.co/fZIuhMA7 via @bandwidthblog
- Group buying aggregators in South Africa http://t.co/cZWAkUaX - Good insight.
- MTN Raises Uncapped Maximum Download Speeds http://t.co/yW8NqtgA via @bandwidthblog
- SA digital industry needs to rethink education http://t.co/i6qQaQXw via @bandwidthblog
- @NickdeBruyne After some practice I am up to speed on the slower cars with the speed wheel. But not quite yet with R2 and up...
- LocalSort: New startup that helps provide guests with the best service http://t.co/g23oBSWC via @bandwidthblog
- Still cant match my Forza 4 times with the speedwheel, but man it is so much more fun.
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Info
- Technology AnalystInformation Technology and Services | Cape Town Area, South Africa, ZASummaryI embrace technology, open source and web standard, and I participate and contribute to the social web.Specialties: Hardware consultation, Knowledge Management, Systems development.Experience
- Mar 2010 - PresentEditor / Bandwidth BlogBandwidthBlog is a leading South African tech news destination, keeping their growing loyal audience informed of the fast evolving Internet economy.
- Jan 2010 - PresentResearch & Development Technology Analyst / ShopritePerform research and development on new IT technologies, with the main focus on retail enterprise, and to test and motivate the adoption of these technologies.
- Jan 2006 - Dec 2009Course coordinator for Socio Informatics / Stellenbosch University
- 2005 - Dec 2009Lecturer / University of Stellenbosch
Education-
2006 - 2007Stellenbosch University/Universiteit StellenboschMasters in Information Systems
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2004 - 2005Stellenbosch University/Universiteit StellenboschBA Honours in Socio Informatics, Knowledge Management and Decision Making
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2000 - 2000Computer Training InstituteCourse in Advanced XHTML and Java
Additional Information-
Websites:
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Interests:New technology, Gadgets, Music, Mountain Biking
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Posts
- May 10, 11
OK, you might have seen the rumours about Microsoft buying Skype. Microsoft is apparently offering $7 billion dollars for the VoIP service – which sounds like silly money. In fact, this might be the biggest acquisition that Microsoft has ever done. However the details lie in the partnerships this can enable for Microsoft.
- May 18, 10
On first glance, Microsoft needs to make a very convincing argument to make people take note of Office 2010. After all, it's just another release of Office. Just about anyone would agree that Microsoft Office is by far the most feature rich productivity suite out there, but this great advantage also makes it very difficult to sell us a new version of the software.
- Apr 20, 10
Seems so… I am pretty sure most tech-loving internet users have read the posts by Gizmodo at this point. It sounds like a movie: young guy who programmes iPhone baseband software uses an unreleased iPhone prototype and goes for a drink at a bar. Guy forgets the iPhone on a bar stool. Guy #2 picks it [...]
- Mar 31, 10
Like many people these days, I work across many machines in a typical work-day. I have a Windows machine at the office, a Mac at home and back up all the computers to a Windows Home Server in the cupboard. I have a few “essential” folders that I always want to have access to [...]
- Mar 02, 10
Microsoft is one of those companies that always seems to carry the weight of the computing world – and rightly so. If you think of any area within computing, MS somehow has a finger in the pie. In some areas of course, they are the pie.
- Feb 08, 10
So what is my opinion on the iPad? Well first off, I do like it. Despite all its shortcomings, I think it might be a game changing device.
- Jan 14, 10
Once in a while a game changing product comes along that makes you rethink conventions which are pretty much hardwired into our routines. This is immediately apparent in the consumption of media – be it music, movies or print. With the dawn of the internet our consumption of these have been altered dramatically.
- Nov 13, 09
On Wednesday morning I headed over to the Nokia The Way We Live Next event in Cape Town. Richard Mulholland did an excellent (and very objective) job of explaining the current mobile landscape. During the presentation a few things were highlighted that really did make me think. Needless to say, the topic soon shifted to [...]
- Sep 23, 09
Today Google released enhancements of two of their products which seems pretty normal by the looks of it. However, these two updates were targeted primarily as a move to trounce Apple.
- Sep 07, 09
The iPhone 3GS was released about a month ago in SA, here is the review from a South African perspective.
