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- May 18, 12
It’s a momentous day for Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook team as the founder rang the NASDAQ’s opening bell at 9:30am this morning on the East Coast of the United States.
To celebrate the moment, Zuckerberg updated his status to read: “Mark Zuckerberg listed a company on NASDAQ. — with Chris Cox and 4 others.”
the status update went live just as Zuckerberg was ringing the bell, which means that it was configured by engineers to appear just as he was in action.
According to Venture Beat, engineers actually “hacked” the NASDAQ button to post the update according to David Garcia, a senior software engineer at Facebook:
“We hooked up our hack to run at exactly the same time as Mark pushed the button to turn on the light and ring the bell. Then we attached a wire that hooks to the hack and into the headset jack of a cell phone,” Garcia said. “When the button was pressed, it sent a signal through the hack, and the phone got the signal that triggered the custom action through our Open Graph API, posting a story onto Mark’s Timeline. It worked.”
Facebook shares will begin trading at a price of $38 each, at around 11am Eastern time in the U.S. on Friday morning. Since boosting its IPO by 25 percent on 16 May, Facebook’s valuation sits at about $104 billion.
- May 18, 12
Having announced the availability of the upgrade for the latest version of the Android platform – Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – for the Samsung GALAXY S II, yesterday, the uptake has since been astounding says Samsung.
“Android 4.0 builds on the things people love most about Android — easy multitasking, rich notifications and customisation – adding a powerful new way of communicating and sharing,” says Craige Fleischer, Director of Mobile Communications for Samsung Electronics SA. “It’s easy to see why our local Samsung GALAXY S II users are eager to get their hands on the ICS platform.”
“Given the high demand, users may struggle to upgrade immediately due to the limited capacity on the FOTA servers, but we urge GALAXY S II users to keep trying. We also encourage users to upgrade via Kies, as not only is it easy and simple, but as it is done via the PC, it has unlimited server capacity and as such, during this initial period of high demand is the preferred download method.”
Want Ice Cream Sandwich on your Galaxy S2? Get Samsung Kies here
The Samsung Galaxy S2 was BandwidthBlog’s favourite phone of 2011, so we highly recommend users to upgrade their software.
Press Release from Samsung regarding Ice Cream Sandwich for the South African Galaxy S2:
South Africa, Johannesburg – 17 May 2012 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the global leader in Android smartphones, today announced the local availability of Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) software upgrade for the GALAXY S II, with other models to follow soon.
Samsung Electronics completed upgrading the GALAXY devices to Gingerbread last year by providing software upgrades to both Froyo and Gingerbread. With the ICS upgrade, Samsung Electronics continues to solidify its position as the leader of Android devices.
“This upgrade has been highly anticipated locally and we expect that our South African customers will enjoy an enhanced experience with their GALAXY device through this upgrade,” says Craige Fleischer, Head of Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics SA.
The software upgrade and specific models upgradable to Android 4.0 via KIES PC client (by downloading the firmware via the KIES application) is immediately available across; Open (XFA) and Vodacom (XFV) and will be available tomorrow on MTN (XFM) and Cell C (XFC). Similarly, the upgrade via FOTA (by downloading the firmware upgrade over the air directly from your mobile phone) is in the roll out process and will be available by the end of tomorrow (18 May 2012).
- May 18, 12
Following the success of the Android version of ExpenZa, Apposition Consulting has now made available the BlackBerry version of the smartphone app for free download in BlackBerry App World, developed due to the persistent requests from South Africa’s BlackBerry users.
Since its launch on 17 May, first day download numbers of the BlackBerry version were more than three times the download numbers for the Android version, Apposition Consulting reports.
ExpenZa aims at helping people make smarter decisions about their finances through the automation of expense tracking by intercepting the expenditure SMS message sent by various banks in South Africa and uses the information contained in that SMS to automatically populate a user’s expense list.
With BlackBerry’s 8520 as the most popular phone in South Africa, developers of the BlackBerry version ensured that the app worked optimally for BlackBerry’s OS5 and higher.
The BlackBerry version offers all the features of the Android version with the exception of the importing of previously received SMSes from your inbox. It includes all the banks catered for by the Android version including ABSA, Capitec Bank, Discovery Card, First National Bank, Investec Bank, Standard Bank, Nedbank and RMB Private Bank and the latest feature that allows users to automatically assign certain merchants to specific categories.
Wim Morris, MD of Apposition Consulting says that “Development of ExpenZa is still ongoing. Some of the exciting developments to look out for are synchronization to a backend and income tracking functionality.”
View screenshots from the ExpenZa app for BlackBerry below:
For more about the ExpenZa app and to download it from Google Play click here.
- May 18, 12
According to Mickey Drexler, CEO of J.Crew and Apple Inc. board member, Steve Jobs dreamed of one day developing an iCar.
Drexler revealed these never before heard insights at the Fast Company Innovation Uncensored conference that took place in April.
During an interview, Drexler said “Look at the car industry; it’s a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars? Steve’s dream before he died was to design an iCar.”
While we will never know what the Apple iCar would have looked like with Drexler commenting that Jobs never actually got round to designing one, prior to his death, the former CEO was working on building other transportation vehicles including a luxury superyacht with designer Philip Starck.
Source: Wired
- May 18, 12
According to a report by My Broadband, Standard Bank has recently launched its new Muvo card. The card that incorporates both Near Field Communication (NFC) and debit card functionalities was developed in order to meet with the requirements of the National Department of Transport.
The card will be used to load credits for commuters using the PeopleMover bus service in Durban’s city center. As with the new myconnect card used in Cape Town for the MyCiti Rapid Bus transportation system, the card is tapped against a card reader upon boarding the bus in order to pay for the ride.
As part of its pilot phase, the card will be isssued to about 1000 commuters in Durban, after which it will become available for the remaining 550, 000 commuters.
The Muvo card, developed by Beyond Payments, Standard Bank’s business development unit has said in an official press release that “it is believed to be a world first in the realm of cashless payment technology.”
This was reiterated by chief executive officer of Beyond Payments Herman Singh who said that “The Muvo card is a world first, and showcases a transit ticket sitting inside a banking chip, secured with bank strength security, along with a payment wallet.”
Beyond Payments has also said that it is working on other NFC projects that includes using the card to pay for goods on university campuses as well as fast food outlets. According to Standard Bank, Beyond Payments are also issuing debit and credit cards that are NFC ready
- May 18, 12
According to a report by the Korean Economic Daily, since its launch in London at the beginning of the month, the Samsung Galaxy SIII has already generated up to 9 million pre-orders from over 100 global carriers, reports Reuters.
The latest version of Samsung’s flagship phone will first go on sale in Germany on 29 May, shortly followed by a number of other countries.
An unidentified Samsung official cited as supplying the information also revealed that the Samsung factory’s production line in Korea was working to develop 5 million Galaxy SIII units per month in order to meet the international demand.
It remains to be seen if the Galaxy device will be as successful as its predecessor, the Galaxy SII, which resulted in 20 million shipments in just 10 months. At the moment, its 9 million pre-order figure, places it almost half way.
While Samsung declined to comment, last month, the company did say that the new Galaxy SIII would “substantially contribute” to its second-quarter earnings.
Among its many features, the new smartphone offers a 4.8-inch PenTile Super AMOLED display at 720p resolution, 8-megapixel primary and 1.9-megapixel front-facing cameras, Bluetooth 4.0 support, GPS with GLONASS reception and a quad-core Exynos CPU.
Samsung beat Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone maker in the first quarter of 2012, with the help of its line-up of Galaxy named devices running on Google’s free Android software.
Source: The Next Web
- May 17, 12
Since mobile phones were developed, beginning with the mobile phone of 1983, there have been vast changes. Mobile phone manufacturers must keep up with each other to stay competitive in order to stay at the top of their game, and this means constant improvements, new additions and features that make each phone stand out from the others. Because this is the way the world in general works, there have been some pretty amazing moments in mobile phone history that have brought us some of the best designs and features available. Listed below are some of these historic events that made us love mobile phones even more than when they were first invented.
#1 The iPhone
When the iPhone was announced, it was a major news event in the world of mobile phones. This device made such a shift in paradigm that users speculated about Apple being the dominator in the mobile market for good. So far, Apple does just that. Although there were plenty of Android devices that could be viewed as competition to the Apple Droids, this new device is what put the iPhone ahead of the game. With its open handset alliance, it really took off and continues to dominate the market.
#2 The Motorola DYNATAC 8000X
This is of course the first mobile phone to be released and it seems fitting to put it next to the iPhone since both were major game changers in the world of telephone communication. When it came out in 1983, people were astonished at such a concept. However, at this point in history few people could afford a luxury like a mobile phone. It was mainly reserved for high power businessmen who needed a constant contact communication device. Plus, it was so big that no one could carry it around with them unless they had the briefcase to go along with it. No matter, this was a memorable release since it was what got the ball rolling for all the companies who now produce some of the greatest mobile phones we have yet to see.
#3 Ericsson R380
This device probably does not register in the memory of mobile phone lovers, but is still memorable nonetheless –at least as far as history goes. This device was the very first to try out the touch screen and was released in 2000. The screen was in black and white, and it was covered partially by a flip screen, but it still got the creative juices flowing for what is now available.
#4 Nokia 3510(I)
With Nokia having become a big name on the market, it was a memorable moment when they released this model. This was the first Nokia addition that gave its users GPRS internet services. Since most phones have internet capabilities now, this one deserves some of the credit and should always be remembered for its contribution.
#5 Sony P800
Why should this make the most memorable list? This Sony model was one of the very first smartphones to hit the market. It had a touch screen and a memory of 128mbs. This certainly was an impressive start and look at us now! Would we have gotten such fantastic smartphones had Sony thrown in the towel on theirs? The world will never know!
#6 Sanyo SCP-5300
This one definitely deserves a place in the history of the mobile phones most memorable moments. Thanks to this Sanyo model, we now have camera phones! This was the very first camera phone to be released to the general public, and even though the quality of the images was low, it was still a first. Plus, Sanyo paved the way for others to build upon the camera phone concept and perfect it resulting in the devices we enjoy today.
#7 Nokia 1100
This one is memorable for a few reasons. First of all, it was very popular upon its release in 2003; so popular in fact, that over 200 million of them were sold! The other reason for this one to go down in history is not such a good one: the design gave criminals the opportunity to intercept banking passwords and steal a lot of dough!
There are so many memorable moments in mobile phone history that it would be impossible to include them all unless you were writing a full fledged book. Just think of all the things we have seen in our lifetime. Since my birth, I have seen people using pagers as a main form of on-the-go communication. I then saw the emergence of mobile phones in the lives of the majority of people. While many people loved these new technological changes, many also resisted with the thought that this was a passing fad. Now hardly anyone goes without a mobile phone and people can’t imagine living without the cameras, internet, GPS tracking, data handling, and more that they have to offer. None of this would have been possible without all the memorable moments in mobile phone history.
About the author: Gabriela is a tech enthusiast, passionate about the mobile industry and gadgets. She’s a technology entrepreneur, co-founder of UnlockUnit.com.
- May 17, 12
Today, Google introduced its new Knowledge Graph in an official blog post which it explains will “help you discover new information quickly and easily”.
Typically, when one enters a search term, the search will be conducted based on the keywords submitted which can come down to just a few words. However, most search terms are far more richer in meaning than just those keywords. When searching for the The Eiffel Tower, for example, you could mean one of the world’s most iconic monuments in Paris, the name of a restaurant, artwork or the replica that stands in Las Vegas.
Google’s new graph or intelligent model “understands these real world entities and their relationship to one another” and will now give you options to determine exactly what you mean. Now, when you begin a search, a window will appear alongside your results, asking you what you mean. The results will then be filtered for that specific entity.
Amit Singhal, SVP of Engineering writes that “the Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about—landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more—and instantly get information that’s relevant to your query. This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do.”
Ultimately the new graph enables Google to understand exactly what you mean, and gives you back exactly what you want.
Google will be rolling out the new feature in the next few days for tablet, pc and mobile users.
Watch the Google Graph introduction video below:
- May 16, 12
It is no secret that Apple and Google have been going at each other’s throats in a string of patent and copyright battles over iOS and Android. But it seems that Apple is stepping it up and stepping outside of the courtrooms this time to take on Google. Even after the death of Steve Jobs, who hated everything Android, Apple is still going after its greatest enemy.
Android remains a threat to the iPhone and understandably, Apple wants to rid itself of all things Google. Obviously, they won’t stop their customers from using Google search, so they are trying to do the next best thing, take down Google Maps.
Google Maps currently comes pre-installed on Apple’s iPhone, rebranded as “Maps”. This contributes to Google coffers, from the location queries users make within the app that adds to their data and advertising stream. Rumour has it Apple is developing an alternative to the hugely successful Google initiative. According to sources, it will likely be unveiled at WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference), where after they will replace Google Maps with OpenStreetMap. I expected this to happen at some stage, and expected it to fail dismally. But apparently, it will make many big shots over at Google scratch their heads.
The reason for it doing so? Well, Apple is developing a 3D alternative to Google Maps. Yes, you read correctly, not only the CBD of some cities around the world, but actually the whole metropolitan area. According to Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac.com it will be a “much cleaner, faster and more reliably experience.” Apple acquired a company called C3 Technologies, and their technology is described as follows:
C3 Technologies is the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, offering photo-realistic models of the world for search, navigation and geographic information systems. Since 2007 when it was spun out of the aerospace and defence company Saab AB, venture-backed C3 has redefined mapping by applying previously classified image processing technology to the development of 3D maps as a platform for new social and commercial applications. The Sweden-based company’s automated software and advanced algorithms enable C3 to rapidly assemble extremely precise 3D models, and seamlessly integrate them with traditional 2D maps, satellite images, street level photography and user generated images, that together are forever changing how people use maps and explore the world.
They will create “incredibly high quality and detailed 3D maps” based on declassified missile targeting methods. What?!? The results are 3D renderings of cities that users can fly through, rotate and zoom in on and out of. Check out this video preview:
This could throw heaps of pressure onto Google if Apple pulls this off. I have my doubts though. For one, I can’t imagine Apple having enough data to make this service work in a comprehensive manner. When we search something in Google Maps, the query gets sifted through thousands of Google databases. Apple would take years to replicate this kind of data, surely. Also, most people love Google Maps, and it may be possible for Apple to lose plenty of iPhone customers who use Google Maps a lot, to Android. Whether the video is an actual demonstration of what the app can do, we will have to wait until the big reveal.
- May 16, 12
Even though most of the mobile networks have been under pressure to decrease data costs, voice calls costs are still rather expensive in SA.
Today Vodacom is launching its new Freedom 99 tarriff plan for prepaid customers, which allows you to call anytime, to any network for 99c per minute. This takes away a lot of guesswork for consumers who have been carrying multiple sim cards, and swopping them based on time of day or which number will be called.
Speaking about the new prepaid tariff, Vodacom’s marketing head Enzo Scarcella said:
“Customers have been looking for simplicity and for value, and Freedom 99 delivers exactly that. Calls to anyone, anytime, on any network in South Africa are now just 99 cents per minute with Freedom 99. It really is that simple.”
In addition to this lower call rate, Freedom 99 customers who recharge with R12 or more can talk for free every night with Nightshift. That’s 60 minutes every day for seven days to call Vodacom customers between midnight and 05h00.
Freedom 99 will be available from this Sunday – full details will be announced in the Sunday press.
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Tweets
- @bbravenboer good to see a return by Shy Ronnie!
- @Brettski next time we deserve a picture of Galaxy Tab Parrot man.
- @bbravenboer loved the 100th SNL Digital Short!
- @typedemodele @glennrabie watched it. Excellent.
- @sarvs yeah, Pages Manager is not yet available for some reason.
- Want Ice Cream Sandwich for your Samsung Galaxy S2? http://t.co/0srsy5nT - apparently the servers are having a tough time keeping up!
- That #zumaspear artist needs to watch out-our prez gets mad at drinks spilled on him... So what will he do to this guy?
- @watkykjy @simondingle beste plek is maar Digicape, maar MBP behoort fine te wees met standaard DDR3 1333 RAM.
- @SuLittleZA flipboard, evernote, zite
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Info
- Technology AnalystInformation Technology and Services | Cape Town Area, South Africa, ZASummaryPerform research and development on new IT technologies, with the main focus on retail enterprise, and to test, implement and motivate the adoption of these technologies.Specialties: Hardware consultation, Systems development, Network architecture, Wireless Networks, Mobile Device ManagementExperience
- 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. In 2011, it won awards such as a silver pixel at The Bookmarks and best technology blog in the SA Blog Awards.
- Jan 2010 - PresentAnalyst - IT Research & Development / ShopritePerform research and development on new IT technologies, with the main focus on retail enterprise, and to test, implement 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
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.
