Author: Gugu Lourie
by BMW South Africa BMW South Africa was yesterday awarded a number of accolades at the 2016/2017 Cars.co.za Consumer Awards powered by Wesbank. The BMW 750Li with the Design Pure Excellence package was awarded the First Class of the Year Award The BMW M2 Coupe was awarded the Performance Car of the Year. A certificate of excellence was also awarded to BMW South Africa for excellence in after-sales service, resale value, sales processes and general ownership satisfaction. In order to have been eligible for the First Class of the Year category, contenders had to meet the following criteria: a list…
by Peter Buwert The American street artist Shepard Fairey created a poster for Barack Obama’s presidential election campaign. It was 2008 and the simple red, beige and blue stencilled image of Obama’s face over the word “HOPE” quickly became the iconic image of the election, the rallying cry around which it was fought and won. It remains the enduring image of his presidency. But it is also now a reminder of promised hope ultimately unfulfilled, and many artists might have concluded they would stay away from politics in future as a result. Instead, Fairey has been at the centre of a…
by Peter Lucas In the early 21st century, Western-style freedoms are often presented as an ideal template for the rest of the world. Yet supposedly free democracies are also marked by substantial and growing disparities of wealth, power and status. Fellow citizens seem to be increasingly socially-disengaged, individualistic and narcissistic, and suffer record levels of psychological ill-health, reflected in (among other things) high suicide rates. So is this vaunted freedom simply an illusion? Many would argue that the gross inequalities characteristic of Western societies compromise its freedom. Upbringing, education and family background still dramatically affect the opportunities available to citizens, and…
by Kyle Rozendo, CTO at SID, who puts forward nine simple ways to make sweeping changes to e-commerce website performance. Global shopping cart abandonment on e-commerce websites is reported at anything between 60 and 70 percent. Yet simple tweaks to the purchasing process and a keen eye on usability can ensure more completed sales and, ultimately, better customer retention. While there will always be some measure of natural abandonment because customers are just browsing, there are some easy steps which can be taken to keep customers delighted and your bottom line healthy. 1. Keep it simple The first and most important…
by Gugu Lourie Africa’s Internet Giant Naspers’ R1.4 billion gamble into US-based second-hand marketplace app Letgo is an investment that many may have concluded that it makes little sense when it was done by this unknown company from South Africa. When the deal was done Letgo’s competitors Craiglist and eBay were not worried about their market share in the tough US market. But things seem to be working out for Naspers – Letgo has reached 20 million monthly active users of its marketplace and 45 million downloads of its free app since launching in 2015, making it one of the…
by Tolullah Oni Science needs more “academic hybrids”: scientists who buck the stereotype of working in silos. This way of thinking must be broken if the narrative around the reality of science’s role in improving society for future generations is to change. Education will be the key to smashing this stereotype, as will the creation of advocates – ordinary people who grasp just how important science is and how it can be used to change their own and their neighbours’ lives. For science to have an impact there must be a genuine will to harness and implement its advances. This requires…
by Staff Writer The new MINI John Cooper Works Countryman will be presented to the public for the first time in April 2017 at the Shanghai Motor Show. The new MINI John Cooper Works Countryman will be available in South Africa in third quarter of 2017. The driver assistance systems developed for the current model generation enhance comfort and safety in the new MINI John Cooper Works Countryman, too. The standard collision warning with city braking function can be extended to include the Driving Assistant system with camera-based active cruise control, pedestrian warning with initial brake function, high beam assistant and road sign detection.…
by Misheck Mutize and Sean Gossel Although South Africa avoided a downgrade to non-investment grade, or junk status, in 2016, the country is not yet out of the woods and may be downgraded this year. The reasons for this are ongoing political risk as factional battles in the governing African National Congress intensify, policy inconsistencies and low economic growth. The effects of a sovereign credit rating downgrade would be significant for all South Africans. It would drive up borrowing costs, which in turn would have a negative impact on the government’s finances. It could also lead to foreigners leaving South Africa’s capital…
by Staff Writer German carmaker BMW has revealed the The new BMW 4 Series models with even sharper styling and revised suspension. The new BMW 4 Series will be available in South Africa from May 2017. The new BMW 4 Series Coupe and BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe now come with a stiffer suspension set-up delivering even sportier handling without any loss of ride comfort. Both the lateral and longitudinal dynamics have been improved, regardless of the load on board. This applies not only to the standard suspension, but also to the M Sport suspension and the Adaptive suspension. All new BMW 4 Series models now boast even more assured straight-line stability…
by Staff Writer In a move to further lower the cost to communicate and increase digital and social connectivity in South Africa, Vodacom announced on Tuesday the launch of Facebook Flex. This is the first of many products to launch under the Vodacom Siyakha platform. Facebook Flex will give customers on the Vodacom network an opportunity to connect with friends and family using the basic version of Facebook for free. Once signed up to the service, Vodacom customers can update their Facebook status and comment on posts even when they do not have data. Should users wish to view pictures…
by Staff Writer South Africa’s retailer TFG (The Foschini Group) has partnered with delivery service, WumDrop to push boundaries with new online delivery service. The new service, Deliver 2 Me was developed by WumDrop. Deliver 2 Me, which aims to be a convenient delivery solution, uses geo-location services (already used in apps like Uber) to avoid the need for specific street delivery addresses. The service was tested during December 2016 and included delivering parcels to a tourist on Table Mountain, a surfer on Blouberg Beach, a hipster moving between Long Street and Mzoli’s requiring a location change, and finally to a…
by Staff Writer Do you see yourself using the “Uber of funerals” to arrange the funeral of your recently-departed family members and friends? In Russia, a new on-demand start-up is planning to do just that and the company is already raising some eyebrows in the Russian Internet. The company is known as Umer (Mind you it’s not a typo). Umer is the Russian for “he’s dead”. The firm is targeting to make its debut in the next two months, according to the BBC report. The Umer app – which its logo looks indistinctly comparable Uber’s old one – is designed to…
by Ctrack Equipped with IoT-enabling technology, asset and vehicle tracking solutions company Ctrack, part of Nasdaq-listed Inseego Corp., is ideally primed to help usher in the next revolution in 2017 and beyond. The world is currently undergoing a transformation towards an era described as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” – a revolution which combines the physical, digital and biological realms that will maximise business optimisation and enhance quality of life. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and the Internet of Things (IoT), which involve connectivity, devices, and big data analytics, form a significant part of this next revolutionary phase. In the…
by Willice O. Obonyo I grew up in a Kenyan village with dark skies and vivid stars. We admired the sky and listened to stories about it told by the elders. There were few expectations that the children in our village would ever understand the sky’s secrets as this was unimaginable at the time. I excelled at maths and science, eventually becoming a teacher in the subjects. Then came a Masters degree in Physics, followed by a second Masters through South Africa’s Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project. There the boy who had gazed up at mysterious skies turned into a…
Is flashing the “PEACE” sign in selfies or photos posted on social media an easy way to hand over your fingerprints to hackers? U.S President-elect Donald Trump regularly flashes a peace sign at cameras. You and Trump might be compromising your fingerprints. Sharing pictures, however, is something everyone is comfortable with. But research has revealed that these can also be used to glean telling information. Posing for a picture while holding your hands up in a peace sign could pose a security threat, with hackers able to recreate prints that are the key to phones, computers and tablets, according to the British Telegraph newspaper…
by Kostadin Kushlev Imagine you are visiting a new city and get lost on your way to that famous must-see museum. In times of yore – actually just about 10 years ago – you might have had to consult a friendly local to direct you. Today, with all the friendly locals still very much around you on the street, you might find yourself reaching for the powerful fountain of information in your pocket – your smartphone. Directions to the museum, recommendations for the best places to have lunch and much more are literally at your fingertips, anytime and anywhere you…
by Staff Writer South Africa’s Internet giant Naspers has plough in $22 million (R306 million) in US-based FarmLogs, the leading data science company that helps farmers unlock valuable insights from their fields to farm more profitably. The company has invested through its venture capital division, Naspers Ventures. Other participating existing investors include Drive Capital, Huron River Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, SV Angel and Sam Altman, president of Y Combinator. The funding brings FarmLogs’ total capital raised to $37 million (R515 MILLION). FarmLogs launched in 2012 out of Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator to transform the oldest and most important industry…
by Staff Writer South Africa’s Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) has appointed Themba TC Dlamini as a CEO. The appointment is effective as of 1 January 2017. The MDDA is a statutory development agency, deriving its mandate, from Section 16 and 32 of the Constitution Act No. 108 of 1996, thereby providing for freedom of expression and access to information. As a partnership between the South African Government and major print and broadcasting companies, it promotes and assists in the development of community media and small commercial media in South Africa and the transformation of the media, by providing…
by Craig Blewett “Speak your mind” and “post your mind” are not the same thing. A study that investigated how messages containing different emotions spread across social networks found that “anger is more influential than other emotions like joy, which indicates that angry tweets can spread quickly and broadly in the network”. The consequences of such angry posts can be dire. People have been publicly disgraced; lost their jobs and even faced criminal charges. So why do such posts persist? My research suggests that the answer lies with three issues: the accessibility of technology, the spaces it provides for communication that…
by Gugu Lourie Matchi, a financial innovation matchmaking firm, has been signing up banks on its online “matchmaking” service to connect with Fintech start-ups providing cheaper, easier financial technology services to consumers. The company was started just over three years ago with CEO David Milligan (formerly of FNB) at the helm. Matchi was started as a direct result of a problem encountered by its founder: how hard it is for financial technology firms and financial institutions to find each other in a meaningful way. In the past three years, the Johannesburg and Hong Kong-based financial innovation matchmaking firm has partnered…
By Gugu Lourie The South African vehicle industry continues to struggle, with car sales for December coming in below par with ENCA reporting on Tuesday that some 7,500 fewer vehicles were sold compared with a year ago. Total new vehicle sales in December fell more than 15 percent, year on year. This could be attributed to tough economic conditions, leaving cash-strapped South Africans unable to afford new cars. It is also due to the fact that local citizens in big cities such as Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria are finding it easier and affordable to use ride hailing…
The history of the iPhone began with a request from inventor Steve Jobs to Apple engineers, asking them to investigate the use of touchscreen devices and a tablet computer, which later came to fruition with the iPad. At Macworld 2007 in San Francisco, Steve Jobs introduced the world to iPhone as three products in one — “a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone and a breakthrough internet communications device.” In the ten years since, iPhone has enriched the lives of people around the world with over one billion units sold. It quickly grew into a revolutionary platform for hardware, software and…
Cell C, South Africa’s third biggest mobile phone operator, is set to charge its customers more for its services from 1 February 2017. The telco said in a letter to customers that towards the end of 2016 it assessed its entire product offering. “This resulted in certain pricing and product changes which will come into effect on 2 February 2017,” the firm said. “We confirm that in terms of your subscriber agreement with Cell C, as well as the Consumer Protection Act, Cell C has the option of varying any of its charges from time to time, by means of…
by Vybarr Cregan-Reid If the statistics are correct, many millions of new runners have laced up for the first time in the last few days. If you are one of them, then, as I’ve written elsewhere, you are well on your way to being faster, stronger, more resilient, more intelligent and more empathetic than when you awoke on New Year’s Day nursing little more than a hangover and a firm resolution. So, with such great rewards in the pipeline, why do millions of us fail in those first critical weeks? It’s because, for the body, the first month of new training…
By Mercedes Benz The smart electric drive will celebrate its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show and U.S. premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The smart fortwo coupe electric drive will launch in the U.S. by spring 2017 and the smart fortwo cabrio electric drive by summer 2017. The new smart electric car makes opting into electric mobility more attractive than ever, combining overall agility with emission-free driving as an ideal combination for urban mobility. The smart fortwo electric drive is now available on the new-generation smart platform in both the smart fortwo coupe and cabrio models and,…