Author: Gugu Lourie

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…