Author: Gugu Lourie

South Africa’s ZAdotCities domains of .capetown (‘dotCapeTown’), .joburg (‘dotJoburg’) and .durban (‘dotDurban’) have notched up impressive totals of over 4 500, 3 500 and 2 500 domain name registrations, respectively. This is as of today and according to the ZA Central Registry (ZACR), which first made these geographic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) available for public registration in July 2014. “The Internet presence of our three leading cities is rapidly becoming a South African online success story,” said ZACR CEO, Lucky Masilela. The exact statistics for these gTLDs are available on ZACR’s website, www.registry.net.za. “There is sustained local and overseas interest…

I wonder if you are as staggered as I am at the recent furore around Nintendo’s new mobile game, called Pokémon Go. By Gillian Hughes With the Pokémon franchise having already dominated the respective worlds of children’s TV, trading cards and handheld video games, this new app sees players use the camera on their mobile phone to search for and capture their favourite digital monsters in streets, parks, schools, and effectively anywhere else that they can reach. It may have not have even been two weeks since its initial release in the US, but Pokémon Go has proven to be one…

Hands up if you’ve heard of Swift Playgrounds? No, it’s not some new start-up providing quick playdates for bedraggled parents, although that might be interesting. By Michael Cowling Swift Playgrounds is the new programming tool, introduced by Apple in June at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference, based on the Swift programming language the company introduced a few years ago. What makes Swift Playgrounds interesting is that it provides a first-party computer programming platform that can be run entirely on an iPad, no computer required. While Apple has been slowly adding features to the iPad over the past few years, this represents…

The BMW M Division has developed an exclusive special edition of the world’s most successful high-performance business sedan, setting yet another highlight in the current BMW M5 model range. With power output increased to 441 kW and a maximum torque of 700 Newton metres, the BMW M5 “Competition Edition” ranks among the most powerful automobiles in the model history of the BMW brand. The BMW M5 “Competition Edition”, which comes as standard with an M dual clutch transmission featuring Drivelogic, sprints from 0 to 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds. A distinctive personalised look, the standard Competition Package and a comprehensive range of optional features render…

Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, announced on Thursday that it has increased its stake in Internet of Things (IoT) player XLink Communications for an undisclosed amount. By Gugu Lourie The move provides Vodacom with an asset that is a big player in the most lucrative IoT space worth billions and growing fast in the rest of the African continent. M2M services are also referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) – a concept of connecting devices – ranging from refrigerators, geysers and smart electricity meters to coffee makers – to the internet. The acquisition is notable for…

Mobile phone operator Vodacom announced on Thursday that the number of its subscribers declined 2.6% to 61.8 million, impacted by new customer registration process in its Africa operations. By Staff Writer The telco, which is majority owned by British mobile phone giant Vodafone, said the impact of customer registration processes on new customer activations has negatively affected net customer additions mainly in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The firm said total active customers in its international operation was down 11.5% to 26.7 million in the quarter to end June 30. But Vodacom added that the monthly customer growth trend…

People have been lingering outside Boon Sheridan’s house all through the night. The designer lives in an old church in Massachusetts that has been designated a “gym” in the new smartphone game Pokémon Go. Because the game requires players to visit places in the real world, Sheridan now has to put up with people regularly stopping outside his building to play. By Andres Guadamuz It has got to the point where he has started wondering if there is anything the law can do in situations like this. He wrote on Twitter: “Do I even have rights when it comes to a…

MTN has named Nhlanhla Qwabe as the new Chief HR Officer for the South African operation. His appointment is  effective from 1 August 2016 and replaces Themba Nyathi. By Staff Writer Qwabe joins MTN from Aspen Pharmacare, where he held the position of Group Human Resources Executive. Prior to Aspen, he served as Human Resources Director for Nike South Africa, and he also worked for MultiChoice where he served in various capacities in a senior management role. A graduate of the University of Zululand with a Bachelor of Administration and an Honours degree in Administration, Qwabe also holds a Masters degree in…

You must have been asleep over the past couple of weeks not to have heard about Pokémon GO. The Augmented Reality game from Nintendo and Niantec lets players roam towns and cities using their phones’ GPS maps looking for Pokémon creatures to catch. It’s essentially a gamified Google Maps that overlays digital characters on the real world.  Barron Ernst, Chief Product Officer, Showmax, a Naspers company, shares his thoughts on the latest Pokemon Go craze. Pokémon GO’s blurring of digital with reality has already made it one of the most successful app games ever: just one day after launch the…

SA Government and Huawei have signed an agreement that will see 1 000 young South Africans trained in information and communications technology (ICT) in China over the next five years. By News Agency “The cooperation on capacity building is aimed at sharing information, expertise, experience and technical assistance among the different structures operating in the field of telecommunications,” Telecommunications and Postal Services Minister Siyabonga Cwele said. Addressing the signing ceremony on Tuesday in Johannesburg, Minister Cwele said the youth will be trained in areas including telecommunication network security and optimisation as well as telecommunication administration. Other areas of training comprise new technology for satellite…

Datatec, JSE and London-listed technology firm, reported on Wednesday that it had a sound trading start to the year with improved gross margins in a tough global macro environment marked by continuing volatility in many markets. By Staff Writer The owner of Logicalis and Westcon today issued a trading statement for the four months to end-June 2016 showing gross margins at 13.8%, up from 12.8% in the same period last year. “The improvement in our gross margins is encouraging in a period where revenues have been comparatively softer, as the much stronger US Dollar continued to impact emerging markets,” Jens…

Africa is coming online rapidly. Internet penetration in the continent is growing faster than in any other region in the world, giving millions more people access to better communication, information and business opportunities. Although only around 20% of people in Africa have internet access (compared to a global average of 40%), this has increased from less than 5% ten years ago. By Gareth Tyson What’s missing, however, is a significant amount of locally created, owned and hosted online services. For example, there are just 12 secure web servers for every million people in Africa, compared to 1,171 in North America. Instead…

South Africans will soon get their medication from self-service “ATM-style” machines. This was one of the announcements made by the South African Ministry of Health today at 21st International Aids Conference taking place this week in Durban. The Pharmacy Dispensing Unit (PDU), currently being piloted at Thembalethu clinic in Johannesburg, is a self-service machine where patients can obtain their medication in the same way people withdraw money at an ATM, a process that most South African are familiar with. To use the machine, all a patient needs to do is register for the service, after which they receive a card…

Absa has launched ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger to enable customers to conduct their banking without ever having to leave their favourite social media platform. By Staff Writer The launch of the secure, private and fully integrated banking service on Facebook Messenger follows soon after the introduction of Absa ChatBanking on Twitter in May this year. As part of the offering, Absa customers will be able to use Facebook Messenger as well as Twitter to conduct the following transactions: Get the actual and available balance on their transactional account Buy airtime or data for the cellphone registered to their account Get…

MTN Business today announced a new drive to help support the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and contribute to creating sustainable entities. The MTN Business’ new and ambitious programme will see it provide a R2.5 million per annum grant to an SME empowerment programme, the National Gazelles for the next three years. The National Gazelles is a flagship programme of the Department of Small Business Development and its main delivery agency, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). The programme identifies a group of 40 businesses every year to benefit from an integrated business development programme aimed at accelerating…

Despite the fact that Pokémon Go has become the world’s biggest mobile game, it has already started its certain decline. This is despite the fact that the game is showing a greater ability to retain users than most mobile games. By David Glance Although it may be stating the obvious that all mobile games will eventually become less popular, it is the way in which this attrition of users happens which turns out to be absolutely constant. Craig Palli of Fiksu has shown that user retention decline in games follows a distinct pattern. The figure below is for 5 games, each…

Mobile phone operator MTN revealed on Tuesday that its profits for the six months to end-June 2016 will be negatively impacted by a massive fine imposed by the Nigerian authorities and under-performance of its South African operation. By Staff Writer The cellphone giant said the Nigerian regulatory fine is expected to have an estimated negative impact of 474 cents on Headline earnings per share (HEPS), which is a main profit gauge in South Africa. The company added that MTN Nigeria’s performance was impacted by the disconnection of 4,5 million subscribers in February 2016, the final batch of subscribers to be…

The Daimler Buses and its brands Mercedes-Benz and Setra are moving into the future of urban mobility solutions and bringing semi-automated driving. The partially-autonomous Mercedes-Benz Future Bus with CityPilot shows what that future will look like. It is neither a concept nor a visionary vehicle, it is reality: the town bus of tomorrow has already successfully concluded its testing in real traffic situations. By Staff Writer The Mercedes-Benz Future Bus with CityPilot is making its first public journey on part of Europe’s longest BRT route (BRT = Bus Rapid Transit) in the Netherlands. It is being presented in semi-automated driving on Airport Line 300 from Haarlem…

Absa launched the Absa Masterpass App, a digital wallet powered by Mastercard, enabling South Africans to make safe and easy payments wherever Masterpass is accepted. Payments via the Absa Masterpass App currently gives people the power to make online purchases using the digital wallet on their smartphones, without needing to carry their bank cards with them. Absa customers will also soon be able to do in-store shopping using Absa Masterpass, with a variety of merchants presently being signed up. Consumers can store all their MasterCard or other branded credit, debit or cheque card information, and shipping and billing address details…

Internet TV service ShowMax, which was launched in August 2015, has reached 10 million views less than a year after it was launched. By Staff Writer In total, more than five million hours of content have been viewed, the equivalent of more than 500 years if played back-to-back. “We knew we had a good product and an incredible engineering team when we launched ShowMax, but hitting this milestone in under a year is tangible proof that we’re on the right track,” said Barron Ernst, Chief Product Officer for ShowMax. “The positive reception we’ve had so far has come from listening…

Chinese search giant Baidu is making an undisclosed investment in a US-based fintech firm ZestFinance, Fortune reported on Monday. ZestFinance, which also last year received an undisclosed investment from Chinese e-commerce site JD.com, is a start-up that blends machine learning with big data analysis to pinpoint more accurate credit scores. ZestFinance launched three years ago to apply big data analyses to credit scoring and help lenders more accurately evaluate prospective borrowers. It was founded by former Google veteran Douglas Merrill. As part of the investment, Fortune said Baidu will be using ZestFinance’s underwriting technology to determine creditworthiness of its users. For…

It has never been easy to rent a boat or charter a yacht. The GetMyBoat app allows you to find the right rental – from a kayak in California to a Catamaran in Croatia. By Gugu Lourie The GetMyBoat app allows users to search and book boats around them, right from the palm of their hands. The app also makes it easy to find sleep-aboard yachts. GetMyBoat is the world’s largest boat rental and charter marketplace. GetMyBoat has boats to rent and charter in over 169 countries and 7,100 locations. From powerboat and houseboat rentals to sailboat and yacht charters,…

There is a debate in South Africa about who Nelson Mandela belongs to, as though he is the property of someone, a political party or a faction of the African National Congress. By Amanda Gouws Added to that, there is a new generation of young people – the “born frees” who never lived under apartheid – who now reject the political pacts he made during negotiations to end minority white domination. They see his compromises as selling out, entrenching white privilege and failing the black majority. When celebrating Nelson Mandela Day on July 18, it would benefit South Africans to reflect…

MTN, South Africa’s second largest mobile phone operator, has welcomed a notice by the country’s communications watchdog to issue an invitation for telecoms operators to bid for a much-needed 4G spectrum to deliver broadband services. By Staff Writer The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) today officially invited telcos such as Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, etc, to apply for 4G licenses to provide much-needed broadband services. Applicants will be vying to apply for the radio frequency spectrum licenses within the designated range: the 2.6GHz band and the 800 MHz band and the 700MHz band for the purposes of providing…

The country’s communications watchdog, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), has issued information for the auction of 4G licenses to provide much-needed broadband services. By Staff Writer The base price for 4G license would be R3 billion for duration of 15 years. The spectrum available for assignment is as follows: 2×30MHz in the 700MHz band (703MHz-733MHz/758-788MHz) 2×25MHz in the 800MHz band (796-801MHz/837-842MHz) 2×70MHz and 1×25MHz in the 2.6GHz band (2500-2570MHz/2620-2690MHz and 2595-2615MHz) This spectrum will be awarded on a national basis covering the entire territory of South Africa. All licences will be technology-neutral and service-neutral. The following obligations…