Author: Gugu Lourie
Another contestant has been disqualified in the race to set a new record, certified by Guinness World Records, for the longest time spent watching movies. Buhlebethu Hlatswayo fell asleep at 2:50am on Thursday morning for 24 seconds, having watched for 34 hours 51 minutes. At 8:13am today, the remaining six contestants had clocked 40 hours 20 minutes. The remaining seven contestants are: Suresh Joachim (Canada) Sheetal Vallabh (South Africa) David Erasmus (South Africa) Delon Munian (South Africa) Lionel Havenga (South Africa) Clarissa Schoeman (South Africa) The rules of the record attempt state that contestants may not sleep or take their…
CloudGate Square, already considered one of the most cost effective Windows computer in the country, has partnered with Takealot, to drop its price by a further 16% for today only. By Staff Writer With full internet access via wifi, bluetooth and ethernet, CloudGate Square is ideal for families looking to replace their old fashioned desktop computers in time for the new school year. Access to the full range of games, educational content and tools through the Windows App store means there is something for everyone to enjoy through the festive season. The Daily Deal price of the CloudGate Square is…
Failure to get the R22.8bn Eskom wants to recover in its application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) will weaken the power utility’s balance sheet and worsen its financial ratios, Eskom finance director Anoj Singh said on Wednesday. By Siseko Njobeni, NewsAgency Eskom has submitted a so-called Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) application to Nersa for the 2013/14 financial year, the first year of the Third Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD) period. The RCA is a backward-looking mechanism that seeks to reconcile what Nersa awarded Eskom on the basis of what was forecast in the MYPD and what materialised, as…
The firing of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene by President Zuma late on Wednesday has resulted in people taking on Twitter to express outrage. The hashtag #ZumaMustFall has started trending and commentators have also written editorials expressing indignation. By Staff Writer DAILY MAVERICK wrote in its Editorial: “It’s a strange time to live in this country; it’s strange to be a party to its staccato, barely intelligible rhythms. The Jacob Zuma presidency, which became an inevitability after the bloodletting in Polokwane in 2007, has now descended to its nadir—the point where self-generated crisis after self-generated crisis has met a commodities meltdown, resulting…
South Africans living abroad have a new way to get a taste of home as kykNET expands its footprint, using the ShowMax video on demand platform to supply content to Afrikaans speakers in key countries across the globe. The new kykNET International service is now live and available to South African audiences in selected countries in North America, Europe and Australasia via the ShowMax platform. With around 13 000 episodes of TV shows and movies, kykNET International launches with almost 6 000 hours of Afrikaans language programming. Viewers in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand will be able…
The rand tanked to its lowest level yet against major currencies on Wednesday evening, shortly after President Jacob Zuma removed Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister and replaced him with largely unknown David van Rooyen. By Fadia Salie, NewsAgency By midnight the rand was trading at R14.94/$ after hitting R15.38 against the greenback within minutes after the announcement. Against the pound and euro, the South African unit was trading at R22.67 and R16.46 respectively. It however slipped again to below R15/$ in overnight trade in New York, with the unit last trading at R15.03 against the dollar. Peter Attard Montalto, emerging…
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) is attempting to convince the citizens of Gauteng to appreciate the benefits of e-tolling by paying up for the upgrades. It has compiled videos explaining the benefits of e-tolling featuring Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters, Sanral CEO Nazir Alli, and ordinary citizens. By Staff Writer Watch the Sanral videos below: The benefits of an “e-tagged” road as experienced by e-tag users: Joe and Rebecca Letseleha What you need to know about E-tolls – Nazir Alli (SANRAL CEO) What you need to know about E-tolls – Roelof Botha (Economist) The benefits of…
Only seven Telkom contestants remain in the race to set a new record, certified by Guinness World Records, for the longest time spent watching movies. Thulisile Madyo declined her place shortly before the competition started on Tuesday afternoon and was replaced by Louis Marx. Aqeel Dockrat voluntarily withdrew after 13 hours 38 minutes due to ill health, while Tibor Donatus Kurucz, Tiberius Tjo and Louis fell asleep for between seven and 20 minutes each, after they had been participating for 12 hours 42 minutes, 14 hours 22 minutes, and 14 hours 5 minutes respectively. At 2:36pm today, the remaining seven…
The holiday season is among us, and with it comes the excitement of a well-deserved break, spending time with loved ones and of course gift shopping. MTN SA wants to remind customers of scams that have been on the increase. Says Ike Dube, GM Business Risk Management at MTN SA; “We want to ensure that our customers are reminded about the necessary steps they need to take should an unfortunate incident occur. Therefore advising customers to be careful in this regard, as we have noticed a pattern in the past in theft and fraud.” MTN is asking customers to be…
Vodacom contract customers can now enjoy fantastic savings in roaming rates when they travel to 180 countries, which include popular holiday destinations such as United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Brazil, Hong Kong, China, Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya. The newly reduced rates are effective from today. This follows Vodacom’s move to reduce roaming rates and increase Vodacom Travel Saver footprint from 27 countries to 180 destinations. Vodacom claims that Travel Saver provides lower roaming rates, greater transparency on roaming fees and safeguards customers from raking higher than usual phone bills on roaming. How to activate Travel Saver: A customer can…
Gumtree South Africa has launched an app update that includes instant messaging functionality that allows buyers and sellers to ask questions and/or reply immediately. By Staff Writer The app is perfect for those who want to buy and sell quickly and easily. Notifications are received every time a prospective buyer sends a query. The new feature was inspired by users, who requested this functionality because they wanted more immediate contact on the platform. “Our users are primarily mobile, and used to instant messaging with their peers – this fits in perfectly with their lifestyles and preferences,” says Claire Cobbledick, head…
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has apologised after several posts with sexual undertones appeared on its Facebook page. CSA’s Facebook page was hacked on Thursday night with several webpage links containing explicit adult content posted. CSA only regained control of its page on Wednesday morning after contacting Facebook’s offices for assistance. The apology reads: Good morning everyone.We would like to apologise for the inappropriate posts that came off this page during the course of last night and this morning. Our Facebook page was indeed hacked, but the issue has since been resolved and we have fortified our security measures to ensure…
Between your home network and the internet sits your broadband router. This humble device is often overlooked, yet it is also your first line of defence against hackers, malware and viruses. By Patryk Szewczyk and Nikolai Hampton It’s easy to assume that the latest firmware for your router will provide protection against cyber threats. However, our new research has found that even the latest broadband router firmware remains dangerously vulnerable to attack. Firmware is the operating system and software that controls all the features of your router, from the blinking lights and configuration options, to advanced network security features. Similar to any desktop…
There’s no doubt that 2015 will be seen as the year wearables went mainstream, the time that beacons became more widespread to truly enable the Internet of Things, and when a white-and-gold (or blue-and-black) dress sent the internet into a frenzy. By Warren Olivier, regional manager for Southern Africa at Veeam Software With analytics moving to the fore and an ever increasing number of businesses focused on delivering services across what Gartner calls The Device Mesh, “an expanding set of endpoints people use to access applications and information or interact with people, social communities, governments and businesses”, the pressure on today’s…
Not only is the introduction of mandatory protection of personal data a huge challenge for companies, but now organisations are being prompted to rethink how they approach the reuse, recycling or recovery of their eWaste. By Staff Writer Xperien suggests the new Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act will have serious consequences in the near future. The successful adoption of this Act will depend on a comprehensive understanding of the digital aspect of the new laws. Companies will be forced to change their processes to ensure that the personal information and data they collect is protected. The PoPI Act is…
Cell phone and device repair specialist iFix has created a new brand called i2, which is selling pre-loved iPhones online to the public. By Staff Writer iFix said their mission is to find good homes for pre-loved iPhones, the ones that aren’t ready to give up the ghost, but deserve a chance to start over. The repair specialist said it will take care of the trusty ones, the stashed-in-the-cupboard dusty ones and even the slightly busted ones. Pre-loved iPhone 5 cell phones are available in black and retails for R3, 499. A gently-used and reconditioned iPhone 5S will also…
Microsoft has launched its official online store in South Africa, enabling South African customers to purchase any product from the company’s ecosystem of devices through the local Microsoft online store, www.microsoftstore.co.za. The Microsoft online store boasts a broad assortment of original branded goods ranging from Lumia smartphones to Xbox consoles. In addition, the store features products from Microsoft’s partners to provide customers with even more choice whilst they are shopping for the perfect PC, tablet, game or smartphone to suit their needs and budget. “The explosion of social and mobile technology has ignited ‘the era of the smart shopper’…
Global smartphone shipments are losing steam but lower priced devices and the African market are likely to be an engine of growth, says an international research organisation. By Duncan Alfreds, NewsAgency The International Data Corporation (IDC) last week forecast that global smartphone growth will hit 9.8% in 2015 – the segment’s first ever single digit growth. The IDC attributed the slowdown to dampening demand in China, but the research organisation has argued that lower-priced smartphones are expected to drive growth in Africa and other parts of the globe. “The smartphone growth will come from the low-priced smartphones (under $150),” Joseph Hlongwane,…
Small to medium sized enterprises can learn a lot from big retailers who have leveraged big data to develop an art and science for packaging and displaying products on store shelves. This is more useful during the festive season when customers are spending more. By Ujuh Reporter This is expressed by Yudhvir Seetharam, Head of Analytics for FNB Business. He says big data is also being successfully used in the online space where convenience is driving sales. “As customers become more sophisticated, it is important for SMEs to start using platforms like big data to gain a competitive advantage. They…
Internet ride-sharing service Uber has added Port Elizabeth to its list of South African cities. Port Elizabeth joins South African cities Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria in having the service. Port Elizabeth is also the ninth city in Africa where Uber has launched its offering. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency The South African coastal city was chosen because of its 1.1 million population size and the company said it will at first ‘test’ its technology in the city using its UberX option. “The reason we say testing is obviously because we’re still in the process of creating the demand and the…
In the fifth edition of its annual trend report, Ericsson ConsumerLab presents the 10 hottest consumer trends for 2016 and beyond. This year’s report shows consumers believe artificial intelligence (AI) will soon enable interaction with objects without the need for a smartphone screen. In fact, half of all smartphone users expect smartphones to become things of the past within the next five years. By Staff Writer The report also shows that as the adoption of networked technologies moves faster than ever, mass-market use becomes the norm quicker. As a result, the time period when early adopters influence others is now…
The falling prices and shrinking sizes of computer processors and sensors, coupled with a proliferation of mobile connectivity, is spurring the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). As connected cars, connected homes, and connected workplaces join the IoT, devices such as smartphones, tablet computers and smartwatches will serve as the primary interfaces through which people interact with IoT devices and equipment. By Ernst Wittmann, Country Manager for Southern Africa at Alcatel Onetouch The smartphone will be the centre of gravity for a growing IoT ecosystem. The IoT is a network of intelligent devices and machines that can monitor…
Africa received a $10bn boost of help to build out its renewable energy sources, with Germany leading the advanced economies in its contribution. By NewsAgency Germany’s Environmental Minister Barbara Hendricks made the announcement on Monday on the sidelines of the UN climate talks in Paris. “Africa has a large hunger for energy,” Hendricks said. “We have to avoid that this hunger is fed with coal, oil and gas.” The announcement was one of a series of additional financial pledges amounting to about $98bn made during the UN climate talks in Paris since November 30, according to an informal calculation. The…
Vodacom South Africa announced on Tuesday that it has revised its deal with Neotel after reviewing the R7 billion merger and giving up on getting its hands on the lucrative spectrum owned by the fixed-line telephone group. By Gugu Lourie Last month, Vodacom informed investors that it was in discussions with Neotel and its shareholders Tata Communications to explore a revised transaction structure. The move by Vodacom to push for a revised transaction structure comes after Neotel placed its CEO Sunil Joshi and chief financial officer Steven Whiley on special leave in July amid an investigation into bribery. Under…
ShowMax and Telkom have entered into a partnership to provide users with zero-rated data for streaming content. The country’s biggest fixed-line telephone group said new and existing Telkom Summer Unlimited users will have unlimited data to stream content on ShowMax. By Staff Writer Subscription video on demand (SVOD) is taking off globally, as about 100 million people are now using Internet-based services to watch series and movies. In South Africa, the adoption of SVOD has been relatively modest due in part to the availability of services and also concerns over data usage. ShowMax, which can be viewed via smart…