Author: Editor

And here they are. TechCentral’s top five newsmakers of 2011. Our “Newsmakers of the Year” award is presented to individuals we believe had the biggest impact on SA’s technology sector in the past 12 months. For the most part, they’re also the the people who made the headlines during the

Vodacom has secured a licence from the Financial Services Board to begin selling insurance products directly to its customers as it seeks to broaden its portfolio and expand its revenue streams in a maturing mobile market. There are few details available for now, but TechCentral has established that the cellular network

“Siri, what’s the best smartphone?” “The one you’re holding.” “Again, Siri, what is the best smartphone?” “I think you’ve already answered that question.” One more time, Siri. “You’re kidding, right?” There’s no doubt that Siri, the voice-driven “digital assistant” built into the iPhone 4S is the coolest feature

Next year will bring significant consolidation among SA’s Internet service providers as they battle a difficult, deflationary environment. That’s the view of Altech Technology Concepts CEO Wayne de Nogreba, who says the industry is in a “race to the bottom” as bandwidth prices plummet and

Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone device running Android 4.0 (the oddly named Ice Cream Sandwich), lands on SA shores in the next few months. TechCentral got early access to the Galaxy Nexus and put the device through its paces. Apart from one major

Another tumultuous year is almost at an end for the SA information and communications technology industry. It was a year of falling telecommunications prices, increasing competition, upheaval in politics and drama in the regulatory environment. Our “Newsmakers of the Year”

In its framework for the licensing of high demand spectrum, published last week, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) says it intends to reserve a portion of the 2,6GHz band for a “managed spectrum park”. The idea, it seems, is to make spectrum

The gaming industry has had a fantastic year. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3’s record-breaking sales offer evidence of gaming’s growing cultural importance, and we have seen a string of critically acclaimed games across a range of genres hitting the shelves throughout the year. Here is TechCentral’s pick

Pay-TV operator MultiChoice has opened its Internet-based video-on-demand (VOD) service, BoxOffice Online, to beta testers. It follows the July launch of the satellite-based version of BoxOffice, which allows DStv users to rent movies on their personal video recorders. Consumers interested in

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) hopes SA operators will emulate the Russian model of infrastructure sharing for next-generation mobile broadband networks based on long-term evolution (LTE) technology, TechCentral has learnt. LTE, which will pave the way to