Although sales of BlackBerry devices continue to fall off a cliff in developed markets, Research in Motion’s successes in emerging markets, a forthcoming overhaul of its operating system, and the company’s pledge to keep wooing developers suggest the embattled company may be able keep its head above water. RIM’s forthcoming
Browsing: Craig Wilson
Despite the critics decrying the lack of a “wow” factor around the iPhone 5, preorders for Apple’s newest handset have already sold out in the US. The company will move millions of them, despite the update from the iPhone 4S being distinctly evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It’s a solid phone
Online retailer Amazon.com has taken the wraps off its updated range of Kindle e-readers and tablets. Its rivals, especially Apple, should be paying close attention to what is arguably and crucially the only other company with as wide a content ecosystem
A California court has ruled in Apple’s favour in its patent-infringement case against Samsung. Slapped with a fine of US$1bn, and facing the possibility of having some of its products banned in the US, Samsung will almost certainly appeal against the decision. But with Apple’s own history of pilfering ideas, is an iron-fisted
The move to digital terrestrial television isn’t simply a chance for set-top box manufacturers to make a quick buck. It presents a unique opportunity to introduce new competition in the broadcasting market where, until now, consumers have had precious little choice. In terrestrial broadcasting
It sounds trite, but in the growing litany of lawsuits between the world’s major consumer electronics manufacturers, the only real winners are the lawyers. Although patents have a place, particularly in the early days of any new technology, they’re ill-equipped to deal with one of the inevitable consequences of innovation: the best
It hasn’t been a good year for Telkom, or a good decade for that matter. The JSE-listed company’s share price is down by almost 40% since January. Cabinet has put paid to management’s plan to sell 20% of its equity to Korea’s KT Corp. The price of mobile services is falling, eroding its market share
It’s been a busy year for Microsoft. The company has taken the wraps off Windows 8, talked up its forthcoming Surface tablet computers, bought enterprise social network Yammer, made updates to its search service Bing and commercially launched its cloud-based Office 365 suite
Vodacom announced a new set of smartphone contract tariff plans at the weekend under the heading “all-in-one Smart Plans”. Unfortunately, Vodacom seems intent on continuing to offer consumers packages that are founded on obfuscation and copious fine print rather than simplicity and transparency
Mobile operators are hacking and slashing data prices but Telkom’s fixed-line broadband and line rental fees are set to go up at the beginning of August. The operator desperately needs to cut costs, increase efficiency and attract new customers, but it’s caught in a dilemma: it needs to maintain its ground in a