The Internet is full of get-rich-quick schemes. Just like the secrets to magical weight loss, these schemes are exactly what they appear to be – too good to be true. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible for ordinary people to make money via the Internet. Two local start-ups are betting they can
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As the debate over network neutrality rages in the US, South African Internet service providers, through their industry association, have urged communications regulator Icasa to steer clear of crafting regulations dealing with the contentious issue — at least for now. But what’s
South Africa’s stately progress towards implementing fibre to the home (FTTH) has taken a turn for the better after two residents’ associations took matters into their own hands. One, Parkhurst in Johannesburg, has appointed a supplier and the other, nearby Parkview, is asking for quotes on delivering home fibre. The big gorillas in South Africa’s
Smartphones as we know them today really started emerging about 10 years ago. My first experience with one was with the groundbreaking HTC Wallaby in 2002. The Microsoft Windows Mobile-powered Wallaby was primitive next to today’s smartphones — the interface was difficult to navigate without a stylus and there was no app store – but it offered an
How is this for ambitious? Vodacom in South Africa is hoping to sign up 10m subscribers to its M-Pesa mobile banking and payments platform within the next five years. To put that in context, the cellular operator managed to
Publishing books seems like a noble and romantic business. You might imagine publishers in waistcoats, discovering new authors, delivering knowledge and enjoyment to the world, and wearing little glasses at the ends of their noses. Alas, there is nothing noble or romantic about Hachette’s dispute with Amazon. For more than six months Hachette
Walk into a mobile retailer today and you’ll be greeted by a wall of phones, many of them black, almost all of them drab slabs of plastic with large touch screens. Before Steve Jobs got onto a stage in San Francisco seven years ago and unveiled Apple’s first iPhone, cellphones came in all sorts of nifty shapes. There were candy bars, sliders
In the past few months, South Africans have been introduced to a range of new mobile payment systems that turn ordinary smartphones into digital wallets, allowing people to pay for goods and services without cash or cards
Imagine your phone popping up an alert whenever your blood pressure is elevated, or if your blood-glucose level is problematic. Imagine receiving a warning about an impending major health issue like a heart attack and being told to get
The world of connected everything is fast approaching. It’s a world where everyday objects, from a toothbrush to our glasses, are able to communicate, save and share data. This is a time of great innovation, with an avalanche of ever-smarter devices beginning to move our way, generating more and more