I have such a complicated relationship with Google and Facebook that I sometimes find it hard to write about them. I don’t mean complicated in the sense of conflict of interest, although it is true that one of the organisations I do work for now receives funding from Google, so there is that, but what I am really talking about is
Most people outside of technology circles have never heard of Vic Gundotra. The charming, bespectacled 45-year-old with the flawless Californian accent might be mistaken for a professor or a paediatrician. Yet many of us have used one or more of the products he championed during his eight years at Google. On 24 April, Gundotra
Should we be worried about Cell C? Despite a recent high court ruling that was at least partly in the mobile operator’s favour, noises coming out of the company aren’t exactly painting a rosy picture. There are several reasons for concern, chief among them the ability of the company to engage in a protracted price war while ensuring it
One day, everything will be data. Voice will not exist as a separate service needing different technology. The transition in developed countries has been relatively slow. However, at the international level, large amounts of calls now move through Internet protocol and multiprotocol label switching-based networks. Every year, consumer software
The soon-to-be-promulgated changes to the laws that govern South Africa’s information and communications technology sector, found in the Electronic Communications Amendment Act and the Icasa Amendment Act, are still being digested by the sector. Of course, there are many problems with the changed laws, but they provide
The boom in smart devices has created an amazing platform for entrepreneurs to develop mobile applications.
By developing a popular mobile app, entrepreneurs are able to generate earnings in a variety of ways. One of the more popular ways is through in-app purchases. For example, the app can be made available free-of-charge but with only limited features. In order to gain access to additional features, the user can make
It is unfortunate that, in his rush to push through a new framework for digital migration of South African television, communications minister Yunus Carrim has resorted to rewriting history, distorting facts and again pretended that the views of the black electronics
If there was anyone still doubting that the price war, triggered in part by communications regulator Icasa’s cuts in call termination rates, is starting to take its toll on South Africa’s mobile industry, they would have been disabused of that notion this week with the news that the Reunert-owned Nashua Mobile is to close down. As many as 600 people
There has been a lot of debate in recent weeks about whether communications minister Yunus Carrim has done the right thing when it comes to South Africa’s new broadcasting policy. To back up a bit, perhaps we should explain what this debate means for ordinary South Africans. At present, televisions in South Africa receive
Jamii Telecom launched a public fibre-to-the-home network in Kenya in early 2011, but except for a few gated communities and pilots, nothing has happened in South Africa on this front. However, 2014 may be the year that changes as the lumbering
