Africa, the birthplace of the human species, has long been a magnet for archaeologists. Now SA wants to draw leading astrophysicists to the continent as well with the world’s most powerful radio telescope, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), an instrument that would be able to look back to the infancy of the universe

Every now and then a gadget comes along that really blows our hair back. Often it’s not even the flashiest or priciest gadgets that do it, but the ones that take us by surprise by doing something we’ve never seen before. The Mighty Dwarf “vibration multimedia speaker” is one such device. The Mighty Dwarf turns any surface

A reading of a detailed draft plan by the telecommunications regulator to license radio frequency spectrum for next-generation wireless broadband networks shows it wants to entice new entrants, maximise competition and encourage infrastructure sharing. It could change SA’s telecoms

Wondering what to get your geek(s) this festive season? Our special ZA Tech Show holiday crew of Andy Hadfield, Ben Kelly, Brett Haggard and Simon Dingle have some suggestions for you.We discuss branded notebooks, gaming gifts, gadgets and other great must-haves for this year

The Blue Brain Project is an attempt to simulate the human brain using supercomputers to allow neuroscientists, biologists, physicists and computer scientists to better understand the brain and to provide them with the tools to simulate diseases and, hopefully, come closer to alleviating

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