If 2011 was the year of the tablet computer, 2012 looks set to be the year of the Ultrabook, chipmaker Intel’s term for next-generation, ultra-thin and portable laptops running Windows. But are these machines a desperate reaction from a PC industry trying
Browsing: Apple
The giant Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicked off in Las Vegas this week, with Korean rivals Samsung and LG unveiling new “smart” television technology that shows clearly how the battle over online media and applications is spreading
Just as every hardware manufacturer has leapt onto the tablet computer bandwagon with varying degrees of success, so, too, they’re racing to get ultraportable laptop computers to market. Toshiba’s latest offering, the Portégé R830, offers great competition in terms of price and features, even
Well-known entrepreneur and investor and former Google SA boss Stafford Masie believes near-field communication (NFC) technology will fail as a mainstream transactional platform and local banks’ attempts to implement systems based on it are “farcical” and offer “no value”. NFC is a set of standards that
It has been a lively year for technology, despite the bad state of the world’s economy. Technology is now so intrinsic to both business and personal life that it might appear recession-proof. But this high-level view masks the Darwinian ferocity of the battles raging between the tech titans. The year 2011 will be remembered as
Your hosts Duncan McLeod and Craig Wilson bring you a bumper end-of-year edition of TalkCentral, clocking in at more than an hour, in which we reveal our favourite gadgets of 2011, from tablets to smartphones and from ultrabooks to TVs. We also do a live demonstration of Siri, for those who are keen to see how
“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 be a decisive one for Microsoft as it readies new products to fend off challengers in the consumer technology market. Its upcoming touch and tablet-friendly operating system, Windows 8, will be an important part of its plan to win back the hearts and minds of
For a long time, the only real manufacturer of the sort of slim, lightweight laptops that have earned the title “ultrabooks” has been Apple with its MacBook Air range. That’s fine if you’re an Apple user, or don’t mind becoming one, but not if you want or need to use Windows. Finally
It’s almost the end of another busy year in SA’s technology industry. We know what our favourite stories were in 2011, but which articles did you, TechCentral’s readers, pore over the most? These are the pieces, in ascending order from 10 to one, that generated the most reads during the year