Online social networking is “broken”, Google+ is Google’s attempt to fix this, and the service will change fundamentally all of the Internet giant’s products, from search to YouTube. These are the key messages to come out of a recent Q&A session between TechCentral and Google+ chief of staff Matt Waddell
It’s become a rite of passage for the world’s biggest technology companies. As soon as you’ve fought your way to the top and become the darling of both stock markets and customers, regulators begin to cry “monopoly”. It happened to IBM in the 1960s
The role and importance of social media in world politics are growing and will continue to do so, says Alec Ross, senior advisor on innovation and technology at the US department of state in the office of secretary of state Hilary Clinton. Ross was
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
Google has been eager to succeed at social media, both because it appeals to its ethos and because it’s losing valuable consumer eyeballs to Facebook. Google+ is without doubt the search giant’s most successful social venture so far, but are people actually using it after they sign
Naspers-owned Internet service provider MWeb has launched a social media campaign in an attempt to pressure Telkom to stop forcing its broadband asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) customers to pay for telephone line rental if they don’t have a fixed-line
London-based company ForgetMeNot Africa wants to take services such as e-mail, instant messaging and social media to basic cellphones to increase African connectivity and digital engagement. Perhaps most appealing is that its offerings work on any phone that can
Banks are all scoundrels, right? So, how is it that one SA bank has managed to reinvent itself as not just a cool bank, but as a cool brand? And why have the other big banks fallen so far behind, at least in terms of customer perception? Surely it can’t just
The only consistent thing about the Internet is its ability to surprise us by changing virtually over night. It’s a Darwinian market that crushes the weak and elevates the strong within months rather than years. That makes investing in online businesses a roller coaster ride
