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
Browsing: Google
It’s the stuff of corporate legend. The Googleplex in Mountain View, California, about 40 minutes drive along Route 101 south of San Francisco, is the home of Internet search giant Google and more than 10 000 of its employees. Last Friday, TechCentral had the opportunity
In Douglas Adams’s famous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series of science-fiction books, interstellar species use Babel fish — “small, yellow, leech-like” creatures that feed on “brain-wave energy” — to translate speech in real time. A team of developers at Google is
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
“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
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
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
Global media site and search engine Yahoo launched an SA-specific portal on Tuesday. The site aggregates SA news from the likes of the Daily Maverick, AFP, Association Press and Reuters, and will offer users mailboxes on a .co.za domain. The question is why it’s
Stafford Masie, just 37, has had a highly eventful career, having been the first SA country manager for Google and working for multinational corporations like Novell. He’s now dabbling in numerous start-ups and technology businesses. TechCentral’s Craig Wilson