There is no shortage of entrepreneurial energy in SA, with many talented people with great business ideas jostling for attention. Yet very few of the country’s technology start-ups manage to grow into sustainable businesses. Against that backdrop, it is worth taking a closer
The Economist recently commented on the US$12,5bn bid by Google to acquire Motorola Mobility, the search giant’s biggest-ever deal. The magazine noted that the attraction for Google is not principally Motorola’s 19 000 employees, or even its 11% share of the US
To most of us, the Internet is pretty close to magic. Type in a search, click a link, and the info just arrives on our screens. There isn’t any visible evidence that actual work is needed to make this happen; no grinding gears or roaring burners, and there
Are the days of GPS-powered personal navigation devices (PNDs) numbered? With Google Maps Navigation now offering SA Android smartphone users free turn-by-turn navigation and Nokia’s Ovi Maps offering live traffic information, it’s hard to see how standalone
The International Institute of Communications’ annual telecommunications conference takes place in Johannesburg in a month’s time and this year’s event is crammed full of high-level speakers from business, government and regulatory agencies. The event, for which
Steve Jobs announced last week that he was stepping down as CEO of Apple, the company he co-founded in April 1976. But what was his greatest achievement, if it wasn’t the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone or even the iPad? It was the powerful ecosystem he built around those products
The patent wars in the technology industry are intensifying. Google’s proposed US$12,5bn acquisition of Motorola Mobility is regarded as a defensive move by the search giant to buy up a patent portfolio to protect itself from companies like Apple that are
There’s less and less separating mobile handsets from one another when it comes to the hardware that powers them. So, what happens when users can decide for themselves what operating system software they want to run on their phones? Just looking at the latest
With the recent announcement that Android developer Google is acquiring Motorola Mobility, the US handset manufacturer is expected to enjoy more attention than it has in recent years. If its most recent smartphone, the Atrix, is anything
Vodacom is launching a multi-platform mobile application store at the beginning of September. The company says it wants to help foster a local app industry and provide apps for both feature phones and smartphones. But does the move make sense? SA has a long history
