Fitbit, the fitness band maker, has acquired software assets from struggling smartwatch start-up Pebble Technology, a move that will help it better compete with Apple. The purchase excludes Pebble’s hardware, Fitbit said in a
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Within hours of the pre-order launch, not only had the cheapest Apple Watch Sport at US$349 sold out, but so had the Apple Watch Edition with a rose gold case and retailing at $17 000. And all of this for a watch that reviewers have given decidedly mixed reviews
Four years in the making, technology entrepreneur Stafford Masie, through his company Thumbzup, has finally taken his mobile payments solution for smartphones commercial — through partner bank Absa. The mobile payment of sale system, called the Payment Pebble, allows merchants – typically small enterprises and
Microsoft South Africa MD Mteto Nyati and former Google sub-Saharan Africa boss Stafford Masie have been appointed to the board of JSE-listed education and recruitment company AdvTech. Nyati, who previously worked at IBM South Africa, and Masie, who is spearheading
From activity trackers to Google Glass, wearable technology is becoming more common and useful, but until smart watches stop simply duplicating existing functionality and offer something new, they’re destined to remain curiosities and novelties rather than the necessities their makers would
A slew of surveys have shown that many young people do not bother with wristwatches, using their cellphones to keep time instead. When Mintel, an industry analyst, surveyed Britons in 2010, it found 28% of 15 to 24-year-olds had no use for a wristwatch. Another survey, by YouGov, found that
The Payment Pebble, the mobile phone point-of-sale device developed by Thumbzup and announced in November 2012, has been delayed by regulatory hurdles, says Absa, the bank partner that will launch the product. Absa had said the product would be launched in the first half of 2013, but was unable
Banking group Nedbank has launched a mobile point-of-sale (POS) device, called the PocketPOS, that accepts both magnetic and chip-and-Pin credit and debit cards. The device connects to a smartphone using Bluetooth and is operated by means of a mobile application. The PocketPOS
A hundred years after being popularised, the humble wristwatch is being reinvented for the smartphone era. Several exciting initiatives, including Pebble, a crowd-funded project that has raised more than US$10m, are set to emerge this year. Imagine lounging on
Technology entrepreneur Stafford Masie spent two-and-a-half years working on the Payment Pebble smartphone payment device before it was unveiled last week by retail banking giant Absa. The device was engineered and built by Masie’s Centurion-based company Thumbzup, which he wants