Another year is behind us, and 2013 was another important one in South Africa’s technology industry. We know what our favourite stories were in 2013, but which articles did you, TechCentral’s readers, click on the most. These are the pieces, in ascending order from 10 to one, that generated the most reads during the year, according to our analytics software. (Note that the best-read gadget reviews are listed separately at the end of this article.)
Kindle vs Kobo: battle of the e-readers
Despite being published in November 2012, this story scrapes into the top 10 list for 2013 thanks to consumer interest in e-book readers. E-reader convert Lloyd Gedye wondered in this piece if he would ever buy a “real” book again.
BlackBerry cuts the BIS
South Africans love their BlackBerrys and the cheap and unlimited on-device data they offer, so when the Canadian company said its new devices, based on the BlackBerry 10 operating system, were too data intensive to use the flat-rate data service, it provoked strong reactions from readers.
DStv’s new PVR: the inside story
TechCentral brought its readers exclusive insights into the development and launch of the new DStv Explora personal video recorder (PVR) from MultiChoice. In 2010, when the Naspers-owned pay-television operator began work on its radically redesigned new PVR decoder, the premise was that it would be a “connected box” that would offer on-demand services over the Internet. It had hoped that South Africa’s fixed-line broadband infrastructure would improve faster than it did. It didn’t, sending MultiChoice back to the drawing board.
R140m for gov’t website: report
The Sowetan newspaper broke the story of the Free State government spending R140m developing a website. TechCentral led from the front with reports on the scandal, but this first one, by wire agency Sapa, generated the most clicks. The controversial deal was signed with businessman Tumi Ntsele, who reportedly held tenders with several other provincial departments.
Nkandla: hi-res aerial imagery revealed
Working with Eyewitness News, TechCentral published detailed new bird’s eye imagery detailing taxpayer-funded upgrades to president Jacob Zuma’s rural homestead at Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal. The high-resolution imagery revealed the extent of development at Nkandla over the past three years, offering a view of some of its more controversial features — including twin helipads, an AstroTurf sports field and a vast entertainment area.
SA operators: who really is cheapest?
It’s difficult to separate the clutter as the big operators try to convince customers where to spend their money. Which operator really is cheapest? TechCentral cleared through some of the complexity in an effort to find the answer.
iPhone 5s, 5c prices revealed
South African consumers continue to be enamoured of Apple’s shiny gadgets. This is evidenced by the strong showing of this article in our top 10 most-read stories list for 2013. The iPhone 5s and 5c went on sale in South Africa in November, with prices starting at R8 499 for the cheapest 5c model.
The 10 best phones Nokia ever made
Microsoft’s deal to buy Nokia’s handset business for €5,4bn truly marked the end of an era. That prompted us to draw up a list of the phones we felt were the best Nokia ever made. This, of course, prompted plenty of debate among TechCentral readers.
Openview HD technical details revealed
E.tv sister company Platco Digital last year launched South Africa’s first free-to-air satellite-based television service, OpenView HD, generating enormous interest from consumers — after all, who can say “no” to something that’s free. This article provided exclusive insights into the technical details behind the platform.
Free satellite TV coming to SA
This article about OpenView HD made the top spot as the most read article of the year on TechCentral. From October 2013, we reported at the time, South Africans looked set to enjoy a satellite television service backed by e.tv parent Hosken Consolidated Investments and offering as many as 20 channels free of charge, some of them in high definition.
Lastly, these were the best-read gadget reviews of the year: 1. Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, 2. Nokia Lumia 520, 3. Sony Xperia Z, 4. Apple iPad mini, 5. Nokia Lumia 720. — (c) 2014 NewsCentral Media
