MWEB Logo
MWEB has announced their new broadband pricing starting form tomorrow. In an effort to make broadband option better for South Africans they have not lowered prices but rather increased what they are offering like 1GB users who do not use MWEB as the line provider will now get 2GB for the same price of R145.
MWEB ADSL Members with a 2GB cap will now get 3GB for R219, and 3GB customers will get 5GB for R299. Customers with 6, 9 and 12GB caps will now enjoy 7.5GB, 10.5GB and 13.5GB caps respectively. MWEB’s All-Inclusive ADSL subscribers, who get their ADSL line and subscription in one account from MWEB, will also benefit. Customers with 2GB caps will now get 3GB for the same price, while 3, 6, 9 and 12GB customers will now receive 5GB, 7.5, 10.5 and 13.5GB of data each month respectively. The “Boosters” will also give you more data for the same price.
via (MyBroadband News)
Logitech G19 Gaming Keyboard
So we’ve just received the Logitech G19 gaming keyboard, and I must say it looks impressive. I haven’t yet put the keyboard through its paces, seeing as I’m at work right now. Rest assured, I will give it a good beating over the weekend. Revitalize the World of Warcraft account, some good old Quake 3, Call of Duty 4 and the list goes on.
The G19 Keyboard has a very sleek design, similar to its predecessor the G15. With a full black design, 12 programmable keys, and 3 memory keys giving you a total of 36 programmable keys. You can change the color of the back light on your keys to any color you feel like which gave us a great excuse to play around in the dark.
Also a little improvement with the LCD display on the keyboard. Tiltable, color LCD screen with a display of 320×240 pixels. The LCD displays information for both in- and out-of-game stats, video playback, RSS reader, picture viewer and much more.
I’m sure, like with the G15 you will be able to download plugins for the LCD display to extend its functionality. For a list of compatible games that support displaying of stats on the LCD visit the Logitech website.
Check after the weekend for a in-depth review of this what looks to be incredible keyboard.
eyeOS new user creation
I have recently stumbled across this little gem of an application called eyeOS. This is a open source web browser based desktop following the concept of cloud computing, written mainly in PHP, XML and JavaScript. Basically this means it is “windows” in a web browser. Out the box it comes standard with 67 applications and system utilities. To name a few; an office equivalent, an email client, an internet browser, a calculator, a facility for internal messages, a calendar and many more applications you would expect on an Operation System.
Looking to get more applications for your eyeOS? No problem, head on over to the eyeOS Applications and have a browse through their vast list of applications. There are sure to be some applications that will grab your fancy.
Still not satisfied with the list of applications available to you? Why not develop your own? Have a look at eyeDesigner for making your own apps.
Sony Ericsson recently announced their Entertainment Unlimited range starting with 3 phones; the Yari, Aino and, Satio. With the specs that I have seen on these 3 phones we will surely see Sony Ericsson close the gap on their competitors. The Yari, Aino and, Satio are all multimedia and gaming focused phones which definitely sound like they will provide the entertainment they have set out to do being the Entertainment Unlimted range.
I am quite delighted to announce that I have found an Anti Virus package that I am 99% happy with!
The software goes by the name of G Data. I recently installed the 2010 version on my personal computer at home for reviewing purposes. Initially the installation is a bit of a lengthy process, taking an odd 30mins or so. On top of that it had to download about 60mb of virus definitions and updates. To justify this it does run a dual engine virus protection module, which means you have two different monitoring modules keeping your PC safe with both these engines needed to be updated. I was also pleased that there were no tedious registration forms and activation processes, I was simply asked to enter a email address and a desired password, that’s it.
After installation I can with all honesty say that I did not have any hassles at all. I have a network setup of 5 PCs at home, one of them running as a remote desktop only. When sharing files on my PC I did not encounter any firewall or permission problems, there were also no issues regarding networking in any of the games I tried. It even runs on the Windows 7 RC without any hassles. G Data just quietly runs in the background doing its job, or did it?
As Facebook and Twitter slow converge you will notice that their functionality will slowly integrate each other more and more. Facebook recently announced that they will now include functionality for Facebook page administrators to make Twitter updates directly from their Facebook page. This will only link Facebook Pages to Twitter, not your individual profile.
Facebook Twitter Application
This is a great tool to add to your social media marketing arsenal because it kills two birds with one stone. You keep your Facebook fans happy as well as updating you Twitter followers.
Once you have the option on your Facebook Page you can select what you want to send to Twitter. You can share: status updates, links, photos, notes, events or all of them. If you have multiple Pages, you will have the option to link each of those Pages to different Twitter accounts. This new feature will soon be available at http://www.facebook.com/twitter.
A number of celebrities and organizations on Facebook are already using this feature to publish the content on their Facebook Page to Twitter and reach a wider audience. They include Dane Cook, LIVESTRONG, The World Wildlife Fund, and the NBA, WNBA and D-League.
We are always looking to make it easy for you to use Facebook with your favorite websites and applications. Facebook Connect allows you to bring your Facebook profile with you across the Web. We recently worked with Yahoo to integrate your Facebook experience into Yahoo’s new homepage; we’ve built our own Firefox and iPhone applications in-house; and we built tools to help you bring your content from YouTube, Hulu and other sites into your Facebook profile.
Twitter was a natural next step to link with Facebook Pages because it is a powerful tool for broadcasting short messages widely.
Logitech Darkfield
Logitech have taken the computer mouse where no mouse has gone before. With Logitech® Darkfield Laser Tracking™, you can use your mouse virtually anywhere you want – including clear glass and high-gloss surfaces. This new technology is available in the Logitech® Performance Mouse MX™ and the Logitech® Anywhere Mouse MX™, giving you the option of a full-size mouse or a more compact, notebook mouse. Now I can finally use my magazine collection as a mouse pad!
In addition to providing unsurpassed cursor control, both of the new Logitech mice feature the recently announced Logitech® Unifying receiver. The tiny wireless receiver stays in your notebook, so there’s no need to unplug it when you move around. Plus, you can easily add up to five other compatible Logitech keyboards and mice to the single receiver.
The Logitech Performance Mouse MX is available in the South Africa for a suggested retail price of R 1 199.00. The Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX is expected to be available in South Africa later this year for a suggested retail price of R999.00.
Logitech Unifying Receiver
Logitech have introduced a convenient and clutter-free way for notebook users to connect wireless keyboards and mice to their computers – the Logitech® Unifying receiver. This nifty little USB device is small enough for you to be able to leave it in your laptop whilst awesome enough to allow you to connect 6 compatible logitech devices all at once.
“At Logitech, we’re always looking for ways to make life easier,” says Romain du Gardier, Sales & Marketing Manager – Southern Africa developed countries, Indian Ocean Islands, Nigeria and Ghana. “With this unique new receiver, now you can pick and choose the mouse and keyboard that work best for you whether you’re at the office, at home or on the road.”
The receiver only sticks out a mere 8mm from the USB port which great for the on the go business folk who like to have a mouse but get irritated with having to plug in a device all the time.
Now I can’t wait to get to play with 4 keyboards at once!
The Unifying Receiver will be debuting with the following devices: Logitech® Wireless Keyboard K350, Logitech® Wireless Keyboard K340, Logitech® Marathon Mouse M705 and the Logitech® Wireless Mouse M505.
Core Group Tomorrow Trust Charity
There has been a lot of talk about the Core Group and Apple in the local blogosphere about lack of services delivery especially at iStores. We are not sure if this is an effort by Core Group to show that they are making an effort and try win back the hearts of their consumers. So the Core Group handed over R300 000 to local charity, The Tomorrow Trust, at a media event held last Thursday in their Sandton offices. The money was raised from proceeds of iPods sold by selected retailers in December 2008.
The Tomorrow Trust is a South African NGO that supports the education of orphans and vulnerable children right up to their first pay-check. This is achieved through a number of Holiday Schools that support learners in grade 0 to 4 and grade 10 to 12. These holiday schools also provide guidance in their future career paths. The organisation also funds further tertiary education for orphaned and vulnerable children.
RJ van Spaandonk, Executive Director of Core Group says, ‘We chose to support The Tomorrow Trust because as Apple’s representatives in South Africa, we share a similar commitment to education. This is the guiding principle behind our iSchoolAfrica Ignite Programme.”
“The Tomorrow Trust has given so many young people that chance, and has made a genuinely sustainable impact in their lives. We are confident that The Tomorrow Trust will put our donation to use and continue to equip children to be tomorrow’s leaders and guarantee the future of South Africa,” adds van Spaandonk.
“We are not merely a bursary fund,” says Kim Feinberg, the CEO of The Tomorrow Trust and the bright spark behind many of their innovate education interventions, “rather, we have a holistic approach to seeing these young individuals educated and empowered, which includes providing them with food, transport, social workers, and weekly communication to find out how they are doing. Universities and colleges have a 50 percent drop-out rate, whereas our students all stick to their educational commitments. This is because we mentor and care for every student in the programme to ensure they see their education right through to graduation and beyond.”
Van Spaandonk adds, “Our customers also need to be thanked for supporting this initiative by buying with their heart, and purchasing iPods in the month of December. We are seeing a new socially-conscious ethic creeping into consumer choices and it is very encouraging.”
Kim Feinberg says the The Tomorrow Trust is delighted with the donation of R300 000 from Core Group. “This is a partnership that has been built over the past three years and one that we feel extremely grateful and privileged to have,” she adds.
Kim Feinberg says the money will be used to educate orphans and vulnerable children in the The Tomorrow Trust’s Post Secondary Department, assisting with fees and textbooks for both their college and university students.
News24 Logo
Nokia Logo
News24.com have announced the release of their Nokia widget. This is the first local widget for South African consumers which will deliver local news to your Nokia device.
“Consumers have been calling for local applications and widgets to be made available to enhance their Nokia experience,” says Helen Jarvis, Nokia’s services marketing manager. “News24 is the first local widget which is available for Nokia devices, specifically the Nokia N97, and can be downloaded for free from http://store.ovi.com.”
A widget is essentially a shortcut key which can be downloaded onto a mobile device enabling users to get access to real time content at the touch of a button. According to Jarvis, widgets allow users to experience an ‘always open’ window to their favourite social networking sites and Internet destinations with the added convenience of viewing the shortcut keys on their screen.
This just confirms News24 as being South Africa’s leading digital news brand. This widget will allow all South African Nokia device owners to receive instant, real time, news updates on their phone at a click of a button.
rAge
Yes guys, it’s almost that time of the year again. For the 7th year running, from the 2nd – 4th of October at the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg you can come and experience the “really AWESOME gaming expo” or rAge in short.
Well, if you are into the latest games, technology gadgets and lifestyle products. This event is for you. Simply put “rAge is South Africa’s leading computer, gaming and technology expo. The expo allows visitors to get some hands-on time with and a close-up look at the things they love and desire most.”
Some things you can expect to see at rAge include previews of the latest and up and coming games, product launches, press briefs, prize giveaways and loads more.
rAge hosts one of the largest LAN events in South Africa by far, with last years event pulling over 1800 gamers and the tickets were sold out in two weeks. AWESOME!!
2 – 4 October 2009
Friday: 10:00 – 18:00
Saturday: 09:00 – 18:00
Sunday: 10:00 – 16:00
The Coca-Cola Dome
Corner Northumberland Road & Olievenhout Avenue
Northgate
Johannesburg
Day ticket – R50.00 per person
Weekend Ticket – R80.00 per person
Family Pass Ticket (2 adults & 2 children) – R160.00 per family
Kids under 6 are free
For more information regarding this AWESOME event go to the rAge expo website.
Nokia N97 - White
So last week I received the Nokia N97 for review. I’ve had some time to play with it now. And all I can say is… “What an awesome multimedia phone”.
When I first started using the phone, I felt a bit lost and did not like it at all. My very first problem was I missed the menu button completely and had a colleague show me where the button was. Secondly I kept on comparing the phone against the HTC Dream.
As I used the phone I started liking it more and more. It has a 3.5 inch TFT touch screen with 16 million colours. The touch capabilities are very accurate, even when not using the stylus. You also have three different “desktops”, which you can personalise according to certain aspects of your lifestyle. Example: you can have all your multimedia applications on your one desktop, and all your business like applications on another. You access your different desktops by pressing on the screen and dragging it to either the left or to the right.
One of the things I most enjoyed about the phone, I only found out by accident. While driving in my car I noticed my phone battery was about to die. So I got out the USB cable, attached it to my phone and figured let me see if it will charge if I plug it into my radio’s USB. Yes, it started charging, but wait… It also started playing the music I had on my phone. That’s 32gigs of music with you on the road. So I hear some of you saying, I still have a tape drive in my car. Not a problem, enable your FM transmitter on your phone, and tune your radio to the frequency you are transmitting. There you go, music from your phone over your radio all 32 GB’s of it.
When I was not listening to music from the phone over my radio, I used the built in music player with crisp clear sound over stereo speakers on the phone. When opening up the music player, you have the option of playing the “last played song”, thought that was a nifty feature. Your music library is broken down into Artist, Album and Playlist. Which makes it easy when looking for a song in your 32 gig library.
The Nokia comes with a built in 5 mega pixel camera AND a flash. This allows for some brilliant photo moments to be remembered with or without sufficient light. One thing I noticed while taking photo’s in not so bright times, was that the flash shows up on the photo’s giving you this white flare on the side of the picture.
Sending messages is a dream. Flip open the phone, and use your QWERTY keyboard to start typing and sending your message. One disappointing factor with the messaging of the Nokia N97 is that your messages are not threaded. It’s not a train smash, but it is nice to only have one “Patrick” in your inbox and browsing through the thread, instead of 20 messages from “Patrick” to read through.
Nokia N97 - White
Don’t know how to spell a word or what the meaning of a word is? No problem, open up your dictionary application look up the word and carry on with what you were doing. Need to know how much $20 is in South African currency? Open up your converter application, punch in the numbers and get the currency conversion. The phone has converters for currency, area, energy and length.
So you’ve got your email setup on your phone and you received a office document, no problem you can open up word documents, excel documents, power point presentations and PDF files from your phone.
The Nokia N97 is packed with tons of other applications. RealPlayer for watching videso. Feeling creative, open up the drawing application and do some finger painting. GPS navigation, Message reader, Skype. This is only part of what Nokia has to offer with the introduction of Ovi Store which is Nokia’s application portal for all Nokia devices that support it, more to come on it soon.
This is a awesome multimedia rich phone. And I absolutely love it. You can pick it up in either Black or White.
General
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 – American version
Size Dimensions
117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm, 88 cc
Weight
150 g
Display Type
TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 360 x 640 pixels, 3.5 inches
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Handwriting recognition
Sound Alert types
Vibration; MP3 ringtones
Speakerphone
Yes, with stereo speakers
- 3.5 mm audio jack
Memory
Phonebook - Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records – Detailed, max 30 days
Internal - 32 GB storage, 128 MB RAM
Card slot – microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB, buy memory
Data
GPRS Class 32
HSCSD Yes
EDGE Class 32
3G HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
USB Yes, v2.0 microUSB
Camera
Primary 5 MP, 2592×1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash, video light
Features Geo-tagging
Video Yes, VGA@30fps
Secondary Yes, VGA@15fps
TomTom White Pearl
The TomTom White Pearl is based on the TomTom ONE , but with a twist. It has a luxury design and content to make any navigation experience stylish, stress free and enjoyable which is apparently designed for woman.
It has a pearlescent finish and matching EasyPort™ mount, the device is a departure from the typical look and feel of a TomTom portable navigation device and is decorated with a subtle swirl design, which is beautifully expanded on the start up screen. The White Pearl and its mount together are kept clean and safe with a matching silk drawstring bag to complete the set. This makes the device very portable, easily slipping into even the smallest handbag.
The device also has a useful set of Points of Interest pre-installed. With categories like “Places to be seen”, “Shop ’til you drop” and “Everyday fashion” drivers will be able to easily navigate to the best places. These include shops – from fashion to home furnishings, restaurants, bars, cafes, coffee shops, cinemas and theatres, giving drivers the ability to explore.
“We have designed this device to appeal to women, spicing up the excellent navigation experience with a bit of fun, exclusivity and style”, says Corinne Vigreux, TomTom’s Managing Director. “This important market segment has been largely ignored by consumer electronics in the past, but we have recognised its importance and developed this product in response.”
The device has the usual navigation benefits at its core – it’s easy to use, has Map Share™ technology and the Help Me! Menu, among other features. It also has TomTom Text To Speech technology for spoken street names and sms, helping drivers to focus on the road as well as a comprehensive safety camera database with alerts warning users for safety cameras on the route.
This special edition unit is available from selected retail stores, Markhams, Fochini, Cape Union Mart, Cellucity and Due South at a recommended retail price of R1999.00.
HTC Touch Diamond 2
I have had the HTC Touch Diamond 2 for a week now and I am left pretty much on the fence in terms of if I actually like the phone or not. My first impression was great, I liked the look of the phone, I liked the way it displayed information and the touch screen seemed pretty decent even though you had to use the stylus.
However as I used the phone more and more certain features become irritating and actually pushed me to the side of not actually liking the phone myself. Let me get into the finer details then.
The phone really does look great, the 3.2 inch touch screen takes up most of it which is something I really like. The stylus also packs nicely away into the phone which is refreshing seeing that it is a common trend to have one dangling off your phone such as the Samsung Omnia and Nokia N97.
Once you get going with the phone the first thing you have to get used to is the navigation, because it running windows mobile it is similar to any Windows Desktop Operating System with the start menu housing all the programs and then “desktop” shortcuts for the apps that you use the most. Now straight away I hit the sms and email features as well as having a browse on the internet via the built in Opera Mini browser. Once again HTC dominate the smsing arena with their threaded SMS views however this is when I noticed the phones first flaw.
I originally tried the touch screen without the stylus which started getting very irritating because it is pressure sensitive which means clicks when you didnt want and nothing when you did want it. Why this irritated me so much is that you have to use the stylus which makes it impossible to right a message of any sort without having to stop whatever else you are doing. It is near impossible to find a number when you are driving which means you have to pull over, get to the number and then drive again while you speak with the provided hands free kit.
When you get over that, which I finally came to terms with, the phone is actually great. It offers so much in terms of the “office experience” with full Exchange/Outlook synchronization and a very nice web browser provided by Opera Mini. This allows you to really function well when you are away from the office even though it will probably be impossible to whilst you are on the move.
Now every modern mobile phone needs great multimedia functionality and the HTC Touch Diamond 2 does cover that pretty well. With a built in 5MP camera you are no doubt going to be able to snap some very nice pictures with your phone but, and this is a problem we have with all the HTC phones, is that there is no flash. Now any decent photographer knows light is everything and the camera on this phone really performs poorly in low light situations. I am really keen to see a flash on future HTC phones.
The music player does well, it gives you a number of options and allows you to create playlists pretty easily. The built-in speaker allows you to listen to the latest tunes and share it with those around you, and it actually does not sound that bad. Now great, lets make aKing – Against All Odds my ringtone because let’s face it, that is a great song. I am yet to find where to do this if it is even possible which is highly annoying. The looks I get when my phone plays the highly annoying “ring ring” ringtone is enough to make any large man quiver.
All in all the phone is not bad. It does not suit my active lifestyle but it really does fit in nicely to my professional lifestyle and it does the job very well. This is definitely going to be dubbed a business phone and I am sure the Microsoft based users will really enjoy them.
General - 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 900 / 2100
Size Dimensions – 107.9 x 53.1 x 13.7 mm
Weight – 117.5 g
Display Type - TFT resistive touchscreen, 65K colors, 480 x 800 pixels, 3.2 inches
Sound Alert types – Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3, WAV ringtones
Speakerphone – Yes
Memory
Phonebook Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records Practically unlimited
Internal 288 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM
Card slot microSD (TransFlash)
Data
GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps
HSCSD No
EDGE Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port No
USB Yes, miniUSB
Camera
Primary 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus
Features Touch focus
Video Yes, VGA@15fps
Secondary VGA videocall camera
Features OS Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional
Messaging SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser HTML via Opera Mini
Radio Stereo FM radio with RDS
Games Yes, incl. motion-based + downloadable
Colors Black
GPS Yes, with A-GPS support
Java Yes, MIDP 2.0
Battery
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1100 mAh
Stand-by Up to 500 h
Talk time Up to 5 h
Nokia N97
Ok, so on Wednesday we received the new Nokia N97. My initial impression when I first saw the phone was, its white and a it’s a bit bulky and I would have loved the black one.
The N97 is a “flip” phone equipped with a QWERTY keyboard and a huge TFT touch screen. The QWERTY keyboard, again was something to get use to. The touch screen is amazing and accurate. The phone comes with a stylus for navigating on the screen, but like I said the touch screen is very accurate for navigating with your fingers.
Do you remember a couple of years back you could add those irritating little things to your phone that lit up every time your phone rang? Well that’s what you have to do with the stylus and that is the reason why I am not using. No thanks.
5 Megapixel camera, with a built in flash = Awesome photo’s. Tried it out last night. All I can say is WOW.
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