As Christmas 2009 approaches, our panelists are confined to their quarters and must use Skype to converse. Ben Kelly, Brett Haggard, Duncan McLeod, Jon Tullet, Simon Dingle and Toby Shapshak discuss:

• Cell C’s network expansion and upgrade.
• Telecoms.
• Intel scrapping Larrabee and possibly cosying up to Nvidia.
• Blackberry’s Storm 2.
• Integration between Twitter and search providers.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Duncan McLeod: Picks – Google Chrome for Mac.
• Brett Haggard: Picks – Dragon Dictation for iPhone.
• Jon Tullett: Pick-on – Dragon Dictation and picks – Samsung Star.
• Toby Shapshak: Picks – Blackberry Storm 2.
• Ben Kelly: Picks – Stanza.
• Simon Dingle: Picks – Tornado Outbreak for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.

Direct file download (30MB)

Host of the ZA Show, Glen Verran makes his debut on the ZA Tech Show this week, joining Simon Dingle, Duncan McLeod and Brett Haggard. We discuss:

• Podcasting in South Africa.
• FarmVille and other online games.
• Twitter’s waning popularity.
• The Nokia N900.
• Mustek reporting HP to the Competition Commission.
• Time Inc’s tablet-friendly magazine concept.
• Of Windows, Mac and Linux.
• 3d television and Sony shooting the 2010 World Cup in 3d.
• Eskom and the future of power production.
• DSTV launching Super Sport HD.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Glen Verran: Picks – The HDTV and Home Theatre Podcast and The Mede8er.
• Duncan McLeod: Pick - Garmin Nuvi 1410.
• Brett Haggard – Pick – Threadsy (yes, again).
• Simon Dingle: Maemo Linux and New Super Mario Bros. for Wii.

Direct file download (32MB)

BS abounds in tech news this week and Jon Tullett, Brett Haggard and Simon Dingle sift through it. We discuss:

• The unlikeliness of World of Warcraft for mobiles.
• Retro gaming. Again.
• Windows 7 gets ‘XP Mode’
• What is the ultimate upgrade cycle for operating systems?
• Twitter’s attrition rate.
• The power of email.
• A new PSP rumour.
• AMD shuts down its SA offices.
• Apple getting in the chip business? No, of course not. It’s BS.

Our technology choices of the week:

• Brett Haggard: a shameful punt for Connect magazine.
• Simon Dingle: Gatorpeeps micro-blog platform.

Direct file download (30MB)

The new processors also herald the migration of the chips to AMD’s AM3 platform, which uses the more advanced, higher-performance DDR-3 memory. The Phenom II’s will however still slot into AM2+ sockets.

The net result is a substantial improvement in performance at a lower cost as a PC can now be upgraded without having to simultaneously invest in a new motherboard and memory technology.

“Whether buying a new desktop PC or upgrading components in an existing system, AMD recognises consumers are looking for value more than ever before,” said Imi Mosaheb, AMD Country General Manager, South Africa.

“With the combination of the infrastructure compatibility and the introduction of the AMD Phenom II triple-core processors, AMD has made two very strategic design decisions that our competitor cannot duplicate at the component or platform level,” he said.

Simon Dingle, Brett Haggard, Duncan McLeod and Candice Jones from ITWeb feature in this week’s episode, discussing:

• MacOS X on netbooks.
• The Gears of War DRM lock-out.
• DRM fueling piracy.
• The BlackBerry Storm, launched recently in South Africa.
• Will Apple’s multi-touch patents stop the Pre?
• Laying fiber in the Johannesburg rain.
• Solar-powered traffic lights.
• Improvements in Telkom ADSL performance.
• Neotel versus Telkom.
• Mobile data prices and the possibility of price-cuts.
• The Faritec fall and Intel posting losses.
• Brett’s Nehalem platform and the processor market.
• Acer getting into the smartphone market.
• Nokia launching music service locally.
• When will the likes of Apple get real and recognise the SA market?
• The ‘Obama Worm’.
• Some of our panelists’ favourite new thingies.

And more…

Direct file download (31MB)

Topics under discussion this week include:

• Nintendo launches Wii Party website and an online gaming store in South Africa.
• The question of why only Playstation has an online presence in SA. Why can’t Microsoft or Nintendo do it?
• Comparing ADSL service providers – Axxess versus Plugg more specifically.
• All-girl gaming team, the PMS Clan is on its way to South Africa. We’ll be there. 
• The second expansion pack for World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King has been launched.
• Guitar Hero: World Tour is being launched next week.
• Google Video Chat.
• Skype – and why it should have an open API.
• Telkom’s ADSL issues.
• Neotel’s data-only product.
• Duncan has the new Macbook. We play.
• Alienware’s new laptop – the M17.
• The new Windows Live social network.
• Microsoft strategy.
• BlackBerry Storm is being launched on November 21 in the US.
• Dimension Data posts annual results.

And more…

Direct file download (31MB)

A somber group of geeks gather this week to talk about:

• The Rand-Dollar exchange rate and what it means for prices of technology in South Africa.
• Vodafone’s purchase of Telkom’s share in Vodacom in the face of the current economic crisis.
• Apple’s new range of Macbook portables that will arrive locally at massive prices.
• New graphics technology and how the ATI and Nvidias of the world are taking things to the next level.
• Lenovo’s new Thinkpad models with extended battery-life.
• OpenOffice.org 3 and the vast improvements it introduces to everyone’s favourite free office suite.
• The power of Outlook.
• IBM Lotus and how the brand has progressed.
• The iPhone App Store and how Android’s approach will stack up, along with mobile device management for corporates, and some of Duncan and Brett’s favourite applications on the iPhone.
• Games and other applications excluded from the South African iPhone App store.
• Zune availability and how Microsoft has addressed the media player market.
• The new iPod Nano’s shake function, and what we think of the new range, having had some time to play with them.
• The awesomeness of Gmail and its mobile site.
• Barack Obama’s online campaign and how it has bolstered his success.
• Pandora, Last.fm and other services that use the Music Genome Project being reinvented on the iPhone.

And more…

Direct file download (32MB)

This week Brett’s in San Francisco and joins us via Skype. Under discussion:

• The future of SSD and what it enables. Intel has some compelling offerings on the way.
• Gartner Symposium 2008 – Simon and Ben look at this year’s event.
• Duncan has the Multichoice HD PVR and gives his impressions.
• Eyeballs mobile advertising platform.
• Instant messaging and convergence.
• Cell C’s improved market performance.
• Intel’s Nehalem and Laraby processors and how they will change the game.
• Sony confirming that the PSP Phone is on the way.
• Microsoft’s planned responsive advertising campaign against the famous ‘I’m a Mac’ ads from Apple.

And more…

Direct file download (27MB)

This week we have a studio audience (even). And we discuss:

• The massive changes taking place in South African television.
• When and if we’ll ever see DVB-H in South Africa.
• Initial impressions on the Nokia N96, now that we have one to review – and how much we love the E71.
• Mobile phones on aeroplanes and why we can’t use them. Really.
• Acer finally letting us know when we’ll see the Aspire One locally, with pricing.
• Where netbooks belong and what they should cost.
• WiMAX and Intel’s announced support for the technology.
• Intel Centrino 2 and how it will change mobile computers.
• USB 3.0 and Firewire 3200.
• Cancelling cell contracts in South Africa.
• Vodacom versus ICASA.

And Brett talks about his light saber. It makes him happy.

Direct file download (26MB)

This week the ZA Tech Show crew is joined by Google South Africa’s country manager, Stafford Masie. We discuss:

• Google’s mobile drive for SA.
• Google Maps and the development of services for the local market.
• Youtube.
• Google Apps.
• Local bandwidth costs and performance in terms of delivering services.
• Social networking, its impact on business, and privacy online.
• Google potentially surrendering Youtube logs to Viacom.
• IS Labs incubating new web businesses in SA.
• Local Web 2.0 development and what it needs to succeed.
• Focused social networking ala Ning.
• Using consumer-orientated web services for business.
• The move from search to discovery.
• The continuing uproar over Vodafone Live! banner injections and proxy manipulation on Vodacom’s network.
• Nvidia’s price versus performance problems and AMD’s XGP external graphic’s solution for laptops.

And much more…

Direct file download.