Our gathering of geeks this week includes Jon Tullett, Duncan McLeod, Toby Shapshak, Ben Kelly, Brett Haggard and your host, Simon Dingle. We discuss:

• Spectrum allocation, the Icasa way.
• Seacom going live. We plug in and test.
• The problem(s) with Telkom.
• Windows 7 released to manufacturing.
• New Google Calendar labs features.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Simon: Pick - The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition for iPhone and the HTC Magic Android phone.
• Duncan: Pick – Infraco’s cable between Mtunzini and Johannesburg.
• Toby: Pick-on – Web Africa.
• Ben: Pick – World of Warcraft Armory for iPhone.
• Brett: Pick – Microsoft Arc Mouse and hack to make any trackpad multi-touch.

Direct file download (27MB)

Our group of technology enthusiasts this week includes Ben Kelly, Duncan McLeod, Brett Haggard and Simon Dingle, who congregate to discuss:

• Plagiarism and Wikipedia. Poor Chris Anderson.
• Seacom’s delayed launch.
• Pirate Bay suing for human rights infringements.
• Intel and Nokia’s agreement.
• Oracle, Sun, SAP, Larry Ellison and silliness.
• Windows 7 pricing.
• Telkom’s shocking results.

Our choice technologies of the week:

• Duncan McLeod: WeatherZA.
• Simon Dingle: Bento and Filemaker.
• Brett Haggard: Drobo.

Direct file download (25MB)

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)

Jon, Ben, Simon and Duncan hop on Skype for a chat about:

• The launch of the Nokia Music Store in South Africa.
• More on the Pirate Bay court case.
• What are the real issues regarding copyright?
• The death of GeoCities.
• More on Telkom Mobi.
• Altech’s remarkable results. Who will it buy next?

Our choice technologies of the week:

• Ben Kelly – The Nokia Music Store and EASEUS partition manager.
• Jon Tullett – Unlocker.
• Duncan McLeod – Twitter Grader.
• Simon Dingle – Magical Jellybean Keyfinder and the LNX-BBC bootable business card.

Direct file download (23MB)

The original line-up returns to the ZA Tech Show for our one year anniversary episode. Ben Kelly, Duncan McLeod, Jon Tullett, Brett Haggard and Simon Dingle discuss:

• Country manager of Google in South Africa, Stafford Masie’s resignation. Who will replace him?
• Google Maps updates not showing on the API. Simon gets a little confused…
• Safari 4 breaking things left, right and centre.
• Apple’s new Macs.
• Do you need a TV license for a large monitor without a TV tuner in it?
• Stuff magazine’s top 100 games insert.
• Our top games of all time.
• Optional components in Windows 7.
• The netbook market and Android’s place in it.
• DRM in Windows 7.
• Vodacom’s LTE strategy.
• Will LTE handle voice?
• Video conferencing with Cisco TelePresence and HP Halo.

And much more…

Direct file download (28MB)

Thank you for the support we have received over the last year and well-wishes received via Twitter, email, et al. We do what we do because we love what we do and the reward, for us, is your listenership. We look forward to another year of the ZA Tech Show!

Some images from the recording (click for full size):

In this episode Jon Tullett, Duncan McLeod, Brett Haggard and Simon Dingle discuss:

• Gmail’s downtime.
• South African updates to Google Maps.
• Safari 4 beta.
• Amazon’s Kindle 2 hits the market.
• Yourtunes.co.za.
• Penguin Club – the MMORPG for kids that’s taking the world by storm.
• NASA’s space exploration MMORPG.
• MTN’s impressive performance.
• Our picks including Jam Legend, Last.fm and other awesomeness.
• Do you really need an elaborate word processor?

And more…

Direct download (22MB).

Microsoft is cranking up the marketing in the lead-up to the eagerly-awaited Windows 7 release later this year, having unveiled the line-up for its new operating system.

Citing the need to simplify the choices for users from the six Windows Vista editions, the company will be marketing two primary editions – namely Home Premium and Professional.

Colin Erasmus, who heads the Windows business at Microsoft SA, says the simplified strategy is in response to extensive user feedback, providing the broadest choice.

“It’s all about choice,” says Erasmus. “We have designed Windows 7 so different editions can run on a very broad set of hardware, from small-notebook PCs (netbooks) to full gaming desktops.

Truth be told, users will still have six options to choose from when Windows 7 is released. The four other editions are:

• Starter;
• Home Basic;
• Enterprise; and
• Ultimate.

Beginning at the most basic option, the Windows 7 Starter edition is aimed at users with entry-level PCs and small notebook PCs, and will be only be able to run three applications concurrently.

The Home Basic edition will be released only in emerging markets and is aimed at users with entry-level requirements on a full-size value PC.

Windows XP will continue to be offered in emerging markets.

Home Premium is considered the recommended edition for most PC users, including owners of small notebook PCs (or netbooks), who wish to have the “full Windows experience”.

Microsoft has retained the Enterprise edition that features additional security, infrastructure and desktop management functionality required by this segment of the market.

This edition will be supported by Microsoft’s Software Assurance agreements, but will not be available at retail level or preinstalled by OEMs on new machines.

The top-of-the-range edition, Windows 7 Ultimate, will be retained for hardcore enthusiasts and non-enterprise customers who want enhanced security features such as BitLocker found in Windows 7 Enterprise edition.

This week’s panel includes Simon Dingle, Jon Tullett from TechTarget and Saul Kropman from The Digital Edge podcast. On the cards:

• Netbook price discrepancies. Jon bought an Aspire One in the UK for next to nothing. Why are we paying through our teeth in SA?
• Tweaks and hacks for netbooks.
• Neotel’s NeoFlex Data offering being launched last week. We talk caps, prices and practical use.
• Informal collusion in South African tech pricing.
• We dive into Windows 7 Beta and Internet Explorer 8.
• Vista Service Pack 2 delayed.
• A new Worm threatens the world’s computers. Apparently.
• The Macintosh platform finally has a real virus doing the round. Again – apparently.
• MacOS X developer group CocoaHeads now has a South African chapter.
• Application roll-out on smartphones and the BlackBerry app store.
• Canonical is reaching its goal of becoming self-sustaining.
• Some of the Tech in the Obama inauguration, courtesy of CNN.

And much more…

We apologise for the cellular buzz that occurs in a section of this recording. It stops after a few minutes… we promise.

Direct file download (32MB)

A small group of geeks gathers for episode 45 of the ZA Tech Show in which we discuss:

• MTN and Neotel’s shared network deal.
• Steve Jobs taking a break as CEO of Apple.
• Windows 7.
• The netbook market. Is there one?
• Updates on legal matters at SITA.
• VANS license conversions taking place.
• Computer sales figures for 2008.
• Neotel’s NeoFlex Data is now available.
• Losses and cut-backs, including Google and Sony Ericsson.
• Picasa now available for Mac.

And much more…

Direct file download (26MB)

In our first episode of 2009 the ZA Tech Show recorded live at the MTN domestic game between the Cobras and Titans at Supersport park. We also welcome Candice Jones from ITWeb – a new voice on the show. We discuss:

• Console sales in 2008.
• Twitter and other social network hackers.
• The Apple keynote at Macworld and hacks of live blogging streams from the event.
• The criminal banking system in South Africa.
• Operating system wars heat up with the arrival of Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex, Windows 7 and OS X Snow Leopard in 2009.
• Some of the changes coming in Windows 7.
• Is Linux lagging in terms of user interfaces?
• Palm is back with a new smartphone – the ‘Pre’ – and operating system called webOS.
• MTN’s acquisition of Verizon South Africa is going ahead.

And much more…

Direct download (26.6MB)