Is there still hope for BlackBerry? Can Lenovo make a dent in the tablet market? We don’t know the answers to these questions, but are willing to speculate wildly. This week Andy Hadfield, Simon Dingle and Steven Ambrose discuss;

• The Lenovo K1 tablet.
• Samsung pulling the Tab 7.7 from its stand at IFA.
• The Amazon tablet.
• App stores and operators.
• iOS 5.
• The launch of Telkom Business Mobile.
• Evernote acquiring Skitch.
• Google shutting down old projects.
• And more…

Our technology picks this week:

• Steven Ambrose: The new BlackBerry Torch 9860 and Mecer’s 4-port USB hub with Ethernet.
• Andy Hadfield: Rugby World 2011 app for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.
• Simon Dingle: Motorola Atrix.

In this episode you’ll hear the voices of casual wine aficionado Andy Hadfield and international man of mystery Stafford Masie who join Simon Dingle to discuss;

• HP’s new direction.
• Amazon’s rise as an ecosystem player.
• The future role of network operators.
• The information revolution.
• Motorola’s XOOM and Atrix.
• News from Gamescom.
• Kids and computing.
• The Twitter ‘walkout’.
• ‘Retweet’ and ‘sexting’ entering the dictionary.

Our technology picks this week:

• Stafford Masie: Arduino and Quantified Self.
• Andy Hadfield: Carbonite.
• Simon Dingle: Mobile Mouse.

It’s all about gaming and mobile this week as Samantha Beckbessinger, Steven Ambrose and Simon Dingle discuss;

• Apple’s iCloud announcement.
• Samsung’s Galaxy S2 and other new Android competitors.
• Nintendo’s Wii U and console gaming.
• Duke Nukem Forever.
• Tomb Raider 2012 announced at E3.
• Facebook’s controversial facial recognition tech.
• The RICA deadline approaching.
• Telkom’s profit slump and long line of kak decisions.

Our technology picks this week:

• Sam Beckbessinger – Picks: Intonow and X-MEN First Class.
• Steven Ambrose – Picks: Noom Weight Loss for Android and YoruFukurou.
• Simon Dingle – Picks: Read It Later and Evernote Premium.

Sam Beckbessinger makes her debut on this week’s episode, joining Nic Callegari and Simon Dingle to discuss;

• Vodacom and MTN’s TV-internet thingies..
• Battle of the Twitter clients.
• Linux’ desktop readiness.
• More on new tablet offering’s.
• BlackBerry’s deck of cards.
• Star Trek porn (don’t ask).
• The rescue of FireID.

Our technology picks and pick-ons this week:

• Nic Callegari – Picks: Posterous.
• Sam – Picks-on: Catbook and picks: Maria Fischer’s Traumgedanken.
• Simon – Picks: SugarSync.

Ben Kelly, Brett Haggard and Simon Dingle are your panelists this week as we discuss:

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Brett Haggard and Jon Tullett join Simon Dingle to discuss:

• The Gautrain. Trains are technology, right?
• The new ACE undersea cable that will run up Africa’s West Coast.
• Telkom’s next moves.
• Contention ratios – why are they secret?
• Monopolies and comebacks.
• R&D at Microsoft.
• iPhone 4.
• The WirelessG iPod deal.
• Google StreetView in SA and custom homepages.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Jon Tullett – Picks: Manufactoria.
• Brett Haggard – Picks: iPad Camera Connection Kit and Freedom™ by Daniel Suarez.
• Simon Dingle – Picks and picks-on: Sony Vaio P Series and picks: Red Dead Redemption.

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Jon Tullett returns to the show as your host this week, joining Brett Haggard and Duncan McLeod to discuss:

• FNB launching PayPal in South Africa.
• Mobile payment systems like M-Pesa.
• The internet access price war and its move to mobile.
• Disintermediation of cellular network services.
• The 2010 Pwn2Own competition.
• The Nintendo DSi XL, now available in SA.
• 3D film and games.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Jon Tullett – Picks: His car, with USB port (a Kia Sportage).
• Brett Haggard – Picks: The TrickleStar multiplug.

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Jon Tullett returns to the ZA Tech Show this week, joining the panel with Brett Haggard, Duncan McLeod, Simon Dingle and, later, Toby Shapshak. We discuss:

• Google Buzz.
• Mashing together social networks.
• Open API’s versus closed platforms.
• The Eassy undersea cable landing in SA.
• Tumbling ADSL prices.
• The downfall of Sentech and spectrum allocation.
• A preview of Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona.
• Skype Access and Windows Mobile 7.
• Mobile roaming.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Jon Tullett – Picks: Guitar Hero 5.
• Toby Shapshak – Picks-on: Sentech and picks: the Sony Ericsson X10.
• Brett Haggard – Picks: Mobile Data Alerter for BlackBerry.
• Simon Dingle – Picks: Aerial7 Tank headphones and CSSEdit.

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Gartner analyst Will Hahn returns to the show this week, joining Brett Haggard, Duncan McLeod and Simon Dingle for a chat about:

• Telkom’s recent SAT3 troubles.
• The ongoing interconnect debacle in SA.
• The progress of mobile data.
• Microsoft’s battle against Apple and Google.
• Sane expectations of the iPad.
• Mobile Core i7 platforms.
• The migration to voice over IP in cellular.

Our picks and pick-ons of the week:

• Will Hahn – Picks: The Xbox 360 controller for Windows and Flurry’s iPad detection.
• Duncan McLeod – Picks: Nimbuzz.
• Brett Haggard – Picks: ScummVM and TrueCrypt.
• Simon Dingle – Picks: Waze.

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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)