Microsoft Edge Ready To Replace Internet Explorer

Out with the old, and in with the new: the new browser from Microsoft that will make its debut in Windows 10 is to be called Microsoft Edge.

That’s the word out of the Build conference keynote address that took place last night, straight from the mouth of Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore. Naturally, Twitter immediately exploded with sniggers and references to U2’s guitarist, but the more mature among us shut up and listened.

Three months ago, the browser was announced as Project Spartan, and it had two stated goals: to be the default browser in Windows, and to replace Internet Explorer.

But Microsoft clearly has loftier ambitions than just those: during the announcement Joe Belfiore showed how the browser is able to use browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

He even showed how it’s possible to port over existing extensions quickly and easily, as doing so requires only minor modifications to each extension’s code. That should please a lot of developers, and encourage more to bring their work over to the new browser.

For people who make extensive use of those other browsers, this should come as rather intriguing news. It means you can still use your favourite extensions in Edge, but with added Edge functionality and the new browser’s slick, minimalistic interface.

The reason it’s called Edge is because it uses a brand new rendering engine called EdgeHTML, which Wikipedia describes as “…a proprietary layout engine developed by Microsoft for its Edge web browser. It is a fork of Trident designed for improved support of web standards”. Supporting the newest web standards has not been Internet Explorer’s strong suit, making this a rather significant development.

Edge’s other big features include distraction-free browsing, extensive Cortana integration (Cortana is Microsoft’s built-in helper, sort of like their Siri), a new tab interface, the ability to write on and share any web page and quite a bit more.

The browser will make its official debut as Edge and not Project Spartan in the latest build of the Windows 10 technical preview, build 10105.

Vodacom Inspires Townships With Mobile Data Solution

The rise of low-cost smartphones in South Africa is creating a new market of opportunity for local mobile operators and Vodacom is chomping at the bit to capitalise on it.

According to a City Press report, Vodacom is in the process of testing shipping-container base stations as a means to meet a growing demand for mobile data in Gauteng townships – almost double that of the national rate.

The number of smartphones and tablets in use on the network increased by 24% to 9,5 million last year, with the average person using 358MB of data per month.

“We’re seeing data volumes in Gauteng’s townships almost doubling year-on-year, which is well ahead of the average growth rate countrywide,” Vodacom’s Chief Technology Officer Andries Delport told the newspaper.

Capitalising on the high demand, he says, has in the past proved challenging because of security concerns.

“Identifying and building new sites to cater for these densely populated areas has been difficult and on top of that, site security can be an issue,” he says.

So, to overcome the challenges Vodacom engineers went back to the proverbial drawing board to develop a suitable time and cost effective approach for a structure.

“They repackaged the base station equipment inside a compact steel structure that is then bolted to the roof of existing shipping container shops. This means new sites can be rolled out quite literally within weeks as opposed to the typical 12- to 18-month lead time to build new base stations,” he said.

The container base stations cost significantly less to build than traditional stations, don’t take up as much space and are also more energy-efficient.

Delport says Vodacom will pilot five sites around Gauteng, with the first station to be tested in Alexandra.

The test sites will provide mobile coverage over a 1,5km radius and will be able to service around 5 000 subscribers during peak times.

Small business owners running a business from containers, he says, will also benefit from the innovation.

“With a base station located on their roof, we’ll support the shop with an additional source of income and they in turn provide us with added site security,” he says.

Source: City Press

State Awards TEMIC To Manufacture Poynting's DigiAnt

Tshwane East Manufacturing Incubation Centre (TEMIC) is one of the companies that has been awarded the "Supply and Delivery of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) Outdoor Antenna and related accessories" USAASA tender.

Launched in 2014, TEMIC was established through a joint venture undertaking between Poynting Antennas (Pty) Ltd (Poynting) and Lawrence Global Manufacturing primarily for the local production of the DigiAnt digital television antenna.

Being a leading antenna manufacturer that designs, manufactures and sells cellular antenna products and related equipment mainly to the telecommunications and broadcasting industries, Poynting CTO, Dr Derek Nitch is the mastermind who designed this novel antenna and it has been patented worldwide.

"We are excited that the DigiAnt is part of the digital migration," says Poynting SkunkWorks Unit Manager and TEMIC CEO, Eduard Walker: "DigiAnt is the first new type of television antenna invented in roughly fifty years and offers unsurpassed performance. It can be collapsed using swivels to allow for a packaging size of around ten times less than equivalent antennas. Most of the antenna consist of precast aluminium parts making mass production repeatable and easy while allowing full local production by TEMIC"

The production of the DigiAnt marks a milestone in South Africa's progress towards digital migration and it brings great opportunity for social and economic development in the Tshwane East area.

Through the enterprise development programme of TEMIC, SMMEs will be incubated to partake meaningfully in the business and manufacturing opportunities emanating from the massive Broadcasting Digital Migration to be implemented in South Africa as well as other African countries. The Incubation Centre will also promote the development of small businesses involved in the production of high pressure aluminium die casting and steel fabrication products.

Dr André Fourie, CEO of Poynting says that TEMIC is passionate about moving digitalization forward in Africa: "We are proud that a South African designed antenna will form part of providing low income citizens with access to educational content, information and entertainment.  By being part of the digital migration TEMIC will make a long term difference to all South Africans via access to digital TV content, but also by TEMIC establishing new high tech manufacturing capacity and building new companies in our industry via its business incubation activities."

Content Hungry Marketing Crowd In For A Feast

This year’s Markex is offering a feast of free seminars for the content-hungry marketing crowd. Designed with a broader appeal in mind, Markex 2015 is the place to be for anyone involved in marketing, promotions and event production. Markex 2015 is set to take place from 2 to 4 June 2015 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

“Markex is already well established as the platform for showcasing products and services; but this year we wanted to elevate the experience by providing even more meaningful, valuable content, through free informative seminars,” says Joshua Low, event director at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery. “With this in mind we have put together a selection of seminars that will satisfy the most discerning of appetites.”

The free-to-attend seminars have been divided into those relevant for all attendees, which will be held in the Top Hall; along with invitation only seminars, which will be held in the Reseller Zone in the Bottom Hall. “All sessions have been put together based on the key trends and topics that are currently shaping the marketing landscape,” continues Low.

Something for everyone

The extensive range of topics to be covered in the Top Hall will include: driving customer loyalty through e-mail marketing automation; shaping the future of mobile marketing; the top 15 marketing trends for 2015; the effect of the POPI act on marketing databases; if social media is a passing fad; and whether print marketing still has a place, to name a few.

For resellers only

In the bottom hall, those with access to the Reseller Zone will be also able to attend a number of seminars, on specifically selected topics including leadership development for reseller SMEs, the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) incubation support programme (ISP), and the importance of a long term strategy in order to survive as an SME.

Access to the Reseller Zone is by invitation only. To see if you qualify to visit the Reseller Zone, please visit www.markex.co.za.

For more information on these free-to-attend seminars, contact Leigh Miller on 01000 33060, leighm@specialised.com.

Apple Returns To South Africa After 16 Years

Apple, the world’s largest technology firm, has for the first time since its 1999 exit launched a South African office and seems poised to increase its presence in the country. Apple launched a direct presence in South Africa in 1992, but pulled out in late 1999 for financial purposes.

Apple has hired French national, Nicolas Rochas, as country manager, according to TechCentral. Rochas has been with Apple for a little more than a decade after having worked for Apple in the UK, France and India.

Well-placed sources have confirmed that the new office will pay more attention on taking care of Apple’s relationships with local mobile operators, specifically regarding the sale of the iPhone.

It has been tough for Apple to handle its relationship with South African operators directly from the US. This was the driving force behind its office re-launch in South Africa, Africa’s most developed economy.

Apple has rapidly grown into a household brand in South Africa since the launch of the Mac three decades ago.

Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Calling Comes To South Africa

A new voice calling technology available on the latest smartphones brings faster dialling, better call quality, and new technical capabilities. Vodacom is the first mobile network to make VoLTE commercially available in South Africa.

From tomorrow, owners of the newly launched Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will be able to make voice calls over Vodacom’s 4G/LTE network. A commercial first in South Africa, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) users will experience faster call set up times (the amount of time it takes between dialling a number and the phone ringing at the recipient’s end), better voice quality, and additional capabilities such as being able to continue browsing the web or using apps while simultaneously making a call.

VoLTE technology, which enables mobile voice traffic to be carried natively over a data network, was originally demonstrated by Vodacom in September last year. However, up until today the service has been limited by a lack of compatible devices.

Andries Delport, Vodacom’s Chief Technology Officer said:

“VoLTE is now officially up and running in SA thanks to these new handsets. Within the next month VoLTE functionality will be added to additional devices, and we expect usage will grow rapidly as more and more handset manufacturers include the functionality."

 At present the VoLTE service is available to contract customers who have compatible handsets. There is no additional charge to use this service.

The launch of VoLTE follows on from Vodacom’s roll-out of Enhanced Voice service last year. Available country-wide, Enhanced Voice is comprised of HD voice which significantly increases the clarity of voice calls, Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC) which removes the echo that sometimes occurs when making calls and Noise Reduction (NR) technology which eliminates background noise. HD voice is supported by the majority of smart devices while AEC and NR technology is in use by every device on the network.

“The implementation of Enhanced Voice last September signalled a step change in call quality for South Africa. Moving forward our next milestone is to include video calling and media sharing as part of the VoLTE service,” said Delport.

 How to enable VoLTE

Customers with compatible handsets will need to run a software update to enable the service. The update will be available from tomorrow.

Markex Announces New Show Dates

The Markex event organiser, Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery, has announced that the dates for the Markex 2015 show which was previously scheduled to take place on 9 to 11 June have been brought forward by one week due to unforeseen circumstances.

The event will now be taking place from 2 to 4 June 2015 at the Sandton Convention Centre.

This is due to the 25th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU Summit), which will be held at the centre over the second week in June this year, meaning that for protocol and security reasons, the halls and other meeting rooms may not be shared by other shows or delegates.

Fortunately, the date change will not impact any of the features that Markex 2015 has to offer, including free-to-attend seminars for the first time; MICE Academy VIP workshops to be run in conjunction with PRISA and EXSA; a MASA Chartered Marketer Breakfast, a CPD accredited breakfast aimed at senior marketing managers and directors; and the new product showcase which will feature the latest and greatest products being launched at the show.

MTN Launches First Firefox Phone In South Africa

Back in November MTN revealed that it was looking to release a Firefox OS-based smartphone in South Africa.

We have had a number of opportunities to play around with the device in the past, and MTN has just announced that the Alcatel OneTouch Fire E smartphone is available locally.

“Having a smartphone based on the Firefox operating system means we can deliver numerous unique product innovations. For example, the phone can be easily set up for four of the 11 official languages, namely English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and Xhosa. MTN will incorporate other languages in future versions of the phone. This means that our customers can choose the language they are most comfortable with and get a more naturally appealing connected experience,” explained Larry Annetts, chief marketing officer of MTN South Africa, in a media statement.

Unlike Android and iOS, Firefox OS apps aren’t developed around a native framework. The operating system is designed with HTML5 apps in mind, and there will be a locally curated app store to support the first tranche of handsets.

“It is designed for the Web in mind, the Alcatel One Touch Fire E is the ideal device to use in the digital age where access to information and social networks from a mobile device has become a way of life for consumers,” MTN said.

It is available at selected MTN outlets on prepaid and contract for R89 per month on the MTN MyChoice 25 package. If you fancy picking up the phone without a contract, it will be R1 699.

The smartphone has a 4.5-inch qHD screen (960 x 540 pixels), a dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor running at 1.2 GHz, a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 1 700mAh battery.