Archive for the ‘Telecoms’ Category
Mobile broadband January 29th, 2008
I’ve been toying with the the idea of getting myself one of the mobile, USB broadband thingies for when I don’t have wifi access available. I see that both MTN and Vodacom offer 3.6Mbps HSDPA access.
I have been using the 3G connection available through my N73 (I have a 100MB package which is proving to be more expensive than shelling out for a 1GB package) but I am beginning to think it is a better idea to go with one of these USB devices, even if that means another contract.
What are your experiences with these devices? Are they worth it or should I stick with my current solution? Does it make a difference whether I go with Vodacom or MTN?
Update: Ok, I think this pretty much answers some of my questions:
Telkom’s ADSL 4 Mbps service produced an international upload speed of 252 Kbps and a local upload speed of 301 Kbps.
Vodacom was however not too far behind with an international upload speed of 230 Kbps and a local upload speed of 238 Kbps.
MTN however limits its HSDPA upload speeds to 64 Kbps. Its international average upload speed of 59 Kbps and local uplink speed of 57 Kbps may frustrate some users.
Technorati Tags:
mtn, vodacom, mobile broadband, usb, hsdpa
Posted in Telecoms | Comments (4)
chilipod 1-13: Mxit August 17th, 2007
In this episode of chilipod I present my interview with Mxit’s Herman Heunis. There has been quite a bit of talk about how secure/insecure Mxit is for children specifically. In this interview Herman sets the record straight and points out that the challenge isn’t Mxit but rather users’ tendency to give out too much information about themselves and this is what leads to the attacks every parent fears.
As always, this episode is available in two formats:
- Enhanced chilipod (AAC/iTunes format); and
- Normal chilipod (mp3 format).
The music we have used in this episode (and which we may use in future episodes) is a track called YFM Late Remix by a crowd known as Deep Fried. The track has been published on the ccMixter:sa site under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Technorati Tags:
herman heunis, mxit, privacy
Posted in Devices, People, Sharing, Telecoms, Tools, Useful stuff, chilipod | Comments (1)
12 things to consider before buying a Nokia N95 April 8th, 2007
Om Malik took the Nokia N95 for a spin and came up with a list of 12 considerations to bear in mind before you go out to buy the Nokia N95. For the most part there is pretty good news although the battery life is disappointing. There are some pretty interesting possibilities with a phone that has wifi and integrated GPS. Presence and location-based services like the new hot app, Jaiku, will benefit from devices like the N95.
Technorati Tags:
nokia n95, gps, wifi, nokia, n95
Posted in Devices, Telecoms | Comments (1)
Enough with the Twitter updates … March 18th, 2007
Ask a Ninja says enough with the Twitter updates and something about 10 years.
I removed the video because the controls weren’t popping up and the auto play was driving me nuts
I had to share this with you all after a hectic last few weeks of awards and Twitter chatter.
(Source: the prolific Scoble)
Tags: ask a ninja, twitter, scoble, calacanis, kevin rose, 10 years
Posted in People, Sharing, Telecoms | Comments (0)
Google Talk gadget for your Google home page March 15th, 2007
Google has added a Google Talk gadget to the Google home page. As TechCrunch points out, this is not a duplicate of the GTalk client in Gmail but something a little different. Sure it has the usual chat features but it also has a new tabbed interface instead of the pop-ups the Gmail version uses. There is also a pretty cool preview feature for YouTube and Picasa content. Take a look at this video introduction:
I think this has been a bit overdue. It makes a lot of sense to be able to connect to GTalk from your home page. The whole idea of the home page is to aggregate all your content in one place and this includes your GTalk as well.
Oh, Steve Rubel seems to think that this new client includes voice (he mentioned it on Twitter but I can’t connect to his page right now). Anyone confirm that?
Tags: google talk, gtalk, gmail, personalized home page, gadget
Posted in Telecoms, Useful stuff | Comments (0)
Unified messaging at MTN? March 6th, 2007
MTN has a service called i-Mail which is a pretty interesting messaging service. It is a web-based service that enables you to manage your voicemail, faxmail and videomail messages on the Web:
i-Mail is a web-based service, free to all MTN customers with access to the internet.
- Access from anywhere in the world
- View your messages using any Media Player installed on your PC or laptop
- Download and save your messages on your PC or laptop
- Have all your messages sent as attachments to the email address of your choice, thereby integrating your VoiceMail, FaxMail and VideoMail with your E-Mail
- Have all your messages sent as MMSes to your cellphone
- Create 5 different greetings, and selecting the rules by which each greeting should be played (e.g. different times of the day) - Enhanced VoiceMail and Enhanced VoiceMail Plus subscribers
This service is a pretty handy service to have if you would like to aggregate all your messages in one place. I am not too sure how having messages forwarded to an MMS capable phone is much more beneficial than simply accessing them directly from the phone itself but the ability to have messages forwarded to your email address can be really handy. For one thing this service gives you a backup facility by enabling you to archive old messages for later use.
The customisable greetings are a great idea. For one thing you can create more than one greeting and schedule these greetings to be played at different times in the day. For example, you can set up one greeting to play during office hours and you are at work and another greeting in the evenings and a further greeting when you are on holiday. To add to this you can also set up a status message to let callers know that you are on another call, for example, instead of them being routed to your voicemail regardless of why you can’t take the call.
All in all, this is a really handy service. It is also pretty close to a unified messaging service, at least as far as your mobile service is concerned and that helps keep that side of things under control.
(Source: Jo’blog)
Tags: mtn, i-mail, unified messaging, greetings, faxmail, voicemail, videomail
Posted in Telecoms, Useful stuff | Comments (0)
Are bandwidth caps going to kill Web 2.0? February 14th, 2007
Arthur Goldstuck certainly seems to think so, according to a recent MyADSL article. According to the article:
For Web 2.0 to grow broadband users need the freedom to utilize bandwidth intensive services like online video streaming without being concerned about time spent online or usage limits.
While it is true that so-called Web 2.0 sites include video sharing sites, this can hardly be seen as the sum total of the Web 2.0 space. Web 2.0 is more than video sharing. Web 2.0 is a term better used to describe the culture that has developed in the last few years than the kinds of services made possible by better bandwidth. At least, that is how I see it. To me, a (better) synonym for "Web 2.0" is "social media" which is, in turn, dependant on social interaction and networking.
The thing that makes a site or platform a Web 2.0 site or platform is the community that springs up on and around it. Sure bandwidth makes it possible to do more within that community but bandwidth intensive applications are not the focal point of the whole thing. Web 2.0 is about communities of individuals having conversations with each other. Often those conversations include a strong element of sharing and content sharing sites are an expression of that.
The article suggests that until we have the benefit of unrestricted, true broadband, we will not see the benefits of Web 2.0:
International broadband services generally provide users with the freedom of an always-on, unlimited Internet service, but the strict capping policies of local broadband providers mean that South African users must watch their usage.
This, coupled with high local hosting costs, means that bandwidth intensive services, like video streaming, are not really prevalent in South Africa.
Let’s note forget that blogs are also Web 2.0 platforms, as are similar platforms that are less bandwidth intensive. To say that local bandwidth restrictions are going to be the death of Web 2.0 is like saying that bandwidth restrictions are the end of web-based communities. How can that be? In any event, the fact that you are reading this blog, whether it be via a broadband connection or dial-up, means that you are participating in the benefits of Web 2.0. Is broadband really killing Web 2.0?
Tags: bandwidth, bandwidth caps, arthur goldstuck, web 2.0, social media, video sharing
Posted in Infrastructure, Sharing, Telecoms | Comments (1)
iPhone? More of the same … January 14th, 2007
Seth Godin has pitched in with his thoughts on the iPhone. Sure it is a cool looking device but Godin says the iPhone doesn’t really do anything new. It doesn’t reinvent the mobile phone. The iPhone takes the functionality you see in mobile phones today and performs some of them a little better. Some of those functions are dependent on the Cingular network the iPhone will run on when it is released but, for the most part, it doesn’t exactly revolutionise the mobile phone.
Godin’s suggestions for reinventing the mobile phone include leaving voicemail messages for groups of people at a time, calling contacts or even strangers based on their location, interests and other factors you may think appropriate; incorporating a dating site’s functionality into the phone (perhaps also using geo-location services) and really facilitating targetted marketing in ways that you want to receive it.
Granted the iPhone isn’t just a phone, it combines a widescreen video iPod and an Internet communicator but none of those elements are really new. These elements are present in varying degrees in phones already on the market and in mobile devices about to enter the market. In fact, Nokia no longer refers to its coverged devices as mobile phones anymore but rather as multimedia computers What is making a difference now is how these devices go beyond the smartphone model with mobile phone and PDA functionality to becoming truly converged devices that handle good quality media, data and voice connectivity and additional services like GPS and social media.
Tags: mobile phones, iphone, seth godin, internet communicator, ipod, widecreen ipod, smartphone, social media, multimedia computer
Posted in Devices, Telecoms | Comments (0)
Google Talk client upgraded January 5th, 2007
Digital Inspiration has a report that Google upgraded it GTalk client to version 1.0.0.104 from version 1.0.0.100. I don’t know what difference the upgrade made but the post got me thinking about Google Talk. I use iChat on my Mac to IM on GTalk and it works great. One of the things I really like about GTalk is that it runs on Jabber and you can use a couple IM clients to access it.
I have pretty much settled on Skype, GTalk and AIM (GTalk and AIM both run on iChat) as my IM/VOIP clients and I enjoy using them. Do you use GTalk? If you do, do you use the GTalk client or some other IM client?
Apparently GTalk is pretty good as a VOIP app as well. What are your experiences with GTalk as a VOIP client?
Tags: gtalk, ichat, google talk, upgrade, skype, aim, im
Posted in Applications, Telecoms | Comments (2)
iPhone announcement on Monday?! December 16th, 2006
Mike Stopforth just published a gem. According to Gizmodo (via Micro Persuasion), Apple’s much anticipated iPhone could be announced on Monday.
I guarantee it. It isn’t what I expected at all. And I’ve already said too much. Brian Lam
Yes, that is in 2 days time.
Tags: iphone, apple, announcement, monday, gizmodo, micro persuasion, mike stopforth, rumours
Posted in Devices, Telecoms | Comments (1)