Light Start – BlackBerry Priv, Pebble Time Round, Samsung wins shipments, plus more
Brett Venter
BlackBerry’s Android phone is official, and it’s called the Priv
Leak after leak and BlackBerry was for some reason holding back on announcing their Android-featuring handset. That’s changed. Late last week, during an earnings call, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said “Today, I am confirming our plans to launch Priv, an Android device named after BlackBerry’s heritage and core mission of protecting our customers’ privacy. Priv combines the best of BlackBerry security and productivity with the expansive mobile application ecosystem available on the Android platform.” That’s pretty damned official, though the confirmation doesn’t mention any specs yet. We’re still relying on leaks for those but, as it happens, we know just about everything already.
Pebble drops the lighter, thinner, rounder Time Round
The Pebble smartwatch, arguably the original smartwatch, has undergone another evolution and come out the other side faster, sleeker and lighter than every before. Okay, perhaps not faster, we haven’t had a chance to test it yet. It’s that new. Pebble have announced the Pebble Time Round, a 7.5mm thick, 28 gram timepiece/smartwatch that, admittedly, trades some battery life in order to slim down. As a result, the Time Round will last about two days on a charge. But look at it. Look how sexy it is. That’s worth a little extra time at the charger, surely? The Pebble Time Round is available for pre-order from Pebble direct for $250 (about R3,500) now.
Samsung winning the shipments race globally, MEA fastest growing region
If smartphone shipments were a race, Samsung would be winning. A new report from market research firm Counterpoint points out that one in five smartphones shipped bears the South Korean company’s branding. 21% of phones shipping in Q2 2015 comes from Samsung but Apple’s not far behind, claiming 13% of shipments on their own – easily a more impressive achievement since there are two iPhones to Samsung’s… collection. Samsung commands a lead everywhere except North America, where the money is these days. In terms of market growth, Middle East and Africa, where we all live, is the fastest growing smartphone market segment, increasing seven times more than average over the Q2 period. The more you know…
SA looking to criminalise copyright infringement – any copyright infringement
Copyright infringement and the internet go together like cat and… the internet but it looks as though South Africa is attempting to legislate copyright infringement as a criminal act by including it as part of its recently drafted Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill. The move is a strange one given that our country already has a copyright infringement law, one that is already under review. By adding copyright to the Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill, South Africa will be subject to a very inflated definition of what constitutes copyright infringement. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is looking into it at the moment but it’s a good idea for the rest of us to take a peek as well. It’s our internet, after all.
On a lighter note, Fallout 4 is coming. Okay, this isn’t much lighter, as it’s going to cause many arguments because of the time investment required. Since we’re already committed (sorry honey, I’ll come back eventually), here’s a brief rundown of the character creation system. Bethesda have already started a series of videos dealing with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck) stats, this video explains more about how perks tie into player development. Stat requirements are a must but the multiple ranks of Bloody Mess, for example, are worth it at the end of the day. Gibs for everyone!
