Author: CraigWilson

Sorry Apple users, but Microsoft has put paid to that smug look you’ve been able to wear since Instagram released its second app, Hyperlapse, last August. Microsoft Hyperlapse takes jerky video and makes it buttery smooth using a fancy algorithm, much like Instagram’s Hyperlapse. But, unlike Instagram’s offering, Microsoft Hyperlapse can be used to process existing video, not only video captured with the app, because it relies solely on algorithms to smooth out video, not on the motion sensors in a mobile device. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twncW4PLdsY Microsoft Hyperlapse is available in beta for Android, for Windows Phone and for Windows on desktop.…

Telkom has expanded the LTE Advanced (LTE-A) network it originally announced in September to an additional 22 South African suburbs, most of them in Gauteng. The service was first launched in the Johannesburg suburb of Parkview in November and supports download speeds of up to 150Mbit/s using the operators current network configuration. LTE-A can, theoretically, support speeds of up to 1Gbit/s. The new suburbs covered include Illovo, Melrose, Killarney, Saxonwold and Greenside in Gauteng; Rosebank, Rondebosch and Sea Point in the Western Cape; Umhlanga and Prestondale in KwaZulu Natal; and Highveld in Tshwane. Telkom says this gives it the largest LTE-A network…

South Africa’s already bustling streaming audio space has just gotten even busier thanks to new paid offerings from streaming service Rdio. The service launched in South Africa in 2013 with its free, ad-supported streaming Internet radio service and a basic paid service. Now the company has added Rdio Select, a R25/month subscription service that offers ad-free streaming and the option to select and store up to 25 tracks offline. These 25 tracks can be updated once a day. Rdio Select is available for a 60-day free trial (for now) and works on iOS and Android handsets, Mac and Windows computers, and on Chromecast,…

Mobile operator Cell C has more than 20 million subscribers, but the bulk of them are prepaid users. In an effort to change this, the company is offering to buy consumers using rival networks out of their existing contracts, up to a maximum value of R10 000. Those that take up the offer will need to hand over their existing handset but will get a new one in exchange on one of their new Epic contracts. In a dig at Vodacom and MTN’s recent price increases, the operator says it will also guarantee that the Epic tariffs will not increase…

Mobile operator Cell C plans to launch Wi-Fi calling on its network at the end of July or beginning of August this year. Wi-Fi calling allows consumers to make calls using their mobile phone at regular mobile phone rates when connected to Wi-Fi, regardless of their connection to the mobile network itself. Think of it as Wi-Fi handoff, rather than voice-over IP (VoIP). Why does this matter? First, Wi-Fi calling has the potential to make problems like limited coverage in buildings a thing of the past, and second, it means Cell C customers with handsets that support Wi-Fi calling will be able…

You may recognise Yves Rossy’s name, he’s the “jetman” who’s flown over the English Channel, the Grand Canyon and the Swiss Alps using a jetpack that looks like a cross between a backpack and a small airplane. Now a new video is doing the round of Rossy and his protégé, skydiver and base jumper Vince Reffet winging their way around Dubai. The video begin with the pair flying around the desert and culminates in a breathtaking flight around the city, including nerve-wrackingly close passes of the iconic Burj Khalifa. The video’s best enjoyed in HD (or, if you’ve got the bandwidth,…

To celebrate the launch of low-cost airline Mango’s app for Windows Phone devices  the company is offering consumers R1 flights, with the usual ream of terms and conditions you’d expect. Bookings have to be made using the Mango Windows Phone app, have to be for a return journey (where the R1 fare only applies to either the outbound or return leg of the journey), and only apply to travel between now and the end of June. Mango has made 10 000 seats available for the promotion and peak flight times (like flying out on a Friday and back on a…

Generic, phone-sized mobile power banks are commonplace these days, but its only really Mophie that’s had any success on the phone-case-with-built-in-battery front. Now a South African contender, Booster, has stepped into the ring with its range of solutions for the the power-strapped. At time of writing Booster sells three products: a universal 6000mAh battery pack that connects to phones or tablets via USB (R500), an 1800mAh battery case for the iPhone 4/4S (R340) and a 2400mAh battery case for the iPhone 5/5S/5C (R450). We reviewed the model for iPhone 5 and found it ticked most of the boxes we’d expect…

Apple sold more than 61 million iPhones in the second quarter of this year, posting quarterly revenue of $58 billion and net profit of $13.6 billion in the process (up from revenue of $45.6 billion and net profit of $10.2 billion during the same period last year). Massive growth in China is in part to thanks, along with Mac sales, which also broke records, and which exceeded iPad sales for the first time. Why are fewer iPads being sold? First people tend to upgrade their tablet computers less often than their handsets, and larger handsets like the iPhone 6 Plus…

Taiwanese company Acer has shown off more than 40 new products at a press event in New York City, including a gaming-centric tablet, a portable projector, three new wearables, a range of laptops and convertibles and an updated range of Predator gaming laptops and an accompanying desktop. Talk about hedging one’s bets. It’s a strategy that’s worked fairly well in the smartphone and television markets for Samsung, which continues to produce products of every shape and size, throw them against the wall that is the market, and see which of them stick. Samsung exited the PC market last year, but Acer faces plenty…