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Nur Bremmen: Staff reporter

Nur is an enigma with a passion for creating words. He recently entered a love affair with technology and chorizo sausages. He travels a lot -- you catch him, if you can, at a Silicon Cape event every now and again.

RECENT POSTS

• Social gambling to be worth $100bn by 2017

  There's a very fine line between social gaming and social gambling. Think about it. All you have to do is add a wager and one becomes the other.Given that the former is already massive business (It's no accident that Zynga accounts for 12% of Facebook's revenue) it's hardly surprising that the latter is set to follow suit.In fact, tech analysis company Juniper Research reckons that social gambling could be a US$100-billion industry by 2017. It says the surge ...

• Tech dominates brand survey as Apple comes out top

  Um...this should come as a surprise to approximately no one. Apple is the world’s most valuable company.The Cupertino-based tech giant topped research company Millward Brown’s list of the world’s top 100 companies for the second year in a row, consolidating its position with a 19% increase in its brand value over the last 12 months.In fact tech companies dominate the top 10, with IBM, Google, and Microsoft all joining Apple in the top five.Google actually lost a ...

• ABSA launches revamped online banking site, but is it enough?

  "A new era in online banking." That's what South African online banking giant Absa is promising with its revamped online banking site.The site, which went live today, features a new design that includes a central dashboard. The bank claims that this presents "a snapshot view of one’s day-to-day banking, investments, other assets, and liabilities -- allowing customers to better plan their financial affairs".Arrie Rautenbach, Head of Retail Markets at Absa reckons that providing this centralised view, his bank is ...

• It’s official: Chrome is the web’s most popular browser

  It's finally happened. Chrome is now the world's most popular web browser. Microsoft haters the world over, rejoice.According to figures from online research company StatsCounter, Google's browser overtook Internet Explorer -- which has long dominated the broswer wars -- some time last week.Of the most popular browsers, Chrome is the only one that has shown real and consistent growth over the past year. Both Internet Explorer and Firefox have been on the decline, although the latter has shown ...

• Mark Zuckerberg opens Nasdaq trading from Facebook HQ [PICS]

  Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has rung the bell that signals the opening of the Nasdaq stock exchange.Shunning the suits of Wall Street, Zuckerberg instead chose to ring the bell from the social network's California headquarters. His attire? Sneakers, jeans, a grey shirt and a dark hoodie. What, like you were expecting anything else?Zuckerberg was surrounded by some of his most senior executives and a host of employees -- many of whom have been attending an all-night ...

• Facebook confirms stock price ahead of much-hyped IPO

  The wait for one of the most eagerly anticipated public debuts in tech history ends tomorrow. Anyone currently biting their nails in anticipation has to be content with the titbits of information coming through from the social network.The latest nugget to come through is that Facebook has confirmed what it will be pricing its stock at. When it enters the NASDAQ tomorrow, ordinary members of the public will be able to buy shares in the world's largest social network ...

• Standard bank claims ‘world first’ with NFC-enabled debit card

  Standard Bank has rolled out what it claims is the world's first bank card to include both NFC and debit card functionality.The so-called Muvo card was developed in partnership with the South African bank's business development centre and innovation incubator Beyond Payments. The debit card functionality will come from Mastercard, which has given the card the go-ahead.Beyond Payments claims the dual-function card “is believed to be a world first in the realm of cashless payment technology.”The product was ...

• Samsung, Android still winning in shrinking mobile market

  Samsung is winning the mobile wars and at the same time helping Android kill in the mobile OS stakes. Thing is all of the players in the game of phones are competing for a smaller market.According to research company Gartner, some 419.1-million mobile phones sold in the first few months of 2012, two percent less than the same period in 2011.That’s more significant than it might seem. It’s the first time the market has gone into decline since ...

• GM pulls Facebook advertising, big deal

  Facebook ads don’t work, not even a little bit. Well that’s if auto giant General Motors (GM) is to be believed at any rate.The company, which spends around US$40-million a year on Facebook campaigns, says it is pulling the US$10-million it currently spends on paid-for Facebook ads.GM’s marketing chief Joel Ewanick told the Wall Street Journal that the company still views putting up relevant content about its products on the social network as an “effective and important” part ...

• Why businesses and people winning at social are more likely to fly high

  This is interesting. The more successful a company is, the more likely it is to be using social media.That’s according to a new report from research company Millward-Brown in partnership with Google.The study, which gathered opinions from over 2 700 professionals in Europe found that:59% of professionals in high growth organisations are using social tools to improve business outcomes such as increasing sales and attracting and retaining clients 81% of these ‘dynamic’ businesses that are using social tools report ...

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