The high-profile disciplinary hearing of ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has so far reached an astonishing 8 419 565 individuals, "costing" South Africa about US$277 331 in negative publicity. This is the finding of Cape Town-based online Reputation Management Company (ORM), BrandsEye. ORM is the monitoring, engaging and conversion of online brand mentions, it is used to resolve negative brand mentions and maintain a close relationship with consumers/fans/followers.BrandsEye has a tool that puts a costing to the number ...

It's strange how we all get caught up in the Silicon Valley (and Alley) hype.If a company's product fails in the US, it gets punished by the market. Think about RIM's recent BlackBerry woes. Or the fact that Nokia simply doesn't register as a smartphone maker in the world's largest economy.Apple is king. While that may yet change, it's a runaway success in North America, and Europe (and demand in Asia is roaring). Being successful in the "west" (at ...

With more than 3.5-million downloads since release, WordPress version 3.2 has been received by users worldwide with open arms. A fresh coat of paint applied to the admin interface, as well as noticable performance enhancements and a host of new features demonstrate that WordPress is showing no signs of slowing down.As has come to be expected from the WordPress development team, the proposed specifications for version 3.3 were drafted just days after the release of 3.2. With distraction-free writing (a ...

Facebook Check-in Deals South Africa has announced its first major brand partners. The location-based deals service has partnered with car manufacturer Chevrolet, Cellular provider Cell C and car rental firm Avis for its South African launch.Through the partnership, the companies will have exclusive rights to the Facebook Check-in Deals logo until November.The service, which has been touted as the "biggest launch in emerging markets for the next year", enables users to claim special discounts and rewards by "checking ...

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon.com's cloud computing division, has announced that it is entering the Email Service Provider marketplace with the launch of a new bulk email offering called Simple Email Service (Amazon SES). The service, which is currently in its Beta phase, has been described by Amazon as "a highly scalable and cost-effective bulk and transactional email-sending service for businesses and developers".The major anxiety among ESPs lies in the fact that years of web dominance has allowed Amazon to ...

On the heels of its recent release of US diplomatic cables WikiLeaks has released an encrypted file after telling its followers on Twitter to "stay tuned for an important announcement."The contents of the 571 megabyte file are a mystery as it cannot be accessed without a decryption key, which the anti-secrecy website said would be released "at the appropriate moment."This is not the first time that WikiLeaks has released an encrypted file. Last year, the site posted what it called ...

Innovation Works, a Chinese high-tech investment firm has secured major funding from a number of high profile tech companies for a startup incubation fund. According to the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch, the firm has successfully raised US$180-million, for its Innovation Works Development Fund (IWDF).The IWDF is the first US dollar based fund raised by the firm to focus specifically on the Chinese internet. The investment is seen by the firm as a reflection of rising global confidence in ...

News agency Reuters has reported that Facebook is set to launch a music streaming service. The move is widely believed to be an attempt to get users to spend more on the social network.According to "people familiar the matter", the new service will allow users to listen to music on Facebook using the social network as a platform. The actual streaming of the music, however, will be the responsibility of established services like Spotify, MOG, Rhapsody, Slacker and Rdio.Giving ...

In what by now must seem like a marketing scheme for iPhone launches, an Apple employee recently lost the iPhone 5 at a San Francisco Mexican restaurant in Mission district. Last year, the iPhone 4 was also lost at a bar and then purchased by Gizmodo for US$5000. The gadget blog managed to escape criminal charges from Apple.The latest iPhone blunder seems to have followed a less controversial journey as it was simply placed on sale for US$200 ...

Hulu is expanding to Japan in a move which will see it offering its services outside of the United States for the first time. Hulu will provide streaming content in the form of movies and TV shows for roughly US$20 per month, or 1500 Yen. To celebrate the launch, all Hulu Japan subscribers receive a free one month trial.The streaming video service will alter its subscription model for the Asian market. In the US, Hulu offers a choice of ...