Let’s get right to the question you’re begging to have answered. Because if you’re not asking it, you’re probably already into iPhones or Blackberries or some other hippy-open-whatchamacallit-wotsit made by HTC. The question on everyone's lips is, of course: "Is the Nokia N8 any good?" Which really means, "Should I, as a Nokia loyalist (or disenchanted refugee from some other phone that’s just pissed me off one time too many) buy one, and keep the torch burning for the clever ...

Love it or hate it, Big Brother remains one of the biggest television success stories ever in Africa. The fifth season - Big Brother Africa (BBA) Allstars - drew millions of viewers across the continent, keeping them glued to their seats from July to October this year.By the end of the fourth season in 2009, the show had amassed a respectable fan base of over 100 000 Facebook users. But when BBA Allstars hit TV screens, the fan numbers ...

The "YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011" is looking for South African musicians to audition online for a collaborative orchestra where amateur musicians can share their knowledge and experience of making music with the support of some of the world’s leading classical artists.Musicians selected for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 will be invited to a week of rehearsals and master classes at an orchestra and summit at Sydney Opera House in March, 2011, culminating in a performance conducted by Grammy ...

YouTube said Thursday that 35 hours of video are being uploaded to the video-sharing site every minute, up from 24 hours per minute in March.Hunter Walk, director of product management at Google-owned YouTube, said the number of uploads to YouTube has more than doubled in the last two years.The rate of 35 hours of video per minute works out to 50,400 hours of video every day."Another way to think about it is: if three of the major US networks were ...

Google Instant Preview is a relatively new feature on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). When a user hovers over a search result, Instant Preview displays a large image preview of the webpage that a search result will link to. It sounds simple, but it adds a whole new dimension of information for searchers deciding on what search result to click through to, and could have an immense impact on the way sites are designed from this point onward.The ...

Cuba's state-run media and bloggers are not amused at "Call of Duty: Black Ops," a new videogame in which the player can join a secret operation in the 1960s to assassinate former leader Fidel Castro."What the United States government did not manage to do in 50 years, now it attempts to accomplish by virtual means," said comments Wednesday on the website Cubadebate, where Castro regularly publishes opinion pieces.The site was referring to the numerous plots to kill the Cuban president, ...

Facebook may seem like the perfect place to run a competition or sweepstake to promote your business while gaining fans for your Facebook Page, but be warned, it’s not that simple.The rules for the site have become so much more stringent than they used to be, following a major revision at the end of 2009. The options for small businesses and charities wanting to host a promotion on Facebook are especially small.Facebook’s rules are set out in its Promotions Guidelines, ...

Google's Android mobile operating system surged past Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberry in the third quarter to become the second biggest smartphone platform after Nokia's Symbian, research firm Gartner said Wednesday.Gartner said Finland's Nokia sold 29.5 million smartphones during the third quarter of the year for a 36.6 percent share of the worldwide market, down from 44.6 percent a year ago.Sales of Android-powered smartphones soared to 20.5 million units, giving the Android platform a 25.5 percent market share, up from ...

The advertising industry has always been full of paradoxes. It attracts highly creative minds but is the engine of consumerism. It projects a wildly liberal and party-mad persona, yet is renowned for rampant sexism and workaholic tendencies.Still, as someone who’s worked in a variety of traditional agencies (with a variety of egos), it really is the frontline of consumer communication.Great advertising moves and entertains. It can inspire people and cause mini-revolutions. Sadly, for all its creativity, the local industry has ...

I enjoyed the Bees Awards gala evening at the fabulous Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. It was well attended and a well-dressed crowd, making a nice change from the typical geek events I go to where dressing down is considered dressing up.Bastien Beauchamp and his team did a good job of presenting the event and keeping things moving along.There were a lot of awards, 16, in categories such as "Best 140 Characters Message (SMS, Tweet)."Here is the list ...