Wikipedia is looking to tap into the rising popularity of Quick Response (QR) codes. The free encyclopaedia recently introduced QRPedia, a QR code creation service that lets users snap a picture of a QR code and be automatically directed to a linked mobile Wikipedia entry.The is possibly one of the most innovative ways QR codes have been used. The initiative allows users to create multilingual QR codes that link to Wikipedia articles.In a recent blog post the Wikimedia ...

China's online population, the largest in the world, has topped the half-billion mark, reports the state-run Xinhua news agency.The agency quoted Wang Chen, chief of the information office of China’s state council as saying that more than 15-million people had gone online since the release of the last figures were released in July.The continuing growth of China’s internet population and the rising use of online tools to criticise authorities has seen an increasing concern in Beijing about the ...

The massive growth in smartphones in emerging markets -- in South Africa the number has doubled in the past year -- has led to many suggesting that the market is close to "saturated".Take into account that there are between 50-million and 55-million active SIM cards in the country, and suddenly 8-million number doesn't look like such a big number any more. There are also well over 2-million “data-only” SIMs in South Africa, but you can easily assume that the majority ...

If you have recently spent any time in the United Kingdom or United States, you will no doubt be aware of the vast difference in eCommerce between South Africa and those countries. In statistics, the difference is made clear: In 2010, UK shoppers spent GBP£58.8bn (US$92bn) online, while South Africans did a paltry ZAR2bn (US$254-million). Even accounting for population differences that's a significant differential. So, why is South Africa so far behind?It's certainly not that eCommerce itself is without benefits. ...

Amidst Mark Zuckerberg's announcement of the many new features on Facebook at the recent f8 conference, the young CEO confirmed that the world's most popular social network had hit the 800-million user mark.This figure seems to fly in the face of the many reports on blogs and mainstream media announcing Facebook's "imminent death" despite the anecdotal evidence of a "backlash" against Facebook. Memeburn contributor, Amanda Sevasti explains why people are opting out of Facebook: "Today we have those who delete ...

Internet giant Google is set to build three data centres in Asia at a cost of more than US$200-million. The centres are being built to help the company cope with rapidly increasing user numbers in the region as well as stiff competition from rivals.The new centres are planned for Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong and are anticipated to take up a collective total of 22.6 hectares of land.Google currently owns and runs data centres in the US and ...

Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility has hit a road block as the US Justice Department has sent a second request for information about the deal.In a regulatory SEC filing, Motorola Mobility said:"On September 28, 2011, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. and Google Inc. each received a Request for Additional Information and Documentary Material from the Antitrust Division of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the proposed merger between the companies. The companies intend to cooperate fully and respond expeditiously to ...

Heather Ford was recently selected as one of the 10 most influential women in science and technology in Africa by IT News Africa. Andrew Rens caught up with her for a Q & A session.AR: What have you done with your life since you and I met on a misty day in the Stanford Law School canteen to discuss starting Creative Commons South Africa?HF: That was eight years ago! And it changed my life! I was a fellow at the ...

US tech giant IBM is teaming up with a startup called Streetline in a bid to take the pain out of parking.According to IBM, the service will play a massive role in alleviating congestion in large cities. The company says that an estimated 30% of city traffic is made up of people driving around in search of parking.The two companies have designed a system called “Smarter Parking”, which combines IBM’s data analytics capabilities with Streetline's innovations in parking ...

Yahoo! says that it has not been knocked off course by the firing of CEO Carol Bartz and that it would continue trying to extend its offers into the social and mobile realm."We are heads down; we know exactly what we want to do," Yahoo! vice president of applications and mobile Steve Douty said during a briefing with reporters at the California company's office in San Francisco."Is there some amount of uncertainty? Sure," he continued. "But we have been ...