• BURN MEDIA
    • Motorburn
      Because cars are gadgets
    • Gearburn
      Incisive reviews for the gadget obsessed
    • Ventureburn
      Startup news for emerging markets
    • Jobsburn
      Digital industry jobs for the anti 9 to 5!

  • Twitter geeks out for Towel Day

    By on 25 May, 2012

    What is the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything? Don't Panic if you notice your colleagues and friends carrying towels around with them today. It's not because they've gone crazy. It's just Towel Day. And the answer to the question, the ultimate question is 42. Every 25 May fans of science fiction writer, Douglas Adams, honour his memory by celebrating Towel Day. Towel day is being celebrated around the world with various events according to TowelDay.org. The site features a list of events being held in honour of Adams such as a "Vogon Poetry Slam" session...

  • Logitech iPad Speaker Stand [Review]

    By on 25 May, 2012

    In swag-factor alone, Logitech's iPad Speaker Stand succeeds. The iPad (or iPhone if you're daring or stupid enough) cradles into the dock, charges and blasts music out of the ultra-loud speakers. For US$60 or so, it is a worthy purchase. Best part, the click when the iPad is rotated in place. Here, I've filmed it for posterity. Why's my arm so hairy? The speaker is stable, pumps out incredibly loud music without distortion and turns the iPad into a hot, sexy display of tech goodness. Sound is full stereo, the arm of the base is pitch adjustable and looks damn...

  • Africa Gathering: London event to celebrate African startups

    By on 25 May, 2012

    People tend to get excited around startups. It's probably something to do with the manic energy and will to succeed possessed by the people running them. And if the reaction to articles like this and this are anything to go by, people are really excited by African startups. In fact, people around the world are starting to talk about startups on the continent in a big way. One example of this is the Africa Gathering annual conference to be held in London in mid June. The conference, organised in collaboration with the Indigo Trust Foundation, aims to give people the opportunity...

  • Facebook launches camera app that’s totally different to Instagram, promise

    By on 24 May, 2012

    It takes great photos that you can instantly share, comes with a range of cool-looking filters and is owned by Facebook. But it's not Instagram. The 900-million user strong social network today announced the launch its own social camera app, which it claims was built before it shelled out US$1-billion for Instagram. According to Facebook the standalone app allows you to upload multiple photos to your albums rather than having to do them one at a time. You can also add a caption, say where you were and tag friends before you share. As well as the aforementioned filters, you...

  • China hits 1 billion mobile phone users

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Yes, there are over a billion mobile phone users in China. Considering the population of the country is around 1.3-billion, that means that more than 76% of Chinese citizens have one. Wow. The latest stats, released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), show that there are approximately 1 030 052 000 mobile users in the country. The new information, reported on Chinese language site Sina Tech and later picked up by Tech in Asia, confirms previous speculation about China's huge mobile phone market. Mobile phone subscriptions were above the 900-million mark in January, so it...

    3

  • Mullenweg: Future of WordPress is ‘shorter, simpler, faster’

    By on 24 May, 2012

    WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg reckons that the platform he founded is going to have to radically evolve if it's going to succeed on tablets and smartphones. The social media entrepreneur took to his blog to explain what changes the blogging platform, turned Content Management System (CMS) would have to make. In the post, he expresses his belief that WordPress "is seeing growth and innovation in being used as an application platform (I think we’re about a third of the way through that), and just now starting to embrace social and mobile". He calls this embracing of social and mobile...

    4

  • FC Barcelona, Worldreader to send one million e-books to African children

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Footballing giant FC Barcelona is teaming up with non-profit company Worldreader in a campaign aimed at getting people to send one-million e-books to school children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The non-profit claims that it is already one-tenth of the way to achieving its goal, having delivered 100 000 e-books into the hands of 1 000 African children since it started operating in 2010. WorldReader claims that "digital technology sharply lowers the cost and complexity of delivering books everywhere. As we make reading easier and less expensive, the world will read more". While some are sceptical about getting books to countries...

  • 13 more of the coolest hidden Google tricks

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Ok, I’ll admit it. I made a mistake. I tried to pack all the awesome hidden Google easter eggs into one article... and, really, there are way more than 17 ‘tricks’ built into Google products or entertaining sites to be found by clicking “I’m feeling lucky”. So, if you’re finished evading the ghosts in Google’s version of Pacman and you’re looking for some more awesomeness, read on. 1. Askew: If you run a Google search for the word “askew”, you may think you’ve somehow broken your monitor or telepathically adjusted your display settings. But really, Google has just shifted a few...

    65

  • 5 seriously underrated aspects of social media

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Like you, I once naively thought that social media was used for sharing your life experiences and bonding with close family, friends, and the random people who send friendship requests that you accept for no apparent good reason. But there is so much more to social media, and here are five of the most underrated things that you can experience in-between tweeting about what you just had for lunch and poking people you only vaguely know... 1. Twoogle Twoogle is the great new practice of certain Twitter users taking the word Google and the word Twitter, combining them with an added...

    10

  • The future role of digital media and technology in retail

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Digital is fusing into our daily lives more and more. As a concept, it will soon disappear in a future where we reminisce about the good old days of offline and online. This fusion is already underway. The mobile evolution continues to provide increasing interaction with richer digital content. While enabling technologies (like NFC) let us to go one-step further and interact with real word objects. These new interactions are fueling not just a mobile, but also a digital revolution. As this fusion matures, our social profiles will become our passport to interact with the world, with digital media providing the...

  • Press X to hump — when will sex in games grow up?

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Hi. This article is intended for mature readers. There are constant references to sex and because it’s me, I won’t be holding back and, as such, the article is most definitely NSFW. Onto the digital titillation. The idea for this article struck me after I battled the Kayran in The Witcher 2. Geralt and his on-and-off lover Trish celebrate this victory by having vigorous sex in an enchanted elven rose pool. It was pretty much the most graphic, mature and honest bit of digital intercourse I’d ever seen. Here’s the rub: I’ve been gaming for close to three decades now...

  • 80% of new phones ship with Android or iOS [Report]

    By on 24 May, 2012

    We’ve written about how large Android and iOS’ combined slice of the smartphone market is before. It doesn't look like that situation's about to change any time soon. Even in a shrinking mobile phone market, the two operating systems have managed to carve out a considerable lead for themselves. In fact, new research from tech analysis company IDC suggests that over 80% of smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2011 rocked one of the two OS’. The company’s figures give Android slightly larger share of the market than a similar study recently conducted by fellow research company Gartner. IDC...

  • Yahoo! Axis is actually pretty cool

    By on 24 May, 2012

    Yahoo!'s newly launched Axis web exploration and search tool isn't what you'd expect from a company that's been in corporate turmoil over the past few months. In fact, it's pretty damn impressive. Axis is both a mobile browser and a desktop plugin that gives people visual search results as they type. In the desktop version, Axis comes in the form of a little black pill that nestles in the bottom left corner of your browser. Hover over it and extends across your screen. If you then click on the extended bar, you'll get all the visual representations related to...

    1

  • John Malkovich uses Siri and it’s kinda creepy [Video]

    By on 24 May, 2012

    If there's one thing that John Malkovich excels at, it's playing John Malkovich. He reprises that role in two ads for Apple's voice assistant app Siri. The first features the logo of US carrier Verizon, and features the actor using Siri to find out about the weather, search for restaurants, and to tell a joke. Malkovich appears to find the joke hilarious, which is worrying. The second ad, which has AT&T's logo on it, shows Malkovich asking Siri for advice and then complementing her in what appears to be an awkward attempt at flirtation. We're...

  • 8 of our favourite ‘Spear of the Nation’ memes

    By on 23 May, 2012

    The media has been obsessed with the developments in South African president Jacob Zuma's Lenin-esque nude portrait saga. Brands and consumers alike have meanwhile taken to social media with offerings of their Spear of the Nation memes. Below is a selection of our favourites. 1. Gabriel's image is hard to absorb Gabriel employs shock tactics. 2. John Terry A meme within a meme. 3. Helen Zille Tit for tat: the leader of the opposition is unknowingly pulled into the paint-slinging affair. 4. Spear Spies Sports meets politics. Springbok rugby star Pierre Spies' surname coincidentally translates to 'spear'. 5. Britney The celebrity pun meme is one of our favourites...

    7