Back in 2011, First National Bank (FNB) stole a march on its South African competitors with the launch of a smartphone and tablet banking app. In the three years since, pretty much every other bank has followed suit, with each trying to outdo the others in terms of unique features. No matter what happens though, FNB will always be able to claim the bragging rights for being first, something which undoubtedly helped it to being named the world's most innovative ...

You'd think that one of the best things about being a spokesperson for a product is that you get to enjoy that product, especially in the advert. I mean that's the point, right? As Neil Patrick Harris finds out in the latest spot for Heineken Light however, that isn't always the case. In the ad, Harris struggles to come to grips with a set of arcane advertising rules that stop him from consuming the beer during the commercial. Presumably, the ...

There are around 750-million SIM cards in Africa (versus 220-million desktops), which means that the US$50 smartphone presents a massive opportunity for the continent. But are African tech entrepreneurs ready for the coming explosion? When US$50 smartphones become the norm, only those who are able to build for them will survive. “Do we want the Germans coming to our shores and eating our lunch?” Gareth Knight asks the audience at Tech4Africa in Lagos, Nigeria. “When the US$50 smartphone hits the ...

To honour former South African president Nelson Mandela’s first birthday since his passing in December 2013, people from around the country, and the world, are taking action and inspiring change for the better of society. Hopefully, you’ve already got something planned to contribute to the greater good of society or a specific community in need, but we thought it fitting to round-up some savvy ways that would help get you in the mood. Hashtag for change Use #MandelaDay and tag @southafrica to ...

Online privacy is a topic getting a lot of attention these days and has become a large concern among consumers. While the obvious solution is to take steps to better protect your online privacy, most of us have not taken any steps/ or very few to protect our privacy on the Internet. However, this doesn’t mean consumers don’t care about privacy. If you are one of those people who are unsure regarding where to begin in order to protect your ...

Around the world, governments and businesses are facing an ever complicating conundrum: high levels of youth unemployment and a shortage of job seekers with relevant critical skills. Many countries especially in the developing world still consider affordability to be the primary inhibitor to education. Improving the quality of education by making it more relevant to users, as well as finding creative means of addressing the affordability challenge, is highlighted as the primary keys to successfully addressing this challenge. Read more ...

Ah, diversity. That often neglected, yet all important topic that is jumping to the forefront of many a gaming argument these days. Following the recent E3 2014 showcase, it was incredibly obvious that many game developers still don’t get it. Oh what’s that Ubisoft? It was just too hard to include a female assassin in Assassins Creed: Unity? Yes, you’re right, we’re mysterious creatures that require years of research before we could possibly be included in any video game (especially since ...

At the mid-way point, the National Arts Festival this year was already reporting excellent figures showing six percent ticket sales growth on last year’s numbers and a 12% rand value growth. Not bad for a festival in its 40th year, held annually in the otherwise sleepy student city of Grahamstown, Eastern Cape. But how can an established festival look for growth in an increasingly competitive leisure spend market? This one seems to be banking on innovation in systems as much ...

We get it: you're busy. Social media is a never-ending stream of things demanding your attention, and sometimes you can miss the cool things while you're busy with real life. But do you have 15 seconds to spare? In our new video series, you can get a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes at Burn HQ in neatly packaged 15 second chunks. We're releasing one video a day on our Instagram account -- and this week, we've reviewed ...

Google released its second quarter numbers post the bell yesterday, they were very good. Revenues for the quarter were US$16-billion (an increase of 22%), operating income was US$4.26-billion, accounting for around 27% of its revenues. Nice. On a non GAAP EPS, excluding stock-based compensation (SBC) expense (what the hell?) that number was US$6.08. This is still an out and out advertising business. The volumes, or number of paid clicks increased 25% in the second quarter, two percent over the prior ...