Weekly Round Up #24: Pinterest ecommerce play, Africa the new China, synthetic fuel, budget phones

Welcome to Weekly Roundup, our podcast discussing the tech trends, innovation and news from the last few days.

This week on BurnCast, Stuart Thomas, Andy Walker, Jacques Coetzee and Christopher Wilton speak about Pinterest’s new features, Buyable Pins, budget phones, Africa is the new China and synthetic fuel.

Pinterest has made a move towards being an ecommerce site. This makes sense as people have been sharing things they like and driving traffic away from Pinterest to stores that sell the items. This move is not at all shocking but it does signal a new path for social media platforms to make a move towards eCommerce. Considering that they have the user base, it makes sense.

Budget smartphones are making a come back. Companies like Microsoft, LG, including service providers like Vodacom and MTN are making their presence felt. What is the fascination though, why are companies innovating backwards, so to speak? The team debates. Read more about Microsoft’s new Nokia Lumia 105 Gearburn.

Is Africa the new China? A big question to ask that demands a bold answer that needs to supported by data. The data is there but can this comparison be made, or can Africa be a place where companies can invest. We have seen companies like Hisense, Apple, Facebook, setting base in South Africa and others doing the same elsewhere in Africa. Africa is certainly ready for investment and economic benefits.

Cars are getting greener and greener. First Elon Musk introduced electric cars, rather made them popular, and now Audi is now making sythentic fuel called e-Diesel.