Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, Burn Media's podcast that rounds up the latest in tech and startup news. This week, Andy Walker hosts Julia Breakey and Daniel Mpala in studio. On this week's podcast, the team talk emoji, triple-camera phones, and a South African blockchain success First on the agenda are the 157 new emoji heading to smartphones this year, including options for redheads, bald heads, and superheroes. Daniel then discusses the Johannesburg-based blockchain surveillance startup Faceter, which claims it raised over US$10-million in 20 seconds during a sale. If accurate, it could be South Africa’s fastest and most successful token presale. And finally, Andy tells us...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup podcast, where we talk the latest in tech and startup news! This week, Hadlee Simons hosts Andy Walker and Stephen Timm. First on the agenda is the conversation on every Capetonian's lips: the water crisis. As the city moves closer to Day Zero, Andy talks some nifty apps that can help residents save water, as well as stay in the know about dam developments. On the podcast this week: water crisis apps, Mark Fish, Gauteng startups, and that Qualcomm fine The team then moves on to the local Twitter meme of the week, soccer legend Mark Fish. After...
Welcome back to The Weekly Roundup, where the Burn Media staff talk the latest in tech and startup news! This week, Hadlee Simons hosts Andy Walker and Stephen Timm. We kick off with Ventureburn, and the gang talks South Africans in the tech startup ecosystem you should follow in 2018. And if you think you can avoid cryptocurrency this year, think again; Stephen tells us what to expect from the ongoing boom. Second on the agenda is the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), showcasing some of what 2018 is bringing in the world of tech. From loads of new laptops to US$30 000...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup where we talk the latest in tech and startup news. This week, Andy Walker hosts Julia Breakey and Daniel Mpala. First, Andy talks everything he learned at Netflix's press junket in Berlin -- including its plans for Africa and the dope role of "tagger" that has everyone begging the company for a job. We then talk YouTube's year in review, and which videos had South Africans clicking for more. Over on Ventureburn, Daniel discusses how Startupbootcamp Cape Town is partnering with EasyEquities to crowdfund the 10 startups that last week graduated from the initiative’s inaugural programme. Finally, Andy talks the hard...
Welcome to the last MiniMeme episode of the year! In it, Daniel Mpala and Julia Breakey talk the TV shows that made them happy in 2017. On the list? The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Big Little Lies, Netflix's Dark, and Mr Robot (because Daniel may have missed the brief a little bit). So if you're looking for fun new shows to watch, or simply to pick a fight, have a listen to the full episode below: https://soundcloud.com/burn-media/minimeme-12-rambling-about-our-favourite-tv-of-2017 Let us know if you missed your favourite show, or if it made your blood boil to hear us gush about any of ours. You can reach us in the comments...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, where we talk the latest in tech and startup news. This week, Hadlee Simons hosts Stephen Timm and Julia Breakey. First on the agenda is Hadlee's list of the 2017 smartphones to avoid this festive season. He talks devices like the BlackBerry KeyOne, which offers niche features for a steep price, and the LG Q6 with its high screen-to-body ratio and... not much else. This week's podcast covers smartphones, GoMetro, and Black Friday stats Stephen then talks GoMetro, the South African startup looking to take on Uber and Taxify, as well as fight congestion. In an exclusive interview,...
Gauteng is now home to 44% of tech startup founders -- behind the Western Cape's 47%. The percentage of black startups has risen from 26% in 2015, to 50% this year. Just three percent of black tech startups turn a profit, versus 16% of their white counterparts. Over a quarter of startups plan to raise angel or VC funding, but only eight percent receive such funding. Almost a third say they pay market-related salaries, but pay is the top reason for employees leaving. Successful startup founders are most likely to be white males from the Western Cape. The Western...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, where we talk the biggest in tech and startup news over the past seven days. This week, Hadlee Simons hosts Andy Walker and Stephen Timm in studio. First on the agenda is the Ventureburn startup survey that examined the South Africa's startup scene. The results noted a surge in black entrepreneurs since 2015, as well as a rise in startups finding homes in Gauteng, among others. Over on Memeburn, Andy and Hadlee talk the data breach affecting 57-million users that Uber kept under wraps for over a year. The company allegedly paid a US$100 000 ransom to compensate...
Last week, Julia Breakey and Daniel Mpala challenged themselves to a week-long social media detox. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no YouTube. They set out to see if it could be done, what it was like, and who exactly they were without the frenzy of social media. The week proved fruitful, and in this week's episode of MiniMeme, they discuss the pros and cons of a life away from news feeds, timelines, likes and retweets. Listen to their experience here. Additional listening: MiniMeme #10: The sombre sides of social media
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, where we discuss the latest in tech and startup news. This week, Hadlee Simons hosts Stephen Timm, Andy Walker, and Julia Breakey. Stephen kicks off the week by discussing the Silvertree founder who criticised the Silicon Valley model of glorifying the pitching of ideas, rather than helping entrepreneurs to better execute on these ideas. We then move on to the lighter topic of Justice League, the latest superhero movie to hit the big screens. While Julia says it should win the hearts of fans, it may not be enough to convince non-believers that superhero films are worth the time. Moving...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, where we talk the week in tech and startup news. This week, Hadlee Simons hosts Julia Breakey and Stephen Timm. First on the agenda is Google's Launchpad Africa Accelerator, which is now accepting its first cohort of applications. The tech giant will take on 10 startups in the programme’s first cohort, set to start early next year in Lagos, Nigeria — from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. The team then moves to Twitter's latest rules update that, while including some welcome new additions like prohibiting child sexual exploitation and unwanted sexual advances, poses some worrying questions about...
Welcome to MiniMeme, the biweekly podcast about anything that tickles the Burn Media junior staff's fancy! On today's episode, Julia Breakey and Daniel Mpala sit down and talk the sombre sides of social media -- including the psychological manipulation, distraction techniques, and the ways it forces you to stay logged in. But, like, in a chipper way. Recommended reading: 'Our minds can be hijacked': the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia How Facebook rewards polarising political ads Facebook told advertisers it can identify teens feeling 'insecure' and 'worthless'
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, our podcast discussing the latest tech trends, innovation and news from the last few days. This week our editor Andy Walker teams up with Julia Breakey and Stephen Timm in studio. First up on the agenda is the dispiriting story of South Africa's bump down the World Bank's list in terms of ease of business. This drop is in spite of a booming venture capital sector that saw 134% growth of VC investments. The team then moves on to the Facebook-owned platforms that are trouncing competitors in terms of user numbers. Fun fact: Facebook has more duplicate...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, our podcast discussing the latest tech trends, innovation and news from the last few days. This week, Hadlee Simons is joined by Andy Walker and Daniel Mpala in studio. Daniel opens the floor by discussing the 15 South African tech startups that have concluded deals valued at over $137.7-million so far this year -- 12 of which are Cape Town-based. We then move over to Gearburn, where Hadlee discusses the Google Pixel 2 XL smartphone, which has been experiencing screen burn-in after only days of personal use. Could it result in a product recall? Sticking to smartphones, we...
Welcome to The Weekly Roundup, our podcast discussing the latest tech trends, innovation and news from the last few days. This week, host Hadlee Simons is joined by Julia Breakey and Stephen Timm. Kicking off the episode, Hadlee talks the Huawei Mate 10 coming to South Africa in November. The Mate 10 packs a Kirin 970 processor with a neural processing unit for AI, but what does that mean for consumers? On the agenda: Huawei Mate 10, Netflix SA, a local startup looking to take on Uber, and #MeToo Over on Ventureburn, Stephen details the local startup Scoop a Cab, set to take on Uber....
Trump, Merkel and other world leaders star in new G7 Summit meme
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WATCH: dramatic video of Cape Town cash-in-transit heist emerges
Viral video: 22-year-old ‘Spiderman’ saves dangling child in Paris high-rise rescue
The future of marketing is data-driven, creative, and (most importantly) people-based
WATCH: dramatic video of Cape Town cash-in-transit heist emerges
Aussies struggle to watch World Cup after Optus’s streaming goofs
Hi again loadshedding: Eskom’s really unfunny meme is back in South Africa
Robbie Williams (and his World Cup middle finger) spikes Google Search traffic
Daredevil raccoon out-trends Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un as it scales skyscraper
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