SwitchedOn Tech Magazine Zimbabwe: April 2013

3 SwitchedOn Tech Magazine


SwitchedOn Tech Magazine 5

CONTENTS PAGE

•News 5

•Latest Gadgets 9

•Special Feature 21

•Gadget Reviews 29

•Future Tech 42

•Gaming Zone 47

•Classifieds56

36

6

53 25

Credits

Contributors

Advertising

PrintingPrintWorks (Pvt) Ltd

DistributionPrintMedia

Contact us:switchedon.zw @outlook.com

Produced & Published in Zimbabwe



• News

Telecel offers contract packages with bonus benefits and unlimited calls

Telecel has launched its new product service, Telecel Red, which is basically a fixed payment plan platform meant to attract subscribers back to the post-paid plans (contract lines).This new

service is offering existing and potential customers new attractive fixed payment contract packages that allow unlimited local calls and bonus text messages and data.

The packages are meant to give customers greater control and flexibility over their cellphone expenditure, as well as attractive bonus usage that could result in them having usage every month worth up to five times the amount of their monthly subscription.The bonus services range from unlimited local calls made to a single Telecel number of the customer’s choice to completely unlimited local calls, text messages across all networks and unlimited local data, depending on the package.

Those who sign on for one of these packages will also receive priority customer service at Red Desks at all Telecel outlets and from a dedicated Red Customer Care Team in Telecel’s award-winning Call Centre.

Telecel Red is, says Telecel Communications & Branding Director Obert Mandimika, an example of the innovation and best value for money promises that were made by Telecel Zimbabwe when it rebranded in February last year.

“We have provided many innovative value-for-money products and services in the past, even before the rebranding, but most of them, such as our Mega Juice card which includes bonus airtime, have been for pre-paid customers who recharge their accounts with recharge cards or vouchers,” he said.“This is the first time in Zimbabwe that packages with such value for money have been made available to subscribers on the post-paid platform. We are currently the only local network offering a package with unlimited calls, text messages and data.”Marketing Director Octavius Kahiya added, “Existing contract customers who would like to take advantage of the greater control, flexibility and huge value-for-money services that Telecel Red offers can opt to switch to a Telecel Red contract.

Telecel Red, consists of a choice of three packages, with an option of either an outright postpaid or flexi (hybrid) choice, each with a credit limit for local calls.Flexi subscribers can recharge their accounts using a normal recharge card or voucher for usage outside the package benefits and when their credit limit is reached within the month. Usage outside the package benefits includes international calls and international text messages.Post-paid customers will be billed for usage outside the package credit and benefits. When their credit is used up they will be able to continue to use their line up to a set credit limit. When that limit is reached they will be advised by text message. They will then have to make a

payment to continue using the line up to the value of the payment made. There is, therefore, no bill shock with a post-paid Telecel Red package.

There are three options available: a $30 a month package, a $60 a month package and a $150 per month package.

The Telecel Red 30 package is $30 per month. It allows the customer up to $30 worth of local calls, data and text messages per month and unlimited calls to one Telecel number of the subscriber’s choice. It also includes 60 free megabytes of data.

The Telecel Red 60 package allows up to $60 worth of local calls, text messages and data per month, unlimited calls to Telecel numbers, unlimited local text messages and an additional bonus 120 megabyte data allowance.

The Telecel Red 150 package, which costs $150 per month, allows unlimited local calls to any number across all networks, as well as unlimited local text messages and local data.

The unlimited usage in all three packages is subject to the Fair Usage Policy, meaning that if usage is excessively more than could be expected of an average person, usage may be restricted.Those wishing to take advantage of one of these packages sign a 12-month contract with Telecel, which means they are assured of the benefits of the package continuing for at least 12 months. Where

the contract includes provision of a handset, the contract length is 24 months.Telecel Red packages or bundles are the first packages with unlimited usage to be offered by any network in Zimbabwe.

These value-added packages for contract customers have been made possible by Telecel’s installation last year of a new intelligent network (IN) and a new billing system.

The three Telecel Red packages have been designed with the spending patterns of different consumers in mind. They are ideal for those who currently spend upwards of $30 a month on airtime, texts and data.

Chief Commercial Officer Ashraf Elguindy commented further: “We have a history of introducing real game changers in this industry locally and this is just another one of them.“We coined the name Juice and today it has become a household name for recharging. The reduction of pricing of SIM cards to just a dollar was originally introduced by Telecel and revolutionised mobile communications in Zimbabwe.

“We have always been driven by creating best value for money for our customers and, with the new network upgrades and capacitation we have been investing in, we have more plans in the offing.”

• News

Article by: Techzim


• News

Samsung Electronics exec says Windows 8 is ‘no better than’ Windows Vista

Windows 8 hasn’t taken the world by storm and isn’t the rousing success

that Microsoft might have hoped for, but a Samsung executive has taken his criticism a step further than that.

Jun Dong-soo, who is the Samsung Electronics head of it’s memory chip business, has a strong distaste for Microsoft’s latest operating system, a viewpoint he made clear to reporters in Seoul, South Korea.

“Addressing market research that indicates global PC shipments are on the

decline, Dong-soo told reporters that the market segment has failed to see a boost from Windows 8 as it’s “no better than the previous Windows Vista platform.” Dong-soo even went on to link the poor attach rate for ultrabooks to Microsoft’s “less competitive Windows platform.” Unsurprisingly, this had led the Samsung exec to shift his division’s focus from the fabrication of “conventional” memory chips to the more profitable and booming mobile chip segment.

Samsung's memory division will cut production of PC memory chips in favor of ones designed to be used in smartphones.A move no doubt bolstered by the continued prominence of Samsung's Galaxy portfolio (e.g., Note II, GS III and upcoming GS IV).

The PC memory market is pretty flat at the moment and the blame is being put firmly on Microsoft’s shoulders. While Fujitsu had also previously blamed Windows 8 for its own declining PC sales, this may be the first time a Microsoft partner has dared to compare Windows 8 to Vista — well known as one of Microsoft's failures.

But there’s two ways of taking that assignation of blame: one that it’s entirely fair and the other that it’s really rather unfair.The first way of looking at this is, well, yes, OK, Mr Jun Dong-soo, has a point, there hasn’t been the usual surge in new PC buying that follows on from the release of a new Microsoft OS. So, therefore less demand for new PC's results it less demand for PC components which in this case, Mr Jun is

experiencing in his department. You can go ahead and point the figure at Microsoft and say it is their fault.

The second way of looking at this reflects rather better on Windows 8. For the traditional reason for the traditional surge in PC sales on the release of a new OS is that none of the old machines would ever run the new OS. Microsoft’s software was notorious for bloat. Most especially for requiring vast amounts of memory to be able to anything more than play solitaire. And that’s why there was the upgrade rush: so that people could actually use the new OS.

This time around, with Windows 8, there is no such bloat. You can actually run it on the same specs as Windows 7. Indeed, many say that it runs better than the earlier OS on the same PC specification . Thus there’s been no mad rush to upgrade systems. Simply because Microsoft has, this time at least, written a fast and efficient OS. Which they should be prasied for at least.Guess you can't make everyone happy.


Other top news storiesEuropean Commission invests €50 million into 5G research with a 2020 target

We still might be waiting for 4G here in Zimbabwe but by then it might be old: the European Commission is already thinking about 5G.

It’s investing €50 million ($65.3 million) into research with the hope that the next-super-generation cellular technology will be a practical reality by 2020. About €16 million ($20.9 million) of that is headed toward METIS, an Ericsson-led alliance hoping to develop wireless with 10 to 100 times the capacity, a similar increase in speed and just a fifth of the lag. Right now there’s only so much technology talk the Commission can offer at this stage. The funding is as much for regional pride as progress -- officials want 5G to be a Europe-led affair after Asia and North America took center stage on 4G.

English Premier League adopts goal-line technology, follows in the footsteps of FIFA

“That was a goal !! The ref must be blind !!” , “That wasn’t a goal, you the one needing the glasses !!”

We all have had such conversations before when its come to football and such controversial decisions. But perhaps such tribulations will end with the news that the Premier League is following in the footsteps of football’s world governing body,

FIFA, to institute goal-line technology from the 2013-2014 season. FIFA will be using goal-line technology in this year’s 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup, after a successful trial at last year’s Club World Cup. A Prem spokesperson told BBC and Sky News that all 20 clubs have to have the hardware in place for the start of the next season.

A whole nation powered by just the sun

Solar energy is increasingly being used to power operations both big and small, but a group of three tiny islands in the South Pacific are now able to entirely use solar power to meet their energy needs. The Tokelau islands, located far to the north of the coast of New Zealand, are the world’s first to make the full switch to solar. Funded by a $7 million grant from New Zealand, The new system saves Tokelau from importing all its energy as diesel, which used to cost up to $1 million each year.

Tokelau’s new solar-powered grid was built up over three months and consists of “4000 solar panels in total,” according to Dean Parchomchuck, the director of the company which installed the new grid, Powersmart Solar. “There were lots of power cuts with the diesel generators, now their system is far more reliable and they experience far fewer power cuts.” Batteries have also been installed in the new systems to provide power during the night.Of course, it’s worth noting that these islands are extremely small, with a total land area of only 12 square kilometers and a population of 1,500 — but is an excellent example of leading the way on renewable energy development.



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For those of you who do not know The GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) is a combination of the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry and a conference featuring prominent executives representing mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, vendors and content owners from across the world. Held every year in the month of February, MWC takes place at the Fira de Barcelona venue in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The annual attendance is generally between 50,000-60,000 people.

This year the venue wasn’t treated to a mountain of device launches, as seen in previous years but there was still a lot on show. Samsung really did a number on the show by announcing, on the first day no less, that it will be unveiling its next flagship Android device, the Galaxy S IV smartphone, at it’s own solo event to be held later on in the coming month. This may of disappointed some but other mobile manufacteurers saw it as the ripe event to steal some of the highlight, raise some buzz around their products, and get that much needed 15 minutes of fame.

Big household names: Nokia, LG, HTC, NEC, Sony and more were all present showcasing and demonstrating their products in their full glory.Less known companies also had the spotlight to show off their many concepts and future innovations which, may or may not, one day end up in your hands.The products on show that will end up in consumer’s hands are scheduled for a global release later on in the year.

So follow our tour and the devices that we, here at SwitchedOn Tech Magazine, have picked as highlights of the show and that you will soon be seeing in a gadget shop near you. Please grab the right page corner and proceed to fold....

• Latest Gadgets


• Latest Gadgets

LG was, by far, the most aggressive among the majors at MWC 2013. Showing off the improved L-series, a new F-series of their phone line-up.

LG was also among only a handful of companies to show off a new flagship for the public to critique at this year’s show. The LG Optimus G Pro (pictured above) directly competes with Samsung’s Galaxy Note II and really steps up the game with a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, 13-megapixel camera, 2.1-megapixel front-facing cam, 5.5-inch display and a massive 3,140mAh hour battery to ensure that every box on the superphone checklist gets ticked. A standout feature on the G Pro is a new dual-camera mode where both front and rear cameras record at once, with the front-facing cam’s image overlaying the main camera with a picture-in-picture effect. This feature lets you record your reaction to things you see while filming -- or the stunned expression of friends the first time they see this set.

Nokia announced two new mid-range smarphones,the Lumia 720 and Lumia 520, to add to its portfolio of Windows Phones.

The Lumia 720 is 4.3-inch device and bears the distinction of being Nokia’s most svelte Windows Phone 8 device to date. Measuring just 9mm in thickness and weighing 128 grams (4.5 ounces). It packs a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU 512MB RAM, 800 x 480 ClearBlack display, 2,000mAh battery, NFC and an option for wireless charging (enabled by a separate snap-on cover). There’s a 1.3-megapixel camera with wide-angle lens up front and a 6.7-megapixel rear shooter on back, specifically crafted by Carl Zeiss.

But that was not the most exciting product on show. The devices aimed squarely at the developing world were the standouts at Nokia’s corner: The Nokia 105 and 301.

The Nokia 105, which is about as simple as they come these days, arrives in either black or cyan and contains such features as a flashlight and FM radio, and a noteworthy attribute, a battery that lasts for a month.

You might know Mozilla Firefox as just a web browser to surf the internet but later this year Firefox will have its own operating system on a mobile device. Made by mobile manufacturer, ZTE, the ZTE Open was the first official Firefox phone to be announced at MWC 2013.

Spec wise, it is a very handy 3.5-inch screen phone with a Cortex-A5-based Qualcomm processor that could be clocked at either 600MHz or 800MHz (details have not been confirmed yet). There’s also 256MB of RAM, 512MB of expandable storage and a humble 3.2-megapixel camera on the back. It is a low-end device aimed at emerging markets and developing countries. The Firefox software still needs some fine tunning but it brings a different experience to the mobile ecosystem.


The Xperia Tablet Z is the top Android tablet being offered by Sony this year. The defining characteristic of Sony’s newest tablet is the design, its thin and light at less than 7mm and 500g and challenges the iPad on premium look and feel.

Features are a 10-inch 1,920 x 1,200 display with a quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 8.1MP rear camera and 2MP front-facing cam with a solid 6,000mAh battery keeping it all lit.

Although Samsung didn’t unveil its next superphone it still had a lot to showcase at this year’s venue.One top product that was announced was a direct competitor to the iPad mini, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet.Taking features from the Galaxy S3, Note II and bigger brother Note 10.1, Samsung latest offering, brings great innovations into a mid-sized tablet. This is why Samsung’s positioning the Note 8.0 to double as an e-reader and living room companion.

The Note 8.0 comes in at 210.8mm x 135.9mm x 7.95mm in size and boasts an 8-inch 1,280 x 800 TFT display. Performance comes from the company’s Exynos 4 Quad processor clocked at 1.6GHz and paired with 2GB RAM. There is WiFi and a SIM card slot for 3G connectivity, thus turning this tablet into a phone. You also get Bluetooth 4.0, 32GB of internal storage (microSD expansion available), in addition to a 4,600mAh battery. And, as with most Android products rolling out as of late, the Note 8.0 will ship with version 4.1.2 of Jelly Bean onboard. The Note 8.0 comes with the critically acclaimed Samsung S Pen, found in Samsung’s other Note products, and gives the Note 8.0 tab an edge on its rivals.

HP is back with a new tablet and interestingly, though, HP is returning to the tablet space not with a high-end flagship, but a lower-end device priced to sell.

The Slate 7 packs a1.6GHz dual-core processor inside. This is boosted by 1GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage with expandable storage via microSD. The 7 in the name stands for, you guessed it, the 7-inch display. There are dual cameras, 3 Mega Pixels front and back. The back of the tablet has a great stand-out red back cover which denotes you also get Beats Audio built in.

The giant set of the show, literally, was the Huawei Ascend Mate. This Android 4.1 handset boasts a 6.1-inch screen 720p HD display, and Huawei’s own Hi-Silicon 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU.

Now thats a lot of screen real estate for a mobile device but its slim profile makes it easier to handle in one hand. Other

features to look for are:WiFi, which will see a speed boost to 150Mbps thanks to dual WiFi receivers. You also get 32GB of internal storage. Fortunately, all this power and that gigantic display has been paired with a 4,050mAh battery to get you through your daily tasks.

The iPad has long maxed out at 64GB of storage space, but that is no longer the case. Apple has released a 128GB version of its fourth-generation iPad.

There will be no more need of picking out what to delete to just make space for those new music tracks. For those storage hungery users, this giant iPad should have enough room for multi-track music files, hours of movies, your e-book library and all the apps and games you will ever want.

This model is otherwise identical to the current iPads, and it will be offered in the standard black or white colors.

Already available at your local Apple stores, this giant iPad also comes in the usual WiFi only or WiFi + cellular models.

This is the Nokia 301 and although it might not be much to look at, don’t judge a book by its cover. Nokia promises great imagaing and internet experience on the Nokia 301. It will come with a 3.2MP camera with panorama mode, sequential shots and a clever little self-portrait mode.

In terms of internet browsing, the 301 comes equipped with Nokia’s Xpress Internet browser (which compresses data down by about 90 percent). It delivers compressed websites stored in the cloud to the handset, which cuts down on the amount of data which needs to be transferred, so a better cost effective method of mobile web browsing.

The 301 will be available later this year and comes in single and dual-SIM versions.

What happenes when you fuse a notebook and a tablet together ? Asus’s answer is the Taichi.This is a unique Windows 8 ultrabook with two independent screens.

The traditional front-facing one is the screen to be used in notebook mode. The glass lid on the back represents the second screen, a glossy display with 10-point multitouch. Entering tablet mode is as simple as closing the lid.

Configuration options vary but include Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors, 4 gigs of RAM, SSD storage, dual-band 802.11n WiFi, FHD/Super IPS+ displays and, naturally, dual cameras.

The Taichi comes in two models - 11.6-inch screen or 13-inch verisons. And are available now.

ON THE LOOKOUTNew gadgets are getting unveiled and released all the time. And at times it can be hard to keep up and know what is the latest out there, but dont worry we here at SwtichedOn are on the lookout....


• Latest Gadgets


Samsung has married Google’s mobile operating system Android and photography in digital matrimony.The Galaxy camera is a 16-megapixel shooter with 21x, f/2.8-5.9, 23-480mm lens that will let you get far closer to the action than any smartphone on the market today.But the most interesting part is around the back. The entire back of the camera is occupied by an edge-to-edge 4.8-inch 1,280 x 720-pixel (308 ppi) multitouch display. There are still a few hardware buttons on board, including a flash release a power button, zoom toggle and shutter release, but you’ll spend most of your time interacting with the Galaxy Camera through touch.

This latest point-and-shoot falls within Samsung’s SMART lineup, which means there’s surely WiFi on board. There’s also 3G and 4G connectivity as well.

Being Android, you have access to Google’s Play Store so you can add any of your favorite imaging apps and social apps for those photos that have to be on Facebook straight away.

A flagship model means the best of the best, the top of the range and Samsung has introduced two new laptop models to represent the company at its finest: the new Series 7 Chronos and Series 7 Ultra.

The Series 7 Chronos is a powerful “desktop replacement” that contains a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, a Radeon HD 8870 graphics card with 2GB of memory, 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of hard drive space. It also comes with an optional 10-point touchscreen to fully utilize Wndows 8.

Samsung’s newest ultrabook, the Series 7 Ultra, trades a little bit of power for a smaller, thinner form factor. The Intel Core i5 processor, discrete AMD HD8570 GPU with 1GB of memory, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD may not perform quite as well as the Chronos, but the machine weighs just over three pounds and is considerably thinner than its counterpart. The 13.3-inch 1080p screen will be a pleasure watcing movies on. It also comes with an optional touchscreen as well as 4G connectivity.


THE

ONEEnter the HTC One.This is HTC’s latest Android smartphone which is positioned to become a true global flagship for 2013.

Specifications:CPU: The first smartphones to

feature Qualcomm’s quad-core Snapdragon 600, clocked here at 1.7GHz.

RAM: 2 GB Display: 4.7-inch 1080p Super LCD 3

display protected by Gorilla Glass 2. This display boasts the densest display ever seen in a smartphone. With 468 pixel per inch(ppi) verus the iPhone 5’s 326ppi unit and the Galaxy S3’s 306ppi.

Storage: 32GB or 64 GB (no microSD for expandable storage)

Connectivity: 4G/LTE, NFC, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4 and GPS. There is an IR blaster integrated in the power/lock button for controlling home entertainment equipment.

Sound: Dual stereo speakers featuring dedicated amps. HTC is calling this “BoomSound”.

Front Camera: 2.1-megapixel camera with 88-degree wide-angle lens capable of 1080p video.

Rear Main Camera:

4-megapixel BSI sensor. Yes, that’s right a 4 megapixel camera in this day an age but HTC is calling it an “UltraPixel” camera. These are enlarged pixels and each pixel is meant to gather 300 percent more light than the current crop of smartphone sensors. The camera unit also features optical image stabilization and HTC’s ImageChip 2 for HDR, 1080p and 60fps video.

Build: Crafted with an all-around premium look and feel in a machined aluminum unibody

The One’s aggressively embracing the role of a smartphone as multimedia powerhouse and for now is a smartphone at the top of its class.HTC One will be available in black, red and silver colors and will launch at the end of March this year.


The much-rumored - and you too knew it was coming - next gen video game console from Sony has been unveiled. The Playstation 4 was offically announced at a Sony press event. Though what the actual console will look like remains to be seen. Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Andrew House only reveiled no more than a logo and a handful of concepts, though he did say it’s coming in holiday 2013.

Lead system architect Mark Cerny, a legendary game developer in the industry, said that development of the PS4 started five years ago, and since then, he’s been exploring how to evolve “the PlayStation ecosystem.” One of those evolution can be seen in the Playstation 4’s new controller - the DualShock 4.

Cerny took to the stage to reveal the all-new companion, which has been redesigned and now features a more rounded form factor as well as what appears to be a slightly rubberized grip with “enhanced rumble capabilities.” There’s also a touchpad now, a headphone jack, a Share button, a mono speaker, a light bar that, according to Cerny, will be utilized as a “more friendly way to identify players” and a stereo camera which is used to track the 3D position of the Move-compatible controller. In addition there are the standard dual analog sticks, d-pad, triggers, shoulder buttons, and four face buttons.

On the software side of things: the PS4 can pause and resume mid-game on a system level, allowing players to multitask.

So as you’re playing Fifa 13 and you desperately need to open another application on the PS4 this is very doable. The PS4 will feature a second chip dedicated to managing uploads and downloads which will also help with the system’s usability, meaning you can download games in the background or when the system’s off. More importantly, however, you can start downloading a game and begin playing it as the download goes -- pretty great!

SEE

THE

FUTURE

ON

PAGE 47



A SPECIALFEATUREARTICLE

A F R I C A I N F O C U SThink Africa, you may not think of it as a place of high tech gadgets and innovation, but the continent is in the grips of a technological revolution. Technology has become an essential part in the way we do business, communicate and go about our daily lives. Most people use either a computer or smartphone every single day. This is why countries around the continent have identified technology as a key weapon in the battle to boost prosperity - and that has sparked a tech revolution which is leading Africa to become one of the fast growing technology markets.

But Africa’s tech revolution could run out of steam unless it produces a new generation of innovators and this has gained the attention of some of the biggest tech companies in the world. - Africa is embracing technology and its future is bright...


• Special Feature

Intel is bringing its mobile influence to Africa. Pictured above is Intel’s first African smartphone as well as the first phone to use their new Lexington Atom processor chip. The name of the phone is sure to capture anyone who follows hip-hop almost immediately - it’s called the “Yolo” phone. No, they didn’t name the the smartphone after the acronym which stands for “you only live once,” Instead, Yolo is a slight deviation from “Xolo,” the name of Intel’s first smartphone released in 2012. This device, will be the very first Intel-powered smartphone on the continent.The Intel Yolo features Android 4.0 on a 3.5-inch screen and is run by the new Intel processor chip which has Intel Hyper-Threading Technology and can achieve speeds of up to 1.2 GHz. There is 512 RAM, 4GB internal storage with a micro-SD slot that supports up to 32GB. You also get a 5-megapixel shooter on the back, capable of recording 1080p HD video. Intel wants to make a real push in emerging markets and the Yolo looks poised to do just that. Kenya will be the first market in Africa to get the phone but could possibly be released to other countries later on.

Microsoft has been doing business in Africa for 20 years. And to further their commitment to the continent, they have launched a brand new multi-year effort called the 4Afrika Initiative. The goal is to empower every African who has a great idea for a business or an application and to turn that idea into a reality which in turn can help their community, their country, or even the continent at large. The Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative is built on the dual beliefs that technology can accelerate growth for Africa, and Africa can also accelerate technology for the world.

There are several plans under way as a part of the project, with one of the first being a new Windows Phone 8 device from Microsoft and Huawei. The Huawei 4Afrika phone is a specially tailored for Africa and comes as an affordable option (no price announced yet) for first time smartphone buyers that also comes preloaded with apps created by African developers for African consumers, and a subsection of the existing Windows Phone Store that will continue to focus on “locally-relevant” apps and content.

Looking at the specs, the phone will have a 4-inch WVGA display, dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon processor, and 4GB of internal storage will be available in blue, red, black, and white.

The director of Microsoft’s Windows Phone division in the Middle East and Africa, Gustavo Fuchs, has stated that the company’s objective is to boost smartphone ownership in what it sees as a growth market. We are expecting that Microsoft’s other partners such as Nokia and Samsung could release their own branded phones under the 4Afrika Initiative as the world begins to recognise the promise of Africa and Microsoft continues to invest in that promise.



• Special Feature

T H E I N T E R V I E W

Name: Eric Odipo

Position: Microsoft East and Southern Africa General manager Position since: December 2009 to present


T H E I N T E R V I E W

Following the lead of co-founder Bill Gates Microsoft is taking more interest in Africa, with a stated aim of improving the continent’s global competitiveness. Several plans are already under way as part of Microsoft’s overall project initiative. SwitchedOn Tech Magazine was lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with the General Manager of the Microsoft Corporation for East and Southern Africa, Eric Odipo.

Mr. Odipo, who is a very busy man having to travel up and down the world’s second-largest and second-most-populous continent, gives an insight on Microsoft’s plans and progression and what it all means for Africa and us here in Zimbabwe.

According to information here, almost 90% of all software used in Zimbabwe is pirated copy, and of that most of it is Microsoft product, what is the company doing to counter piracy and to educate the public not to buy pirated software?

Just like we have done in various African countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, we are working on first having an MOU signed with the government that will see the 2 organizations work together to fight piracy in the country. In addition we are constantly working on educating the reseller channel on why, where and how to purchase genuine.

We understand Microsoft now has a representative on the Zimbabwe Tender Board; what has led to this? Is this normal in the countries that you operate? What is the advantage of having someone from a tech giant such as Microsoft on the Tender Board?

No we do not have a Microsoft representative sitting in the Zimbabwe Tender Board. This would present a conflict of interest and is against our Standards of Business Conduct. We have a business code of ethics that employees and business partners adhere to. As a matter of fact, Microsoft allows the public direct contact with its Office of Legal Compliance to report any breach of ethics or suspected violation of the Standards of Business Conduct. For more information visit: http://www.microsoft.com/About/Legal/EN/US/Compliance/Buscond/Buscond.aspx

Research says Africa is the fastest growing market for mobile telephony, how is Microsoft reacting to this?

While at the moment I cannot discuss the Window’s phone strategy in Africa, I can say the following:Microsoft has partnered with companies like Nokia and Samsung to bring the next generation devices in Africa. This long term strategic partnership will enable us to innovate and differentiate, and build a new ecosystem globally as well as right here in Africa. The ecosystem will create opportunities

beyond anything that currently exists today, offering a serious alternative for operators, developers and consumers. We aim at providing scale, innovation, and opportunity for all. You will soon start seeing Windows phones widely available in the continent.

We understand you have recently been appointed to head this office, what is your sphere of influence geographically, and what do you intend to focus as the hallmark of tenure?

I oversee 12 countries in the East and Southern part of Africa Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I want to focus particularly on building local partner skills and capacity as a way of ensuring that our products and solutions are locally available and relevant to Zimbabweans. My goal eventually is to create more local job opportunities in the country through our partner network.

Tech giants such as Microsoft have been accused of not training enough Africans to assume positions of trust and importance, and relying heavily on expatriates, do you think that this position can change, or is changing?

I can only speak on behalf of Microsoft and completely disagree with that notion. In Sub Saharan Africa, we have over 450 employees and of these less than 5% are expatriates. The company recognizes the talent in this continent and firmly believes that the key to unlocking Africa’s potential is its people. I head the East and Southern Africa region and I am African. A lot of the senior positions in Microsoft Africa are headed by Africans. In fact fellow general managers in the sales locations that make up Sub Saharan Africa i.e. Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius are all Africans.

Further, Microsoft is partnering with governments and donors throughout Africa to train and develop unemployed and recent graduates in IT skills and competencies to help them integrate the workforce and who will contribute to the development of local knowledge economies.

Recently Microsoft entered the hardware market with the introduction of Windows phones and tablets, is there no conflict of interest, given that Microsoft is a major software supplier?

In my experience, people know what they prefer and appreciate having a choice of phone, PC, tablet and OS experience that uniquely fits their lifestyle. Simply put, people want a great experience that makes new possibilities in computing possible. I can tell you that we are very excited about the work we are doing across Microsoft and the new possibilities Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 brings to the market. We are also excited about the new devices our hardware partners are bringing to market. In many regards, there has never been a better time to buy a new Windows-based PC or tablet with all the exciting form factor choices and the new possibilities for computing.


• Special FeatureMicrosoft has also introduced Windows 8, how has it been received on the continent?

I won’t make predications on sales numbers but I can say we have been very pleased by the positive reviews and responses to Windows 8 from consumers and businesses. Personally, I use Windows 8 at work and home and love it. I am excited that people can use and enjoy Windows 8 right here in Africa.

Although Africa is one of the fastest growing consumers of tech gadgets such as mobile phones and tablets, there is not much in terms of innovation on the actual production of such gadgets being done on the continent, how can Microsoft assist start-up tech companies to catch up with the rest of the world?

Microsoft is a primary driver for an industry-wide effort to encourage innovation for a competitive Africa. We are creating a platform for innovation that provides opportunities for our partners and developers and are a significant investor in innovation across Africa through our research partnerships and through a network of innovation centres that let partners develop local intellectual capital.

Just to name a few projects we have initiated:

• Microsoft Innovation Centres - These centres provide a huge boost for skills development in the local technology industry by providing world-class facilities and support programs in innovation, intellectual capital, technology and business skills for start-ups, software developers, IT professionals, government and universities. –We have a total of 7 centres in sub-Saharan Africa: 4 centres in South Africa, one in Tanzania, one in Uganda, one in Botswana.

• The Microsoft Award for Young Scientists - in partnership with TWAS, the academy of sciences for the developing world and the African Academy of Sciences, recognises young scientists working and living in Africa and whose research in computer science, had or could have an impact in the developing world.

• Imagine Cup – a global competition that encourages young people to apply their imagination, their passion and creativity to technology innovations of the future. The number of African teams making it through to the worldwide finals has increased steadily over the years.

• Bizspark- a global program designed to help accelerate the success of technology entrepreneurs and early stage start-ups. BizSpark provides entrepreneurs with fast and easy access to full-featured Microsoft development tools and production licenses as well as technical support and market visibility with potential investors, partners and customers.

What is Microsoft’s social responsibility programme for Zimbabwe and Africa?

In Zimbabwe we are at an advanced stage of planning an engagement with local NGOs to donate to them software and improve their IT

infrastructure. NGOs can visit www.microsoft.com/ngo to submit their software requests.

Across the continent we have various projects:

• Youth Empowerment - Aimed at 40,000 young people (16-35) in Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania to improve employability prospects – 70% of those trained will be placed in jobs.

• Student2Business (S2B) – connects Microsoft partners and customers with qualified students for entry-level and internship – 240 participants in Senegal, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria

• Government & Education - Supported creation of curriculum for Schools of Government across Africa to train policy makers on effective policy-making in the knowledge society - Licensing agreements in place to provide the latest software and technologies for educational institutions - Preferential pricing licensing agreements made available to ministries of education (95% discount).

• Project Badiliko - Microsoft and the British Council have each committed $1 million (U.S.) to the partnership’s first project, which will build 80 digital hubs at schools across Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda

using Windows MultiPoint Server. The project is expected to train more than 20,000 school leaders and teachers and provide more than 100,000 learners and communities with digital access, while promoting literacy throughout the region.

• Software donations: $7.5m of software donations in the past three years.

TO LEARN MORE AND KEEP

UP-TO-DATE WITH

MICROSOFT’S AFRICAN

INITIATIvE

GO TO THE 4FRIKA WEBSITE:

www.microsoft.com/africa/4afrika/

FOLLOW MICROSOFT:

ON FACEBOOK.facebook.com/MicrosoftAfrica

ON TWITTER.twitter.com/MicrosoftAfrica

Zimbabwe boasts having the continent’s highest literacy rate of over 92%, how can this be harnessed to benefit the country in the development and access of new technology?

That is a wonderful static for this country. It would be great to find out how Zimbabwe achieved this feat and see how it can be replicated across the continent. With a very educated citizenry the country needs to explore ways of nurturing and creating an enabling environment that will foster local technology innovation. However for local innovation to flourish there is need to first protect intellectual property rights by curbing the growing counterfeit and piracy trade locally.




GADGETREVIEWS


• Gadget Reviews

LENOVO YOGAREVIEW

With so many new Windows 8 PCs launching, manufacturers are going to have to find something to make their machines stand out. There a quite a few laptops out now that can “turn into” tablets. Even in Lenovo’s new Windows 8 products they have quite a number. But then there is the IdeaPad Yoga 13, which has taken ideas to the extreme and as far as Windows 8 devices go, there is a hard time seeing any other Windows 8 system or device - right now - being more interesting than the Yoga 13.

You’ve got a matching color chassis on the top and bottom (the Yoga comes in two colors graphite gray or clementine orange), which is accompanied by black trim along the sides. It isn’t a premium eye catcher but the entire machine is well-made nonetheless and it’s nice-looking in a simple sort of way. Opening the computer up reveals entirely black insides — the keys, palmrest, bezel, and trackpad are all the same matte black. The understated look matches well with the ultra-colorful Windows 8 interface, taking no attention away from the display.

Looking at the Yoga 13 as a normal laptop, you might never know the device’s most impressive trick and thus always wonder why in the world this thing is called the Yoga. But if you open the clamshell, and push the screen back, and back, and back, you’ll figure it out. A special patented double hinge allows the screen to flip 360 degrees, making the Yoga 13 much more than just another tablet/laptop convertible. You can fold the laptop upside down, to use the Yoga term “tent mode”, or fold all the way back over the keyboard, that only the screen is exposed so you can hold your laptop like a tablet. There are four positions in particular that Lenovo has been advertising with the machine.

Quick Specs: Technically speaking, the Yoga is an Ultrabook, primarily because it meets Intel’s Ultrabook specification.

• Intel Ivy Bridge CPU i3 / i5 / i7 • 4GB RAM (up to 8GB)• Storage -128GB SSD (Soild State Drive)• 13” inch Multi-Touch Screen

• Dimensions: 13.1” x 8.9” x 0.67” inch• Weight: 1.54 kg• up to 8 hours battery life• Wifi and Bluetooth 4.0


TABLET MODE

LAPTOP MODE

TENT MODE

First off we have the traditional laptop mode – this is the only position the keyboard and trackpad will function in, which is important to remember as we go through the remaining three modes where the 13” inch touch screen display will be used instead.

This is tent mode. In this mode, you’ll fold the screen over even further and then flip the computer on its ends so that it forms something resembling a tent when it’s resting on a surface. Its another cool way to watch movies and even better for giving presentations especially if you’d rather use your fingers to control the action onscreen, or as Lenovo points out, a perfect position for reading while cooking – perhaps reading a recipe on your Yoga 13 while you cook. (For all those chefs out there)

Next up is stand mode, which has the user folding the screen back and flipping the machine over so that it rests on its keyboard. This mode seems best-suited for getting the keyboard out of the way to watch movies especially in bed.

Finally we have tablet mode, which will have you folding the screen all the way around to the back to form your slate. However, because of its size, this is not the kind of tablet you’ll hold in your hands for long stretches of time. It does help, though, that the Yoga 13 is as relatively thin and light as it is, and that so much of Windows 8 is controlled by swiping the edges of the screen.

STAND MODE


The hinge is reassuringly sturdy and as you flip and shape it in all its posistion it never gives that sense of being fragile. All this said, as far as tablet experiences go, the high-quality display makes the Yoga a joy to use and one surprisingly excellent tablet.

DisplayMost average laptops and ultrabooks come with the most popular display resolution of 1366×768. The Yoga 13 has a 13.3-inch IPS display with a 1600×900 resolution. That bump in pixel count means that visuals are much sharper, noticeably crisper and is a notch above many ultrabooks with great color reproduction and brightness. The 16:9 aspect ratio means that the Yoga 13 is great for watching movies and although there are ultrabooks with 1080p dsiplays, - the Asus Zenbook Prime and Acer Aspire S7 (though you will be looking at a much higher price tag for them) - the Yoga’s display is more than good enough for many people.

With Windows 8 being more geared towards touch the Yoga 13’s touch screen display can offer a good Windows 8 experience. The screen features 10-point multi-touch where you can pinch to zoom, perform various tapes and swipes and use the many touch gestures which lie in Windows latest operating system.

PerformanceThe IdeaPad Yoga 13 is not the most powerful computer on the market, but it doesn’t need to be. Using less powerful hardware keeps the price down, and the hardware that’s running under the hood in the Yoga 13 is still enough to keep things running fast.

The Yoga 13 is sold in three configurations on Lenovo’s website: the base model which comes with an i3 processor and 4GB of RAM. You can upgrade to a Core i5 or Core i7 with both able to pack in eight gigs of RAM. Each of the three main configs has 128GB of storage which is held in a fast SSD (soild state drive).

It mostly performs on the same level as other Windows 8 Ultrabooks with similar specs. The presence of the solid state drive, in conjunction with Windows 8’s renewed emphasis on fast boot times pretty much results in an instant-on effect when coming out of sleep mode (takes about three seconds) and boots up in only less than 10 seconds.

The Yoga’s even a vaguely usable gaming machine, which betters it against other ultrabooks. Coming with Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics playing older games will be relatively smoothly, even some newer games are decently playable at native resolution and low settings — though by no means should you mistake this for an actual gaming rig.

When it comes to battery life, The Yoga comes packing a 3860mAh Lithium-Polymer 4 cell battery

The keyboard remains exposed on the back side when using the Yoga 13 in tablet mode, and thankfully the keyboard and trackpad are deactivated in any configuration other than laptop mode.


• Gadget Reviewsthat’s quoted for up to 8 hours of use. Naturally, you’ll probably never get as much use out of a full charge as manufacturers say you will, but from a number of battery test reviews the Yoga managed to last just more than five hours while doing normal day-to-day tasks such as web browsing, watching some videos, playing music and some office work. Its an acceptable result.

Features On the left side of the device is where you’ll find a full-size HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, and the volume buttons for when you’re using the machine in tablet mode. On the front, we’ve got the One Key Recovery button, which is standard on most Lenovo laptops these days, as well as the power button and a battery indicator. Finishing off with the right side, we have the power jack - which Lenovo retooled for the sake of keeping the machine as thin as possible - a USB 2.0 port, a 2-in-1 card slot (SD and MMC) and the screen lock button. The screen lock button prevents the screen from changing orientation, which is a handy thing for when you are handling the Yoga in its many positions. One thing that’s worth noting is that there isn’t an Ethernet port present on the Yoga 13. That means it’ll be Wi-Fi only or you need to get a USB ethernet adapter, so keep that in mind.

The Yoga 13 has a large glass trackpad that supports all the Windows 8 gestures you’d make on the touchscreen. It also supports multiple finger input so classic multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling all work.

Two speakers are hidden in the fan vents on the rear of the machine, and they’re more or less just standard — decent enough, and these actually have richer-than-average sound, but nothing special. So if music is your thing you might want to invest in a good pair of headphones.

A real interesting feature that comes with the Yoga 13 is Lenovo’s Motion Control. If you have ever seen Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect, this is the simplified version of it. Using the Yoga’s webcam it is able to detect simple gestures to cycle through music tracks, pages of text, and more. With it activated, all you have to do is slowly swipe your hand in the air left-to-right or right-to-left to make it happen. It’s a pretty cool feature.

Wrap-upThe Yoga 13 is an intriguing specimen. The folding design definitely takes some getting used to, and it will certainly evoke a few strange looks from people passing by, especially when you start to flip it around, but no matter – the Yoga 13 is a great design. That 360-hinge is just plain cool and well-engineered, and it opens up a lot of possibilities when it comes to actually using the Yoga 13.The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is definitely one of the best Windows 8 machines on the market at the moment.

The hardware is enough to get the job done. That’s all anyone really wants when it comes to an ultrabook (or a tablet for that matter), and in that respect, the Yoga 13 is a solid device.

RIM (Research in Motion) the makers of the once-dominant Blackberry device is about to enter the battle of

its life. This isn’t just about a single phone or a single OS (operating system), it’s about BlackBerry’s fight to stay afloat. The company has had to reinvent itself even right down to its name. Research in Motion is no longer to be known as “RIM,” and will be simply known as “BlackBerry”. Next, was to unveil the flagship phone to take it forward into its new chapter in history and one cannot overstate the importance of this phone. The company’s hopes are resting on this bold new device.

After months of rumours, speculation, online leaks and official teases - the Z10 – is to be the serious contender BlackBerry has been claiming it would be, packing in the specs, software prowess, and services to take on even the most entrenched players in the game. This is Blackberry’s first all touchscreen smartphone running the company’s wholly new operating system experience, Blackberry 10.

So, rebranded, refreshed, and desperate to impress, the company is coming back into the game with force, that much is clear. Can the new phone, with all the blood, sweat,

and tears behind it, which is expected from a company that’s lost a significant piece of its value (to say nothing of its market power) over the last handful of years, put the company back in play or is this too little, too late?

Hardware:The Z10 hardware is a departure from BlackBerry devices of old. Incorporating a fully touchscreen with no physical buttons at the front, it is unlike any BlackBerry’s previous efforts in smartphone design. If anything, the Z10 looks like a beefier, wider version of the iPhone 5.

At 130mm by 65.6mm by 9mm, this makes it slightly thicker and larger in surface area than the iPhone 5, but will still fit comfortably in the hand. It is also a light device, since it’s mostly made of plastic, but it doesn’t feel cheap. Unlike the iPhone the back cover pops off revealing access to the micro-SIM card, 1,800mAh battery pack, and microSD.

BlackBerry includes a USB cable and charger in the box, to plug into the MicroUSB port found on the left side of the device, along

with a wired stereo headset which plugs in on the top edge of the phone. Blackberry did keep with some design traditions with the wake/sleep/power button located on the top center of the device as well as found on the right of the Z10 a three-way volume rocker: in the middle a play/pause button and on either side, buttons for volume up/down (which also both double as hardware shutter triggers for the camera).

Other hardware features include the trademark BlackBerry notification LED, which flashes a dire red to indicate there’s something new to check out in terms of messages, updates, etc., a micro HDMI, NFC (near-field communication) for quick wireless file transfer, 4G/LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.0, with accelerometer, gyro, magnetometer sensors and, of course, GPS. Blackberry’s latest device comes in two color options: black or white.

The Z10 is not the phone to stand out among the crowd and draw in the attention, Blackberry has gone for a safe, refined look; classy but understated.

1 2 3

REVIEWBLACKBERRY Z10• Gadget Reviews

BLACKBERRY Z101- Top view

2- Left and right side view

3- Back cover and battery


Specifications:The phone is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm CPU clocked to 1.5GHz, paired with a fat 2GB of RAM. This makes for speedy and fluid navigation, with applications opening and closing promptly. Web browsing, pinch-zoom, multitasking and other common operations will feel snappy and responsive. 16GB of internal storage (that can be expanded all the way up to 48GB with the use of a 32GB microSD card) is made available for all your files, music, photos and videos.

There are two cameras, a rear-facing 8 megapixel shooter capable of 1080p video with an LED Flash for night time shooting, and a front-facing 2 megapixel camera which can do 720p video capture.

The Z10 has a 4.2-inch display with a 1280 x 768 resolution offering a fine pixel density of 356 ppi (one of the highest on the market). This means text is rendered incredibly clearly, making web surfing a pleasure and photo viewing quite comfortable as well.

It’s a modern smartphone, and it’s stocked like a modern smartphone.

Software :

Blackberry 10 OSBlackberry 10 is a total departure from previous BlackBerry smartphone software and really feels like a completely new OS. BB10 is built around a handful of basic concepts and gestures, some of which would be difficult to discover on your own, fortunately a quick tutorial is provided on first boot up of the device.

You swipe up from the bottom of the screen to wake the device and bring you back to your homescreen no matter where you are. Swipe right to check out BlackBerry Hub and view your notifications, swipe left to access a rather standard list of application icons and folders, and swipe down to check out both system-wide and app-specific settings.

The homescreen, is a page representing your currently running applications (up to eight only, BB10 will automatically close the oldest) in a grid of large, rectangular icons. Those icons sometimes do double duty as widgets, switching over to glance able information (like the current weather) once you minimize the application.

The Blackberry Hub is a unified notification area that encompasses nearly every type of notification or message you will receive on the phone. Emails, SMS, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp and more will all be displayed here. Blackberry 10 offers a quick view called “peek” which allows you to catch a glimpse of notifications from wherever you are in the system. Drag your finger partway up from the bottom of the display, and it zooms out slightly to show a row of notification icons; keep swiping, pulling the screen over to the right, and you expose the Hub. You then have the choice of pulling all the way to fully bring up the inbox, or let go and spring back to what you were doing before.

Blackberry has always been the go to device for the best physical keyboard on a phone and the company’s past experience with touchscreen keyboards has bordered on disastrous (hello, Blackberry Storm). So the stakes are high for the Z10. Fortunately, BlackBerry has not just delivered an extremely good keyboard for BlackBerry 10, but that once you get the hang out of it, the new keyboard may beat the competition in some areas.

A MODERN SMARTPHONE, STOCKED LIKE A MODERN SMARTPHONE.

Quick Look Specs:

• Weight: 137.5g• Size: 130 x 65.6 x 9• 1.5GHz Qualcomm CPU• 2GB RAM• 16GB Storage • MicroSD card support

up to 32GB storage• 4.2 inch Full multi-touch

display• 8 megapixel camera with

LED flash• Battery: Will be able

to get through the day depending on use


Features to look for:

Voice ControlLike Apple’s Siri and Google’s Now voice command features, Blackberry 10 also adds voice controlled personal assistant functionality: you can call a contact, or send them a message (by email, text, or Facebook), schedule an appointment or compose a note reminder to yourself. Log into Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn and you can change your status there, and you can also search your device for apps or content, or the internet all by voice.

Camera: TimeShiftWhile not the most intuitive (or bug-free) camera interface on the market, the BlackBerry 10 camera UI does offer a couple of novel tweaks that make it slightly more interesting than your average phone. BlackBerry is making a big deal out of its TimeShift feature in the Z10’s camera.It’s a clever system: in TimeShift mode, the Z10 fires off multiple frames in rapid succession, once done with its burst business, each identified face is framed by a colored square. This frame allows you to cycle through the different expressions captured. Any Closed eyes, skewed smiles, or blurred expressions can be cut out, and since each face can be processed independently, you end up with a single, master shot with everybody looking their best. Just like magic.

Wrap-Up:

The Z10 is a fine device, well made, and backed by a company with a long track record. It’s easier to use, looks better, is more consistent and understandable for new users. BB10 OS is a huge step forward over BB7, feeling like a modern OS in most respects.

The problem with the Z10 is that it doesn’t necessarily do anything better than any of its competition. It’s different from what most users will be used to on either iOS or Android but nothing in the Z10 stands out as class-leading. However, if you’re a BlackBerry fan, then the Z10 is undeniably a big step up from whatever you’re currently using and is still worth a look at and an alternative to the other platforms.

Web browsing on a Blackberry has never been a joyous experience. You will be happy to know then BlackBerry 10’s browser is everything a modern mobile browser should be. It’s good. Really good. Pages load fast and render just as they would on an iPhone or Android device.

Blackberry devices of old required a BIS plan (aka BlackBerry data plan) from your network provider to get all features working - BBM, browser, email etc. On BlackBerry 10 however, there is no need. You can just use the same smartphone data network that works for iPhone or Android as well and everything will work just fine.

Blackberry World:Blackberry World is your gateway to a plethora of apps for you to choose from and is another crucial area Blackberry has to get right. Unfortunately, it’s the same situation that Windows Phone faces. Blackerry has done an impressive job to rally up support from app developers, launching with about 70,000 apps from the start but if the Apple App Store and Google Play have proven anything, it’s that you have to crack millions of eggs to make a decent omelette in the mobile software game. Numbers are one thing, but the quality gap is what strikes you when you navigate to the apps section of BlackBerry World.

Many of the applications in BlackBerry World seem to be either unfinished or experimental, just never really developed properly. That’s not to say there weren’t some highlights, as big names such as Angry Birds (including the latest Star Wars version), Facebook and Twitter, Skype, and WhatsApp, and various enterprise-focused apps can all be found. Blackberry remains proactive in bringing in developers for its new platform so Blackberry World will continue to grow and with time more popular “must-have” apps will be put in place.


• Gadget Reviews


Nokia has arguably offered up a smartphone with top-notch hardware and design, a screen that is lovely, and a camera that is a marvel in low light - all your shots of that great night out will be incredibly captured. Yes, it maybe hard to ignore just how big and bulky this phone is, but the Nokia Lumia 920 is clearly the most unique Windows Phone 8 experience on the market today.

With the Nokia Lumia 920 we’ve been promised a hero device for Windows Phone 8. It is the flagship handset from the Finnish firm, and is the most feature-packed of the initial Windows Phone 8 line up, as Nokia looks to regain its dominance in a crowded smartphone battlefield.

Windows Phone 8 as an OS seems to be faster and more stable overall. Microsoft has definitely made some performance tweaks, improving scrolling and responsiveness throughout the OS. The biggest frustration is the app selection on offer right now but with time that could possibily change.

So how does the Lumia 920 compete among its rivals ? Can Nokia claim back its supremacy and make you think otherwise when looking at an Android or iPhone device ? Let the showdown commence....

NOKIA LUMIA 920

Performance Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5GHz paired with 1GB RAM. Makes for a smooth and very snappy user experience.

Display 4.5-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1280 x 768. Pixel density of 332ppi.

Build Quality Dimensions: 130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 mmWeight: 185 gComposed of a polycarbonate unibody shell that wraps all the way around the device.

Software Running Windows Phone 8. Nokia adds its own software and apps making the Nokia Windows Phone experience a bit more exclusive.

Camera 8.7 Mega Pixel with dual LED flash, Carl Zeiss optics, 1080p video capture and optical image stabilization -- the first floating lens and sensor in a phone which helps to less blur in photos.

Battery Life 2,000mAh non-removable battery. Depending on use can make it through a whole day. The phone incorporates wireless charger technology.

Our Verdict Nokia's best phone to date. It can be hard to ignore its size but its a great quailty device. The 920 holds the best camera out of the competition. Windows Phone 8 brings a unique feel to using a smartphone.


vs The Competition

Performance Apple’s own custom A6 dual-core 1.2 GHz chip with 1GB RAM. Apple melds it hardware and software seamlessly that has always made the iPhone a fast and fluid device. The iPhone 5 is the fastest iPhone yet.

Samsung has its own chip division and the S3 contains the company's 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor. This chip brings more performance with less battery drain making the S3 one of the fastest Andriod devices.

Uses Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core 1.5GHz processor. 1GB RAM. All new Windows 8 phones are required to use the same hardware specifications, meaning that performance is virtually similar across the range.

Display 4.0-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD with a resolution of 1136 x 640. Pixel density of 326ppi.

4.8-inch Super AMOLED with resoltuion of 1280 x 720. Pixel density of 306ppi.

4.3-inch Super LCD 2 display with 1280 x 720 resolution. Pixel density of 342ppi.

Build Quality Dimensions: 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mmWeight: 112 gThe back is made of anodized aluminum which is prone to wear and scratches so a case would be a good investment.

Dimensions: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mmWeight: 133gMainly built from plastic, it does a good effort fending of scratches and makes for a sturdy device that doesn't feel fragile.

Dimensions: 132.4 x 66.2 x 10.1 mmWeight: 130gBuilt from polycarbonate material gives the HTC good durability and features a matte, soft, surface texture.

Software Apple iOS is now at its 6th level and brings all the latest features but not much has changed visually since the first version.

Upgradable to Android 4.1.2 (JellyBean) plus Samsung's own added features makes the S3 a feature rich device.

HTC adds its own apps and settings to the Windows Phone 8 software. You also get Beats audio for music lovers

Camera 8 Mega Pixel capable of 1080p HD video recording. Single LED flash. There is a facing mic for better sound capture when shooting videos.

8 Mega Pixel. LED flash and 1080p HD video recording. There is fast shutter speeds which helps to capture better moving pictures.

8 Mega Pixel with HTC's ImageChip technology for better picture quailty capture. Single LED Flash with HD video recording.

Battery Life Non-removable 1,440mAh battery. Might not be enough to last a whole full day if constantly in use, so keep the charger on hand.

Removable 2,100mAh battery. Thanks to the battery being removable means even if you are running low on juice you can swap it out with a backup battery.

Non-removable 1,800mAh battery. Is enough to extract a full day, of course depending on your usage. Disabling GPS will increase battery performance.

Our Verdict You can not fault Apple when it comes to quality. The iPhone 5 gives a premium look and feel. Apple's operating system is aging and can do with a refresh as it is not as lively as the competition.

A powerful smartphone for sure. Has a lot going for it but is let down by its built quailty. Compared to the competition the plastic materials doesn't give it that special feel like the rest.

The one on one competitor to the Nokia 920. The HTC 8x, in size its more hand friendly but in terms of extra software is not as feature packed. Still a good smartphone option too look into.

AppleiPhone 5

SamsungGalaxy S3

HTC8x

The Nokia Lumia 920 was built to compete with the top of the range phones and these are its main competitors.

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WHATTHEFUTUREOF3DPRINTINGHOLDS:Imagine a future in which a device

connected to a computer can print a solid object. A future in which we can have

physical products and services delivered straight to our computer or a near-by store over the Internet. And a future in which the everyday “atomization” of virtual objects into hard reality has turned the mass pre-production and stock-holding of a wide range of goods and spare parts into no more than an historical legacy.

Far-fetched as this may seem, people are already using three-dimensional printing technology to create similarly remarkable things. These include medical implants, jewellery, football boots designed for individual feet, lampshades, racing-car parts, solid-state batteries and customised mobile phones. Some are even making mechanical devices. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Peter Schmitt, a PhD student, has been printing something that resembles the workings of a grandfather clock. It took him a few attempts to get right, but eventually he removed the plastic clock from a 3D printer, hung it on the wall and pulled down the counterweight. It started ticking.

While most people have yet to even hear the term 3D printing, engineers and designers have been using 3D printers for more than a decade. Mostly to make prototypes quickly and cheaply before they embark on the expensive business of tooling up a factory to produce the real thing. 3D printers capable of outputting physical objects are starting to present a whole host of new digital manufacturing capabilities. 3D printing may therefore soon do for manufacturing what computers and the Internet have already done for the creation, processing and storage of information.

Using 3D printers as production tools has become known in industry as “additive” manufacturing (as opposed to the old, “subtractive” business of cutting, drilling and bashing metal). The additive process requires less raw material and, because software drives 3D printers, each item can be made differently without costly retooling. The printers can produce ready-made objects that require less assembly and things that traditional methods would struggle with.

To explain the difference between additive and subtractive manufacturing: imagine a sculptor chiseling a block of stone — he chips away until he has the sculpture just as he wants it, and then throws out what’s been whittled away. He began with a block of material and then subtracted from it. This is a subtractive process. In the manufacturing world, this is comparable to material being cut, drilled, milled or machined off. But in additive manufacturing, the 3D printer doesn’t take anything away — it simply creates each bit of the object where it needs it, layer by layer, successively, in an additive process.


• Future Tech

There are a variety of very different types of 3D printing technologies but they all share one core thing in common: objects are built up layer by successive layer, until the entire object is complete. A process that often takes several hours. The first commercial 3D printer was based on a technique called stereolithography. This was invented by Charles Hull in 1984.

Each 3D-printed object begins with a digital Computer Aided Design (CAD) file, created with a 3D modeling program, or is scanned into a 3D modeling program with a 3D scanner. To get from this digital file into instructions that the 3D printer understands, software then slices the design into hundred

or thousands of horizontal layers.The 3D printer reads this file, and proceeds to create each layer exactly to specification. Layers are built from the bottom up. As the layers are created, they blend together with no hint of the layering visible, resulting in one three dimensional object.

Until the last few years, such equipment has been expensive and slow but now fast 3D printers can be had for tens of thousands of dollars, and end up saving companies many times that amount in the prototyping process. Some companies are using 3D printers for short run or custom manufacturing, where the printed objects are not prototypes, but the actual end user

product. As the speeds of 3D printing go up and their price comes down, expect to look for more availability of personally customized products.

For example, Nike uses 3D printers to create multi-colored prototypes of shoes. They used to spend thousands of dollars on a prototype and wait weeks for it. Now, the cost is only in the hundreds of dollars, and changes can be made instantly on the computer and the prototype reprinted on the same day.

Take a look at Nike’s latest football boot which has been created through 3D printing....


The Swoosh has managed to 3D print the base plate of its latest football cleat, the Vapor Laser Talon. The boot was created using a 3D printing method called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), which uses high-powered lasers to fuse pieces of plastic together.

Not only did SLS enable the company to produce a shoe that would otherwise be impossible with traditional manufacturing techniques, but it was also hammered-out in a fraction of the time. There’s no line on when you’ll be able to pick one up (or how much it’ll cost), but we imagine you’ll pay a premium for that extra bit of speed and design.

NIKEin3D

So far we’ve only talked about commercial 3D printers. There is a whole other world of 3D printers: personal and DIY hobbyist models. And they are getting cheap, with prices typically in the range of $300 – $2,000.

An open source project named, The RepRap, really ignited this hobbyist market in the same way the Apple microcomputer ignited the hobbyist desktop computer market in the late 1970s. For about a thousand dollars, people have been able to buy the RepRap kit and put together their own personal 3D printer, complete with any customizations they were capable of making. And what’s more, these printers print most of the parts for more printers. Complete self-replication, including electronic circuit boards, is the goal.

But do you have to be an engineer or a 3D modeling expert to create 3D models on your own 3D printer? No, not at all. While complex and expensive CAD software like AutoCAD and Solidworks have a steep learning curve, there are a number of other programs, many free, that are very easy to learn. The free version of Google SketchUp, for example, is very popular for its ease of use; and the free Blender program is popular for its advanced features.

So what do you print ? Your imagination is the limit. Some people print things like jewellery, some print replacement parts for appliances such as their dishwasher, some invent all sorts of original things, some create art, and some make toys for their kids. With the many types of metal, plastic, glass and other materials available (even gold and silver), just about anything can be printed. Even phone cases....

Nokia has surprised the 3D printing community by unveiling mechanical drawings to allow Lumia 820 owners to print their own case. The Nokia 820 has a removable back cover which can be switched and swapped.

The company is fully promoting the idea with the vision of Nokia owners being able to custom print their own removable shell. The project makes Nokia one of the first big electronics firms to seriously back 3D printing and the first of its kind from a mainstream phone manufacturer.

After downloading the relevant files, it just a matter of getting it printed, 3D printed of course.

A fully physical case ready to be fitted onto the phone just from downloading a a few files over the Internet. No phone accessory shop needed here.

However, such 3D printing isn’t all its cracked up to be - literally.

3D printing is still in its infancy and while there are still needs for improvements to make it a fully viable product for general use, it’s a solid first effort from Nokia.

ASOLIDTOMORROWThis is a disruptive technology of mammoth proportions, with effects on energy use, waste, customization, product availability, art, medicine, construction, the sciences and of course manufacturing.

Medicine will forever be changed as new bioprinters actually print human tissue for both pharmaceutical testing and eventually entire organs and bones.Architecture and construction are changing as well. Now, 3D-printed models of complex architectural drawings are created quickly and inexpensively, rather than the expensive and time-consuming process of handcrafting models out of cardboard. And experimental, massive 3D printers are printing concrete structures, with the goal of someday building entire buildings with a 3D printer. And there are developments where you least expect them: for example, archeologists can 3D scan priceless and delicate artifacts, and then print copies of them. Replicas can be easily made and distributed to other research facilities or museums. It has been used to create a full-size reproduction of King Tutankhamun’s mummy.3D printing will will affect almost every aspect of industry and our personal lives. It will change the world as we know it. Before you know it.

• Future Tech


ENTERTAINMENT WORLDSHOP NO. 9ARUNDEL VILLAGE

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• Gaming Zone

the future awaits

inside

GAMING ZONE



GAMES PREVIEW


• Gaming Zone

The PS4 will be heavy on social interactivity and not surprisingly, Sony’s touting the addition of the “Share” button as one of the biggest features of the DualShock 4, allowing players to easily send tidbits like video clips and screenshots to places such as Ustream, Facebook and, naturally, the firm’s own PlayStation Network.

Now to the games and what titles gamers around the world will be playing on Sony’s new console when it hits retail shelves. The first title showed off was Knack, developed by Sony’s in-house Japan Studio. Clearly a showcase of the console’s horsepower, a brief demo featured hundreds of objects whizzed around the game’s main character with no sense of lag or stutter.

Killzone: Shadow Fall was the second title previewed for gamers. And yet again, the PlayStation 4’s graphical prowess took center stage. Lens flares, stunning explosions, and excellent depth of field simulation made the on-screen warfare all the more engaging. The PlayStation 4 isn’t delivering photorealistic graphics just yet, but you can already see a very noticeable leap over current hardware.

Other games annoucned were:

Driveclub, a team-based racing game. Featuring real car licenses and brings together a collaboration from the makers of “Gran Turismo,” “WipeOut,” “Project Gotham,” and other titles to be the very first racing game title for the PS4.

Watch Dogs is an open world video game being produced by game maker Ubisoft, in which players control a man who can hack into various electronic systems. Examples include hacking into people's phones to retrieve bank data and steal funds, triggering malfunctions in equipment to distract other characters and hacking into traffic lights to cause collisions.

Infamous: Second Son, the next entrant of the Infamous franchise, where once again players are given superhero-like abilities and will continue to be an exclusive on PlayStation system.

Makers of the Diablo series, Blizzard, announced a strategic partnership with Sony that will see Diablo III come to the PS3 and — of course — the PlayStation 4.

DUALSHOCK 4 CONTROLLER

All new touchpad

Mono speaker

Stereo Headphone Port

Light bar LED

Share Button

Rubberized grips

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All new touchpad

Mono speaker

Stereo Headphone Port

Light bar LED

Share Button

Rubberized grips

Capcom unveiled a new gaming engine produced for the PS4, dubbed Panta Rhei. The new engine will be utilized in a new game under the working title Deep Down. By Capcoms record expect alot of fighting and big battles.

More titles will be announced and showcased as the Playstation 4’s release date comes closer.

So we didn’t see the actual PlayStation 4 console being showcased but that doesn’t mean we can’t know what’s inside it. A press release reveals that the PS4’s technical specifications:

• Single-chip custom processor, with eight x86-64 AMD Jaguar CPU cores and 1.84 TFLOPS next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine

• 8GB GDDR5 memory

• Built-in hard drive

• 6x Blu-Ray and 8x DVD drive

• USB 3.0 and auxiliary ports

• Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1

• HDMI, analog AV-out, and optical S/PDIF audio output

• DualShock 4 controller, with two-point capacitive touchpad, three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer, vibration, light bar with three color LEDs, mono speaker, micro USB port, stereo headset port, extension port, 1000mAh battery

• PlayStation 4 Eye camera, with two 1280 x 800 cameras, f/2.0 fixed focus lenses, 85-degree field of view, 30cm minimum focusing distance, four-channel microphone array.


4

• Gaming Zone


REVIEWCrysis 3, which comes out on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, is the third

(well, technically fourth) in a series of first-person action games that mix stealthy sneaking with huge explosions, all draped across lush, exquisitely rendered environments.

Through bleeding-edge graphics and by partly adopting a sci-fi narrative at a time when modern military-styled rivals, such as Call of Duty or Medal of Honor, have become most popular among shooting gamers; the Crysis series has historically been something a bit smarter and more open-ended, making it stand apart from any other such game.

In the Crysis games, you play as a man in a highly powerful technological suit. Specifically,

a "nanosuit" exoskeleton. The suit gives a distinct advantage in combat against mere mortals, as it allows players to

switch between various powerful modes on the fly.

There’s a stealth mode that makes you invisible,and an armor mode that lets you suck up bullets. There’s a speed mode that lets you run super fast and jump super high. You can breathe

underwater, and just in case you didn't feel enough like an Apex Predator already, you can activate a visor that allows you to see heat signatures.

The game, then, is entirely about using your suit’s powers to stalk and kill dudes. Sometimes you hunt human dudes, and sometimes you hunt alien dudes. Journeying through the overgrown ruins that were once New York provides some of Crysis’s finest imagery yet, and coupled with exhilarating combat there’s more than enough to please anyone. The suit isn’t God-mode armour tho, as it runs out of energy, meaning you can’t stay invisible or bullet-proof for too long before you’ll have to pause and recharge. This brings a balancing feature to the game as you have to time and calculate your attacks and assaults.

Luckily, you get a huge assortment of fanciful combat weaponry to take out anyone who is unluckily to be in your way. The more significant enhancement to Crysis 3’s combat is the Predator bow. It’s a one-shot kill weapon that can be used silently without dropping cover, and although the capacity of your arrows are limited, regular arrows can be retrieved from dead corpses to be re-used. The bow also has a handful of secondary fire modes, including electrified darts and explosive-tipped rounds. In fact, so powerful and enjoyable to use is the bow that it very nearly negates the need for the rest of the game’s high-powered arsenal, save for when you come up against some of the more well-armoured foes in the campaign’s latter half.

But new combat features aside, the biggest reason that Crysis 3 is such a consistent joy to play is because its control system is near flawless. The fact that you can quickly augment your weapons with different sights and grips without retreating into menu screens, or the ability to quickly pull out a grenade by double-tapping the weapon-switching button; it all works wonderfully, allowing you to gleefully enjoy unleashing utter carnage on enemies.

Crysis 3 is undoubtly a must play for shoot-ing fans. A beautiful and engrossing package, arguably the first blockbuster of the year.

The first Crysis was released exclusively on PC in 2007 and brought with it a game which looked out of the future as well as system-shattering hardware demands making it the game which benchmarked how good a graphics card and PC system you had. Crysis 3 ups the ante, PC's be prepared...

The creators of Mortal Kombat have unveiled their latest fighting game, but instead of Scorpion and Sub-Zero it stars comic book legends including Batman and Superman.

Injustice: Gods Among Us, is a traditional 3D fighting game, based around the DC comic superhero/villian universe. Except traditional isn't quite the right word, because Injustice is, well, insane. Players can select from a huge range of good guys and bad guys, each with their own characteristic animations and special moves. Superman

hovers above the ground using his raw strength to pound enemies, backing up his melee might with laser vision. Batman has a vast range of gadgets to call upon, slinging batarangs across the fighting stage and using his cape as a shield. Every fighter is rendered in rather lovely detail. Faces screw up with effort or rage, while clothing wrinkles and capes flutter amid the carnage. They all have their own entry and winning animations too, capturing each of the different personalities of the characters.The madness of the game, however, lies in the combat.

This is one brutal, hard-hitting game. From simple grabs to the over-the-top power moves are all incredibly cinematic. Better yet are the game's astonishingly extravagant super moves, charged up throughout a fight. Superman can punch an opponent into space, fly up after him and punch him back down to Earth. The villian Doomsday, slams his opponent into the ground, then punches them repeatedly ,tunneling them through the center of the Earth, out the other side, and back again. It is utterly ridiculous and ridiculously awesome to watch. And to add to this insanity, are the brilliantly interactive environments.

Each environment has around three different areas that players can chuck each other into, with the combat continuing seamlessly, as characters are punched through the walls and floors of a skyscraper.

A player who has never sat down with a fighting game before will be able to jump in and pull off enough special moves to make them feel like they've done more than just button mash. Making this a game you can simply pick up and get straight into the action.

Injustice launches on April 16 2013 for Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Wii U.

Nvidia, the company responsible for much of the guts inside modern smartphones, tablets and most notably the graphics in desktop PCs, is entering the consumer hardware space with its portable gaming system dubbed “Project Shield”.

Project Shield is powered by the Tegra 4 processor and can play console-quality games while still providing a mobile experience. The Shield runs Android and gives access to any game on Google Play. In addition to supporting all of the games available to Android devices the Shield also has the ability to stream games from a home Windows PC equipped with a GeForce GTX 650 (or higher)

graphics card to the handheld device over Wi-Fi, letting users access their library of PC games anywhere in their home. It access the games on the home PC and runs them virtually on the Shield.

Hardware-wise, the Shield has a clamshell design with a gaming controller attached below the device's touchscreen display. The controller has dual control sticks, a D-pad, and multiple action buttons — it should look familiar to anyone who has held an Xbox 360 controller.

Nvidia has not yet announced an offical

release date for the shield, as it still just a prototype but it says that it will be coming in the second quarter of this year.


• Gaming Zone




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SwitchedOn Tech Magazine Zimbabwe: April 2013