With all the recent price hikes around the country, we had some good news with ADSL capped and uncapped prices dropping across the board.

Being an Afrihost customer, I’v had tremendous savings on all our Adsl accounts.
Read more here and here

New Ipad Pricing
The new iPad (aka iPad 3) was released to the South African market on 27th April. Pricing has been quite competitive with the rest of the world and is available at hundreds of locations countrywide.

iPad with Wifi
16gb – R4999
32gb – R5999
64gb – R6999

iPad with 4g LTE
16gb – R6299
32gb – R7299
64gb – R8299

Note, 4G is not available in South Africa yet however our local 3G networks will be compatible.  The older, but not replaced iPad 2 will still be available and at a lower price. 16g wifi models start at R3999
for a list of stockists, click here

Helpful and Informative Websites

All South Africans will remember the Chappies chewing gum wrappers, filled with all sorts of facts and information.  This is exactly what i thought about when i visited
http://www.todayifoundout.com/

www.sleepyti.me
This is an online sleep time calculator.  You simply input the time you wish to wake up and it will suggest a few suitable times that you should go to sleep at.
Scientifically its been said that  one sleep cycle is 1h30minutes and a good nights sleep is 5 to 6 sleep cycles.

File Recovery:
We received a question from one of our listeners who accidentally deleted his holiday pictures from his camera SD card.

solution: http://www.recuva.com/
Recuva recovers files deleted from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player. And it’s freeware.

Google gets its drivers license
Earlier this month the American state of Nevada granted Google a drivers license.  Sounds mundane but this applied to Googles driverless vehicles.

The search engine powerhouse modifed a Toyota Prius with an advanced driving program, roof mounted camera, radar sensors and laser range finder.
These vehicles can drive themselves, steer and control all automatically.

In their testing, they racked up over 140 000 miles of driving and the only single accident was a bump from behind…from a human driven car.

read the full article here:

This Spending Spree Infographic by Intuit  was based on USA consumer statistics,  still we can learn tons from it in South Africa.  Ecommerce is still in early stages here with more and more brick ‘n mortar businesses and niche stores popping up all the time.  It may not be easy for someone to compete with the likes of Kalahari.net or Takealot.com, not unless you have very very deep pockets but  there is a HUGE gap for niche stores, more so for small businesses with an established store and product line.     Your customers might order through your website, or just use it as a reference and choose to visit your store.

Check out the infographic below for more:

click to enlarge

We started of with “What happens in one minute on the internet”
Some figures include:

• 3000 photo’s uploaded
• 100 000 twitter tweets
• 6 million Facebook views
• 2 million searches on Google
• 1.3 million views on YouTube and
• 30 hours of YouTube video is uploaded
• 204 million emails sent
• $83 000 worth of sales on amazon.com

For the full article and infographic, visit

http://memeburn.com/2012/03/a-lot-can-happen-in-an-internet-minute-infographic/

Rechargeable Women’s Handbag
Next up, we spoke about a tote handbag which is able to charge your gadgets.

Vodafone and fashion designer Richard Nicoll partnered up to launch a women’s handbag which doubles up as a phone charger.  It can charge Blackberry, iPhone and Android devices.

How it works is, you charge the handbag from a normal wall outlet.  The power is then stores power and a built in retractable cable allows you to plug in your mobile phone for some juice.

How it works is, you charge the handbag from a normal wall outlet.  The power is then stores power and a built in retractable cable allows you to plug in your mobile phone for some juice.

No word on pricing but this is a good example of functional technology.
more info at
http://wiwt.com/blog/lfw/richard-nicoll-re-charging-tote-bag/
http://www.richardnicoll.com/

Little boy lost finds his mother using Google Earth

This was a heartwarming story with a very happy ending. A perfect example of using technology for the greater good.
Little boy lost finds his mother using Google Earth
An Indian boy who lost his mother in 1986 has found her 25 years later from his new home in Tasmania – using satellite images.

full story at http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17693816

Biometric ATM machines
I’m surprised that this technology is not so readily available. In Japan they are starting to offer ATM machines with fingerprint biometric access. Doing away with pins and chip based cards. You simply authorized yourself with your hand print.
more info at:
http://www.tegato.com/2012/04/biometric-atms-will-read-your-hands-not-your-bank-cards/

We featured Crescent Rating on the show a few weeks earlier, this time we talked about their world first Air Prayer Travel time calculator.   Perfect for all musaafirs (traveling Muslims)

You simply fill in your departure and destination times, country and airports. Then choose the prayer times and it will generate a print friendly report.

Still in beta stage so they welcome any feedback and suggestions.  I’ve been told they are working on a mobile app and should be available soon.

http://www.crescentrating.com/en/air-travel-prayer-time-calculator.html

This week (sunday 15th April) we spoke on a variety of topics.

ML Sajjaad and I continue our Blackberry vs Android differences (me being a ‘droid fan), this time we spoke about RIM’s early beginnings in the mid 1980′s and their recent decision to refocus onto enterprise and corporate services.  Interesting to note was this (enterprise) made RIM and Blackberry very successful, however during their hey days there was no iPhone or Android to compete with.   Time will tell how this plays out.  Having had the misfortune of using a BlackBerry a few weeks ago, I’m amazed at how their cluttered and awkward user interface has become such a hit in South Africa.

Ainonov Android Tablet
Available for a mere R1500 including delivery to any South African address, this 7″ Android powered tablet brings the latest version of Android (version 4 aka Ice Cream Sandwich) and a variety of features.  Myself and Saaleha are contemplating buying this for our 10 year old niece. Well spec’d and very affordable, this is perfect for parents wanting to give their kids a useful and educational gadget.

Visit the Ainovo website for full details, pictures, specifications and ordering info.
http://www.ainovo.co.za/product.html

Pay with Good Deeds instead of Cash.
We stray away from tech for a bit to showcase an interesting concept. A Pop-Up chocolate store that sells it wares by good deeds.  Instead of purchasing your cocoa goodness with cash, you pay by pledging to do a good deed.  Staff are equipped with iPads and allow you to post your pledge to your Facebook wall.  An excellant marketing idea.

more about it here:
http://rblm.dk/?news=the-generous-store
and http://www.anthonberg.com/

Foldable Mountainbike/Rucksack
For the outdoor and cycling fans, a unique mountain bike that doubles as a rucksack and is foldable.
The Bergmönch is an Austrian made mountain bike, when folded, can be worn as a backpack and includes several storage compartments. Once unfolded it is a two wheel downhill mountain bike.

Read more about it watch their awesome promo video at:
http://www.bergmoench.com/En/

*Idea* Would be great if local tour companies hire this out for trails and backpacking.

HalalTube.com
Somewhat of a video aggregator, the team at HalalTube.com scours the web for all authentic Islamic videos and media. They archive and embed various videos of leading Islamic scholars on their site.
You can browse by speaker or by topic. Being an American project, most of their lectures are people they are familiar with.  Unfortunately not many South African lectures there.  They do accept submissions so feel free to send them an email or ten.  On the same subject, it would be great to see more of our South African Islamic scholars begin recording and uploading their lectures to various online services.
www.halaltube.com

Samsung Galaxy Pocket
We only had a few minutes to talk about this nifty smartphone from Samsung. Soon to be launched in South Africa with a predicted price of under R1000, the Samsung Galaxy Pocket is perfect for students. Included is the Samsung Education Hub which includes the official South African education curriculum (grade 8 to 12).
Check out the specifications and a review here http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_pocket-4612.php

Minerva Shipping Extension
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/pickup-at-event-multiple-flatrates.html
- FREE – This extension offers your customers the option to collect their order at your store (or other collection points)

Web Forms
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/webforms-community-edition.html
- FREE – A nifty form creator complete with Captcha allowing you to build your own contact forms and embed it anywhere on your website.
In my case I had a little Product Enquiry form put into all product pages.

Bank Payment
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/bankpayment.html
- FREE – Allows your customers the option to pay by Bank Transfer/EFT, the checkout process is complete and custom is given bank account details to complete payment.

Fooman Speedster
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/fooman-speedster.html
- FREE-  Must have extension that gives your Magento store a speed boost. It compresses and caches your JS and CSS code.

Seamless Delete Order
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/seamless-delete-order.html
- FREE- For some odd reason (staff security i guess) Magento does not allow you to easily delete orders. I’d recommend this extension to use in a test enviroment and delete all your sample orders. In a Live store, rather cancel the order and keep a record of it somewhere instead of deleting it altogether.

Fooman Jirafe
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/jirafe-analytics-free-extension-4173.html
- FREE – A fantastic little realtime analytics extension. While not as indepth as Google Analytics, it gives you some quick and valuable information such as keywords, referrals, conversion info and more.

Ebizmarts Mailchimp Integration
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/ebizmarts-mailchimp-sync-official-full-mailchimp-integration.html
- FREE – a must have extension to integrate your magento store with your Mailchimp email list and order tracking

Global PDF
http://www.maisondulogiciel.com/english/magento/global-pdf.html
- 90euro – This extension allows you to create a PDF catalog of your store.  You can edit existing pdf’s for your shipping, invoicing and so on. We use it primarily to generate a printable catalog of our products. Their support is rudimentary at best but documentation is precise and detailed. More then enough to get going.

Quick Add Product
http://www.maisondulogiciel.com/english/magento/quick-product-creation.html
- 60euro -  The default version of this extension allows you to create products quicker then the normal Magento “step by step” method. Unfortunately it lacked the ability to include an image and category.  I have since modified this to include those missing features and further modifying it to do a few custom actions. More on this in another blog post.

Magento Payment Gateway -
*I have not used this but most likely plan on using it in coming weeks.*
http://www.customscripts.co.za/
- R600 (about $70) – A  Magento MyGate payment gateway script. They also offer various other gateway extensions.

This is by no means a definitive Magento list however  I can assure you i have tried, tested and successfully implemented these in my stores.

I would suggest browsing the Magento Connect repository for hundreds of free and premium themes that you can download or purchase, I decided to go  with www.HelloThemes.com

They offer an awesome range of themes, all of which are professionally designed, polished, seo optimized and up to date with current design trends.  Undecided on what theme to choose (they all looked so good!) I purchased a 1 year Theme Club license for $99.  Essentially giving me access to ALL  their past themes and at least 2 new themes a month for the next year. Bargain!

Like any reputable Theme seller they offer detailed installation documentation, setup video’s, support forums and more. Off course you could opt for a completely custom developed design and theme but expect to spend on this. Depending on the designer, and their talent one should budget a minimum of $600, and ideally shoot for upwards of $1500 for some really good designs.

Lastly I needed to modify their themes to suit my needs.  Work like this is normally to small for a company to take on and I resort to freelancers.   Sites like Freelancer.com and Maglance.com are great for finding freelancers willing to take on small jobs.

Often I advise companies to treat an online store like a physical store. In a brick & mortar store one can spend thousands of rands on fixtures,  point-of-sale signage, lighting, flooring etc. Using the same reasoning, surely you should be spending on making your online store look professional and polished.   The notion of “online store” being cheap and free needs to be dispelled. Sure start-up costs and overheads might be lower then a brick & mortar store, but overheads are there and one should be spending some cash to keep things running smoothly.

With the above being said, I try to go live as soon as possible. Afterall if your ecommerce store is not live and selling, then it is running at a loss.  Be reasonable and realistic, do as much as you can to get things going, the rest you can tackle after you go live and tweak as you go along.

Next post: some of the extensions I use and recommend.