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Author: Marc

  • ZABooks iPad App Launches in South Africa

    ZABooks iPad App Launches in South Africa

    Towards the end of last year I atteneded the annual Core Apple in Education Awards, which was held at Montecasino. At that event it was announced that the Core Group would be launching an iPad app in early 2013, which would allow access to a number of Textbooks for Primary & Secondary education.

    Well, today the official launch of the ZABooks iPad app (iTunes link – FREE) was held in Joburg. The app looks fantastic and comes with over 600 textbooks available for purchase at launch. The app is only available in the South African iTunes app store though :(

    You can register on the ZABooks website, and browse the wide variety of textbooks that will be available to purchase. Once you have paid for the textbook it will be available in the iPad app. You can also sketch & take notes in the app once the book has been downloaded.

    This is a fantastic initiative by Core, and it shows the way education is moving. I really think this will be a huge success, and can’t wait to see my kids using this ! There is also huge discounts available to schools who buy bulk licenses for the books !

    I also did a couple of comparisons with some of the books to see the prices compared to the print publishers, and there is sometimes up to a 50% difference ! As an example this book, Study & Master Mathematics Learner’s Book Grade 1,  for Grade 1 maths is R51.95 from the publisher (Cambridge University Press) and is R23.96 from ZABooks !

    From the Info Doc (Download the Full Info Doc)

    ZA Books is a digital book store and iPad app that provides South African schools access to curriculum- relevant textbooks, for use by their learners, straight on an iPad.

    The ZA Books store has partnered with top South African publishers to offer an online platform for a wide range of curriculum-approved, quality textbooks as well as popular books for learners’ reading pleasure. The ZA Books makes it possible to carry all your books on a single device. This app and an iPad is all a learner needs for the journey through their school career.

    ZA Books is brought to to you by Core Group. Core Group is the Value Added Distributor (VAD) for Apple in Sub-Saharan Africa and provides a full range of value added services to ensure support for the Apple product experience.

    Have you managed to download the app and purchase any books ? What do you think ? Leave a comment below !

  • Tecno Mobile N3 Android Smartphone

    Tecno Mobile N3 Android Smartphone

    I recently came across a rather interesting “gadget” in the form of the Tecno Mobile N3 Android Smartphone. You may have never heard of Tecno Mobile, but they are currently one of the fastest growing Mobile handset manfacturers in Africa, with Nigeria & Kenya leading the pack in terms of sales

    Tecno Mobile is based in China and has a range of over 30 different devices aimed at the entry level pre-paid market. What astounded me about the N3 Android (2.3.5) Smartphone, was that it really didn’t feel or perform like an entry level phone. And at a cost of under R1,000 the phone is a steal for an entry level smartphone device.

    The smartphone is quite unique in that it has a dual sim tray, which allows you to use 2 different sim cards. You can also select, through the software, which sim card should be used for your data transfer or which sim card should be used for voice calls. This is a great option given the fierce competition from cellular network providers these days

    The smartphone comes with built in 3G HSDPA, Built in FM Radio, Bluetooth & WiFi as well as fairly impressive 3.0MP camera. The phone comes pre installed with Android 2.3.5 which albeit a bit of an older version of the operating system, defenitley doesn’t disappoint. You have full access to the Google Play store which allows you to download over 500,000 apps. The phone comes pre-installed with a number of apps including Whatsapp, Facebook, Gmail, Office Doc viewer & Twitter amongst others.

     

    Tecno N3 Spec

    • 3.5 inch capacitive HVGA LCD touchscreen
    • Android v2.3.5 (Gingerbread) operating system
    • Full access to Google Play Store (over 500k apps and games available for download)
    • 3D games support (compatible with Talking Tom, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds etc)
    • 3.0MP camera (no autofocus, no LED flash)
    • GPRS/EDGE/3G HSDPA/Wi-Fi internet access
    • Up to 7.2Mbps download speeds on 3G networks
    • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n with internet sharing feature (Wi-Fi hotspot)
    • Dual SIM card support
    • 800Mhz single-core processor
    • 256MB RAM
    • 512MB internal memory (free 8GB Tecno branded microSD card in the box)
    • External memory support (up to 32GB via microSD cards)
    • 3.5mm audio jack
    • Stereo FM radio and MP3 music player
    • Bluetooth v3.0 with Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP)
    • Integration with popular social networking and IM apps (WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Skype etc)
    • Preinstalled essential Google apps (Gmail, Search, Messenger, Talk, Google Plus and YouTube)
    • Microsoft Office document viewer (Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
    • PDF reader
    • Preloaded Android web browser and Opera Mini with excellent HTML support
    • 12+1 months warranty
    Having used the device for 2 weeks now, I am suitably impressed with the over quality & usability of the phone. The battery life has been amazing so far, and apart from having an issue trying to get whatsapp installed (How-To Fix Whatsapp on the Tecno Mobile N3 here) I haven’t had any major issues. This phone is well worth the price and I reckon it has huge potential in the entry level South African Smartphone market.

    If you are looking for an entry into the rapidly growing smartphone market, this is the ideal device for you ! The phone is being retailed at R999 and for more information on where to purchase the phone, you can visit http://www.tecnomobile.co.za or email [email protected]

    You can also not purchase the Tecno Mobile N3 phone through our partner site – GeekShop.co.za

  • Londolozi Launches 4 stunning iBooks

    Londolozi Launches 4 stunning iBooks

    A while back the guys from Londolozi Game Reserve got in touch with me asking about creating & launching their own iBooks for the Apple iBook Store. I pointed them in the right direction, and they came back to me last week letting me know they had finally completed the project and the books had been approved for sale.

    Today they are officially launching these 4 books, and I have to admit, they are awesome. They have captured the beauty of an amazing and world renowned Tsalala Lion Pride in the Lions of Londolozi. For me the highlight was the story behind the Londolozi Leopards, which Londolozi co-founder John Varty developed a relationship with the Mother Leopard in 1979 and has some amazing stories since. A MUST read !

    South Africa has some of the best game parks in the world, and just browsing through the Londolozi site, looks absolutely amazing ! One day :)

    The 4 books they have launched are:

    The Londolozi Journey – $9.99 – A story about how Londolozi became what it is today and some of the behind the scenes stuff we never hear about

    The Leopards of Londolozi – $9.99 – The story of the amazing Leopards and the history of this amazing “love affair” since 1979

    The Lions of Londolozi – $19.99 – How the world renowned Tsala Pride has captured the hearts (and cameras) of Londolozi visitors

    The Londolozi Cookbook – $16.99 – Londolozi is not only famous for the wildlife, but also some of their amazing food.  Executive Chef, Anna Ridgewell, and Londolozi Sous Chefs, Eric and Connie take you into their kitchen in this behind the scenes look of how the food is prepared and how to do it all yourself.

    I have had a peek through some of these books, and I can tell you they are stunning. The team from Londolozi have also offered a couple of promo codes for each book, which we will be giving away right here !

    All you need to do to enter is leave a comment or tweet about this post using the RaffleCopter form below and you will be entered into the draw. Competition ends Monday 17 December 2012 @ 5pm. A US iTunes account is needed to redeem the code

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

  • New iPad Retina & iPad Mini pricing annouced for South Africa

    New iPad Retina & iPad Mini pricing annouced for South Africa

    The New iPad (iPad 4) with Retina Display will go on sale this weekend in South Africa. The new iPad sports a full retina display, 5MP Camera & the new Apple A6X CPU Chip. The brand new iPad Mini Pricing was also announced, although there is no clear indication of availability yet, with Core only saying it will be available “Soon”

    The pricing for the new iPads as follows:

    iPad 16GB WiFi – R5199 | iPad 16GB –  WiFi & 3G – R6499

    iPad 32GB WiFi – R6399 | iPad 32GB – WiFi & 3G – R7499

    iPad 64GB WiFi – R7399 | iPad 64GB – WiFi & 3G – R8599

     

     

     

    The iPad Mini Pricing as follows:

    iPad Mini 16GB WiFi – R3399 | iPad Mini 16GB –  WiFi & 3G – R4799

    iPad Mini 32GB WiFi – R4499 | iPad Mini 32GB – WiFi & 3G – R5899

    iPad Mini 64GB WiFi – R5499 | iPad Mini 64GB – WiFi & 3G – R6999

     

  • iTunes Music Store Now available in South Africa

    It was bound to happen, and finally the iTunes Music store has launched in South Africa. With the announcement yesterday that the iPhone 5 will be released in South Africa on the 14th Of Dec, the timing couldn’t be more apt !

    At a quick first glance, individual songs will cost around R8.99 and full albums around R89.99. It looks like the store will just be offering Music to start with and no movie category.

    South African Idols winner starts off at the top of the album charts with his album “For You” at the number 1 spot, and the popular Gangnam Style as the number 1 song (obviously) . Other than that, the music collection doesn’t look that comprehensive, with only some of the categories being represented, and doesn’t seem as may artists as the US store, but I’m sure with time that will change.

    Another exciting addition is the popular service iTunes Match which stores your entire music library in the cloud allowing you to access it from any device anywhere. The service costs a fairly priced R199.99 in South Africa.

    Finally. It’s about time :)