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  • This time, Smokoo really is a SCAM

     

    The last time I posted that Smokoo was a scam, I got asked to take the post down. Thanks to a couple of things going on in my life at the time, I didn’t have much of a choice, but to take it down.
    But now, I am really confident in saying, they have pulled off such a stupid scam, they really are the laugh of the town.

    A while back Smokoo decided to auction off an iPhone5– http://www.za.smokoo.com/auctions/smokoo_iphone5

    Yip, you read that. iPhone5. Which didn’t even exist then, and still doesn’t exist now. This evening, Apple announced the launch of the iPhone4s, while Smokoo hapily boasted about an iPhone5 they auctioned off. The winner ended up paying R2.97, foe what is effectively now a cardboard box. Ouch !

    If you take a look at the auction page, they go on to give specs which they “think” would be in the iPhone5.

    Breaking news – Apple iPhone launch – now it’s official: Invitations have been sent out for the event on October 4, saying, ‘Let’s talk iPhone’. Apple staff have been banned from holidays in the first two weeks of October in America, and tech insiders expect the iPhone 5 from the launch to appear in stores shortly after – on October 14

    It doesn’t get more exciting than this!

    The iPhone 5 is set to become the best-selling iPhone of them all. Be the first to own one by securing this auction. Place the final bid and the iPhone 5 is yours.

    Model: iPhone 5 32GB

    Some of the most-wanted features on the iPhone 5 include: Enhanced voice control, Micro-HDMI out, Removable battery, Expandable memory, Biometric security, NFC-enabled, Better home-screen and notifications system, Enhanced cloud-computing support, FaceTime over cellular network, Flash support, Larger screen, Better camera, Dual-core processor, Upgraded 3D graphics and Fewer dropped calls.

    Smokoo has garnered a reputation for being the first site to sell the iPad, iPad 2 and the iPhone 4. Our customers save an average of 96% on these items and other high-end items like cars and bikes.

    Notes:
    iPhone 5 will be shipped after official release by Apple
    Product pictures are for illustrative purposes only
    Shipping cost includes insurance

     

    What the…Seriously. Removable Battery, Micro-HDMI out, Biometric Security. SERIOUSLY. My eyes are bleeding !!! Somebody help me. The only thing they did seem to get right was the release date. Well done Smokoo !

    Honestly, I can’t believe that these guys are still going. It utterly pisses me off when companies try and push stuff like this, KNOWING that people will fall for it. It is utter BULLSHIT.
    I honestly hope Smokoo gets taken to task for this Smokoo Scam. It is totally unacceptable !!

    [Updated] Just seen on their FB page, they also offering you a “chance” to go to New York to “…get your iPhone5 with the Smokoo Team”. Really ? Really !!

     

  • iPhone 4s launched & available in South Africa in December

    iPhone 4s launched & available in South Africa in December

    So tonight we heard all about the new iPhone4S that Apple launched at a small press briefing, with only 350 people attending. I followed the event live on the Engadget live blog, which was super awesome and kept up to date.

    While many people expected a iPhone5, we got to see the new iPhone 4s, which includes a couple of cool new additions to the current iPhone. Some of these cool new features include:

    • Well firstly we got to hear about how well Lion is doing (Love Lion) and then music & iPods. Interesting, the iOS operating system is now installed on over 250 million devices ! That’s quite a bit. Also 16 billion songs have been downloaded from iTunes
    • iOS5 & iCloud will be available on the 12th October. Free update
    • iPhone4S stays the same form factor, but now includes
      • A5 chip, which is the same as the iPad2. So effectivley a much faster phone
      • A new antenna system, which should hopefully help with all the crap dropped calls we have at the moment
      • An 8MP camera, which should iPhoneography a lot more interesting
      • 1080p Full HD video recording, which is also quite cool. Also has video stabilizing
      • Wireless Airplay. I have used this on the iPad2 with the Apple TV which is actually pretty cool and has loads of potential
      • iCloud. Coming 12 October. Let’s see how this one works
      • iOS5, which is also pretty cool. Lots of new cool features
      • Siri, which is a voice activated assitant. Hmm, not really sold on this one, and I don’t know so much about the limitations in South Africa. Let’s see
    • The iPhone4s will be available in the US on the 14th, and looks like we might see it here in around December
    Overall, not the most exciting Apple keynote we have ever had, but I guess we will just have to wait and see how this one works out. The APPL stock also took a bit of a dive and didn’t seem to recover. The pricing does not change for the US, so hopefully our pricing should stay the same. Added to that, the iPhone 4 will only now be available in a 8GB model.
    I’ll also be updating here with more news if I missed anything out. What do you think of the iPhone4S ? Lemme know in the comments below.

  • Apple’s ‘Let’s Talk iPhone’ keynote tonight – 7pm

     

    If you even midly interested in anything Apple you will know that the iPhone 5/4s announcment is taking place tonight at 7pm South African time. While there is NO official live video streaming, there always seems to be someone in the audience who has a cellphone and is live video streaming.

    I am going to be following the Engadget Live Blog, which always seems to be quick with their updates and also post some really good quality pics. The Gizmodo live blog is also pretty good.

    Also, you can listen to TWiT.tv, who offer some really good audio comments of the announcement. If you follow me on Twitter, I will be tweeting some thoughts & highlights as the event progresses.

    To get an idea of what we are in for, check out the Bandwidth Blog team’s take on what to expect with the iPhone 5.

    I can’t wait to see what is announced, and am really looking forward to it. Blog post up here as soon as we have all the info ;)

     

  • iMaverick iPad app – A total let down

     

    I am a big fan of South African developed apps. Actually, probably one of the biggest advocates of iPhone & iPad development in South Africa, if I have to be totally honest.

    But today, I downloaded the new iMaverick app (Free – Sorta). There has been loads of hype surrounding the app over the last couple of months, with huge noise being made about them giving you an iPad if you bought a subscription. Fair enough. I have no qualms with their business logic, but the iPad app itself is shocking.

    I don’t understand how Apple allowed it to go onto the app store like that, and given the hype surrounding the launch of iMaverick, I suppose I expected a lot more. Also given that the screenshots in the app store show one of their first editions (2nd Sep) it looks like the app has been probably been rejected once or twice. I been down this road :)

    Some of the things that I picked up on from a user interface & use experience point of view:

    • The app itself is 26MB !! This is huge, and won’t be able to be downloaded over a 3G connection. Anything over 20MB = WiFi. The content is mostly stored in the cloud, and only downloaded to your device on a daily basis, so the initial app size should be a lot smaller than 26MB. By comparison Angry Birds is only 19MB.
    • The app store description reads: “Africa’s first media tablet-only daily newspaper”. . . . . Yip. That’s it. Offers me absolutely no value as a potential subscriber to tell me about rates, or (probably the most important) that I actually NEED to be a subscriber to use the app. You have unlimited space here to tell people about your product. Use it. If I was a first time user looking on the app store for African News, and came across the iMaverick app, I would have NO idea what I needed to do. The screenshots also offer no visual assistance to show me what the app is about. Just a few covers of the PDF’s that we have been able to get, and that’s it.
    • Once the app has downloaded, and you open it in landscape, it auto rotates to portrait, and cuts off half the screen(small aesthetics)
    • The info screen then loads and doesn’t offer me anything in terms of pricing to sign up. I want to buy the subscription, and I just can’t. I suppose this is a finiky one, but the buttons look terrible. They the stock standard iOS buttons. Eeeuww
    • The “Intro Version” they offer you is from the 10th of September. Old news doesn’t help me. I should be able to read the latest edition, to make my appetite whet for more, more, more !!
    • Once you have exited the app, and come back in, that initial welcome message is gone. Can’t ever get back there, can’t even read my 10th of September edition again :( You can now see all the latest versions, but if you click on one of them, it comes up with an error message telling me “Alert – Not logged in” – Huh. Firstly change the “Alert” title and tell me what I need to do. Clicking ok takes me back to the page. Basically stuck.
    • I see there is an info button in the bottom right, so I click that, and it get taken to a login screen. Again, no info about what to do, or how I can buy a login, which seems like gold. There is no way to get back to the previous screen, leaving me highly frustrated. It does give me an option to mail iMaverick. Which I declined. Thanks. Hold app, delete button. Bye.

    All in all, a very frustrating app to use, and really hope the team at iMaverick do a V2, to try and fix some of these basic usability issues. /Rant Over

     

     

  • Get your tickets for Tech4Africa NOW !

     

    You may recall last year, I was fortunate to attend the innugral Tech4Africa conference in Jozi. I walked away on the Friday feeling inspired and motvitated to help grow the tech space in South Africa.
    It’s been over a year now since I walked out those doors, and I can honestly say that I have achieved some of my motivations. My inspiration to blog more, and start more side projects has has definitely worked, with a few new thing already done, like the iPhoneography Exhibition, as well as some other things that I have done & am still working on in the pipeline.

    The conference takes place this year on the 27th & 28th of October, at the Forum in Bryanston (awesome venue)

    I am really going to try and make a plan to attend this year, and hopefully if all goes according to plan I should be there. There are some great speakers lined up including Josh Spear, who will be talking at the main keynote, talking about Social Media in Africa, which is a very relevant topic at the moment with the growth we seeing. The other keynote speaker is Herman Chinery-Hesse who will be talking about innovation & technology in Africa. Herman is a software engineer by profession & 19 years ago he co-founded the SOFTtribe limited, one of the leading software houses in West Africa. I am also very keen to check out all the Mobile Talks as these are going to be NB in the next couple of years. There are some fantastic Mobile talks lined up as well.

    All in all, I reckon the Tech4Africa conference is gonna be well worth it, so I highly suggest getting your ticket now, before they all run out ;) Check out the Tech4Africa website for all the info & to register