For decades the prospect of artificial intelligence (AI) has loomed over the business world. Often warped and distorted by its depiction in fiction, there's been a certain stigma associated with the use and the potential impact of AI. From Skynet enslaving the world to psychotic computers threatening astronauts in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the concept of AI has been taken a long way from the fundamental point of having a software which can independently carry out rudimentary tasks. But there are real benefits it can bring that can make life easier and more enjoyable for workers and citizens alike.

You will often hear business leaders talking about maximizing productivity and driving efficiency in their organizations. Yet, when you look at some of the typical wastage that goes on at companies, a lot of it comes from the standard admin and menial tasks none of us like doing. We recently asked workers, who are often targeted in these productivity drives, if they thought a little automation could help them in their day to day work. Over half said they believe predictive software will be capable of doing 10 per cent of daily admin work in the very near future.

Continue reading →

A lot of Google services have transitioned to gain the title of "apps", and the same is true of a large number of extensions for the Chrome browser. These online tools are essentially cross-platforms apps that work identically Now Google is taking another step to break out of the confines of making apps available to a single platform. Android apps are, quite rightly, associated with smartphones and tablets, but now a small number of these mobile apps are finding their way onto Chromebook.

The (usually) cheap and cheerful Windows laptop/Mac Book alternative (did someone say netbook?) can now start to benefit from a handful of well-known titles from Android devices. It is very early days but as of today there are four Android apps available to Chromebook owners -- Duolingo, Evernote, Sight Words, and Vine -- but we can expect to see this list expand over time. The quartet of crossover apps were introduced today by Ken Mixter and Josh Woodward. A short blog posts penned by the pair explains that the Chromebook support comes thanks to the App Runtime for Chrome (Beta) project.

Continue reading →

I'm a Mac user again. After two years of using Chromebook as my primary PC and going "Microsoft All-In" for the summer with Nokia Lumia Icon and Surface Pro 3, at the end of August I returned to my first love -- despite my reputation for hating it. I'm not anti-Apple. Fanatics who try to silence me, and other journalists not glowing about the fruit-logo company, just want you to believe that I am, by insisting bias where none exists.

Before Tuesday's splashy media event, I anticipated buying a new iPhone -- to fit into my renewed Mac lifestyle. But the size really bugs me. Last weekend, I asserted that September 9 would start the Tim Cook era -- that it would define where the CEO will take Apple. I used iPod nano as example of a product that defined Steve Jobs' leadership style. But Cook soiled my anticipation that he could be so bold. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are too much me-too devices, and they're not what I expected from the great innovator.

Continue reading →

When it comes to storage, more is better. As long as speeds do not suffer as a result, no one will ever turn down the possibility of increased storage space on their devices. One segment that craves storage, is photography. A photographer is an artist, and being concerned about storage limitations hinders the creative spirit. The same can be said of videographers too.

Today, SanDisk sets the hearts of many aflutter, with the all-new Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-I 512GB SD card -- holy cow! Not only can the card hold a ton of data, but it is fast too.

Continue reading →

Microsoft is, according to several reliable sources, planning to announce its next operating system on September 30, with a developer preview arriving on the day or shortly after, and the finished OS expected to appear in spring next year.

We already have a good idea of what the next operating system will look like, and the changes we can expect to see (you can get up to speed on Windows 9 here) but new screens from build 9834, which was created just a couple of days ago, have surfaced on the web that reveal the new Start menu, Modern UI apps running on the desktop, notifications center, virtual desktops and more. Plus something interesting regarding the Start screen.

Continue reading →

The last two years have arguably witnessed the greatest advances in the mobile and telecoms space since the first mobile phone call was actually made on the April 3, 1973. With the emergence of 3G and 4G/LTE, the mobile space has changed beyond all recognition, as have the ways that consumers use mobile phones.

According to Vodacom's quarterly update for the period ending June 30 2014: The average monthly data usage on smartphones increased 44.5 per cent to 312 MB per device, and usage on tablets increased 43 per cent to 848 MB per device. While these figures are unique to the Vodacom group, they are broadly speaking, representative of wider global trends.

Continue reading →

Four major factors will bring about dramatic change in the data center market by the end of 2016, according to a new report released by Gartner.

The factors are: highly disruptive competition, big cloud provider dominance, economic warfare, and nationalism. All of these will occur with different intensities over different time frames but will have a significant impact on the market.

Continue reading →

Streaming media service Netflix is upping its game these days. Despite its woes with broadband providers, and the added expenses these have provided, the company continues to move forward on the innovation front. This time it’s the website getting an update.

The company has announced a new search experience, bringing what it hopes will be faster results and easier access to what you wish to watch.

Continue reading →

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer with over 60 subtypes. It is the fifth most common type of cancer (after breast, lung, colon and prostate) and has an unprecedented prevalence among young adults and adolescents -- it’s the most common form of cancer in the under 30s. It’s also the cancer that killed my mother.

The disease is still largely ambiguous to many, however, and so ahead of World Lymphoma Awareness Day (15 Sept), the Lymphoma Research Foundation is pushing its first-of-a-kind mobile app, Focus on Lymphoma, which provides comprehensive information and tools to help patients and caregivers understand the disease and manage treatment.

Continue reading →

Earlier this year a Kickstarter project I found fascinating came around. Living in an area that experiences severe thunderstorms in summer and the occasional blizzard in winter, I'm no stranger to losing power at times, which can be annoying for anyone.

With this in mind, I bit the bullet and backed the SmartCharge product. I'm not accustomed to paying $35 for a single lightbulb, but the idea was ingenious. Essentially the bulb has a battery inside which keeps itself charged whenever the power is on. When that source no longer exists the bulb switches to battery backup and continues to operate when the switch is turned on.

Continue reading →

Apple has finally conceded that big screens are better, as its new iPhones offer 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays. It has also finally conceded that a mobile operating system is better when it's more open, as iOS 8 supports third-party keyboards and inter-app communication. It's almost like Apple is saying that Steve Jobs was wrong while rival Android manufacturers and Google were right all along. Oh, the horror. How will Apple fanbois be able to explain this?

But, even as Apple is doing all these things, that some of us have already been enjoying for too many years to count, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are still outclassed by rival Android flagships. In fact, the new iPhones are not much different than Samsung Galaxy S3 or Galaxy Note 3, and, as you may know, neither of the two is the latest incarnation in their respective series. Ouch!

Continue reading →

Smartphone manufacturers like to attack Apple. Microsoft is currently running a series of ads in which Siri comes off very badly compared with Microsoft’s own voice assistant Cortana, and now Samsung has released a collection of commercials making fun of the recent iPhone 6 reveal.

In the series, titled "It doesn’t take a genius", two tech guys are less than impressed with Apple’s new iPhone 6 which is lacking and dated compared to the Galaxy Note 4. It’s a similar campaign in some ways to the "A fly on the wall in Cupertino" ads that Microsoft ran, and quickly pulled, a year ago. But while those ads were ill judged and unfunny, Samsung gets the humor just right.

Continue reading →

The adoption of wearable technology is on the verge of becoming mainstream and that process can only be accelerated by the release of the Apple Watch.

A recent study by Acquity, part of the Accenture consulting group, shows that wearable fitness devices are already taking off. By the end of 2015 they’re expected to reach 22 percent adoption and 43 percent within five years.

Continue reading →

When Sony released its Xperia Z2 tablet earlier this year, they moved the goalposts in the global tablet market. The entertainment giant managed to release a serious competitor to Apple's iPad Air that redefined just how thin and light a tablet computer could be.

So how does the Xperia Z3 tablet compare to its predecessor, and what has Sony done to up the game? We go hands on to find out.

Continue reading →

In all the coverage and hype concerning Apple’s event on Tuesday I’d like to concentrate on one easily-overlooked product I feel is by far the most revolutionary of those announced. I am of course talking about the Apple Watch Edition -- Apple’s gold watch.

Where we might expect an Apple Watch to be aimed at competitors like Samsung, LG, or even Sony, the Apple Watch Edition is aimed squarely at Rolex. It is Apple’s first-ever true luxury product.

Continue reading →