Today, Google introduced its new Knowledge Graph in an official blog post which it explains will “help you discover new information quickly and easily”.

Typically, when one enters a search term, the search will be conducted based on the keywords submitted which can come down to just a few words. However, most search terms are far more richer in meaning than just those keywords. When searching for the The Eiffel Tower, for example, you could mean one of the world’s most iconic monuments in Paris, the name of a restaurant, artwork or the replica that stands in Las Vegas.

Google’s new graph or intelligent model “understands these real world entities and their relationship to one another” and will now give you options to determine exactly what you mean. Now, when you begin a search, a window will appear alongside your results, asking you what you mean. The results will then be filtered for that specific entity.

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It is no secret that Apple and Google have been going at each other’s throats in a string of patent and copyright battles over iOS and Android. But it seems that Apple is stepping it up and stepping outside of the courtrooms this time to take on Google. Even after the death of Steve Jobs, who hated everything Android, Apple is still going after its greatest enemy.

Android remains a threat to the iPhone and understandably, Apple wants to rid itself of all things Google. Obviously, they won’t stop their customers from using Google search, so they are trying to do the next best thing, take down Google Maps.

Google Maps currently comes pre-installed on Apple’s iPhone, rebranded as “Maps”. This contributes to Google coffers, from the location queries users make within the app that adds to their data and advertising stream. Rumour has it Apple is developing an alternative to the hugely successful Google initiative. According to sources, it will likely be unveiled at WWDC (Apple Worldwide Developers Conference), where after they will replace Google Maps with OpenStreetMap. I expected this to happen at some stage, and expected it to fail dismally. But apparently, it will make many big shots over at Google scratch their heads.

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Even though most of the mobile networks have been under pressure to decrease data costs, voice calls costs are still rather expensive in SA.

Today Vodacom is launching its new Freedom 99 tarriff plan for prepaid customers, which allows you to call anytime, to any network for 99c per minute. This takes away a lot of guesswork for consumers who have been carrying multiple sim cards, and swopping them based on time of day or which number will be called.

Speaking about the new prepaid tariff, Vodacom’s marketing head Enzo Scarcella said:

“Customers have been looking for simplicity and for value, and Freedom 99 delivers exactly that.  Calls to anyone, anytime, on any network in South Africa are now just 99 cents per minute with Freedom 99.  It really is that simple.”

In addition to this lower call rate, Freedom 99 customers who recharge with R12 or more can talk for free every night with Nightshift. That’s 60 minutes every day for seven days to call Vodacom customers between midnight and 05h00.

Freedom 99 will be available from this Sunday – full details will be announced in the Sunday press.

The role of information technology (IT) in the enterprise is changing from being a supplier of devices to becoming a supplier of pooled computing resources, with cloud computing giving IT professionals an opportunity to increase their strategic value to their businesses.

That’s the word from Microsoft’s global virtualisation director, Edwin Yuen, who will be in South Africa for a series of Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) events this month. The events, in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, are expected to draw several hundred IT professionals from some of the country’s biggest companies.

“Cloud computing enables you to deploy continuous services that are always on, always available, and delivered, down to a set of connected devices,” said Yuen. “South African IT professionals should be looking at ways of evolving their roles with cloud computing to help their businesses be more competitive.”

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Facebook Inc. is looking to increase its IPO by another 25 percent, that will add another 85 million shares and could value its offering at over $18 billion, reports CNBC.

According to a source familiar with the matter, the social network will be filing papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday.

These additional shares will take the size of the new issue from 340 million shares to about 410 million,  a change that “combined with the greenshoe – additional shares that could be sold by bankers in the aftermath of the IPO – could value the total deal at nearly $20 billion”.

A final decision on the IPO price, expected to be between $34 and $38 is likely to be made on Thursday evening with the company going public on Friday.

Shares are expected to begin trading on Friday on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the “FB” symbol.

The Financial Service board has given Vodacom the go-ahead to enter the short and long term insurance market by granting the service provider with a licence. This license, along with the short term license granted earlier this year, allows Vodacom to underwrite and sell insurance products.

Vodacom is able to leverage the direct links it has with its more than 30 million customers and dramatically reduce the costs traditionally associated with acquiring and serving customers. According to Vodacom, these savings enable the network to extend greater value to its customers. Vodacom is also recognised as one of South Africa’s most trusted brands, which is likely to be a major benefit when it comes to attracting customers who are looking for insurance products.

“Our insurance business proposition is simple; we are focused on providing Vodacom customers with unbeatable value. Our customers will benefit from the value and convenience that we are able to offer. The vision is to dissolve the barriers to entry for all South Africans previously unable to access insurance products,” says Mark Taylor, Managing Executive of Vodacom Financial Services.

As part of the strategic decision to enter the insurance market, Vodacom appointed FRANK.NET, South Africa’s fastest growing direct life investment company which is owned and capitalized by Liberty Holdings, to provide administrative and claims support for its long term insurance offering.

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Google explains how an email is sent from your PC, smartphone or tablet to the recipient with a new website called Story of Send.

Google’s blog explains that the site  ”gives you a behind-the-scenes look into how all that virtual information makes its journey through the real world—from your Internet service provider to our data centers and beyond.”

The website is an interactive, animated story, that shows the journey of your emails and also explains how Google protects your inbox from viruses and spam emails.

Google also shows how it saves energy and keeps its data centers up to high environmental standards.

Watch the Story of Send in the video below:

Source: Mashable 

Fundraising platform, Kickstarter, is approaching the $500, 000 mark in pledges for one of its latest projects, surpassing its $35, 000 goal with three days still remaining. The product is called the Remee, the world’s first, comfortable and affordable REM enhancing lucid dreaming mask.

The Remee is based on the concept of consciously recognizing and controlling our dreams and while more information about what is known as Lucid Dreaming has become available through scientific research, many people are unaware of it. So the question is, why would anyone want to do it? Well the creators of Remee believe that Lucid Dreaming can be one of the most profund things you can experience and they want to make it available for the public to enjoy.

Creators Steven and Duncan decided to create something that would allow Lucid Dreaming to occur more often and more reliably. Existing Lucid Dreaming masks were not only extrememly expensive but bulky and when there was no alternative, they decided to make one.

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