Next Generation iPhone Case to Have Matte Finish? Enhanced 3G?

Then new iPhone 3G

A consumer review site that aggregates opinions about a large range of devices, TestFreaks recently launched their South Africa website.

Developed by Kristofer Arwin, Magnus Wiberg and Martin Alexanderson (founders of PriceRunner.com in 1999), TestFreaks raised $3mn in October 2008 and aims at creating the world’s largest product review database. Both in terms of completeness (number of reviews) and audience. Today they’re present in 27 countries and receive an aggregated traffic that exceeds 4 million monthly users.

One thing that sets TestFreaks apart from our competitors is our global perspective. We are currently present in 13 different languages and markets, and gather information from more than 50 different markets. This makes as unique and has a positive impact on many things.

Although I don’t understand why there’s a need for local reviews other than language constrains (which is not the case with South Africa), TestFreaks is probably going to capitalize on the domain extension that will bring them better search results in local markets.

Was it a good job? Probably, but only time will tell if TestFreaks can compete with the traditional shopping sites that have their own reviews. What do you think?

Meanwhile, here’s www.TestFreaks.co.za!

PS: I may sound like a smart-ass but why is testfreaks.co.za only “working”. You’d better get your redirect in there, guys …

It has been a long time coming, but finally MXit has been released for Apple’s iPhone. It is available from the iTunes Appstore. MXit is the leading mobile application coming out of South Africa with over 12 million users internationally.

Here are a couple of screenshots of MXit for iPhone:

(via TechStartNews)

Google Squared is the latest product to come out of the Google labs. Supposedly threatened by Wolfram Alpha — some sort of a new search engine that parses information in their own databases and offer the exact answer to what is being asked (like “how many km from Jozy to Cape Town”), Google is trying to get to a whole new level with search. Maybe Search 3.0?

Announced at the Searchology summit yesterday, the new service will add an extra layer of semantic search to Google’s research efforts. That means that they’re going to try and gather as much unstructured information as possible about a subject, and then turn it into a nice, structured database, where everything is labeled, stamped and categorized. But to structure the whole web is something unimaginable. Well that’s what they want to do …

Google Squared is going to present you the search results as squares in an online spreadsheet. “So a search for Small Dogs returns results with names, description, size, weight, origin, etc., in columns and rows.”

Will they succeed? Probably! Meanwhile take a look at this amazing video that will show you what a search for “camera” or “rollercoasters” would look like on Google Squared.

[via TechCrunch]

The print business is not doing so well and Playboy knows it. For the first quarter of 2009 the “Bunny” reported a $13.7 million loss (includes $8.7 million of “impairment and restructuring charges”) and even after last year’s layoffs, things are not looking well on their part. And given the state of the economy, it could be worse in the near future, right?

But they’re considering radical changes.

Apparently Playboy has a “brilliant” plan to save the print business. How? They’re going to raise prices and reduce the frequency (combine two months into one?) their magazines appear at the news stands.

However what interim CEO Jerome Kern is not considering is that less and less people are reading Playboy. With all the free images and videos you get when browsing the Internet, it’s not worth paying the money, since someone will eventually leak them online. And although the Internet is not doing great either (when it comes to advertising budges for example), Playboy would probably do better by just focusing on their online business.

Anyone to bet how long the print magazine is going to last? [via Folio]

In typical fashion, details of the next iPhone has started to leak to the internet. This screen shot is from a new model, with a model number not yet available. It can be seen that the model might sport 32GB storage.

The poster who made this available also had the following details:

600MHz processor (up from 400)

256 MB RAM (up from 128)

3.2MP auto focus camera (up from 2 MP fixed focus)

Digital Compass (or “magnetometer”)

FM Radio

This would seem like logical upgrades except for the following:

If the processor is upped to 600MHz it might negatively affect the already poor battery life of the iPhone. Of course they constantly improve power efficiency, and this is primarily a gaming decision I assume.

The FM radio is also unlikely. Apple has been making iPods for a number of years now, why would they start doing it now? The iPhone has a number of streaming applications available which in a way renders the FM radio moot. But it will still be appreciated especially in a country like South Africa where streaming radio is impossible because of high costs.

Any other areas you think the iPhone needs to be improved? Battery Life? Keyboard?

Via MacRumors

During a recent conference earnings call, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook mentioned that if you are interested in a Apple netbook, maybe you should look at a iPhone for now. He mentioned that netbooks today are not something Apple would be interested in having their name on a product.He said that netbook’s keyboards are cramped, and the hardware is junky.

He did say however that they are watching the netbook market closely (did they NOT notice it is selling like hotcakes?) to see how consumers react to it, also saying that Apple has some very interesting products coming down the pipeline.

Yes, I would love to have a Apple netbook, in fact I would probably buy one immediately if they can make it under $600 and have it run Mac OSX (not iPhone OS). The Intel Atom processor is fine (especially of you consider how well some OS’s run on it, like Windows 7), and 2Gig RAM will be sufficient.

The biggest reason you will not find a Apple netbook is the following – it will cannibalize its other models. Think about it – if you make a 10 inch Apple netbook available at between $500 and $800, the market for the baseline Macbook dissapears, and perhaps more importantly, who would buy a Macbook Air then at its ridiculous current asking price?

Shhh – heres a secret: The Macbook Air is just a very expensive netbook. Yes, it has a 13inch screen, but it has a low voltage processor, cramped, non upgradable RAM and a small hard drive (with the option of a SSD). Now what is going to happen to Apple’s notebook poster (pull out of a envelope) child if they make a netbook?

I know iPods and netbooks are not quite the same market, but many people would also consider a very small netbook compared to a iPod Touch. Personally, I would rather spend $600 on a iPhone than a Mac”Net”book, but that is just me. I love that a small computer fits in my pocket and gives all internet needs on a smaller, reactive screen. But face it, $600 is a lot to ask for a phone (even though it is more computer than phone). People who believe this are currently jumping at netbooks.  If you take into account what the average person (not typically the person reading this type of blog) uses on a computer, a netbook is perfect. Email, photo organizing, a little bit of word processing, music and movies. Why on earth would you spend more on a computer?

Maybe they bring one out within a month, but then Apple will do something it has not done in a long time – it will give customers true choice.

(I would actually love Apple to prove me wrong – the sooner the better.)

Apple has been rated the best smartphone in the latest JD Power satisfaction ratings. The different smartphone manuafacturers were rated according to ease of operation, operating system, features, physical design, and battery function.

The iPhone performed very well in all these categories except for battery life. Well, this goes without saying. The typical iPhone user has to charge his phone every night.

HTC came second, with LG in the third spot. Funnily enough Palm was in 5th place, but this will probably change within the next year seeing as the Palm Pre is released, which will be great for competition in this sector. To combat the Pre (and its WebOS), Apple has already released a beta update of its OS, iPhone OS 3.0. The final version will ship in June/July.

The third generation iPhone will in all probability be announced at the next WWDC, which will be on 8 June 2009. Here’s hoping that battery life will improve.