YouTube South Africa now speaks Afrikaans and Isizulu with the official launch of the additional local language versions today at the second annual Google South Africa event in Johannesburg. This is an event where experts from around the world meet with businesses, marketers, entrepreneurs, and web developers to discuss the future of online business and web application development.

The announcement comes one year after the launch of the South African version of the world’s largest video sharing site. YouTube.co.za, launched in May 2010, enables South Africans to find and share local content and was the first local YouTube domain in Africa.

Luke Mckend, who delivered the keynote at the event said that “The new language versions mean that Internet users whose first language is isiZulu or Afrikaans can now fully enjoy what YouTube has to offer.” Popular Afrikaans channels include HuisgenootTempo, Die Heuwels Fantasties and Pasella TV while Mducomics and JusGorilla offer Zulu content.  A useful tool offered by YouTube South Africa is YouTube Feather, a ‘light’ version which allows users with a slow internet speed to use the site’s most basic features to have a fast video watching experience.

Some interesting statistics you may not know: In South Africa, YouTube views have increased by 175% in the past year and according to a survey conducted by Ipsos and TNS, 50% of smartphone users watch videos on their phones every month.

You can set up an account with YouTube South Africa here.

Here at BandwidthBlog we love hearing about promising new startups and Google Umbono seems to agree with us as SampleBoard.com, a design-focused website, has been selected as one of four start-ups in the first ever Google Umbono programme, for online entrepreneurs.

SampleBoard, that launched in 2010, offers a cloud-based image editor for creative professionals to quickly and easily output inspiring designs and digital mood boards which are an essential element of the creative process and ensures that client briefs and concepts are on track throughout a project. Where before, fabric samples, photographs, tape and cardboard were used, SampleBoard provides an eco-friendly, time efficient web-based alternative. The website allows users to upload images, use any of the 30 000+ images available in its library and export and share the finished product.

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Back in October we posted the accidentally revealed video of Gmail’s new design plans. Well, now Jason Cornwell, User Experience Designer, has made it official on the search giant’s Gmail blog along with an instruction video and screen shots as the new look becomes available to all Gmail users. Users logging into their accounts will now see an option at the top or bottom corner of the screen to ‘Switch to the new look’.

Here is a more specific look at what Gmail has finally rolled out.

Streamlined Conversations:
The conversation view has been redesigned for improved readability with the addition of email threads to follow the entire conversation and profile pictures of contacts.

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Google’s online street view is allowing small businesses such as restaurants, gyms and retail shops to provide viewers with what lies inside their shops, beyond the shop fronts that are shown on the map service. Small businesses in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States have been able to invite Street View photographers into their spaces to capture images that will appear online.

A test programme that was launched in April 2010 was showing success as a result of an increase in panoramic images taken inside businesses that volunteered to be part of the project.

Google spokesperson Deanna Yick said “We’ve been seeing renewed interest in the past few days because, as promised, we’re getting more imagery online.”

The availability of imagery gives viewers an extensive view of the shops to decide if they want to visit the store and what they might find on offer. The images are reportedly in such detail that one can see what’s on the shelves and even take a virtual tour with the 360 degree navigation tool. As usual, Google is continuing to blur the faces of bystanders captured in the pictures to ensure individual privacy.

image source: dailymail

If you’re looking for something a little (or a lot) more luxurious than what’s readily available on the market, then you’d be interested in the latest iPad product offering from Stuart Hughes. The luxury goods designer and craftsman has dressed an iPad 2 with a gold, diamond and dinosaur bone casing appropriately named the Gold History Edition. The iPad, selling for a price of £5 million, is made of 24ct gold, the thigh bone of a 65 million year-old T-Rex shaved and splintered into 75 million year-old Ammolite rock and encrusted with 53 flawless diamonds.

Only two units of the exclusive gadget will be produced.

If you’re looking for more variation, Hughes has also designed the iPad Supreme Fire Edition, weighing in at 2.5 kilograms of solid gold and the solid Platinum iPad Supreme Edition, the worlds first solid Platinum and diamond iPad.

source: mashable

In response to the dramatic increase in the number of smartphones currently in use in the South African market, Groupon South Africa announced today the launch of the official Groupon application for iPhone and Android smartphones, as well as for the iPod touch. The app is available for download in the Apple App Store and the Android Market.

Wayne Gosling, joint Groupon SA CEO said that “South Africa really is a mobile-tech environment; we have limited access to internet compared to other countries, and so most people use internet through their phones. Groupon international now feature Blackberry, iPhone and Android apps, and as these options become available in South Africa it will start to have a real effect on the way consumers purchase.”

With the smartphone apps, South Africa has joined a growing number of Groupon markets worldwide that offer mobile app capabilities via mobile devices, including North America, Australia, Hong Kong, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Some of the features available through the new apps will revolutionize the way group buying is conducted in South Africa. Features include:

• The ability to browse daily deals and buy on the go.
• Accessing your account (sign in to your existing Groupon account to find and organize your library of previous purchases).
• Signing in to your account through Facebook or signing up for a new Groupon account directly through the apps.
• The ability to redeem your Groupon’s wherever you are.
• Pulling up and presenting Groupon’s to merchants directly from the device’s screen, which means that no printout is required.
• The ability to activate the GPS feature so consumers can purchase Groupon’s closest to their current location.

To download the app for iPhone click here.

To download the app for Android search for “Groupon” in the Android Market.

Mark Shuttleworth, the Founder of Canonical, the company behind Ubunta Linux, has revealed that Ubuntu will announce its expansion from its open source operating system (OS) into smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Florida which begins today.

Shuttleworth has mentioned that their short term plans are to make Ubuntu 12.04, the next long term support (LTS) of their Linux distribution, as stable as possible and to give the Unity desktop interface its final polish for both home and business Linux desktop users. As part of its long terms goals, Canonical will then be expanding into all computing platforms including tablets, smartphones and smart TVs.

Shuttleworth says that “This is a natural expansion of our idea as Ubuntu as Linux for human beings. As people have moved from desktop to new form factors for computing, it’s important for us to reach out to to community on these platforms. So, we’ll embrace the challenge of how to use Ubuntu on smartphones, tablets and smart-screens.”

With the upcoming move into the mobile sector the company is targeting Google’s Android OS as a potential rival to give Android partners an alternative choice since Google’s acquisition of Motorola.

Shuttleworth also commented that while the tablet sector is significantly dominated by Google Android and Apple iOS, there is an opportunity for “disruptive elements” such as Ubuntu and Microsoft Windows to establish themselves as a competitive force in the market.

Source: ZDNet

Pons and Huot are two companies that architect and designer Christian Pottgiesser decided to combine for their joint headquarters in Paris, France. The office occupies the space of a revamped 19th-century industrial hall fitted with a steel framework that is a typical feature of that period and rumoured to have been realised by Gustave Eiffel, the architect behind the famous Eiffel Tower.

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