IT News Africa will be hosting Africa’s inaugural Tech Demo Africa Showcase in Johannesburg in April. This event aims to showcase cutting edge technology from established companies and start-ups and will focus on two main sectors: Enterprise technology and eGoverment.

This two day event will feature cuttingedge demos, engaging keynotes, lively panel discussions and noted local and international speakers, along with an amazing technology exhibition area.

The event provides the opportunity to launch and demo your product to an audience of IT leaders, venture capitalists, local and international media as well as potential partners and customers.

This event is aimed at business leaders, service providers, key government dignitaries, VCs and developers.

Event details:

When: 17 – 18 April 2o12

Where: Radisson Blue Gautrain Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg

Tickets: Visitor’s Pass  - $150 includes full 2 day exhibition access as well as seminar, Gala dinner, keynotes and demo presentations access.

For more information about the event and other packages available click here.

IMB, which stands for Internet Mobile Banking is a Cape Town based startup that believes it is “more than just a bank” because it offers customers far more. IMB’s main focus is to make payments, particularly from mobile devices, easier for both consumers and merchants in a way that is beneficial to both.

The motivation behind IMB, which initially began by building a mobile wallet back in 2005, was to solve a number of problematic issues associated with online banking. These include expensive fees, lack of micro-billing, inability to use debit cards for online transactions and the search for more efficient ways to transact with money via more efficient software and API services. Another important factor was that many people, like mobile game developers were having to use services like premium rated SMS messages in order to get money from those without credit cards.

James Godwin, Chief Information Officer, who is passionate about what IMB is trying to achieve, says that “Visa, Mastercard and the banks control how people pay for things and we wanted to change that.” Godwin first entered into the mobile technology industry when he began running an internet service provider that he later sold. It was when he opened a developer business that he met IMB’s CEO, Tim Colman. At first, the two wanted to find a way for people to shop online with debit cards, but they met resistance from some SA banks and so headed in another direction allowing websites and brick and mortar businesses to receive payments via mobile phones that was cost effective, safe and efficient.

Another way of making mobile banking more cost effective and providing customers with alternative ways to receive notifications other than from an sms (which is expensive) is by introducing a social element that can further evolve into geo tagging to monitor your spending, sending a checkin to foursquare upon purchase or notifying a friend through Twitter. “There are a lot more options” says Godwin, “but we would like customer feedback to best evolve and direct our system to better enable the social space.”

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FNB has recently released a press release that states that as part of its ongoing attempt to provide its customers with convenient financial solutions and services, it has enabled 22seven limited access to its customers’ accounts.

FNB, currently leading the way in innovation with its very own banking app and partnership with paypal for its withdrawal service, is now the first of the major banks to allow the personal money management startup to have access to its customers’ accounts. This is in contrast to Absa Bank, who recently blocked 22seven from accessing its own customers’ account information.

Lee-Anne van Zyl, CEO Online Banking at FNB says that “FNB has set a precedence of responding to our customer’s needs with innovative products and services. We are now providing a secure means to engage with 22seven in response to our customers’ need to learn more about their financial behaviour.”

FNB online customers can set up a secondary user on their online profile, already available on FNB Online Banking, that will require different username and password login details. This secondary user profile then enables users to select the accounts they wish to share, but offers limited functionality.

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WeatherSA.co.za, the online hub of the South African Weather Service, has unveiled a brand new weather application for all iOS devices, including the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. The app is designed with South African users in mind, and supported by the South African Weather Service.

Several of the app features are a first for South Africa, such as storm warnings and push notifications, which are sent directly to the user’s device daily. Other highlights of the application include breaking news alerts, seven day tables of weather across the country, an outlook for various outdoor and sports activities, sunrise, sunset and moonrise times as well as hourly and weekly graphs covering rain, wind, temperature, pressure and humidity.

The WeatherSA app will be available as a free download and allows users to customise the weather notices sent to their device(s), from daily to weekly forecasts and local news to national warnings and provincial forecasts. The app can also predict the best time of day for outdoor activities such as cycling, swimming and going for a jog, making it the perfect lifestyle accessory.

One of the most novel features of the WeatherSA app is the ability for users to share alerts with their contacts via email, Twitter or Facebook, which links in perfectly with WeatherSA’s broad spectrum social media campaign. Their Facebook and Twitter pages will provide followers with daily updates, news and interesting information surrounding both the weather and lifestyle features.

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With a number of price comparison sites already available for consumers in South Africa like ShopMania, Shopbot and PriceCheck that was acquired by MIH, the investment arm of Naspers in 2010, websites like these are certainly not a new concept but one that has potential for improvement. Jump Shopping, an online shopping search engine itself, aimed to do just that with the launch of its latest initiative, FindPrice.

FindPrice was launched to align the requirements of consumers with that of E-Commerce shops by listing products of South African online shops in one convenient location. As E-Commerce in South Africa continues to grow with so much potential, Jump Shopping noticed a shift in online consumer trends over the last few years and observed a few key aspects of the online shopping industry, focusing on how shoppers interact online and what they want from a price comparison website. A key finding was that with with so many online shops offering great deals it was difficult to keep track of them all and so Jump Shopping wanted to provide the solution. Enter FindPrice.

As a result of this shift, managing director of Jump Shopping Jaco Roux explains, “We were faced with the option to adapt or be left behind. The choice was easy. We didn’t want a face-lift. We wanted a fresh start and the ability to do it right from the start. Data quality and user experience is the key focus of FindPrice. Give the consumers what they want in the most convenient manner and it will lead to more sales and a stronger E-Commerce economy.”

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Take a look at the top 5 most popular posts for the month of January on BandwidthBlog from the industry’s biggests players abroad to the battle between South Africa’s service providers, this is what you enjoyed reading the most.

1. 8ta slashes broadband pricing:

The newcomer of the mobile networks shakes up the pricing for 3G in South Africa with reduced broadband rates for its Once-Off Internet packages as well as its Post-paid Internet packages.

2. Neotel announces 24GB deal:

In the latest prepaid data deal, Neotel is offering their NeoGo package which includes 24GB of data for R799. Users will have the option of getting that 24GB upfront, or have it split up into 2GB per month for 12 months and will also include Neotel’s CDMA modem.

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In the past two weeks, as is often the case after an Apple launch, the geek world splits in two.  Some of us were downloading E.O. Wilson’s “Life on Earth” textbook and showing it to everyone regardless of his or her interest in technology or for that matter, Biology. Fanboys became convinced that Apple was now set to revolutionize yet another sector, education, with the launch of “Textbooks” in the iBook store. Non-fanboys, on the other hand were pre-occupied blogging about the limitations of 4 Gb textbooks or the draconian clauses built into the iBooks Author contract. In the midst of this debate however, one institution appears to have already put its money where its mouth is and turn the tertiary education sector on its head by revolutionizing the role of the tablet computer in education. This is refreshingly not another silicon valley start up but PC Training and Business College, a local South African educational institution.

Inspired by the launch and planned role to be played by the Aakash Tablet in the Indian Government’s plan to link 25 000 colleges and 400 universities in an e-learning program, PC Training College’s CEO, Jay Ramnundlall, believed that the time was right to enhance the educational landscape in South Africa. However, an evaluation of the “$35” Aakash tablet revealed that the 7” Android based tablet was not the device to deliver the dynamic and interactive experience envisioned. A task team then began the rigorous evaluation process that crossed the boundary between operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows), cost and performance in search of a suitable tablet to spearhead this program. Although there were many factors considered in the evaluation process, key amongst them were:

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WooThemes is one of the most successful local internet companies with a global reputation for creating premium WordPress themes.

They recently renovated and moved into a new office space, that reflects their innovative, fun and hard working style. Take a look inside the space where you can see the team in action and at play in the video and images below.

Watch BandwidthBlog’s interview with WooThemes co-founder Adii Pienaar here.

Video below:

WooHQ // Cinematic Short from Andrew Schär on Vimeo.

View the office pictures after the jump (Thanks Mark!)

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