The Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) 2013 has announced its top 10 finalists.  These entrepreneurs have created African solutions to every day African challenges.

The top 10, five of which represent South Africa,  were chosen from more than 900 applications from 45 countries and provide practical examples of Africa’s investment potential.

Finalists are leaders in the areas of agriculture, environment, health, ICT and manufacturing.

The winners of the IPA 2013 will be announced on 7th May in Cape Town. The winner will receive US$ 100, 000 for the best innovation based on marketability, originality, scalability, social impact and clear business potential.

A runner up will receive US$ 25, 000 for the best commercial potential and another winner will receive US$ 25, 000 as a special prize for social innovation.

The top 10 finalists are:
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Newly leaked information about the unconfirmed upcoming BlackBerry R10, suggest that the new device will indeed be a budget version of the BlackBerry Q10.

The leaked information that comes in the form of some newly claimed specs were published on technology news site DGtle. DGtle reveals that like the Q10, the R10 will supposedly feature a 3.1-inch screen and 2GB of RAM.

According to DGtle, to serve its “budget” offering the R10 will offer a 5-megapixel camera, 8GB of storage and a 1,800 mAh non-removable battery in comparison to the Q10′s 8-megapixel camera,  16GB storage and 2100 mAh battery.

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For the amount of $1 billion ($300 million in cash and the rest in stock), the acquisition of Instagram by Facebook in April 2012, about 18 months after the photo sharing app launched, made global news headlines.

While the development may seem like a dream come true for any young entrepreneur, Instagram founder and CEO Kevin Systrom tells Vanity Fair magazine that the experience was one that felt more like a roller-coaster ride with ups and downs ranging from missed opportunities to  “aha” moments.

Vanity Fair finds out what really happened between Mark Zuckerberg and Kevin Systrom behind the scenes of this significant acquisition.

You can read the article on Vanity Fair’s website here.

Amazon.com leaked the world’s first small-screen Windows 8 tablet briefly before removing it from its website.

As a result of the leak, Amazon revealed a number of specs about the Acer Iconia  W3-810 tablet, rumours of which first surfaced in late April.

We now know that the 8.1-inch tablet offers a dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, a 1280 x 800 display, about 8 hours of battery life, 32GB of storage, 2-megapixel front and rear cameras and a micro USB 2.0 port.

Its brief appearance revealed a price of $379.99.

Source: PC World

As the Explorer Program is now in full swing and in the hands of thousands of developers, Google Glass continues to make news headlines whether it be for the development of new apps like the Winky app, the voicing of privacy concerns, its stringent terms of service or the jokes made about the way in which the device is used and how awkward it can be.

Who better than Saturday Night Live to really poke fun at the futuristic wearable device. As part of SNL’s Weekend Update segment, host Seth Meyers welcomes fictional tech blogger Randall Meeks, played by funnyman Fred Armisen who talks about his experience with the device.

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TAKEALOT.com has taken another step towards customer convenience by launching their iPhone and Android shopping apps in addition to the Blackberry 10 app launched earlier this year. With Africa’s internet users primarily using mobile devices, the apps aim to deliver an enhanced experience for customers, allowing them instant access to the world of retail via their mobile device, regardless of time or location.

“We’re not joking when we say it’s a mall in your pocket. The apps are designed to allow the user to access the world of online shopping without ever having to use a laptop or desktop computer.” Says Kim Reid, CEO. (more…)

Slowly but surely, Sony has been turning its fortunes around in the smartphone market. It went through some dark days while in a partnership with Ericsson, but has now stepped out of that dark shadow of its history and seems ready to take on the world.

The last couple of flagship smartphones that Sony have brought to market have been their first real step in the right direction and they are trying to make the most of the little momentum they do have with their newest flagship, the Sony Xperia Z. A lot is riding on this device for the Japanese company and they need it to be a big seller. We have learned that they sold 4.6 million devices in the first 40 days after release, but now that the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 have hit the market, can it still compete? (more…)

This futuristic space ship looking device is the MB&F MusicMachine that plays music from its two cylinders.

Built in collaboration with music box maker Reuge, MB&F (known for its luxury watches) constructed the MusicMachine to play three tunes from each of its cylinders. The Star Wars theme, Imperial March, and Star Trek theme can be heard on one side while  ”Another Brick in the Wall”, “Smoke on the Water”, and “Imagine” on the other.

MB& F’s Maxmillan Busser, the main designer of this project explains the inspiration behind the MusicMachine -

“Like many kids, saving the world was my full time job when I was a boy. For MusicMachine, I delved into my childhood dreams and fantasies inspired by heroes such as Luke Skywalker and Captain James T. Kirk.”

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