SpaveX - First privately financed shuttle achieves orbit

The boys and girls over at SpaceX are partying hard this week after their aptly named Falcon1 made history by became the first privately funded rocket to achieve orbit yesterday. Three previous attempts had failed but as they say fourth time lucky Congrats to everyone on the spaceX team.

Apparently “the next Falcon 1 launch will carry ‘RazakSat‘ into orbit for Malaysia. If that launch is successful, the larger Falcon 9 rocket will take flight for the first time sometime in Q2 2009.” Gizmodo.com

Below is a video showing the launch of Falcon1.

Apple takes a back seat as Nokia plans to unveil ‘TUBE’

Nokia the worlds largest cellphone manufacturer will unveil the much awaited “iPhone killer” at a media and analyst event in London next week. ‘TUBE’ Nokia’s first touch screen handset will according to industry insiders be priced cheaper for the higher-volume market than rival touch screen models.

The eye’s of the techno world are now fixed on October 2nd the day Nokia’s TUBE meets the world.

The boys over at Symbian-freak.com were lucky enough to get a sneak peak of the elusive Nokia handset and they are now sharing it with the world. Thanks guys you rock!

Here’s to hoping Nokia likes my post so much they sends me a tube.. hint hint

Google pays big bucks for your world changing idea’s

fringsters listen up, Google is celebrating 10 years of world changing idea’s and to celebrate they are giving away $10 million.

Now just before you think wow I want some of that action, there is a catch. The catch you may ask?

The Winning ideas will get Google funding, while the people that submitted them will get “good karma and the satisfaction of knowing that your idea might truly help a lot of people” Mybroadband.co.za

The deadline for entries is October 20th and the top 100 entries will be announced on January 27, 2009.

Google’s criteria is simple:

• Reach: How many people would this idea affect?
• Depth: How deeply are people impacted? How urgent is the need?
• Attainability: Can this idea be implemented within a year or two?
• Efficiency: How simple and cost-effective is your idea?
• Longevity: How long will the idea’s impact last?

The Categories are broken down as follows:

• Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
• Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
• Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
• Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
• Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
• Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
• Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
• Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don’t fit into any category at all.

Google’s Project “Project 10 to the 100th” is a call for ideas to change the world by helping as many people as possible. In the day and age we live, there cannot be a better call.

What are you waiting for, go submit your world changing idea today.

Good luck, and may those who help the most win.

Wifi and 3G access in Namibia

Having recently returned from an amazing two week vacation in Namibia, I thought it good to update everyone on the state on 3G and WiFi access in Namibia.

While in Namibia I decided to thoroughly test the local networks and made use of both MTC and Cellone.

What I noticed from only a few days in the country is that the cellular rates are much much better than the local South Africa cellular providers! MTC for instance offers 100 free SMS’s a day while Cellone charges only 5c per SMS. Calls were also much cheaper with Cellone offering calls at only 49c per minute between Cellone customers.

The second thing I noticed that actually impressed me was that Namibia had 3G coverage in almost every town we passed through. MTC being the stronger network had the most 3G coverage with Cellone only having 3G in a few towns. On a positive note Cellone had GPRS coverage in some of the locations where MTC had nothing.

Another thing that impressed me about Namibia was the WiFi access. After searching and searching for good WiFi I finally found out that telecom Namibia offered a service called wi-space. All you do is purchase a wi-space voucher and then wherever you see the wi-space logo (more than 40 locations in Namibia) you can tune in for Wi-Fi access. The WiFi is sold at a rate of R20.00 for 45min usage.

Alternatively good WiFi access was also available at the Protea Hotel in Walvis Bay and a few other accommodation venue’s across the country.

Below are a few tips for fringsters planning to visit Namibia.

1. When in Namibia switch to either MTC or Cellone. Pre-paid simcards are relatively cheap (R30.00 and come with a few rands airtime). International data roaming rates are extremely high. Both MTC and Cellone charge only R1.00 per MB for data.
2. If your handset has the ability to switch dual mode off then do it. I found the network constantly switched between 3G and GPRS which caused issues when making calls. To switch dual mode on or off click > Menu > Tools > Settings > Network > Switch dual mode off. Don’t forget to switch it on again when you are not in 3G coverage.
3. Having a car charger handy is always a good idea and in Namibia, this is a must! If you get stuck on the open road somewhere, you will die, so always have enough water with you, 10L is enough and make sure your cellphone battery is always full? The network coverage on most roads is very poor so be prepared to walk for coverage if you get stuck.
4. Always stick to the main tar roads, unless you drive in convoy. The main tar roads are usually quite busy, however the dusty back roads are very quiet. On one of the days we traveled 400km and only saw 3 cars the entire day. At times this can be nerv recking (especially when the trust fringmobile gets stuck and you have no back up car.. oops
5. Very important, please make sure that whatever you do, you do it safely.

All in all Namibia is a great country with even better 3G access.

Handson look at the new HTC G1

The guys over at phonescoop.com were lucky enough to get a hands on look at the shiny new HTC G1.

This handset is the first of many handsets which will run Google’s new open platform software called Android. It was first launched by T-Mobile in New York city.

For a detailed look at the HTC G1 follow this link or sit back and enjoy the video’s below.

Officially unlocked iPhones on sale in Hong Kong

Gizmodo.com is reporting that for only $700.00 you can now buy an officially unlocked 8Gig iPhone 3G from the Honk Kong Apple Store. This news comes only hours after Vodacom South Africa launched their handsets, for roughly $800.00

Introducing Android

The iPhone 3G has recently been getting a lot of attention in South Africa after it’s much anticipated launch at Vodaworld in Midrand late last night.

Another handset that seems to be getting even more attention than the iPhone 3G in the international market at the moment though is the HTC G1, the first handset to be officially running Google’s android software.

The video below introduces Android and talks about the Gphone.

iPhone 3G now officially available in South Africa

Update: fring V1.0.4 is now officially available via the app store.

As the clock struck 12 the iPhone 3G officially became available from Vodacom South Africa.

If like Tyler Reed you are a diehard iPhone fan, then head down to Vodaworld South Africa now and get your hands on the “hottest handset” this side of the equator. lol did I just say that. It must be after my bed time

Anyway the pricing has just gone live and apparently “Prepaid customers can purchase the 8GB iPhone 3G for a cash price of R6389.00 and a 16GB iPhone 3G for a cash price of R7569.00″

Here’s an interview the guys at Zoopy just did with Tyler Reed.

Live Coverage of the iPhone 3G launch in South Africa

Update: fring V1.0.4 is now officially available via the app store.

The Zoopy team is hard at work interviewing people at the launch of the iPhone 3G at Vodaworld Midrand.

In this video Dot Field, the Cheif Communications officer of Vodacom talks about the new iPhone.

Tyler Reed unwraps first iPhone 3G

Update: fring V1.0.4 is now officially available via the app store.

This news just in, Tyler Reed one of South Africa’s top bloggers has apparently become the “first person blogger” in South Africa to unbox an Apple iPhone 3G at the launch of the iPhone 3G at Vodaworld Johannesburg.

Well done dude, I hope your new toy lives up to it’s expectations. Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about this device in the next few days.

A special word of thanks goes to Nicharry and Zoopy for the pics, taken live at the event this evening.

Update: The first actual regular iPhone user to have purchased the iPhone 3G after the 12am launch is the guy pictured below. Not sure of his name just yet. Tyler Reed was the first blogger at the event to open his iPhone.