It looks like an iPhone, acts like an iPhone but it is definitely not an iPhone. The new iPod Touch has been updated with an all new design and now running on the iPhone 3.1 software.

The main functionality, which is the traditional iPod, is still setting the pace in terms of media playing devices. With wireless capabilities built-in we now have the ability to do so much more including browsing the Apple iStore to find the latest music, movies or TV shows, all of which can be viewed on the iPod Touch.

The cool factor of the iPod Touch is that because it runs on the iPhone 3.1 software it has access to a lot of the applications found on the App Store. It also features a state of the art web browser. Then if you bored of all that work then get a game in the App Store and have a little fun playing either with the built in accelerometer, allowing you to tilt and turn to control the game, or just play in multi-touch enabled games.

It features some cool new innovations as well such as the Retina display which is supposedly way ahead of its time. It displays over 326 pixels per inch which is so dense it is not even distinguishable by the human eye. It also featured an HD video recorder with an extra front facing camera to use FaceTime for video calls.

You can actually look at this as a mini iPad but who is name calling here. There is a 32GB and a 64GB version going at around R2999 and R4299 respectively. Maybe go for the iPad if you want a big screen but if you want portability with functionality, the iPod Touch will blow your mind.

A blog aggregator aggregates posts from blogs that are subscribed to it and gives you a single place to view. There are hundreds if not thousands all around the world but only 3 to speak of in South Africa. They all have their pros and cons but the major con for all of them is speed but we will touch on that later. So in no specific order here they are.

Amatomu

Amatomu has been around for a while now and has gone through it’s ups and downs. One of the major cons over the last year has been it’s speed and downtime; although it has been running pretty smoothly over the last few months. It caused an uproar in the blogging community because it meant that quite a few blogs would sit there loading for a couple of minutes waiting for the connection attempt to Amatomu to timeout. This also meant that a whole lot of bloggers left the service.

The reason this happened was because the project leaders at Mail & Guardian left and Amatomu was nothing but a sinking ship with no one to run it. After almost 2 years (if I am not mistaken) and many outcries by the community, Mail & Guardian attempted to rectify the problem at first trying to fix it themselves and then giving it back to the guys who started it in the first place.

There are still a few bugs here and there with speed issues showing themselves often enough to realise it. The most important point though, is that blogs are not being as severely effected as they were a few months back.

Afrigator

Afrigator came as a breathe of fresh air a few years ago. It was dubbed the aggregator of Africa and grew very nicely. It too suffers from the occasional speed issue but it does have quite a few blogs from all over Africa running on it. Out of all the aggregators in this list Afrigator probably does the best job of creating an environment where you would want to go to everyday. Having said that they are missing out by letting those features slip away; have a look at our article about Gatorpeeps.

The ranking algorithm for Afrigator is also different to any of the other aggregators. It does not only take hits into consideration although it does show you what that ranking would be.

Afrigator are all about the blogosphere and have launched various products such as Adgator that just increase their offering.

MyScoop

MyScoop is the new kid on the blog and works pretty much like both Afrigator and Amatomu. The one thing that it has over both of the old dogs in the aggregating scene is that it is new and thus has by far fewer users. So it is quicker and has the chance to make sure it stays that way (read: throw some mega hardware at it please).

A few of the big boys are starting to join which shows that it is starting to become well known and it also means that the rankings will become more realistic. One thing I feel is that MyScoop is missing something that separates it from the rest of the bunch and will give it a fighting chance. It is doing well but there is a big difference between well and great.

What’s your choice? We use all three because of their varying opportunities. If we have left any out let us know as well because we would be keen to see what other people are doing.

In the previous article I posted, I wrote about the benefits of AMD fusion technology and how it seems to be the way of the future. Unbeknown to me that on 27th August, Google chrome made a blog post regarding how it plans to incorporate the use of the GPU to improve its entire drawing model.

If you are interested in all the facts take a look here. Let me give you a summary for all those people not interested in the techno mambo jumbo. In order for a website to render, google chrome or any other browser takes what is on that page and divides it into a number of layers. These multiple layers contain, video, styled text from css, images etc. The browser then hands off these layers to the CPU for processing, where it “merges” the layers into a single element which is then displayed to the user visiting the site. In short web browsers rely totally on the CPU.

Now it seems that Google (and I’m sure other players) will begin utilizing the GPU to help the end user experience better performance (faster rendering) and power savings while browsing. I really cannot wait to see what will happen when the AMD APU chips hit the market, expect changes everywhere.

No one can deny the fact that Intel has dominated the market with their latest series of CPUs, they have literally left AMD in the dust(go here for benchmarks). I remember at LAN games or online chats with friends, someone just had to mention AMD or Intel and it would spark an entire debate into which one you should buy or which chip will give me the best performance; since then the support for AMD has dropped significantly. I am hoping this article will change that and spark new debate.

AMD purchased ATI in the past, since then has been producing CPUs(under the AMD brand) and graphics cards (under the ATI Radeon brand). A recent announcement by AMD includes that of dropping the ATI Radeon name, from hence forth all CPU’s and Graphics cards manufactred by AMD will be branded as such.

This is very interesting to me as it seems that AMD has got some wind in its sails again and is preparing to tackle the leader, Intel. Intel has always branded their CPUs and Graphics cards under their brand giving them a somewhat broader footing in the minds of the consumer, maybe AMD is looking to do the same. A more important announcement is one which AMD claims will change computing forever they are calling it Fusion.

“AMD Fusion is a new approach to processor design and software development, delivering powerful CPU and GPU capabilities for HD, 3D and data-intensive workloads in a single-die processor called an APU”. If you think about it, it makes the most sense to build the two together. The reasoning behind it is that the computing environment we all work in today is vastly different from what it has been. Customers and Developers expect far more from their computing experience then they ever have in the past. I am not only talking about gaming here but rather a need for desktop applications to set themselves apart from others in a visual way. APUs not only have a place in personal computing (Notebooks and Desktops) but what about APUs in mobile devices PDAs etc. Imagine what that Apple iPhone or BlackBerry would be capable of  with an APU from AMD.

I personally cannot wait for AMD to break free from Intel’s shadow and it seems to me they making all the right moves!

This new speaker system from Logitech looks fantastic and by the sounds of it (no pun intended) will also have perfect sound quality. The 2.1 system is THX certified which means it went through no less than 400 acoustic and electrical bench tests covering everything from frequency response, power output, distortion, noise and overall performance.

That’s great but what can we use it with? Well, Logitech have really thought about this product and have come up with what will ultimately be the best solution. Instead of offering the speaker system to one platform like PCs or TVs why not put all the connections on there. The Z623 system comes with RCA and 3.5mm inputs in addition to the built-in headphone jack.

The Z623 Speak System will be available in South Africa from November at a price of just over R1600.

We love getting new things here at Techdaily but there is nothing better than getting a new brand with new products. This bluetooth headset connects to almost any bluetooth device including cellphones. We are yet to test it though so we will let you know in a few days time on how functional it actually is. Looks cool.

We are quite excited about this product and want to get going with it straight away. If you don’t know, the Live service from TomTom gets real time information for your route including cameras, weather and most importantly traffic. Now to see if it will get me lost, get me stuck in a jam or get me home quicker than ever.

We wrote about Gatorpeeps quite a while back and were very excited about what it could become. Over a year down the line we look at how it has grown and how it has fallen to be nothing more than an endless stream of SPAM. Back when we were Tx Daily we were very excited about the product Afrigator launched and even went as far as making the Peep This plugin for the system.

We participated and quite enjoyed the conversation that was happening between bloggers from all over the African continent. It was educational and enjoyable with the whole experience revolving around the hugely popular Twitter experience but with a few differences; now those few differences might be its downfall. We have come up with a list of things that might get people back onto Gatorpeeps and conversing once again.

1. Put back the character limit

In the beginning, Gatorpeeps had a character limit much like Twitter does now. Somewhere along the line, we not sure where, Afrigator removed this limit allowing a seemingly unlimited amount of characters to be posted.

Now I think that’s their first mistake. Yes I know that they have a few reasons but there is nothing more irritating than a huge amount of text and also the point it to converse and not to have a whole blog post on Gatorpeeps.

I would suggest that a limit is put back into place.

2. Remove API for automatic peeping

It’s great having the ability to have bloggers posting their latest articles on Gatorpeeps but that is all it has become. If you look at the Gatorpeeps stream, all you see is automated posts with users just trying to SPAM the “potential” audience.

If Gatorpeeps removes this functionality, it might result in a few losses but at least it will keep the guys on who will actually use it for what it is meant for. Secondly we will be able to see the stream with conversation and not lose “real” peeps amongst the information overload.

3. Make the Afrigator experience a synergy

Afrigator is extending their services from aggregation to ad serving. Yet you have no ability to access everything from 1 central point. Imagine creating an account on Afrigator and having a Adgator and Gatorpeeps account ready for you to use. On top of that it would be ultimately good for Afrigator if you could access everything from one place with a news feed of anything and everything to do with your blogs.

We could probably go way further into how Afrigator could create a much easier system to promote all their products and give users access but that is way beyond the scope of this post.

4. Include a live Gatorpeeps stream

When last did you go to the Afrigator homepage? Well it does not includes Gatorpeeps (remember what we were talking about in the last point?). Imagine the interest if people saw that there was a conversation going on? On the flip side why not add the Afrigator homepage tabs into Gatorpeeps as well because it would then be the best page to have open in your browser for African news and conversation.

Now we might be sounding a bit harsh but a lot can be done to improve this product and we would definitely like to see it do better. Do you think we have left anything out or do you think we are being a little bit to harsh on them?

Logitech announced a new wireless keyboard in the K800. It’s most exciting feature is the illuminated keys which adjust depending on the ambient light. It does this via ambient and motion sensors built into the keyboard which gives you enough light when you need it or saves battery life when you don’t.

It is rechargeable which saves having to buy so many batteries every year and also means that you can just charge it while not using it so that you are not left hanging in moments of writing genius. It will arrive in December this year.

Its been announced that Rock Band 3 will be able to play a combination of seven different instruments which comprise of two guitars, three microphones (harmonies included, thanks to The Beatles), drums and a keyboard.

This video is a focus on the recent enhancement made to the guitar changing it from a keytar to a fully fledged six string guitar controller which you can use in an amp ! Check it out.

In terms of splashing out on the new laptop you been planning on buying, there are a few things you need to take into account:

What is your budget?

Budget is the most easy to cliassify; come up with a range you are willing to spend and simply look for the best bang for buck. Whether it be at various shopping malls or online.

What type of user are you?

Once the budget is decided you need to assess the type of user you are, this will help you in determining the specs you are looking for based on your budget. Use this list below to determine what type of user you are.

• Home
  • The tasks this user focuses on is Emailing, Browsing (generally paying bills or internet banking), Ripping Mp3′s, Listening to music, Microsoft word (Openoffice Write)
• Student
  • With the new range of Netbooks allowing students to afford a portable computer this user only cares about three things, Battery life (longer the better), Price, Durability.
• Business
  • As a business user myself I can tell you the main factors that affect my purchase consideration. Coming in at first place is weight, you are going to be carrying this laptop around for a good majority of its lifetime (the lighter the better), Connectivity (you need to do something and you need to do it fast, make sure you have at least four usb ports, wireless g/b/n, ethernet, 3g, sd card slots), and my next consideration is Battery life.
• Gamer
  • There is only one focus for a gamer pure complete binary crunching graphical bliss. The number one factors here to look out for are Processor speed, Dedicated graphics performance (no shared memory) and a decent amount of Ram (4gb+). Seeing this Notebook is intended to replace your home desktop, you are not going to be to fussed about weight, or battery life. It is worth mentioning that there are notebooks out there that can help improve the battery life of your gaming notebook like that of (Nvidia Optimus technology).

What screen type do you need, Matte / Glossy?

Now for the most debated topic and most users are unaware of this until they have either puchased a new notebook, or have spend hours looking at various screens out there. The easiest way to demonstrate this is with images here they are:

You can clearly see that the Gloss screen provides a much better brightness or contrast than the Matte screen, however that being said you are required to be in optimal lighting to not see the reflective downside that the Gloss screen comes with. So I guess its down to your oppinion and where you will be working on the notebook. I lean more towards a Matte finish (seing that I work predominantly in an office environment) due to the florecent lights at my workplace which the Gloss screen mirrors with great effect. The one thing that ammuses me somewhat is how few Matte screens there are in the market, it seems like manufacturers decided what was best for the customers, and they are not listening to the general consensus out there that we actually prefer Matte screens. Maybe in the future we will be given options of screens on the same model.

Lastly once you have assessed your budget, user type and screen preference head over to PriceCheck Notebooks and use the filter facility on the left to narrow your results. Good luck on buying that new Notebook.

With VOIP slowly taking over the telecommunications industry one headset at a time, Logitech have released a new wireless headset (Logitech Wireless H760 Headset) that can be used for voice, video, gaming and just general music listening.

The wireless is good for about 40 feet which is awesome because I know we all play games when we are away from the computer.

We can expect the headset to arrive in November which gives you enough time to really get excited about it.

A few people don’t know that the Android operating system used on many new smartphones was also designed to be run us a normal laptop, and even desktop, OS. Toshiba have used this to their advantage to lower costs on their new AC100 which is an ultraslim netbook.

As with any netbook, the AC100 is focused on delivering accessibility and mobility with media consumption being it’s main objective. It has a 1GHz Nvidia processor with 512 MB RAM which is not to shabby for something you will do the odd word processing and normal web browsing on.

One of the neatest features must be the ‘always-on’ capability. The Toshiba AC100 can go for up to seven days with out being recharged; obviously that is if you hardly use it. With normal usage it can still crack about 8 hours of constant usage time.

It weighs about 870g with the dimensions 262.1mm x 189.8mm x 21mm. That allows for a 10.1 inch LED which is another power saving feature on the AC100.

• NVIDIA® Tegra™ 250 Mobile Processor (1GH, ARM)
• Android^TM2.1
• RAM: 512 MB DDR2 (333 MHz)
• up to 32GB SSD
• 25.7cm (10.1”) TruBrite^® display with LED backlight, 1,024 x 600 pixels
• Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR*, WLAN (802.11 b/g/n), Mobile Broadband*
• 1 x USB 2.0, 1x Mini USB, Card Reader (SD, MMC), Audio out/Mic in combo socket, HDMI®
• 1.3 MPixel Webcam with integrated microphone
• Location based switchable desktop
• Toshiba Home Menu, a personalisable desktop with widgets and shortcuts
• Size: 262.1mm x 189.8mm x 14 / 21mm
• weight: starting at 870g

Watch the video to see some of the mobile games coming soon to Windows Mobile 7 phones.

The one thing all these logo’s have in common is the support for a broadband framework. What is a broadband framework and why do we need it? If these are the questions running through your mind let me take a moment to enlighten you.

Currently broadband in South Africa has no framework to guide its development or measure milestones. In September 2008 the High court ruled in favor of Altech Autopage which paved the way for value-added network service (VANS) licensees to roll out their own telecoms networks. You may be asking yourself what does this have to do with broadband in SA? Well what it means is that anyone can build and operate a high-speed broadband network.

South africa being on the brink of major broadband boom, a framework (a structure for supporting or enclosing something else, especially a skeletal support used as the basis for something being constructed) would help facilitate the process in providing affordable Internet across the country.

I am not saying that the framework should regulate broadband infrastructure and services; thats ICASA job. I am saying that if government took the time to implement a framework it would aid in the setting of goals, milestones and deliverables.

Take the time to visit www.broadband4africa.org.za; read the framework and understand its objectives. Then do what is right and sign it, lets make the difference. I have done my part, now do yours.