On Tuesday I tweeted that I was pleased with DStv making it simple for subscribers to cancel their accounts. This prompted replies from people wondering why I cancelled my subscription. I can’t answer that with a character limit of 140, so I decided to put my answer here instead.

About a week before the 2010 FIFA World Cup I bought the new HD PVR 2P decoder for DStv. I had been without DStv for almost two years but made an impulse buy of the decoder when I saw the price – R2000. I wanted to check out DStv’s high definition channels and thought it would be worth having for the World Cup. I set it up myself, after returning the decoder because the first one I was sold had a mismatched smart card.

Watching the World Cup in HD was totally worth it – mostly because it was a great excuse to have friends over. Now, about a month after the event, I have cancelled my subscription. These are some of my reasons: (more…)

On the eve of the World Cup 2010 kickoff in South Africa Leo Laporte and I discussed technology at the tournament and how South Africa has been upgraded for the biggest event in human history. We talked about 3D television, stadium bandwidth, Google StreetView, social media and gigapixel image technology, amongst other things. Check out the video above for our full discussion.

American news network CNN has launched a free iPhone application called ‘My South Africa Essentials‘ in collaboration with SA Tourism. The app was developed by CNN’s International Advertising Sales team and is the first ever app created by CNN for an advertising client.

CNN says the app is part of its ‘My South Africa’ brand campaign that was launched two years ago to raise the profile of South Africa to business and leisure travellers in the lead up to World Cup 2010.

The app allows users to view South African city guides, maps, travel tips and World Cup information and view photographs, send messages to friends, find weather and financial information and a range of other things. It’s clearly geared for tourists but should be useful for local users too. (more…)

On Friday 19 February 2010 we celebrated the 100th episode of the ZA Tech Show with our first ever live broadcast. The show has been going since somewhere in early 2008 and we have consistently released an episode every week with the exception of a week or two over the festive season. Taking the show live was a big step, not just from a technology perspective, but also in making the switch from an audio-only podcast to a live video and audio netcast.

Sitting back and reflecting over the past two years makes me realise how lucky we are to have enjoyed the support that we have from our families, friends and fans. The show owes its survival to the support of a group of the most awesome people I’ve met – but more about them later. (more…)