Technology

NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp unveiled a larger but lighter version of its Surface Pro tablet on Tuesday, hoping that the company's expertise in business software will help it take on Apple Inc in mobile devices. At a presentation in New York, new Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella made it clear that Microsoft, which recently acquired Nokia's handset business, is committed fully to making its own devices, despite a lack of success for its phones and tablets so far. "We are not building hardware for hardware's sake," said Nadella, at the event. "We want to build experiences that bring together all the capabilities of our company. It also comes with access to Microsoft's Office software suite, employed in businesses around the world.The Surface Pro 3 tablet, which comes in three models starting from $799 and costing up to $1,949, features a 12-inch screen, much larger than Apple iPad's 9.7 inches. Microsoft executives made frequent comparis...

SAN JOSE - eBay Inc will be asking its users to change their passwords because of a cyber-attack that compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data. After conducting extensive tests on its networks, the company said it has no evidence of the compromise resulting in unauthorised activity for eBay users, and no evidence of any unauthorised access to financial or credit card information, which is stored separately in encrypted formats. However, changing passwords is a best practice and will help enhance security for eBay users. We know our customers trust us with their information, and we take seriously our commitment to maintaining a safe, secure and trusted global marketplace.Information security and customer data protection are of paramount importance to eBay Inc, and eBay regrets any inconvenience or concern that this password reset may cause our customers. Cyberattackers compromised a small number of employee log-in credentials, allo...

Social networking boy wonder Mark Zuckerberg was branded all grown-up on Wednesday, his 30th birthday triggering a barrage of online accolades and playful barbs. The Facebook co-founder’s list of achievements is more than enough to make others in his age group feel like slackers. The Harvard University dropout’s wealth was recently estimated to top $25 billion and an Oscar-winning Hollywood film was based the story of him bringing Facebook to life. Zuckerberg is now chief of the world’s leading online social network. He married his sweetheart Priscilla Chan in 2012 after Facebook became a publicly traded company. Zuckerberg has been dabbling in using his influence and cash for philanthropic and political goals. Website Mashable appeared to strike a chord with viewers with a light-hearted graphic comparing Zuckerberg to a typical 30-year-old. Zuckerberg’s fortune was stratospheric compared to the less than $9,000 in net worth typical with others his age. His 28 million...

Vodacom’s data network is struggling to handle the load in some areas with thousands of subscribers trying to make the most of their free 1GB data gift. Vodacom has given all of its subscribers 1GB of free data to use today (11 May 2014) as part of its twentieth birthday celebration. Some people predicted that Vodacom’s network would struggle to handle the load, and this prediction came true. Comments about the issue included “speed is pathetic”, “trying to update apps and it’s crawling” and “not working – just too slow to be of any value”.

Alongside the growth of social media on the continent, using the Internet for everyday transactions is starting to become as natural as the things it is slowly replacing. Want to sell something? eBay-owned Gumtree in South Africa is now getting 3-5 million uniques a month. Russell Southwood spoke to is newly appointed Head Of Marketing Claire Cobbledick. Gumtree started in the UK initially targeting South Africans and Australians. It was bought by eBay in 2000 from its two founders and then introduced into a number of different international markets. Its South African presence was launched in 2005 but as Cobbledick told me:”It was run almost exclusively from California. But over the last six months it has been building a local team”. For those who’ve not heard of it, Gumtree is a classified advertising site: you want to sell something, you go online and put up your free ad. You want to find something secondhand you browse the site and contact the seller when you’ve found it. I...