Top tech stories in 2014

Johannesburg and Cape Town - From a controversial Cell C slam banner to a R1bn local e-commerce deal and the Apple Watch launch, this year has been a big one for technology both locally and internationally.

Consumers have seen evolution rather than revolution in the global smart device market as the likes of Samsung and Apple built on previous versions of their smart-phones without dramatically launching anything new.

Wearable tech, though, has come more sharply into focus this year as Apple unveiled its Watch device, which is planned to hit the market in early 2015.

Locally, the merger between e-commerce players Takealot and Kalahari grabbed local tech headlines while advances in fibre broadband deployment in South Africa have also emerged.

Fin24's technology team has put together what it thinks were the top ten stories of the year. The team, meanwhile, has also included a list further below of the ten most read stories on Fin24's technology section and our most watched videos on YouTube.

Let us know what your top tech stories for 2014 were.

Fin24 tech team's top ten stories for 2014

1. Cell C banner controversy


The controversial banner that grabbed South Africa's attention in November.

On Friday November 7, photos depicting a Johannesburg banner slamming Cell C as “the most useless service provider in SA” started to emerge and trend on social media. Controversy surrounding the banner then escalated throughout November as Fin24’s tech team provided live and exclusive coverage of Cell C losing its urgent court interdict to have the billboard removed. The businessman who put up the billboard, George Prokas, quickly came to symbolise South Africans’ displeasure with bad service levels. His motivation for creating the banner was sparked by Cell C’s move to list him as a slow payer on a credit bureau. A dispute between Prokas and Cell C subsequently erupted over a phone repair gone wrong. Adding a twist to the tale, Johannesburg’s city council then warned that the banner was illegal because neither Prokas nor the WorldWear Mall (along which the banner appeared) had applied for permission to put up the banner. In the end and after a public backlash, Cell C backed down and came to an arrangement with Prokas to settle the dispute.

2. Post Office Drama

Postal services lurched from one crisis to the next in South Africa this year amid crippling strikes, board resignations and requests for a government bailout. Post piled up in 2014 as around 7 900 casual workers went on a four month strike to demand an 8% wage hike and permanent employment. Two unions involved in the dispute came to a settlement with the South African Post Office (Sapo). Compounding Sapo’s woes was the resignation of members of its board. And as unease grew over the post office’s inability to carry out its mandate, President Jacob Zuma announced that his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa would oversee struggling state owned enterprises such as Sapo, Eskom and SAA to attempt turnarounds at these organisations. Sapo has asked government for a R2.3bn bailout. Meanwhile, a group of specialist magazine publishers have lodged an official complaint against Sapo with regulatory watchdog, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa). The publishers want Sapo to face the music for allegedly failing to properly deliver services for “years”.

3. e.tv infighting

Amid allegations of gross misconduct, suspended e.tv CEO Marcel Golding resigned in late October. Golding told e.tv and eNCA staff in an email that he was “forced to resign” after he lost an urgent court interdict against stakeholder Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI) over his suspension and disciplinary hearing. His suspension and disciplinary hearing was tied to R24m worth of Ellies shares he bought. It was alleged that Golding failed to get the necessary board’s authority to buy shares in JSE-listed Ellies through Sabido, a company of which he is the CEO. Golding then alleged that the disciplinary hearing was “launched after months of attempts to get me to relinquish the chair of the board of HCI and resign as CEO of e.tv and Sabido as a result of my refusal to permit e.tv to be used for political purposes by a trade union that is invested in the group”. Golding alleged that two directors of HCI, John Copelyn and Yunis Shaik were the driving forces behind the “attempts to push me out”. HCI was originally founded by Copelyn and Golding. But Golding said their relationship had deteriorated. Hot on the heels of e.tv boss Marcel Golding’s resignation, his wife and e.tv chief operating officer (COO) Bronwyn Keene-Young also handed in her resignation letter.

4. Takealot seals R1bn investment, then merges with Kalahari

In May, South African online retailer, takealot.com, raised over $100m (over R1bn) as part of its aggressive growth strategy in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. The investment was driven by Tiger Global Management. Arguably, Takealot’s biggest announcement was yet to come. In October, Takealot and Kalhari.com announced that the two former rival e-tailers would merge to capitalise on greater scale capablities. “After many years of losses on Kalahari and four years on takealot, we realise we have to work together if we are to survive and prosper,” said Oliver Rippel, senior executive responsible for Kalahari, at the time. E-commerce, though, is on the rise in South Africa as PayGate this year reported that the number of its local merchants has doubled. Results of a MasterCard survey released in March this year also said that the South African e-commerce industry is growing because 24% of local online spend was on foreign shopping sites, down from 27% in 2013 and 33% in 2012. World Wide Worx Managing Director Arthur Goldstuck said earlier this year that the size of South Africa’s e-commerce market could be pegged at R4.4 billion for 2013.

- Kalahari.com is a part of Naspers, the owner of Media24, Fin24's parent company.

5. Sony Hack

No one should kid themselves. With the Sony collapse America has lost its first cyberwar. This is a very very dangerous precedent.

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) December 17, 2014

Sony Pictures this year has suffered one of corporate America’s worst-ever cyber attacks. The hack-attack left a trail of destruction, causing embarrassment for the company’s executives who were caught out criticising stars such as Angelina Jolie via email. The hackers demanded that the studio pull the plug on comedy film The Interview, which centres on a plot to kill North Korea's leader. Sony has subsequently backed down by scrapping the Christmas Day release of The Interview in the US after the hackers threatened September 11 2001 style attacks. The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has pinned the blame on North Korea, which is said to have a ‘cyber army’. North Korea, though, has denied responsibility for the attack, even though the hermit nation’s government has written a letter to the United Nations (UN) complaining about The Interview. North Korea has since then lashed out at the US and even called for a joint investigation on the hack attack. China, meanwhile, has also seemingly come out in support of North Korea by saying that the US was wrong in saying the Sony hack-attacked stemmed from the Asian nation.

6. High speed broadband

Broadband speed in South Africa is a critical issue as the country hopes to drive 100% internet access by 2020. However, the lack of interoperability between Telkom and other service providers means that new projects have to be rolled out - and they cost money. A number of players such as Vumatel, Vodacom, MTN and Orange are driving last mile broadband, but despite the policy, SA has a lack of implementation to deliver high speed fibre where it's require to all its citizens. In 2014, fibre deployments have targeted wealthy suburbs that can afford these services. In 2015, more middle to upper income suburbs in South Africa will gain access to fibre broadband.

7. Apple Watch unveiling

Apple released the first new product since the death of Steve Jobs, but the watch is not yet ready for the mass market. Apple will begin shipping the wearable gadget in early 2015, but legendary Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that the technology is not yet ready to go to market. Apple has also not been first to the party for either big screen smartphones and competitors such Samsung, Sony and LG are, in many cases in their second or even third generation of wearable device. The advent of the Apple Watch, though, is expected to spur on the wearable technology market and drive up demand for other products in this category such smart glasses.

8. Cellphone contracts compared

It's still difficult for South Africans to clearly understand how much they may truly pay for cellphone contracts. It seems as if it often requires a degree in mathematics to decipher complex cellphone bills. Complicating the matter is that mobile operators are also notoriously secretive about details such as the extent of the device subsidy. MTN Group President Sifiso Dabengwa this year called for a revision of subsidies which, in his view, distort the market. But Fin24 also wrote a report about how a US research company decided to employ its complex algorithms to determine which South African mobile networks offer the best value for money post-paid cellphone contracts. The winner turned out to be Telkom with Cell C in second place.

9. Where does your expired data go?

The cost and usability of data for South Africans remains a hot issue and prices are expected to continue falling in 2015 as mobile operators fight for market share both in SA and the continent. But data bundles are under scrutiny, especially with regard to their expiry clause. Operators design them to be consumable, but have faced a backlash from subscribers who feel cheated when bundles expire. Fin24 posed this question to MTN Group President Sifiso Dabengwa this year and his response was, well, interesting. He compared cellphone data usage to buying a can of coke... .

10. HelloPeter sold

Consumer activism in SA hit the headlines again when customer complaints website HelloPeter was sold in 2014, and it is unclear whether the business will continue to be a website for complaints against poor corporate behaviour. However, the growth in social media means that multiple channels are used to highlight company behaviour and whether a firm will pay a specific provider to engage with customers in this environment remains to be seen.

Fin24's most read technology stories in 2014

And then we have some videos.

Some of the popular videos related to local technology stories on Fin24 this year include the launch of the Sony Xperia Z3, Hacker defence and safety in Stellenbosch.

Watch them below: