Yesterday I spent most of the day phoning around in Cape Town to find a MTN store that will have the iPhone 4S on 16 Decemeber 2011, but I was told by every store I phoned that they will not have the phone on launch date, shocking considering I phoned most of the bigger stores.

Both Vodacom and MTN has however told MyBroadband that users should not be concerned and that there will be stock at certain stores where customers can go to on launch date to apply for iPhone 4S contracts. These customers going into stores to take out iPhone 4S contracts will be treated on a first come, first serve basis.

Vodacom has also revealed the stores where the iPhone 4S will be available on launch date, see table below.

With the news of the iPhone 4S launching in South Africa, MTN has now also opened up pre-orders for the device.

Vodacom was the first to officially announce that they will be launching the iPhone 4S in South Africa on 16 December 2011, with the news Vodacom also opened up pre-orders for the device on their website. MTN soon responded saying that they will also be launching the iPhone 4S in South Africa on the 16th of December but there were no word on pre-orders.

MTN has now also opened up pre-orders for the iPhone 4S. Users wanting to get they hands on Apple’s latest iPhone can pre-order their devices on the MTNSP site, the pre-orders are open to new or existing customers wanting to upgrade to the iPhone 4S.

The iPhone 4S features Apple’s lightning fast A5 dual core processor, an all new and impressive 8 Mega Pixel camera, iOS 5 and the much talked about digital personal assistant called Siri that responds to your voice commands.

According to Business Insider, Apple is ready to launch the next generation iPad, the iPad 3 or whatever it may be called.

Analyst, Richard Gardner, from Citi has told Business Insider that Apple is ready to roll with a new iPad. Several industry sources has told Gardner that Apple will be launching their next generation iPad in February 2012.

Not much is know about the iPad 3 except that it will have double the resolution of the current iPad 2. Should the iPad 3 launch in February it will be less then a year since Apple launched the iPad 2.

At an event in Johannesburg last night, Motorola Mobility, has launched the world’s thinnest smartphone, the Motorola RAZR, in South Africa.

The South African launch comes only a mere week after Motorola announced the Motorola RAZR to the public internationally, showing that Motorola really has put more focus on marketing and bringing their latest devices to the country.

Owning the title of the world’s thinnest smartphone one would have expected Motorola to skimp on hardware power, but this is not the case with the RAZR. The Motorola RAZR features an 1.2GHZ dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, an 8MP camera and a gorgeous large 4.3″ AMOLED screen.

Apart from the impressive hardware features the RAZR also comes with an array of consumer experiences which Motorola considers to of high importance, seeing as they currently have more engineers working on this then on the hardware itself.

A nice consumer experience is the smart actions that learns a users habits on the phone and then automatically adjust the phone settings according to your habits to ensure longer battery life.

The RAZR is also compatible with the Lapdock and the HD Multimedia Station Motorola introduced with the Atrix.

The Motorola RAZR will be available at Vodacom from November 2011 on a 24-month Business Call contract at R269 or at a retail price of R6999, which too be honest is a bit on the steep side.

Motorola has taken the wraps of its new Android flagship phone the Motorola Droid Razr. Motorola teased us for a few weeks with its Motorola Next campaign where it gave four reason to get excited.

The new Droid Razr is the worlds thinnest smartphone and it packs a punch. Coming in at 7.1mm thick the Razr takes the place as the worlds thinnest smartphone, previously held by the Sony Ericsson Experia Arc.

Being the worlds thinnest phone doesn’t mean Motorola skimmed when it came to specs, the Razr features a 1.2Ghz dual core CPU, 1GB of RAM and 32GB or storage, a massive 4.3″ Super AMOLED screen, oh and did I mention it runs Android?

The slimness of the Motorola Razr was made possible by the use Kevlar, usually used to stop bullets, and the use of gorilla glass combined with the Kevlar makes the Razr also very strong and durable.

What do you think about the Droid Razr? Would you want to own one?

Motorola has announced the availability of the Motorola XOOM Android tablet and the Motorola Atrix in South Africa.

The Motorola XOOM is the first tablet to run Android 3 Honeycomb, boasts a dual core Tegra 2 1Ghz processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Motorola South Africa has also confirmed that an update for Android 3.1 is available for the XOOM in South Africa.

The Motorola Atrix is a 4G dual core CPU phone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, however the device will not be branded as 4G in South Africa. What really makes the Atrix stand out from all the other dual core phones currently on the market is its Webtop application combined with the docking station. Plugging the Atrix into the docking station enables you to control the device with a normal keyboard and mouse.

The Motorola XOOM and Atrix will be available with Cell C, Vodacom, MTN and 8ta in August 2011. The recommended retail price for the Motorola XOOM is R6599 and R5799 for the Atrix, both devices will also be available on contract.

DStv today has announced a brand new decoder for their DStv Mobile offering, called the DStv Mobile USB Drifta decoder.

The new USB Drifta decoder just like the WiFi Drifta, functions as a mobile DStv decoder enabling users to connect to the DStv Mobile DVB-H network to view certain channels on the go.

The new USB device is much sleeker than the original DStv Drifta decoder and plugs straight into you USB port on your computer, eliminating the need to pair the device through WiFi like the original WiFi Drifta. “It’s just a matter of loading the Drifta USB application onto your PC,” explains Mark Rayner, general manager: DStv Mobile South Africa. “After that, you simply plug the Drifta USB into your PC and launch the application; within seconds you can then enjoy DStv Mobile content.”

In addition to the launch of the DStv USB Drifta Decoder, DStv Mobile has also announced the addition of the M-Net Series channel to the DStv mobile bouquet, offering popular content such as “The Good Wife” and “CSI: Miami”.

Good news is that the new DStv USB Drifta decoder comes in at a few hundred rand cheaper then the original Drifta, making it now even more affordable for people to subscribe to DStv. The new DStv Mobile USB Drifta decoder is available here for only R399.

If you are an Apple fanatic then you have by now heard of the Apple TV, if you are not, well the Apple TV is essentially Apple’s answer to the media player in you living room.

The Apple TV is a small device you hook up to your HD (High Definition) television through an HDMI cable and then allow you to access media such as Movies, Music and Podcast through WiFi on you iTunes enabled PC’s and even allows you to use AirPlay, Apple’s proprietary feature that allows you to stream content from your Apple iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad wireless with the single touch of a screen.

Misplaced or lost your Apple TV remove, or are just too lazy to stand up to go get it, no worries. Apple allows you to control the Apple TV from your iPhone or iPad. If you are too lazy to pick up the remote to control the Apple TV, simply get out your iPhone or iPad and then control the Apple TV straight from that, browsing through photos or starting and stopping videos.

But the Apple TV is so much more than just a wireless media player to stream you movies and music from your computer, it also give you access to YouTube content and you can even play your HD podcast videos on your TV. In addition to that you also get access to TV series and Movie rentals through the use of a US iTunes Account, where you can watch the latest TV series the day it gets released for a mere $0.99 or get access to the latest Movies the day they get released on DVD for only $3.99 per movie, all of this in glorious HD right here in South Africa.

Unfortunately, the Apple TV is not officially available in South Africa, but luckily my favourite iTunes Gift Card provider has just informed me that are now also selling the Apple TV with free courier shipping on their site.

The Apple TV is going for about $199 when you import it through them, much cheaper than Kalahari.net is asking for the device, and also offering better value when compared to other media devices such as the XTreamer which sells at the same price here in South Africa and has no WiFi.

You can get the Apple TV at the following South African outlets:
WildTwig (Recommended)
Kalahari.net
Have2Have

Alternatively if you know about someone that lives in the states and will be heading to South Africa soon, you can always ask them to pick you one up for $99 at an Apple Store and bring it back for you.

Remember, to make use of the Apple TV’s TV and Movie rental services in South Africa you will need to have an US iTunes Account, follow this guide to help you set up a US iTunes Account for use in South Africa and then grab some iTunes Gift Cards to buy content from the iTunes store..

Normally when news of a new tablet hits the web the first thing people talk about is its specs and operating system, well this time it is different.

Archos, a company that has released several Android and Windows powered tablets are yet to make it big in the tablet market with one of its devices, but the company is making news with the announcement of a new tablet.

The new Arnova 7 tablet comes in at a mere $99 or R700 and the company hopes that this will put them on the map. One can’t expect much from a R700 tablet, but in places like Africa where users can only afford feature phones, this R700 tablet from Archos could be a huge hit.

Spec wise the tablet is not much to brag about, featuring a 7″ 800×400 screen, 4GB of internal storage and capable of 720p video playback running on Android Froyo 2.2 and WiFi. There are also no word yet on the specs of the CPU or how much RAM the Arnova 7 tablet has, but one thing is for sure – it has no cameras, like one would expect for that price. Disappointedly the Arnova 7 also have no access to the Android Market, but rather a custom market place called the AppsLib app store.

How disappointed one may be with the specs of the device, you can not deny the price. The price tag of $99 for the Arnova 7 makes it really appealing to 3rd word countries, such as Kenya where a $99 Android smartphone was recently introduced and proven to be a huge hit. The new tablet from Archos could just be the device that 3rd world countries need to introduce tablets into their markets.

No word yet on when the Archos 7 will start shipping and what countries will get the device first, but I think Archos would be foolish not to introduce this tablet to the African markets.

Samsung today launched their very first Windows Phone 7 device in South Africa called the Samsung Omnia 7.

“The Samsung Omnia 7 is our first Windows Phone 7 device and we anticipate that consumers will be drawn to its fantastic entertainment experience. Most importantly however, the device demonstrates our commitment to offering consumers a choice of platforms that fit their lifestyles,” says Paulo Ferreira, Head of Mobile Product and Business Solutions at Samsung.

The Samsung Omnia 7 features a 4″ Super AMOLED touch screen, a 1GHz processor and 5-megapixels camera capable of taking HD video.

Samsung Omnia 7 Phone Specs:

The Samsung Omnia 7 Windows Phone is exclusively available from today 6 June 2011 from Vodacom and has a recommended retail price of R5 299.00.