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Cellucity apparently to be exclusive South Africa iPhone retailer
TUAW reader Nathan spotted this banner ad at the bottom of South Africa's Cellucity's home page. As you can read, Cellucity states that the iPhone will be available for sale this September and that it will be the exclusive distributer. Cellucity is a retailer for Vodacom, one of the four South African mobile networks. It looks like the global iPhone roll-out is moving forward.Update: Several readers have pointed out that if Cellucity is going to be an official retailer, they're doing a pretty bad job so far. Check out their iPhone requirements, e.g. 10.4.8 required when 10.4.10 is actually required, no mention of Windows, etc.
PS3 gets a price boost in South Africa
Just as others have spoken publicly about the value of the PS3, we again remind you the price structure could always be worse. A forum post brings our attention to online retailers in South Africa, charging as much as R 6799 ($964.80 U.S. dollars) for a 60GB PS3 console. No extra games or controllers to be had with this particular bundle. FYI: The U.S. $599.99 price, converted to South Africa Rand, is R 4221.86.As we all know, bundles for game consoles is nothing new. But at least over here, we get something for the additional expense, even if they are wonderfully average launch titles. So before you sign any petitions to lower the North American PS3 price, take a look at what our brothers and sisters in South Africa are paying.BT Games: R 6499 ($922.20)Look & Listen: R 6799 ($964.80)Incredible Connection: R 6599.95 ($936.55)[Via digg]
South Africa left without a Nintendo distributor
It sucks to be South African today, as distributor Futronic confirmed that it has ceased distribution for Nintendo in the region. Adding on to the horrible amounts of pain one must endure living in the region and just finding out this news, there are no plans for another distributor to pick up the slack and take over duties, with even Nintendo's South African domain not even offering relief. Even worse is that the only light at the end of tunnel for South African gamers is the rumor that Nintendo of Europe could pick up the duties, however the possibility of that happening is pretty slim.
South Africans left without a Nintendo distributor
It sucks to be South African today, as distributor Futronic confirmed that it has ceased distribution for Nintendo in the region. Adding on to the horrible amounts of pain one must endure living in the region and just finding out this news, there are no plans for another distributor to pick up the slack and take over duties, with even Nintendo's South African domain not even offering relief. Even worse is that the only light at the end of tunnel for South African gamers is the rumor that Nintendo of Europe could pick up the duties, however the possibility of that happening is pretty slim.
Xbox 360 launches in South Africa
If you're a gamer living in South Africa, chances are that your visual periphery was dominated this past weekend by Microsoft's Xbox 360 launch and its accompanying marketing campaign. Nearly a year after the system's first-worldwide launch, the Xbox 360 became officially available to eager shoppers at the stroke of midnight on Friday, 29 September. Playable in-store kiosks, radio advertisements, campus tournaments and vaguely sinister cardboard stands announced not only the arrival of "the next generation of gaming," but the expansion of choice.Unless you wanted to import the original Xbox or stick your hand into the awkward and tangled mess of Gamecube distribution lines, the PlayStation 2 was the only console the average gamer could reliably and affordably find in game stores. The merits of Sony's system have long since been established and it's easy to argue that South Africa got the best console out of the bunch, though "best" loses much of its meaning when it becomes interchangeable with "only." Consider for a moment how your gaming habits might be affected if two out of three consoles weren't readily available to you. For comparison's sake (and because we didn't have much else to do) we attended one of the midnight launches at BT Games (Northgate) in Johannesburg, taking care to snap pictures and generally harass people who simply wanted to pick up their pre-orders in peace. Several midnight events took place all over the country, coinciding with the beginning of rAge -- a gaming expo we'll tell you about later.
Xbox 360 invades South Africa next month
Better late than never news now, as Microsoft sends out word that the Xbox 360 will be launching in South Africa this September. After gifting upon the world Nelson Mandela, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charlize Theron, Dave Matthews and frequently delicious koeksusters, it seems only fair to reward the third-world country with a shiny new games console. Local marketing manager, Cindy White, explains that South African gamers are a hungry bunch: "South Africa is a country where the appetite for console gaming is growing in leaps and bounds – expanding to Africa allows us to build a successful business ecosystem for our partners, and to bring more gamers amazing next-generation gaming and entertainment experiences."What she fails to mention, however, is that the entertainment experience arrives with a significant bite taken out of it. According to the online variant of NAG, a local gaming magazine, Xbox Live will not be "officially" supported within the first 12 months of the system's arrival. Stopping short of physically removing one of the analog sticks on the 360 controller, this move seems to leave quite a significant gap in the console's appeal. Live itself will still function -- the hardcore group of currently connected South Africans can attest to that -- but it will likely be impossible to purchase Live subscriptions from stores or perform marketplace transactions in South African currency.Both the normal and core editions of the Xbox 360 will launch on 29 September for R3,699 ($519) and R2,699 ($378) respectively. Until then, South Africans can enjoy reading irksome generalizations and ignorant remarks ("You wont ear people talking thats for sure , all you will ear is clicking sounds , cant wait to play againts Shaka Zulu") on the official Xbox forums. After the break: This entire post written...in the Afrikaans language!
Vista forecast: 20% chance of delays
If you're one of the many folks eagerly awaiting the January release of Windows Vista, then there's a small-but-not-insignificant chance that you may be in for a letdown -- a 20% chance, actually, according to outgoing Microsoft CTO, lifelong Engadget reader, and occasional video pirate Bill Gates. During a presentation in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr. Gates informed his audience that although there's an 80% probability that the next-gen OS will ship as scheduled, "we've got to get this absolutely right," and stressed that "if the feedback from the beta tests shows it is not ready for prime time, I'd be glad to delay it." Now, we can't imagine that anyone would want to purchase buggy software, so it's reassuring to see that Microsoft is committed to only pushing a polished product out the door, but we have to say that Gates' choice of words here makes him come across as just a little cavalier. Because if he's "glad" to continue frustrating us with these tragi-comic delays, then there's probably quite a few people out there who will be just as glad to stick with their copies of XP out of spite -- or even worse, make the dreaded leap over to Leopard or Linux.[Thanks, Matt and Oliver O.]
South Africa prepping high-def for the 2010 World Cup
HDTV is coming to South Africa just in time for the 2010 World Cup. A broadband company, Sentech, is set to roll out Digital Terrestrial Televsion, or DTT, just in time to met the governements requirment. This system is set to cost them one billon Rand, 140 million US, to roll out and will take up to five years for a complete installation. The 2010 World Cup is going to be hosted by South Africa and FIFA demands that the country has the ability to broadcast high-def. We wish them all the luck and speed they are going to need in order to upgrade an analog system to high-def in four years.
