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Lauren Granger

Lauren Granger has a Bachelor of Journalism from Rhodes University, where she specialised in New Media. She is currently a Masters student at the University of Cape Town and an editorial intern at Memeburn.com.

RECENT POSTS

• Water-proof, life-proof: the Motorola Defy+ [Review]

  When I first saw the Motorola Defy+, it was sitting in a glass of water. The poor phone hadn’t even been in the office for five minutes and it was already being tested to see if all of this “water tight” PR propaganda was true. It wasn’t immersed a meter deep for half an hour -- its advertised tolerance threshold -- but it survived nonetheless. Considering the fact that I’m still a bit upset that my last laptop was fatally ...
  
  

• Waze: the app that saves you from traffic and fines [Review]

  Let’s be honest: I drive a car. I hate traffic. I get lost a lot. So when I heard there was an app that combined GPS navigation with traffic updates, it was installed on my phone within the hour. I was willing to try anything. Fortunately, as it turned out, Waze is actually pretty darn good. What is Waze? Waze is an app for iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Symbian -- basically, pretty much everyone with a GPS function on their ...
  
  

• BlackBerry Curve 9380: Death by touch screen [Review]

  When the BlackBerry Curve 9380 arrived, it sat quietly on my desk for about five minutes, just looking beautiful. The soft light from the nearby window hit its silver edging and the screen in a way that made it look like it was gently glowing. I think this, along with its sleek curves and menus that transitioned seamlessly as I happily swished around on the touch screen, induced a stupor that convinced me to say something along the lines of ...
  
  

• The iPhone story: hazardous waste and suicidal workers [Infographic]

  It seems there is a lot going on behind the scenes in the production of Apple devices. When your shiny new iPhone arrives on your doorstep, remember that the Rwandan army made a quarter of a billion dollars by stealing the type of metal inside your phone, 43% of Apple's suppliers don't recycle or dispose of hazardous waste they way they're legally supposed to and the suicide rate at a supplier's factory in China has risen so much in the ...
  
  

• 8 things you can do with the Kinect – besides play games

  When Microsoft launched the Kinect in 2010, I think the world must have collectively sighed. Here was a device that recognised your movements and your voice and allowed your body to act as a controller. It was a 3D camera that you could hold in one hand. It recognised who was standing in front of it by analysing their body shape and face. And it was being used for gaming. Really?! Now, no disrespect to all the Kinect games -- I’m ...
  
  

• Creepy robot can run faster than you [Video]

  The robots are coming for you. The boffins over Boston Dynamics have built a robot that can run 18mph (almost 29km/hr) -- smashing the previous land speed record by almost 5mph. Built with funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the “Cheetah” can outrun most humans -- which is a comforting thought, considering it looks like a cross between a rabid dog and a metallic spider from your worst nightmares. The Cheetah is modelled after, you guessed it, a cheetah, ...
  
  

• Samsung wins best smartphone and manufacturer of the year

  Round of applause for Samsung please... it's just been named Device Manufacturer of the Year at the Global Mobile Awards. The Galaxy S II also walked away with "Best Smartphone". The awards took place in Spain during the recent Mobile World Congress and the winners are pretty much those you’d expect. Angry Birds Rio won best Mobile App for Consumers, Whatsapp received the Best Overall App award, Google Maps for Android was awarded Best Consumer Mobile Service and the iPad 2 ...
  
  

• Google designing augmented reality glasses [Rumour]

  While augmented reality apps have yet to hit the cellphones of most of the population, the people over at Google are reportedly moving on -- to eyewear. Sources say the company is designing glasses that could display information on everything from a friend’s location to the name of the nearest street right before your eyes. The New York Times says the glasses are being developed in a secret lab near the Google offices and will be available to the public by ...