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Elon Musk’s Starlink to Provide Internet Services in Nigeria
Image sourced from Independent.co.uk. Elon Musk, a business magnate, announced that Starlink, a satellite internet service he launched through SpaceX, will be providing internet services to two countries in Africa including Nigeria. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) also confirmed this announcement, according to TechCabal. This follows a visit to Nigeria by the Starlink’s team in May last year to discuss the possibility of obtaining a licence. SpaceX, Musk’s spacecraft engineering company, announced early in May that Starlink now operates in 32 countries. Starlink will bring competition to the Nigerian market, taking on large telecoms like MTN and Airtel in a bid to bring stable internet connection to the country. “The company received two licenses, which include the Internation...
South Africans Score Big Through Nedbank-linked Game
Image sourced from PYMNTS. Expand, a mobile app that rewards players with cash and airtime for their knowledge and attention to brands, products, and services, has taken South Africa by storm. At 20:00 every weeknight, tens of thousands of people from every corner of the country are glued to their mobile device screens in an attempt to win their share of cash and airtime, and a chance to win up to R10 000 ($645,48) in cash. A first of its kind globally, Expand is a digital game of skill that was made possible through a partnership between Nedbank and Expand. Since Expand first launched on 4 October 2021 as a web-based game, thousands of fun-loving South Africans have shared in cash and airtime prizes worth more than R5,5 million ($355 047,16). According to Maude Korte, Head of Commercialis...
Apple’s RealityOS for rumored headset appears in trademark application
RealityOS — the name Apple is reportedly using for the operating system running on its rumored virtual and augmented reality headset — has appeared in a trademark filing spotted by Parker Ortolani. Bloomberg News was first to report the “reality operating system” branding back in 2017, and references to the name have appeared in Apple’s software. The trademark application hasn’t officially been filed by Apple, but it’s common practice for large companies to apply for trademarks under one-off company names — like Realityo Systems LLC, in this case — in the state of Delaware for the sole purpose of maintaining anonymity. The trademark application is the latest evidence that Apple is on the cusp of announcing its long-rumored headset. It follows the news earlier this month that the company’s ...
For $500, you can buy the Third Sister’s 6.5-foot double-bladed lightsaber
Hasbro has designed a lifelike lightsaber just in time for the premiere of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series, one that might be the toymaker’s most ambitious — and expensive — replica yet. The Black Series Reva Force FX Elite Lightsaber costs $499 and measures a total of 6.5 feet long with both blades attached. It’s modeled after the lightsaber wielded by the Third Sister, also known as Reva, a cold and callous Inquisitor set on hunting down Obi-Wan. Just like the iconic lightsabers we’ve seen held by Inquisitors in past Star Wars series, you can take off one of the blades, as well as remove half of the circle in the center of the lightsaber. There are a number of cool lighting and sound effects that you can activate too, and they work whether you’re using one or both blades. While a progressi...
In the Economy 3.0, metaverses will create jobs for millions
Job creation is traditionally engineered by politicians desperate to get the country back to work and to be seen as stimulating the economy. From the job creation programs of the Great Depression to United States President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act, employment schemes have a long, checkered history. Today, fostering meaningful employment for the masses remains as popular as ever with policymakers, and yet, the next great job creation scheme is unlikely to be issued as a top-down order. Rather, it will emanate from a realm that most politicians have little dominion over and few powers to control: the Metaverse. That virtual world running parallel to our physical one is not constrained by national borders, nor is it the fiefdom of social media companies cynically commandeering its nam...
Apple can’t dismiss Cydia’s amended antitrust lawsuit, judge says
Apple’s attempt to dismiss an amended antitrust lawsuit filed by the creator of Cydia, an app store for jailbroken iPhones, has failed (via Reuters). California District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied Apple’s motion to dismiss the case on Thursday and is giving the company 21 days to respond to Cydia’s refiled complaint. Cydia developer Jay Freeman (who also goes by the username Saurik), first filed a lawsuit against Apple in 2020. The complaint alleges Apple “has wrongfully acquired and maintained monopoly power” in iOS app distribution and payments, ultimately “depriving” third-party app stores of “the ability to compete with the App Store.” Cydia emerged before the Apple App Store even existed, and allowed users to find and download third-party apps for jailbroken devices. Freeman ...
iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max could finally get always-on display
Apple may finally bring always-on display to the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. According to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple could introduce the feature with iOS 16, allowing the iPhone to display a limited amount of information even when it’s locked. Gurman says the iPhone’s version of always-on mode could work similarly to the way it does with the Apple Watch Series 5 and up — the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max will drop the lock screen’s frame rate with always-on mode enabled, letting them conserve energy while the display remains powered on. It’s unclear if the new iPhone will use the same low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) display Apple uses in newer Watch models. These low-powered screens play a huge part in getting always-on mode to work properly, as they̵...
Is there a secure future for cross-chain bridges?
The plane touches down and comes to a halt. Heading to passport control, one of the passengers stops at a vending machine to buy a bottle of soda — but the device is absolutely indifferent to all of their credit cards, cash, coins and everything else. All of that is part of a foreign economy as far as the machine is concerned, and as such, they can’t buy even a droplet of Coke. In the real world, the machine would have been quite happy with a Mastercard or a Visa. And the cash exchange desk at the airport would have been just as happy to come to the rescue (with a hefty markup, of course). In the blockchain world, though, the above scenario hits the spot with some commentators, as long as we swap traveling abroad for moving assets from one chain to another. While blockchains as decentraliz...
Identity and the Metaverse: Decentralized control
“The Metaverse” and “Web3” are the buzzwords of the moment, with their concepts permeating across the worlds of fintech, blockchain, and now even mainstream media. With decentralization thought to be at the core of the Web3 Metaverse, the promise of a better user experience, security and control for consumers is what’s driving its growth. But with users’ identities at the heart of the Metaverse, coupled with unprecedented amounts of data online, there are concerns over data security, privacy and interoperability. This has the potential to hinder the development of the Metaverse, but both regulated and self-sovereign identities could play an important role in ensuring that we truly own our identity and data within this new space. Related: Digital sovereignty: Reclaiming your private data in...
Twitter Circle may be rolling out to more users
Twitter started testing Circle earlier this month with a limited group, and now it looks like it’s starting to roll out to more users (via Android Police). The feature works a lot like Instagram’s Close Friends, as it allows users to send out tweets to a specific group of people rather than all of Twitter. To check if you have access to Twitter Circle, update your Twitter app or head to Twitter in a web browser. When you start composing a tweet, you’ll see a dropdown menu at the top that reads Everyone. From here, you can choose Twitter Circle to limit your tweet to a select audience, or you can hit Edit to add or remove people from your Circle. Twitter won’t notify users if you add or remove them. Choose “Twitter Circle” to limit your tweets. Add or remove users from your Circle. You can ...
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II is coming to Switch
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) II: The Sith Lords is heading to the Nintendo Switch on June 8th, as announced at this year’s Star Wars Celebration event. The sequel to the classic KOTOR RPG is supposed to feature some performance enhancements and resolution upgrades, as well as a Restored Content DLC set to arrive post-launch. Image: Aspyr Media As you might’ve guessed, the Restored Content DLC comes with the content that Obsidian Entertainment and Aspyr Media, the game’s developers, left out during their rush to launch the game in 2004. There’s already a fanmade mod for KOTOR II on Steam that restores some of this lost content, but it’s unclear how similar the official DLC will be when it comes out. You can preorder KOTOR II on the Nintendo Store for $15.00 right now...
The latest iPad Air with M1 processor and expanded 256GB storage is $70 off
It’s officially Memorial Day Weekend. Time to get the grill going, throw some drinks in the cooler, and saddle up for some hot deals. We’ve been covering sales and discounts for Memorial Day all week, and we’ve got some fresh ones for your Saturday. First off, Apple’s latest iPad Air with expanded 256GB storage is down to $679 at Amazon. This $70 discount is the best price in over a month for this configuration. If you don’t feel that you need the extra storage, the 64GB model is $569.99 (about $30 off) at Amazon and Walmart. Though the 256GB helps ensure you don’t run short on space too quickly. This latest generation of the iPad Air looks a lot like the previous model from 2020, but it’s been given a big performance boost by borrowing the same M1 processor of the iPad Pro models and entr...
