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Children’s Internet Activity Increases by 200% During Lockdown

South African children have become more active on the Internet as the national lockdown progresses. Comparing their activity in the first week of January and the last week of March, the overall number of website visits grew by 200%. This became evident from the analysis of Kaspersky Safe Kids parental control module of Q1 2020. Children’s activity on the Internet is as important nowadays as their behaviour and social environment outside. This is why it is crucial to help a child to navigate through the information that surrounds them on the web, making sure that the experience is positive. During the worldwide lockdown, children are prone to look for entertainment online more than ever, so this period has shown some important changes in their behaviour that correlated with the increase in ...

Keep VPNs Safe from Cyber Attacks during Lockdown

Sourced from International IDEA If cybercrime were a country, it would have the 13th highest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world, with large multi-national operations earning more than US$1 billion annually. This is according to the recently-released 2H 2019 NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report, which says that this gives cybercriminals plenty of motivation to continue unleashing an onslaught of different types of attacks on the world – including phishing, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, ransomware and many other forms of malicious malware. And that was just last year – where are we at now that we’re four months into 2020? “This year,” says Bryan Hamman, Regional Director at NETSCOUT, a leading provider of service assurance, security and business analytics, “cybercrimina...

Microsoft Introduces New Surface Devices

Microsoft has introduced its latest Surface range which includes the new Surface Go 2, Surface Book 3, Surface Headphones 2 and Surface Earbuds. The tech goliath says that this range was designed to help users navigate the current environment which sees more people turning to Windows PCs than ever. In fact, over 4 trillion minutes are being spent on Windows 10 a month, a 75% increase year on year. “The way we work, connect and learn continues to change right in front of us. Our devices have become our window to the world – our office, our school and our social space,” says Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer for Windows and Devices at Microsoft. “It’s not just the pull of the larger screen and better keyboard, but the versatility of a device that runs the software we need and games and ente...

Uber Lays Off 14% of Global Workforce due to COVID-19

Sourced from CNet. Uber is laying off thousands of its employees as the ongoing pandemic continues to impact business. The company said in a filing on Wednesday that it is cutting about 3,700 full-time roles or roughly 14% of its staff on the company’s customer support and recruiting teams in response to the reduced volume of ride requests and the company’s hiring freeze. Uber also said in the filing that CEO Dara Khosrowshahi will waive his base salary for the rest of 2020. “Days like this are brutal. I am truly sorry that we are doing this, just as I know that we have to do this,” Khosrowshahi wrote in an email about the layoffs to staffers, which was viewed by CNN Business. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_5b8.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_5b8.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Th...

AWS Partners with Vodacom to Improve Business and Cloud Solutions

Image sourced from Blog dbi services Amazon Web Services (AWS) – alongside launching its next wave of data centres in South Africa – has partnered with  Vodacom to grow the South African mobile networks offering further and deliver improved business and cloud solutions. “Vodacom is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner with operations across the African continent, so naturally we are very pleased that they have made the decision to invest in the South African market, as well as the broader African market, by opening these data centres in Cape Town,” says Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO. “The most exciting aspect of this is the integration of AWS into the Vodacom Network, which will allow our clients to take advantage of the benefits of both offerings, and use them to transform their bu...

COVID-19 to Cut IT Spending in Nearly Every Industry in 2020

The International Data Corporation (IDC) currently forecasts worldwide IT spending to decline by 2.7% this year due to the economic impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. While every industry will be affected by the global slowdown, IDC notes that some will reduce their IT spending more than others. IDC in its Worldwide ICT Spending Guide: Industry and Company Size, document hospitality and tourism-heavy industries like transportation and personal and consumer services are expected to be the most negatively impacted markets with IT spending expected to decline by 5% or more. However, both markets are relatively small in terms of IT spending. Discrete and process manufacturing are both large market opportunities for technology (nearly $400 billion combined) and face significant risks du...

Groundbreaking AI Scans Lungs for COVID-19 Presence

In Wuhan, China, when the rate of coronavirus infection was at its highest, doctors were able to use an AI algorithm to scan the lungs of thousands of patients. The algorithm in question, developed by Axial AI, analyses CT imagery in seconds. It is able to declare whether a patient has a high risk of developing viral pneumonia from the coronavirus or not. The coloured area shows where the algorithm has detected pneumonia. Sourced from the BBC The BBC writes that a consortium of firms developed the AI in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. They say it can show whether a patient’s lungs have improved or worsened over time – when more CT scans are done for comparison. A hospital in Malaysia is now trialling the system and Axial AI has also offered to donate it to the NHS in the UK. However, th...

Teraco to Build Second-Largest Data Centre in Africa

Teraco has officially confirmed the construction of Teraco Cape Town 2 (CT2), a new 30MW data centre facility. This follows the company’s recent 60MW expansion announcement of its Johannesburg data centre campus in Isando and makes the Cape Town facility the second-largest on the continent. Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco, says that the company is standing by its 2019 commitment to support the South African Government’s investment drive and with this build will be investing Billions of Rands in South Africa’s digital infrastructure: “We are truly proud that we can keep investing in the region and make good on our promise.” Driving this investment, according to Hnizdo, is the growth of cloud in the region, resulting in increased demand from cloud providers, enterprises and sub-sea cable operators...

EA Racks Up Higher than Expected Revenue as Gamers Stay Indoors

Sourced from Electronic Arts Inc. One of the world’s largest and most successful video game publishers, EA (Electronic Arts Inc) forecasts a full-year adjusted revenue above estimates projected for it by WallStreet. Experts believe this is because the company has been riding on the broader surge in videogame sales as people shelter at home due to the worldwide pandemic. Reuters reports that videogame sales in the US have surged in the last two months as the country was shut down by COVID-19 – sales in March managed to hit their highest in over a decade. Analysts expect the extended stay-at-home orders to further boost sales and user engagement for videogames across all platforms. Even with successful projections for the rest of the year, EA’s shares went down about 5% in extended trading. ...

Huawei P40 Lite to Launch in South Africa

Image sourced from Connected Devices Huawei is about ready to release the first device from its highly-anticipated P40 series. According to the Chinese tech giant, the P40 Lite is more powerful and robust than its predecessors – it also marks the second Huawei smartphone to launch in South Africa that comes standard with Huawei’s HMS ecosystem. The Huawei P40 lite is powered by the Kirin 810, a high-end 7nm chipset, which is integrated with a Mali G52 GPU that boasts excellent graphics processing capabilities. In addition, the 4200MAh battery and 40W Huawei SuperCharge support offer lower power consumption and long-lasting battery life. With its 6.4-inch Punch FullView Display, 90.6% screen-to-body ratio and 48MP quad-camera, Huawei believes this handset is all about creating and viewing h...

How to Tell if a WhatsApp Message is Actually Fake News

Facebook-owned social media and chat powerhouse WhatsApp continues to take part in the fight against misinformation and Fake News – now, thanks to a new chatbot, users can fact check messages right in the app. Partnering with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), WhatsApp is allowing users around the world to talk to this chatbot to inform them of the latest facts so that they can decide on how true or false messages sent to them are. Gadgets Africa says that “the bot is able to easily check whether a piece of news about COVID-19 is true or not”. This new chatbot service comes soon after WhatsApp began taking several measures to curb the spread of fake news and false information. Just recently, the company announced that limits put in place to reduce the amount of copy-paste chai...

6 Simple Ways to Help the Elderly Safely Connect Online during Lockdown

For the last few weeks, much has changed in our lives. People have been urged to only leave home if it is absolutely necessary, such as to shop for essential items or to seek medical care. However, there are plenty of technologies available to help us maintain the usual rhythm of our daily lives. For instance, food delivery services on offer allow us to order grocery items without having to leave the house. Unfortunately, not everybody is able to take advantage. People who are at greatest risk and need these services most – the elderly – can often experience some difficulties in using modern tools that many of us otherwise take for granted. To stay in touch and buy the essentials, older generations are having to learn how technologies work and become more comfortable spending more time tha...