Southern Africa
Microsoft Offers OCR Support for Official South African Languages
Microsoft has revealed it would add Optical Character Recognition (OCR) support for two of South Africa’s official languages, Afrikaans and Zulu. “Adding support for these languages is part of Microsoft’s mission to build meaningful cognitive products and services that improve local engagement,” says Rory Preddy, Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft South Africa. “This support, which now counts a total of 73 languages, means that more people are able to connect in their own language and that language will become a seamless feature of using technology, rather than a hindrance.” OCR support for local languages allows users to use visual data processing to label content with objects and concepts, extract text, generate image descriptions and moderate content. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_a3a.td...
UberGo Launches in South Africa
Sourced from CNet. Uber has launched its low-cost ride-hailing service UberGo in South Africa. “Due to the successful launch of UberGo in Port Elizabeth in 2017, we have decided to change the name of UberNam to UberGo, in order to follow the global Uber standard and to easily expand this option across South Africa,” reads a statement from the company. “We also understand that the name led to some confusion regarding a ride-sharing product, which we do not have in South Africa. Therefore, when you open your Uber app, you will see UberGo. This product is in addition to the current suite of products such as UberX and UberBlack.” UberGo comes with smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles, with fares priced more affordably than before. Riders and drivers can expect the same door-to-door safety fea...
What could 5G mean for South Africa?
The rollout of 5G in South Africa’s urban centres is likely to be one of the most significant technology events of 2021. Where 3G and 4G LTE technology provided increased speeds compared to their predecessors, 5G will establish an entirely new innovation platform upon which many of the technologies and day-to-day conveniences of the future will be built. It’s less of an iteration on previous technologies and more of a total digital transformation in how we connect to virtual and physical worlds. The number of connected devices will grow exponentially, linking previously static infrastructure – cars, clothes, parking meters – to a smart network that constantly generates and processes vast amounts of data. In line with this, the 5G services market is expected to grow at an astronomical rate,...
Amazon need not Enter SA’s eCommerce Industry ‘Any Time Soon’, says Naspers CEO
Image sourced from CNBC Bob van Dijk, CEO of Naspers and Prosus believes that Amazon may not enter South Africa’s eCommerce sector “any time soon”. According to TechCentral, a key reason for this is “Naspers-controlled e-retailer Takealot.com is doing a really, really good job serving South African online consumers”. “We look closely at the Net Promoter Score, which is really whether people like the service enough to recommend it to others. There, Takealot has done just a fantastic job,” says van Dijk. “If they manage to continue to make customers happy at scale, like they have been doing, then I think there is limited room for Amazon to come in and offer something better.” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to Step Down Founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos has revealed that he will step down from his...
Facebook Launches Climate Science Information Centre in sub–Saharan Africa
Facebook has launched its Climate Science Information Centre to sub–Saharan Africa, beginning with South Africa and Nigeria. This is expected to be part of the social platform’s “commitment to connecting people to accurate, expert advice and information about global developments that affect their lives”. The centre, available in 16 countries aims to connect people on Facebook with resources from the world’s leading climate change organizations. Modelled on the Facebook COVID-19 Information Centre—which has so far, directed more than 2 billion people to information from health authorities—the Climate Science Information Center offers facts about climate change and actionable steps people can take in their everyday lives to combat climate change. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_ef0.td-a-rec-img{ tex...
Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Proven ‘Less Effective’ Against South African Virus
Image sourced from TimesLIVE A lab study by Pfizer and BioNTech has shown that its COVID-19 vaccine has proven ‘less effective’ against the South African variant by producing “lower levels of neutralizing antibodies”. According to Bloomberg, the results are “part of tests of its vaccine against a lab-created virus that had all the mutations found in the South African variant, which is thought to spread faster than earlier versions”. “The mutant virus has become a stumbling block for vaccine campaigns, with South Africa halting the rollout of AstraZeneca Plc’s shot after a study showed it didn’t work as well in preventing mild illness involving the variant first identified there”. The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine – of which South Africa has received one million doses – has proven ‘minimally...
Rectron To Distribute NZXT PC Gaming Solutions Across South Africa
Rectron has added NZXT software-powered hardware solutions for PC gaming to its portfolio. According to the company, NZXT is dedicated to providing “premium PC gaming products and services that combine affordability, functionality, engineering and design to achieve extraordinary gaming experiences”. Through this partnership, Rectron will distribute the complete range of NZXT products including the H series cases, AIO liquid coolers, Power Supplies, AER RGB series Fans & Accessories. “NZXT is a very valuable addition in significantly strengthening our PC gaming offering. As a leading developer in innovative gaming products, NZXT has established a passionate following among gamers seeking craftsmanship and value, and we are excited to bring a focused selection of their products to o...
Huawei Unveils the New AppGallery in South Africa
Huawei Mobile Services has launched its latest version of Huawei AppGallery, featuring a new and enhanced way to discover content for users in South Africa. According to the company, the update “empowers users to smoothly discover an array of new apps, games, and resources on the platform and delve deeper into high-quality editorial content and more exciting updates and engaging features”. The new features are expected to provide users with the best discovery experience, as it currently boasts a global user base of more than 530 million monthly active users. Informed by its users’ feedback, this new version is more than just a new look; it provides tailored and localised topics based on users’ unique interests, while showcasing trending apps and games with striking visuals complemented by ...
FlySafair Unveils New Mobile App
FlySafair has officially launched a new mobile app for Android and iOS. The app has been designed to give users an easy way to search, book, and manage flights directly from their phone – while also adjusting to travelling in the New COVID-19 Normal. “We’ve been crafting an app for a while and now seemed like a great time to launch it because we were able to make a lot of adjustments to the features to ensure that they were relevant in this COVID-19 reality”, says Kirby Gordon, CMO at FlySafair. Aviation in South Africa took a massive knock after the announcement of level 3 restrictions in late December last year, with available seats on the market in January this year being a mere 45% of what they were in January 2020. “The aim of the app has been to make our customer’s experience with us...
King Price and Secura Launch Emergency Response App in South Africa
King Price and Secura have introduced an app-based emergency response service, code red, in South Africa. In an emergency situation, app users can hit the panic button and the nearest armed response or emergency service vehicle will be dispatched. Code red taps into a network of more than 280 armed response companies, which connects to thousands of responders across all 9 provinces. Other services available to respond to a code red activation include the SA Police Service, metro, municipal and traffic law enforcement, ambulances, and fire and rescue services. “If you feel threatened, or if there’s a medical emergency, you open our app and tap on code red,” begins client experience partner at King Price, Wynand van Vuuren. “The code red control room will dispatch the closest linked armed re...
King Price and Secura Launch Emergency Response App in South Africa
King Price and Secura have introduced an app-based emergency response service, code red, in South Africa. In an emergency situation, app users can hit the panic button and the nearest armed response or emergency service vehicle will be dispatched. Code red taps into a network of more than 280 armed response companies, which connects to thousands of responders across all 9 provinces. Other services available to respond to a code red activation include the SA Police Service, metro, municipal and traffic law enforcement, ambulances, and fire and rescue services. “If you feel threatened, or if there’s a medical emergency, you open our app and tap on code red,” begins client experience partner at King Price, Wynand van Vuuren. “The code red control room will dispatch the closest linked armed re...
Paratus and Telecom Namibia to Land Subsea Cable in Namibia
Telecom Namibia CEO, Stanley Shanapinda and Paratus Group CEO Barney Harmse Paratus and Telecom Namibia have agreed to land subsea cable, Equiano, in Namibia. This move is expected to provide Namibian networks with greater capacity, stimulate economic growth and support a competitive telecommunication sector. “This is a major milestone for Paratus,” says Paratus Group CEO, Barney Harmse. “We are honoured to be co-investing with Telecom Namibia on the Equiano subsea cable project because this matches our goals of delivering unlimited connectivity and building Africa’s quality network with all the Internet capacity it needs.” In 2019, Google first announced its subsea cable project would connect Africa with Europe, running along the west coast of Africa, between Portugal and South Africa. Th...
