tech news
Uber Won’t Charge Trip Cancellation Fees in Kenya
Sourced from CNet. Uber revealed that it will no longer charge fees to Kenyan users, specifically in Mombasa and Nairobi, who cancel their rides. In an email to users, the ride-hailing platform says, “At Uber, we are always monitoring rider experience, market dynamics, and fare structures. This is to ensure our app continues to be a reliable and affordable option for you. With this in mind, we are removing all trip cancellation fees.” “Please note this has been implemented across all our products in Nairobi and Mombasa. As always we will continue to monitor your experience on our app, to ensure Uber remains your first app of choice.” This comes shortly after the company announced the expansion of its services throughout the country. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_f22.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: lef...
500,000 People Pre-Order’s SpaceX’s Internet Service Starlink
SpaceX’s satellite Internet service – Starlink – has recorded more than 500,000 orders and deposits from customers. Starlink uses satellites that are over 60 times closer to Earth than traditional satellites, resulting in lower latency (the time it takes to send data from one point to the next) and the ability to support services typically not possible with traditional satellite internet. “To date, over half a million people have placed an order or put down a deposit for Starlink,” says Siva Bharadvaj, SpaceX operations engineer. “With every launch, we get closer to connecting more people across the world.” According to Business Insider, the company launched 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit using one of its Falcon 9 rockets, completing its 10th Starlink mission of 2021 and its 26th m...
3 Things to Consider When Adopting SaaS
Sourced from Business News Daily Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provides organisations with enterprise-level scalability and a rich environment via a cost-effective model, allowing smaller businesses access to technology that typically used to be bespoke for enterprise customers. While SaaS was initially designed to service the Small and Medium Business (SMB) market, it has subsequently evolved to a point where large enterprises are seeing the value of this model. The fact that the model lends itself to scale up or down means that organisations of all sizes can benefit from SaaS or Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS). Reprioritise Technology Resources The main benefit of adopting SaaS or BaaS is that companies typically gain on economies of scale, while the cost to entry is lower than an outright pur...
MTN Group Reports Service Revenue Growth in 2021
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) MTN Group has reported strong operational and financial performance for the first quarter of 2021. “The MTN Group has delivered a solid Q1 2021 trading performance, with service revenue and EBITDA margins expanding on the back of continued commercial momentum and resilient networks,” says MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita. He adds that the Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy had gained execution traction during challenging COVID-19 macroeconomic conditions in the quarter. In constant currency terms, service revenue grew by 17.8% to R42.3 billion at end-March 2021, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 21.3% and the EBITDA margin widened to 44.2% from 42.7%. “The overall Group results were suppo...
Samsung Unveils High-Resolution 2021 Monitor Lineup
Samsung has unveiled its new full lineup of 12 High-Resolution monitors across three series – the S8, S7 and S6. This 2021 portfolio is expected to deliver life-like picture quality and enhanced convenience with advanced ergonomic design, making it an ideal addition to any workspace or at-home setup. All models deliver more than 1 billion colours for a vivid and vibrant image, enhanced by HDR 10 technology. The displays feature colour vividness and clarity through a 178-degree wide viewing angle designed for professional work environments, delivering an uncompromising viewing experience from any angle. “As demand for higher resolution monitors continues to increase, Samsung plans to continue to lead the market by unveiling new products that meet our customers’ needs,” says Nivash Ramsern, ...
Facebook’s Workplace Reaches 7 Million Paid Subscriber Milestone
Facebook has revealed that its business communication tool – Workplace – has reached 7 million paid subscribers. This is an increase of over 40% over the past year and a clear indicator that more companies are prioritizing employee experience for the long-term in the wake of the pandemic. “Interesting milestone: Workplace, our business communication tool, has hit 7 million paid subscribers — a 40% increase in the last year,” says Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerburg. “We built Workplace as an internal version of Facebook to run our own company, and it was so useful we started letting other organizations use it too, including everyone from Spotify to Starbucks to the World Health Organization. More companies are starting to use our virtual reality tools for work as well, and I’m excited t...
5 Ways to Create the Perfect Remote Work Environment
Traditional work culture expectations are undergoing a paradigm shift, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent study, more than half of South Africans (53%) prefer the option of working from home at least once a week. Now more than ever, businesses need to foster a digital culture that encourages employees to engage and succeed regardless of where they work from. Here are five tips for building a strong and resourceful remote workforce: 1. Build a transparent communication system /* custom css */ .tdi_3_0e6.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_0e6.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Trust and transparency are the two major pillars of healthy team culture, and both thrive on communication. Ensure that every person in the team is aware of what’s going on in the company a...
Twitter Spaces Launches for Users with 600 or More Followers
Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy Twitter users with 600 or more followers can now host Spaces. The social media company – which has been building and testing this feature with a limited group since last year – revealed that this feature will now be available across iOS and Android devices. “Today, we’re bringing the ability to host a Space to all accounts with 600 or more followers on Twitter. Based on what we’ve learned so far, these accounts are likely to have a good experience hosting live conversations because of their existing audience,” reads an official statement from Twitter. “Before bringing the ability to create a Space to everyone, we’re focused on learning more, making it easier to discover Spaces, and helping people enjoy them with a great audience. Twitter goes on...
Supersonic Begins AirFibre Rollout in South Africa
Image sourced from SpaceNews Supersonic – in partnership with MTN – has officially announced the installation of its wireless broadband solution. This service is expected to overcome distance and a lack of infrastructure in urban, township and rural communities to bring fibre-quality connectivity to more households across the country. “We are breaking down the traditional barriers to entry that have denied much access to a modern, connected life,” says Calvin Collet, MD of Supersonic. “From Soweto to Swellendam, we believe that every household deserves the speed and benefits of fibre-like connectivity, and through AirFibre we believe we can achieve this.” He goes on to say that the use of open spectrum frequencies potentially has the risk of incurring interference, however, this technology...
6 Tips to Defend Against Ransomware Attacks
Over the last few years, the number of users encountering targeted ransomware – malware used to extort money from high-profile targets, such as corporations, government agencies, and municipal organisations – increased by 767%. With that in mind, here are 6 things you can do to defend against ransomware attacks: Assume you will be hit. Ransomware remains highly prevalent – no sector, country or organization size is immune from the risk. It’s better to be prepared, but not hit, rather than the other way round. Make backups and keep a copy offline. Backups are the main method organizations surveyed used to recover their data after an attack. Opt for the industry-standard approach of 3:2:1 (three sets of backups, using two different media, one of which is kept offline). Deploy layered protect...
Telkom Unveils Fraud and Corruption Reporting Platform
Telkom has unveiled a multi-channel whistleblowing platform that allows users to report any acts or suspected acts of fraud, corruption, and irregular conduct within the organisation. The company says that this service is part of the Group’s ethics and corporate governance mechanisms to ensure that the Telkom Group remains a corruption and fraud-free organisation. “Every individual has a responsibility to play their part in rooting out fraud and corruption in our society, communities, and organisations. South Africa was recently ranked #69 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2020, further highlighting the severity of fraud and corruption in our country,” reads a statement from the telco. “That is why Telkom Group has partnered with safe lin...
How to Build a Secure 5G Ecosystem
Powered by the convergence of 5G and industry 4.0, the smart enterprise of the future is now here. The critical performance boost of 5G enables critical smart systems to share and respond to information faster than ever, permitting industrial enterprises to digitise and automate their infrastructures with confidence. 5G offers a unique and valuable set of capabilities that, unlike any previous or current mobile technology, enable and expand the implementation of transformative technologies for organisations, including industrial enterprises. The value of 5G encompasses enhanced bandwidth, ultra-high reliability, low latency, high positioning precision, and native support for machine communications that organisations across a wide range of verticals, including manufacturing, logis...
