tech news
Bitcoin or Ethereum – Which Should You Buy in 2021?
Both bitcoin and Ethereum are the two leading cryptocurrencies. This is why investors are getting attracted and a lot of them are making moves to buy bitcoin and Ethereum. It is an undisputed fact that two projects have great potential. Bitcoin is the first and largest decentralized virtual currency and has been in existence for over 11 years. Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin in 2009 to help alleviate the economic crisis that conventional banks caused across the globe. Since the creation of Bitcoin, it has helped make transactions easier, faster, and cheaper. Over the years, there have been different speculations by naysayers that the cryptocurrency market will crash soon, on the contrary, the crypto market has been waxing stronger as the years go by. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cr...
MTN to Sell R1,8 Billion Stake in Belgian Telco, BICS
Sourced from Business Tech MTN Group has announced its plans to sell its 20% stake in Belgacom International Carrier Services SA (BICS) to Proximus NV/SA for approximately R1,8 billion. The telco is expected to use this to pay down US dollar debt. BICS was classified as a non-current asset held for sale and this transaction has resulted in a remeasurement of its carrying value resulting in a reduction of R397 million for the year ended 31 December 2020. According to MTN, it will record a profit on disposal amounting to approximately R1,2 billion during the first half of 2021. The closing of the sale is dependent on customary regulatory approval. MTN Launches Supersonic AirFibre in South Africa MTN has launched its Supersonic AirFibre offering in South Africa. The product is said to overcom...
Citrix Appoints New VP for Partner Sales
Citrix has appointed Pilkku Aasma as its new Vice President of Partner Sales in the EMEA region. She follows Daren Finney, who was promoted to Chief Operating Officer for the Citrix channel organization worldwide. Both roles report to Bronwyn Hastings, Senior VP of the Worldwide Channel Sales and Ecosystem. Aasma joins Citrix after two decades in a wide range of multiple markets and leadership positions at Microsoft. Most recently she led the Small, Medium & Corporate Segment sales and marketing in Germany. Prior to that she had direct responsibility for Microsoft’s 40,000 partners in Germany and held various sales and operations leadership roles in Western Europe, and Central & Eastern Europe. “2020 was an exceptional year which tested the resilience and adaptability of both ...
Telkom Introduces Unlimited Voice Plans for South African Businesses
Telkom has introduced an unlimited voice plan offer for small businesses in South Africa. This product is expected to allow subscribers to save up to 30% on calls for just R199 per month. “Through the unlimited voice calls product, we are subsidising the Small & Medium Business customers who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is aimed at helping small businesses to get back up on their feet by reducing their operational costs. Voice calling is a critical inout into an SME’s business operation,” says Dumisani Bengu, CCO at Telkom Business. “The price point is set at R199, which we believe many small businesses will be able to afford in order to gain access to unlimited voice calls every month,” he adds. The offer will be available until the end of July 2021 but due...
6 Ways to Stay Safe Online this Safer Internet Day
Working remotely has been the new norm since its introduction last year. As such, employees must be stricter about keeping themselves safe when online. In light of Safer Internet Day (SID), businesses need to invest in the latest cybersecurity to be able to protect the online operations of their remote staff. “Moving into the technological space offers great opportunities and benefits to organisations, however, without proper cyber risk management and data security, all your assets are left vulnerable,” says Rian Schoeman, head of legal and chief privacy officer at LAWtrust. With this in mind, here are six ways to stay safe online: 1. Make sure your site is secure Secured websites are protected with a Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificate. This certificate confirms that the site belon...
Bitcoin Surges to Record Price Post $1.5 Billion Telsa Investment
Bitcoin reached a new high of $47,000 after Tesla invested $1.5 billion into the cryptocurrency. The electric car manufacturer says that it will “begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment” for its products in the future. In a report, Telsa says “in January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of the policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets.” “Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy. Moreover, we expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limit...
Elon Musk Tweet causes Dogecoin Price to Soar
Image sourced from Hypebeast Elon Musk is making headlines after causing the price of Dogecoin to surge to an all-time high. On Sunday, the tech entrepreneur tweeted “Who let the Doge out”, resulting in a 53% rise over the last 24 hours. Dogecoin’s record value is now 8.2 cents with a market value of $10 billion – making it the 8th biggest cryptocurrency, according to Bloomberg. 🎶 Who let the Doge out 🎶 — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2021 Dogecoin was introduced in 2013 as a joke. Initially, founders Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus wanted to satirize the growth of altcoins by turning the doge internet meme into a cryptocurrency. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_667.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_667.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Their joke quickly grew in pop...
MultiChoice Launches New Local Offering in Uganda
Image sourced from The Vanguard Nigeria MultiChoice has announced the launch of Pearl Magic Prime, a new channel that tells stories by Ugandans for Ugandans. The launch of Pearl Magic Prime is the first step in MCG’s rollout of its African local channel and content slate for 2021. Two additional local channels are set to launch later this year, as well as many more local productions over the coming months. “Pearl Magic Prime is set to live up to its tagline of delivering more value to the customer like never before,” says Hassan Saleh, MD of MultiChoice Uganda. “Africa has shown us that it has a huge appetite for African stories, produced in Africa. That is why our strategy of developing local content with local interest has proven so successful. We are proud of the role we are playing in ...
AstraZeneca Vaccine Only ‘Minimally Effective’ Against South African COVID-19 Variant, says Researchers
Image sourced from TimesLIVE The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has proven ‘minimally effective’ against the South African variant, according to the Wits Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics (VIDA) research unit. So far, South Africa has received one million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. In an official report, researchers from South Africa and the UK found that “viral neutralisation by sera induced by the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 coronavirus vaccine against the B.1.351 coronavirus variant were substantially reduced when compared with the ‘original’ strain of the coronavirus”. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_ec0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_ec0.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford, Sarah Gilbert revealed that efforts are alrea...
Electric Vehicles could Revitalise the Economy, says Nigerian Director General
Image sourced from CJ’s Electric Hyundai recently unveiled the first Electric Vehicle assembled in Nigeria. At the launch, Mallam Kasifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Nigeria’s Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says that the introduction of electric vehicles to the country is a sign of “advancing towards a vibrant economy”. He went on to say that a “digital ecosystem is a sure way in creating value, wealth and prosperity, especially now that Nigeria is on its course to become one of the leading digital economies in the world.” According to The Vanguard, this ecosystem is a way to create value that will enable growth, wealth and prosperity. Head of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Babatunde Raji Fashola says that “inno...
mySafaricom App Launches on the Huawei App Gallery
Sourced from Tech Weez. The Safaricom App is now available for download from the Huawei App Gallery. The app provides Safaricom customers with a user-friendly way to access the telco’s products and services. Through the app, users can: M-PESA SEND MONEY– Select their contacts directly from their phone book, Hakikisha the name of the person they are transferring money to and check the transaction charges before hitting the send button. LIPA NA M-PESA – Shop and pay for their bills with ease at their favourite stores. TOP-UP – Recharge their number or that of their loved ones by selecting numbers directly from their phone book. VIEW BALANCES – View their account balances for Data, Bonga, Airtime or Credit limit HOME FIBRE – Safaricom Home Fibre customers will be able to pay or change their H...
6 Trends Shaping Cybersecurity in 2021
Sourced from International IDEA Business operations have changed beyond recognition with most employees working from home in a transition that happened almost overnight. Stretched security teams have been challenged to rapidly deploy robust remote working facilities to maintain productivity while others were writing the ‘pandemic playbook’ as they went along. With this in mind, here are six trends to expect in 2021: 1. Remote-working focuses attacker attention on mobile compromise As business becomes more mobile than ever and remote working persists, mobile devices and operating systems will be increasingly targeted. In 2021, more employees will use personal devices to review and share sensitive corporate information, these become an excellent point of ingress for attackers. 2. Continuing ...
