tech news
Instagram Founder could become New TikTok CEO
Sourced from Cosmico TikTok is reportedly talking to founder and former CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom. This comes after Kevin Mayer resigned from his position as TikTok CEO amidst contention between the video-sharing platform and the Trump administration. If Systrom were to take up this position, he would be in direct competition with his former boss, Mark Zuckerburg, at Facebook. Instagram’s Kevin Systrom becoming TikTok’s CEO and crushing Reels would be the ultimate revenge for Zuckerberg stripping his autonomy. So spicy! pic.twitter.com/CrxzgfeltM — Josh Constine -SignalFire (@JoshConstine) September 17, 2020 The Financial Times reports that TikTok’s GM, Vanessa Pappas, has taken over the CEO role in the interim. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_551.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; ...
Paratus Deploys 100Gig Fibre Ring in Zambia
Paratus Zambia confirmed the deployment of a 100Gig metro fibre ring in Zambia – marking a first for the pan-African telecommunications Group. The fibre ring is expected to utilise technology that increases bandwidth over an existing fibre network, meaning businesses can transmit data at speeds of up to 100Gbps. Coupled with the additional capacity of Paratus’ network footprint, businesses not only get speed but much-needed bandwidth for data-hungry applications, as well as reliable access to their branches, private data centres and cloud services such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon and Google Cloud. The telco believes that simply having a fast Internet connection is not enough, ‘businesses need a connection that won’t bite into their bottom line with the risk of outages. Staying operational i...
Two Alleged Digtial Fraudsters Arrested in Kenya
Sourced from Republic Title Two men have been arrested in Kenya after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) suspected the duo of fraud. According to The Star, the suspects, Kevin Sagini Oroko (23) and Dominic Otiso Nyabuto (27) were “apprehended from their hideout at Miwani Estate within Machakos town”. In their possession, authorities reportedly found more than 600 Safaricom and Airtel Sim Cards, 96 National ID cards, a number of mobile phones, KCB Inua Jamii Cash Transfer Cards, 16 Bank Agent Transaction Registers, two gambling machines, and a laptop – these items have since been confiscated. Gadgets Africa says that the DCI has been on actively breaking down schemes concocted by digital criminals over the last year – this includes plots where fraudsters send scam messages wit...
1000 Kenyan Schools to be Connected to the Internet
Sourced from ICT Authority KE Kenya’s government is planning to spend KES15 billion to allow schools to teach four subjects online. This comes after ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru announced plans to pilot a programme that would aid in digital learning. According to The Star, Mucheru appeared before the Senate ICT Committee to “answer questions about the digital literacy programme and broadband to the school project. He said planning is underway to provide schoolchildren with customised devices to aid in digital learning”. “The devices will be developed in partnership with local universities.” Mucheru also said the funds, in partnership with Unicef, would “be used to lay infrastructure such as fibre optic cables, build ICT laboratories, connect electricity, buy tablets for learners ...
3 Reasons to Love the Huawei FreeBuds 3i
Huawei recently unveiled six new gadgets at its global launch event, these include the FreeBuds 3i which retail in South Africa for just R1,999. These earphones are said to be the world’s first open-fit true wireless stereo (TWS) with advanced active noise cancelling (ANC) technologies. Here are three reasons to love the Huawei Freebuds 3i: 1. A connected ecosystem of intelligence The Huawei FreeBuds 3i offer a fully integrated ecosystem of seamless interconnectivity between all Huawei devices. As soon as the charging case is open, a pop-up notification will appear on any nearby Huawei devices, enabling users to instantly connect to their earphones. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_63b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_63b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A pop-up notification will als...
Telkom takes on eCommerce Partnership with Takealot
Image sourced from Bandwidth Blog Telkom has announced that a number of its products would now be available from Takealot.com. The companies believe that this new partnership will bring superior service and convenience to new and already existing Telkom customers. “This partnership with Takealot.com brings together a vision centred around one important stakeholder, the customer. The connectivity of our customers from the comfort of their homes during this pandemic has been our primary focus and with Takealot’s innovative e-commerce platform and success in customer service, we will leave no man behind. Our strategic partnership is sure to add much-needed comfort and value to our customers,” says Gugu Mthembu, Executive of Brand & Product Segments at Telkom. “Selected Telkom Prepaid...
Sony Reveals PlayStation 5 Launch Date and Price Tag
Sony has officially announced the launch date as well as the pricing of its newest PlayStation consoles – the PlayStation 5 will retail for $499 while the disc-less PS5 Digital Edition is priced at $399. Both consoles are expected to become available on 12 November in the US, Japan, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea, before launching in the rest of the world on 19 November. System Specs and Features As previously revealed, the PlayStation 5 is running on a system similar to a high-end gaming PC. It features an 8 core Zen 2-based AMD CPU running at 3.5ghz. Its GPU is completely customised and based off of AMD’s next-generation RDNA 2 architecture capable of generating 10.28 teraflops. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_1e5.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_1e5.td-a-rec-img img{ mar...
Apple Brands Epic Games as a ‘Saboteur’
Epic Games has again gone to court in a bid to restore Fortnite to the App Store after its intial request was denied. Apple has since asked the court to reject the game developer, branding the company as “a saboteur, not a martyr” in its campaign against Apple’s payment system. Bloomberg revealed that Apple says “Epic started a fire and poured gasoline on it, and now asks this court for emergency assistance in putting it out”. “Epic has engaged in a full-scale, pre-planned media blitz surrounding its decision to breach its agreement with Apple, creating ad campaigns around the effort that continue to this day.” “Only a fraction of Epic’s customers access Fortnite using an iPhone, and Epic’s revenues from other platforms greatly exceed its revenues from iPhone players. It is clear that Epic...
What does Lockdown Level 1 mean for eCommerce?
South Africa is about to move into Lockdown Level One as from midnight on Sunday, 20 September. And while the hard lockdown saw eCommerce activity skyrocket to unprecedented levels, trade volumes in brick and mortar stores have already started to see a pick-up during the previous shift down to Level Two. As restrictions ease further off the back of last night’s announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa, questions have been raised as to whether the spike in eCommerce activity will wane and what the future holds for the sector. Based on international market trends, Matthew Leighton, a spokesperson from OneDayOnly.co.za, believes that continued growth is inevitable. “Well-established eCommerce markets are still experiencing growth, and we expect to see the same locally. A recent example was A...
Sony Introduces New Smart TVs to South Africa
Sony has announced the arrival of its new TV range which comprise of the A8H, X90H, X75H and X80H 4K models. The lineup is equipped with the Android 9 Pie smart TV platform, powered by Sony’s proprietary and houses the game-changing Picture Processor X1. “We’re excited to announce the arrival of our TVs on South African shores, which boast the latest technologies to offer an immersive entertainment experience for fans,” says Shuichi Mugitani, Head of Marketing at Sony MEA. “The South African market is extremely important to us, which is why we’ve made it our top priority to fit this exciting new 2020 lineup with Sony’s innovative Voice Search and remarkable premium large screens – highlighting our commitment to delivering content the way creators intended. This new range of TVs is designed...
Apple Watch Event: Everything You Should Know
Image sourced from Apple Apple hosted its annual launch event yesterday – the biggest surprise being that no new iPhones were announced. Instead, the tech company focussed on its Apple Watch Series and iPad range. [embedded content] Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s Watch Event: Apple Watch Series 6 and SE [embedded content] /* custom css */ .tdi_3_553.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_553.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Apple unveiled the Apple Watch Series 6 which includes the Watch SE – a new low-end model. The SE priced from $279 sports an expansive retina display and advanced sensors. The Apple Watch SE, successor to Apple Watch Series 3, uses the S5 System in Package (SiP) and dual-core processor, which also powers the Series 5. The Verge reports that thi...
How Card Swipes Point to Economic Recovery in South Africa
Sourced from Htxt.Africa Following months of uncertainty, data from FNB shows that businesses are already seeing signs of recovery as card swipes at merchants point of sale devices rebound close to pre-pandemic levels. Purchases recorded on FNB Speedpoint devices show that transactions recorded in August, when the country moved to level 2 of lockdown, recovered to 93.2% compared to February this year. In the same month, merchant transactions recorded across six provinces were already above pre-pandemic levels, with Free State and Gauteng at 90%, followed by the Western Cape at 70%. Signs of recovery were already apparent in July when the country was still on level 3 of lockdown, where activity had recovered to roughly 86% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Gordon Little, CEO of FNB Business,...
