tech news
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,...
Nokia to Expand LTE Network in Nigeria
Nokia and Tizeti have partnered to supply over one million subscribers in Nigeria with LTE technology. The telco will deploy Nokia’s AirScale Base Station TDD-LTE and Fastmile Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) gateways in order to deliver Internet and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. The solution is expected to enable Tizeti to deliver a more robust, high-speed internet service to subscribers and the flexibility to seamlessly evolve to 5G Fixed Wireless Access when needed. Nokia says that its FWA solution will allow Tizeti to fast-track broadband access and provide a best-in-class broadband experience to its subscribers. Whereas its AirScale Base Stations ensure high-quality connectivity and coverage and enable Tizeti to evolve the network in line with customer demand. “We are committed t...
New Ways in which Bar Codes are Used
Product Bar codes were originally invented in 1974 for use only in retail stores in order to streamline their point of sale systems and stock inventory, which can be read about on Encyclopedia but today they are being used in many different ways, as well as many different formats have been created for various uses. Let us look at a few. Bar codes are used in the tracking of illegal actions, such as logging. We may not realise what a serious problem this has become and how authorities are having to keep a very close eye on it, and they are now using them to assist in this regard in the tropical forests. All trees that are cut down legally are tagged with bar codes that have been printed on a plastic tag which is then nailed into the tree and these codes are scanned once the tree is cut down...
5 reasons you don’t want to miss DTC2020 this October
The highly anticipated Digital Transformation Congress virtual event is set to dominate the digital transformation conversation in South Africa this October. Over 200 local and international industry leaders and senior executives will convene on the 07-08 October 2020, for two days of top-level content, case studies, industry tracks and plenty of networking opportunities.Here are 5 reasons why you should join them: 1. You’ll be in good company – DTC 2020 offers a superior virtual networking experience with the biggest names in the African technology arena. Meet and engage with top of the line speakers, exhibitors, and delegates from organisations such as Transnet, Accenture, Transunion, National Lotteries Commission, Momentum, ABSA New business – This is a premier business develo...
Apple Announces Bundle Package for Music, TV, and Gaming Services
Apple will offer a bundle package of its streaming music, TV, gaming, and iCloud services. Under the banner of Apple One, the bundle brings together Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 50GB of iCloud storage for the monthly price of $14.95. Two other tiers of Apple One will also be available: a “Family” plan priced at $19.95 per month, and a “Premier” tier which also includes subscriptions to Apple News+ and Fitness+ in addition to 2GB of iCloud storage for $24.95 per month. Apple plans to roll out their bundle packages this “fall” with a 30-day free trial for new users. The announcement of Apple One was made during Apple’s “Times Flies” presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The media company also revealed that Apple iOS 14 would launch tomorrow (Sept. 16th), and detailed new iterations...
BTS Share Trailer for New Video Game BTS Universe Story: Watch
BTS may not be able to go on a world tour right now due to coronavirus, but that won’t stop them from connecting with fans worldwide. The record-breaking K-pop stars and Netmarble have just released the trailer for BTS Universe Story, a brand new video game that stars all seven members of the South Korean group, which will be available to play around the globe. Don’t mistake BTS Universe Story as a follow-up to their 2019 mobile game BTS World. Instead, this is an “interactive social game” that plays out like a totally fresh RPG. By following the main objective, fans can participate in a pre-determined plot where each choice impacts later gameplay. However, the game also boasts additional modes, such as “Story Creation”, where users can form an in-game story from scratch, and “Collection”,...
