tech news
Demand for Data in Africa is Increasing, Here’s How
Africa has become home to over a billion people and the population is expected to grow in the coming years. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is essential for Africa’s development and adequate ICT service deployment and digital connectivity will play a crucial role in the continent achieving economic sustainability. The forecast is that mobile data traffic in Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to grow by 12 times the current figures, with total traffic increasing from 0.33 Exabytes (EB) per month to 4EB by 2025. Meanwhile, average traffic per smartphone is expected to reach 7.1GB over the forecast period, according to the Ericsson Mobility Report. Key drivers will be extensive network coverage and the reduction in prices of both devices and services. Also, driven by th...
South African Crypto Traders should Gear Up for Stricter Taxes
Over the last five years, South Africa has emerged as one of the world’s most notable cryptocurrency adopters, and an estimated 13% of its internet users owning or using cryptocurrencies. With the South African Bitcoin/ZAR weekly trading volume – to name just one – currently standing close to R30million, there are various manners in which the South African Revenue Service (SARS) can track the gains made by South African taxpayers who trade cryptocurrencies. This is according to Wiehann Olivier, Partner at the Audit Division of Mazars in South Africa, who says that there are various techniques SARS could apply for the direct taxing of cryptocurrencies. “To start, the fact that cryptocurrencies were created to allow for anonymous, frictionless and trusted peer-to-peer transaction to be condu...
Future-proof your WAN with Intelys and Citrix SD-WAN
The recent explosion in the number of employees working from home has put cloud services back in the spotlight as an essential tool to facilitate remote working. Whilst cloud-based applications can offer significant benefits, there are also challenges around moving applications to the cloud. Even with major hyperscale platforms like Amazon Web Services and Azure now available locally, if your business’s network is insufficient to handle the increase in traffic, then latency, downtime, security, and privacy concerns can come to the fore. Resilience and availability of the future WAN is critical for businesses. It is crucial for organisations to take a fresh look at how they manage their wide area networks (WAN) and consider how they will future-proof them to improve network...
TikTok Sues Trump Administration Over Attempted US Ban
TikTok vs. Donald Trump TikTok is suing the Trump administration for trying to ban the app’s American operations. In a statement, the popular video sharing platform said that Trump’s recent executive order violates its right to due process and offers no evidence that the app presents a national security threat. “We do not take suing the government lightly, however we feel we have no choice but to take action to protect our rights, and the rights of our community and employees,” TikTok contends. Trump’s executive order halts transactions between the Beijing-based ByteDance and TikTok’s US-based users and employees, essentially killing the app in America, where it boasts an estimated 80 million users. Trump’s purported reason for issuing the August 6th order was that the app presented possib...
vivo and Jumia Exclusively Release the Y30 Smartphone in Kenya
vivo and Jumia have partnered to exclusively unveil the latest Y-series device, the vivo Y30. The move aims to increase its footprint in the Kenyan market. The Y30, which was recently launched locally, combines an Ultra O Screen, AI Quad Camera and 5000 mAh battery in a high-end device with a unique body structure and moderate price tag. ‘‘The partnership with Jumia cements our commitment to bring our customers a wide range of choices that will see they enjoy the best and premium mobile phones at the most affordable prices. We are aiming to offer more options for smartphones with high-quality standard and comprehensive functionality through Jumia to fulfil the increasing demand of Kenyan consumers’’ said Arthur Xian, CEO of vivo Kenya. The Y30 features a fingerprint sensor on the back as w...
Microsoft Sides with Epic Games in Fight with Apple
Microsoft has put its weight behind Epic Games during its ongoing feud with Apple. The tech company says that Apple’s App Store created barriers and tolls – and these are even more serious than “Microsoft’s own Windows ever did when the company was found guilty of violating US antitrust laws.” This comes after Epic Games launched a sneaky Fortnite update that allowed it to dodge revenue sharing with the tech company. Apple retaliated by pulling the game from its App Store and limiting the game developers acces to key graphics technology. “The graphics technology, known as Unreal Engine, is a suite of software used by millions of developers to build 3D games and other products. Cutting off Epic from Apple’s iOS and Mac developer tools would mean the gaming company can no longer distribute U...
More Women In Africa are Turning To Cryptos, Research Shows
Sourced from Hacker Noon. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the global economy to a standstill and put millions of people under financial stress. Understandably, people from all walks of life started looking for alternative income streams. Not only are these side jobs providing women with additional income, but they are also giving individuals an opportunity to develop new skills in the bitcoin and blockchain space. Blockchain skills are in high demand internationally and may unlock new career opportunities or set the ground for running a successful business in the future. Beyond speculative activities, bitcoin already drives a whole range of entrepreneurial ventures including arbitrage, remittance, e-commerce and educational projects, to name a few. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_b38.td-a-...
Bolt to Introduce Food Delivery Service in Kenya
Ride-hailing service, Bolt has announced that it is looking at introducing a food delivery service in Kenya. “We’re already present in 30+ markets across Europe and Africa. Now, it’s time for us to bring the know-how around building a mobility platform to the food delivery industry,” says the company. This is said to be Bolt’s attempt to add additional revenue streams by targeting an industry that has seen impressive growth in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bolt Introduces New Protective Ride Option in Kenya Bolt has announced that will be taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of its drivers and passengers during the COVID-19 pandemic. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_5c9.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_5c9.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “We remain cognizant of ...
New WhatsApp Storage Feature Unveiled
Image sourced from YoMZanzi WhatsApp is working on a new feature that’ll allow users to better manage their device storage usage, according to WABetaInfo. The storage feature menu is expected to offer: A storage bar, useful to understand the portion of space occupied by WhatsApp (all media). A second section to review all shared files, in order to delete unnecessary media and free up space. A final section that contains the list of chats as usual, with the possibility to search a specific chat. WhatsApp’s Viral Message Forwarding Feature is Updated WhatsApp is on a mission to slow the spread of fake news between users and that’s why earlier this year it imposed a strict new limit on message forwarding. This feature means users who plan on forwarding a message that has been identified...
TikTok to Challenge Ban by Trump Administration
Sourced from Cosmico TikTok has announced that it will be taking legal action against US President Donald Trump and his administration in an attempt to challenge its imminent ban. The Chinese-owned app has been told by the administration to sell off US operations within 90 days, or else. The Verge reports that motivation for the ban stems from the fact that “lawmakers allege that TikTok could be pressured into handing over data or other intelligence to the Chinese Communist Party”. According to the BBC, “TikTok says it has tried to engage with Trump’s administration for nearly a year but has encountered a lack of due process and an administration that pays ‘no attention to facts’”. TikTok is “led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, secur...
5 Reasons to Love the Huawei P40 lite 5G
Huawei has just launched its first 5G phone for the mid-range smartphone market – the P40 lite 5G. Other than its 5G compatibility, this trendy handset boasts a smart look, powerful performance and impressive photography specs. Here are five reasons to love the Huawei P40 lite 5G: 1. 5G performance One of the main reasons to switch to the P40 lite 5G is, of course, its 5G capabilities. The device is powered by Kirin 820 5G SoC, which is integrated with a 5G modem. The smartphone covers over eight frequency bands to bring users a reliable 5G network experience. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_926.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_926.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } 2. A super camera setup One of the biggest pull factors of Huawei’s devices are the cameras, and understandably so....
Why Organisations Need to Strengthen their Cyber Defences
At the start of 2020, very few people would have predicted the events that unfolded. The COVID-19 global pandemic caused unprecedented changes to all of our lives and has reshaped our entire working culture. From the accelerated pace of digital transformation and move to the cloud to the increased use of collaboration tools, cybercriminals looked to take advantage of these rapid and widespread changes for their own purposes. This week, Experian – a consumer credit reporting company, says it has experienced a breach of data which has exposed some personal information of as many as 24 million South Africans, and 793, 749 business entities, to a suspected fraudster. This is one of the many criminal cyber-attacks, exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to target organizations and individuals across ...
