tech news
Is Technology Africa’s Biggest Undiscovered Gold Mine?
Technology has the potential to fundamentally transform societies. Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and broadband are becoming central to the societal developments around the world – enabling rapid improvements to industrial production and societal services, positively influencing the way we live and interact with our environment. Africa is home to over a billion people and the population is expected to grow in the coming years. It is projected to grow from 17% in 2020 to 26% in 2050 and 39% by 2100 of the global population while the share of Asia will fall from 59% in 2020 to 55% in 2050 and 43% in 2100. It is also a continent with the most growing economies and many from a low base; 9 of the 20 fastest growing in 2020 according to the IMF with rates above 6% of GDP (not ad...
Windows is Getting A New Apple-Like Upgrade
Sourced from The Sun UK. Windows search is getting a massive upgrade in the guise of Mac’s Spotlight search function with a tool called PowerToys Run. Launched this past Tuesday and still in a very early stage. CNN calls the new feature “promising”, a search box that could put the Start Menu and Windows key-R shortcuts out of business. The new tool was announced at Build, Microsoft’s annual developer event. It was held virtually this year for the first time in its history because of the coronavirus pandemic. Other highlights included new Google Docs-like features for Office and some Edge browser updates. The new search tool pops up in the middle of your screen, spurred forth by an Alt-Space shortcut, and is incredibly fast at finding files, programs and other items. It’s much faster than t...
Competition Commission Approves Cell C Recapitalisation
Image sourced from Town Press The Competition Commission announced that the proposed acquisition of Cell C assets by Gatsby SPV has been conditionally approved. “The Commission has recommended to the Competition Tribunal to conditionally approve the proposed transaction in which Gatsby SPV intends to acquire certain assets of the mobile network operator, Cell C,” the Commission in an official statement. Weekly Media Statement : @CompComSA gives #CellC deal a conditional approval pic.twitter.com/LjfWtDAlvs — CompComSA (@CompComSA) May 21, 2020 “The Commission found that the proposed transaction is unlikely to result in a substantial prevention or lessening of competition in any relevant markets – further found that the proposed transaction does not raise any other public interest concerns,”...
How Telecoms Can Rebuild Nigeria in the Wake of COVID-19
Sourced from the Guardian Nigeria. The COVID-19 worldwide pandemic has had and could continue to have long-lasting devastating effects on all social and economic sectors. For Nigeria, the pandemic can be seen as an eye-opener and a rude awakening to a new normal-knowledge economy. Apart from certain ingenious initiatives in Lagos and a few other states, Nigeria’s overall response to the pandemic has been less than satisfactory, writes The Guardian Nigeria. New, upcoming phases of recovery and thriving will be defining for the country. Now, in this crisis, it has become clear that telecommunications are playing a large role in retaining any semblance of normalcy in the country. In the recovery stage, telecoms could continue to help manage the transition out of COVID-19 related stagnation as...
Netflix to Start Cancelling Inactive Customer Subscriptions
Sourced from Getty Images. Netflix says it will begin to ask customers who have not watched anything on the on-demand video streaming service in a year or more if they wish to maintain their subscription — and will cancel their membership if it does not hear back. The company says it has started to notify customers who haven’t watched anything on the platform in 12 months since they became a subscriber to check if they wish to keep their membership. The company is also reaching out to those who haven’t streamed anything in more than two years, it says. “You know that sinking feeling when you realize you signed up for something but haven’t used it in ages? At Netflix, the last thing we want is people paying for something they’re not using,” the company writes. This unusual move illustrates ...
Konnect Africa Offers Free Internet to Clinics in South Africa during Pandemic
Konnect Africa, a subsidiary of Eutelsat Communications, is offering its services to the South African authorities to help them manage the COVID-19 health crisis. The communications company says that it will provide temporary free broadband connectivity to eight clinics in the Mpumalanga province where terrestrial networks are not able to provide appropriate bandwidth. Each site will benefit from 300GB of monthly data for several months, renewable if necessary. The deployment was undertaken by Konnect Africa’s local ECNS-licensed distributor, Logical Wireless, which has been authorized to operate during the lockdown as an Essential Services provider. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_400.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_400.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “This operation demonstrates ...
Mobile Connectivity: Staying Flexible is Key During Uncertain Times
As many companies in South Africa scramble to keep their employees working from home, the reality of connectivity costs, control and flexibility is becoming more important than ever. In the traditional office environment, managing connectivity and data use was not such a serious issue for IT managers, as data costs were essentially a part of overall fixed network infrastructure. Now, with many employees being forced to work from home, using mobile data where home fibre connectivity is not available has become costly and difficult to manage. Mobile data use has shot up while trying to keep employees connected and productive. Furthermore, many traditional mobile connectivity options such as corporate APN’s are not ideal for certain uses due to high data costs, not hav...
Free Webinar: How to Sell Faster and More To Your Digital Customer
Over the last few years, more and more consumers have opted to engage with brands and businesses digitally. This technological evolution — while very beneficial for consumers — is extremely valuable for organisations, and it has only been fast-tracked by the impact of COVID-19 on social and economic activity. In these uncertain times, potential clients will interact with your company by phone, instant messaging, email, mobile app or social channels — providing a deep treasure trove of data that your sales team can utilize to close deals. This means that now, more than ever, it’s important to not only use but also properly understand the wealth of data within your organisation. With this in mind, leading call centre software company, Genesys wants you to join the virtual convers...
YouTube Supports New Optimisation Mode for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
Samsung and Google have reached a new level in their collaborative efforts to bring a fresh user experience design that fits the innovative form factor of the Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung says that with the Galaxy Z Flip’s unique folding system, users can set the device on any surface and watch their favourite YouTube channel hands-free. And now, this hands-free experience is taken up to the next level with Flex-mode compatibility. YouTube’s Flex-mode optimised app ensures that videos can be adjusted to fit in the top half of the screen. The bottom screen can then be used to search for other videos, read descriptions and write comments. YouTube’s Flex-mode optimised app ensures that videos can be adjusted to fit in the top half of the screen. The bottom screen can then be used to sea...
5 Ways to Protect Your Business from Mobile Adware
One of the most common forms of cyberthreats designed to collect personal information from a user’s device is mobile adware. This is because roughly 4 billion people are connected to the Internet via their smartphone. Despite the adoption of mobile devices, companies rarely prioritize mobile security. Check Point’s Cyber Security Report 2020 shows that in 2019, 27% of companies suffered a cyber-attack because the security of a mobile device was breached. “It only takes one compromised mobile device for cybercriminals to steal confidential information and access an organization’s corporate network,” explains Pankaj Bhula, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point. The main problem with adware is pinpointing how a phone became infected. Adware is developed to sneak onto a device undetected...
5G Connections in Sub-Saharan Africa will Reach 28-Million by 2025, Says GSMA
The Global System for Mobile Telecommunications Association (GSMA) has stated that about 28-million devices in Sub-Saharan Africa – representing a total of 2.7% of total mobile connections – will be connected to a 5G network by 2025. Akinwale Goodluck, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa for the GSMA said this during a Huawei online interview. He explained that when 5G eventually comes to Sub-Saharan Africa, it will be more for the enterprise market as opposed to the retail consumer market. “We will see little 5G hotspots in countries like South Africa. I know that some operators have started some of those, but the ultimate goal will be for us to fill up the 4G pipes. Then when 5G comes there will be a sort of limit in terms of wireless roll-outs, but the bottom line is governments need to aggressi...
Twitter is Testing a New Tweet Reply Feature
Image sourced from Twitter Twitter is testing a new feature that will allow users to choose who can reply to their tweets. Essentially, before posting a tweet, users will be able to select one of three options: everyone (standard Twitter, and the default setting), only people you follow, or only people you mention – thereby controlling who can (or cannot) reply to a specific tweet. This new setting is all a part of Twitter’s plan to give users more control over their conversations across the platform. “Twitter is where you go to see and talk about what’s happening. But sometimes, unwanted replies make it hard to have meaningful conversations,” says Suzanne Xie, Director of Product Management at Twitter, in an official blog post. “Being able to participate and understand what’s happening is...
