Top Stories
Apple Unveils AirTag – a New Way to Locate Items
Apple has officially introduced AirTag – a small gadget that can help locate a lost item, all while keeping location data private and anonymous with end-to-end encryption. “We’re excited to bring this incredible new capability to iPhone users with the introduction of AirTag, leveraging the vast Find My network, to help them keep track of and find the important items in their lives,” says Kaiann Drance, VP of Worldwide iPhone Product Marketing at Apple. “With its design, unparalleled finding experience, and built-in privacy and security features, AirTag will provide customers with another way to leverage the power of the Apple ecosystem and enhance the versatility of iPhone.” Each round AirTag is small and lightweight, features precision-etched polished stainless steel, and is IP67 water- a...
Apple Introduces All-New iMac
Apple has officially unveiled the all-new iMac featuring a compact design – 11.5 millimetres thin – enabled by the M1 chip. “M1 is a gigantic leap forward for the Mac, and today we’re excited to introduce the all-new iMac, the first Mac designed around the breakthrough M1 chip,” says Greg Joswiak, SVP of Worldwide Marketing at Apple. “With its striking design in seven stunning colours [green, yellow, orange, pink, purple, blue, and silver], its immersive 4.5K Retina display, the best camera, mics, and speakers ever in a Mac, and Touch ID, combined with the amazing performance of M1 and the power of macOS Big Sur, the new iMac takes everything people love about iMac to an entirely new level.” The new iMac also includes a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, studio-quality mics, and a six-speaker sound...
Cell C Reports R5.5 Billion Loss
Image sourced from Town Press Cell C has reported a loss of R5.5 billion after tax following the announcement of its annual financial performance for the 12 months ending December 2020. The telco revealed that total revenue was down by 8% to R13.8-billion (2019: R15.1-billion), with the largest part of the revenue contribution from its prepaid base at R6.2-billion (2019: R6.9-billion). CFO of Cell C, Zaf Mahomed believes that even though the telco made a full-year loss, the latter six months of 2020 was encouraging as it had shown a R2.1 billion profit in the second half. Mahomed says “our results reflect a business in transition. We are starting to see the impact of our changes which included a focus on more profitable subscribers and through the reduction in costs a shift to revenue-gene...
How the Haller Foundation is Helping Smallholder Farmers Across Africa
The Haller Foundation is a grassroots organisation that guides communities through a holistic four-stage economic development model that is sustainable and environmentally sound. The model kick-starts a fragile farming community and, over a 3-year collaborative partnership, educates them to restore their soils, improve their environment and ultimately build the capacity to achieve economic resilience. Throughout the process, the organisation partners with the Ministries of Agriculture, Water, Health and local Government. And as an extension of its farmer training, the Haller Foundation uses its app — Haller Farmers — as well as Africa’s increasing mobile penetration, to reach those communities who they cannot reach directly. It all started in the 1970s when Dr Rene Haller, an a...
Top Tech Companies Driving Africa’s Growth – Africa Tech Week
Enhancing Tech-Parity Across Africa On May 5th and 6th, Topco Media and partners will be presenting a robust networking experience aimed at kick-starting economic growth in Africa, using technology. Africa Tech Week is alive with gleaming opportunities to shape fruitful connections, forge clearer paths to digital transformation and inspire collective and personal growth. Enjoy the Inside Scoop from Top-Tech Companies Registered attendees gain access to the 2-day hybrid conference where they can enjoy the inside scoop from top-tech companies. Listen eagerly as renowned leaders including, Dr Marian Croak – vice president of engineering for Google USA, Abe Smith – international lead for Zoom USA and Ayodele Odusola – United Nations representative for South Africa unveil their winning formulas...
7 Ways to Protect Organisations from Ransomware Attacks
Sourced from International IDEA Over the past few years, the methods cybercriminals use to distribute ransomware has changed dramatically. While a few years ago, they would spread encrypted files on a large scale, today, their ransomware attacks have become more focused. Now, fraudsters examine the target in detail and research each target, looking for additional leverage. In order to protect business data from ransomware attacks, experts at Kaspersky recommend these seven tips: Installing only applications obtained from reliable sources from official websites Always have fresh backup copies of your files, so you can replace them in case they are lost (e.g. due to malware or a broken device). Remember to store them, not only on the physical object but also in the cloud for greater reliabil...
Safaricom Forced to Split Dividend Payouts by CBK
Image sourced from Techweez The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has pressured Safaricom into dividing its dividend payouts in order to “shield the weakening shilling when the telecommunications firm seeks dollars for repatriation to foreign investors”, reports Business Daily. Kenya’s local currency has faced immense pressure in recent months following the collapse of the tourism sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to people familiar with the matter, the CBK’s push is one of the “key factors for the firm to break its tradition of making a single dividend payment in August or September” – this comes after the telco announced its first-ever interim dividend of Sh0.45 in February. “Safaricom has to buy dollars from the market then repatriate the dividends. The dollar demand associated w...
Showmax Reveals Reduced Mobile Plan Prices Across Africa
Showmax has revealed that African mobile subscribers could pay up to 20% less each month. “We believe this change will be appreciated by our mobile customers as will the decision not to increase any of our other prices,” says MultiChoice Group CEO for Connected Video, Yolisa Phahle. “We have our most exciting slate of Showmax Originals this year and look forward to more of our subscribers enjoying our proudly African stories”. Here’s a quick look at how the mobile plans will now be priced /* custom css */ .tdi_3_e69.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_e69.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Showmax Showmax Mobile WAS Showmax Mobile NOW Showmax Pro Showmax Pro Mobile South Africa R99 R49 R39 R449 R225 Kenya KSh 790 KSh 380 KSh 300 KSh 2100 KSh 1050...
Top 10 Most Imitated Companies in 2021 So Far
In a brand phishing attack, cybercriminals try to imitate the official website of a well-known brand by using a similar domain name or URL and web page design to the genuine site. The link to the fake website can be sent to target individuals by email or text message, a user can be redirected during web browsing, or it may be triggered by a fraudulent mobile application. The fake website often contains a form intended to steal users’ credentials, payment details or other personal information. Check Point’s new Brand Phishing Report reveals the most frequently imitated by criminals. Here are the Top 10 phishing brands in Q1 of 2021: /* custom css */ .tdi_3_657.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_657.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Microsoft (related to 39% of all brand...
Calls for Safaricom to Share Telco Infrastructure by Kenya Competition Authority
Image sourced from Techweez The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approached Parliament with new laws that would require the country’s telco’s – mainly Safaricom – to share their private infrastructure on a commercial basis. “The authority’s view is that ab initio infrastructure provisions in the sector should have been separated from the mobile network operators. Primarily regulations should have been developed to ensure that third parties provide the infrastructure. Unfortunately, this did not happen,” says CAK Director-General, Francis Wang’ombe Kariuki. “It is with this reality that we opine regulations should be promulgated and enforced in regard to infrastructure sharing on a commercial basis and in case of dispute, the sector regulator [Communications Authority of Kenya] may ...
3 Cybersecurity Challenges Triggered by COVID-19 Lockdown
The global COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the everyday operations of businesses and as a result, the cyber risk still remains a grave concern as many business practices have been compromised. The ZA Central Registry organisation, which is the administrator of South Africa’s .za domain name, recently warned that South Africa is a global target for international fraudsters and cybersecurity measures are more important now than ever before. “It is essential for businesses to be aware of the nature of these cybercrimes and technology countermeasures to protect their businesses, especially when considering the cybersecurity challenges that have occurred during lockdown”, says Riaan de Villiers, Cybersecurity Expert and Business Analyst at LAWtrust. Here’s a Quick Look at the Top 3 Cybersecurity Ch...
Safaricom is Testing a Digital Health Passport Programme
Image sourced from Techweez Safaricom has begun testing Afya Moja – a mobile health records system – in partnership with Nakuru County. The initial pilot programme will see over 100,000 people be part of the integrated electronics medical records program. According to TechIsh, Afya Moja is a simple mobile-based Digital Health Passport that receives and securely stores patient information. With the platform, users can access a copy of their health information, and share it with trusted healthcare providers. “So, a doctor can for example, upon receiving consent from a user, have access to their medical background, helping them effectively handle whatever [medical] situation is at hand.” Steve Chege, Chief of Corporate Affairs at Safaricom, says “what we aim to do through Afya Moja, is to mak...
