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Cell C has Started to Migrate Subscribers off its Network
Image sourced from Town Press Cell C has started migrating its customers to MTN’s cellphone tower infrastructure while it prepares to decommission its own towers. “Our strategic vision is to differentiate ourselves by focusing on innovative products and services without being owners of capital-intensive infrastructure. This creates more flexibility and capacity to deliver the right quality of service to our current and future customers,” says Cell C CEO, Douglas Craigie Stevenson. “Cell C is pioneering the evolution of the MNO space in South Africa by becoming a significant wholesale buyer of network capacity and infrastructure services. It is a win-win as the individual operators deliver segmental expertise to the benefit of everyone in the industry.” In response to a vastly changed busin...
YouTube Removes Video from Trump Account
Image sourced from Variety YouTube has removed a video uploaded to US President Donald Trump’s account. According to the content-sharing platform, the video violates its policies on inciting violence. The Verge also reported that Trump’s account has been issued with a strike, and “is unable to upload new content for at least a week”. “After careful review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to the Donald J. Trump channel and issued a strike for violating our policies for inciting violence,” says YouTube. “As a result, in accordance with our long-standing strikes system, the channel is now prevented from uploading new videos or live streams for a minimum of seven days — which may be extended.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_fd0.td-a-r...
7 Tips to Ensure Telegram is Private and Secure
When discussing the privacy and security of messenger apps, one needs to understand that the Telegram’s functionality goes beyond the simple messages exchange and has many surprising features. With Telegrams’ user-base exceeding over 500 million active monthly users, it now combines elements of a massive communication hub, messaging board and social media – and its security and privacy concepts differ from others. Here are seven tips to make sure Telegram is as secure as possible, as told by Kaspersky researchers: Pick a username and use it instead of your actual name or associated phone number when chatting with others. Enable 2FA for your account. If someone tries to take control over your account, hijacking a voice call or a text message with a temporary verification code won’t be enoug...
TT100 Awards Interview: PRD Logical Solutions
In 2011, Portia Mavhungu, Managing Director at PRD Logical Solutions, broke her pelvis, leaving her wheelchair-bound for seven months. For the first time, she really understood the difficulties that disabled people face every day. This realisation inspired her to pioneer programmes and solutions that would assist those facing the same challenges that she did. n 2015, Mavhungu received funding from the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), which allowed her to further develop a newly-formed company, PRD Logical Solutions. Mavhungu explains that her company plays an integral part in everyday lives – by finding challenges and solving issues with innovative ideas that are affordable and available to every economic class and allowing everyone an equal a chance to face simple daily challenges with...
5 Ways to Protect Private User Data on Messaging Apps
Facebook recently asked WhatsApp users to accept its updated terms of service and privacy policy – or else lose access to the app. “As part of the Facebook family of companies, WhatsApp receives information from, and shares information with, this family of companies. We may use the information we receive from them, and they may use the information we share with them, to help operate, provide, improve, understand, customize, support, and market our Services and their offerings,” reads WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy. “This includes helping improve infrastructure and delivery systems, understanding how our Services or theirs are used, securing systems, and fighting spam, abuse, or infringement activities.” This move has left many WhatsApp users concerned and searching for a more secure mes...
Lenovo Unveils the ThinkReality A3 Smart Glasses
Lenovo has unveiled the ThinkReality A3 lightweight smart glasses. Immersive but not isolating, the AR smart glasses are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 Platform for high-quality performance and feature stereoscopic 1080p displays presenting the user with up to 5 virtual displays. An 8MP RGB camera provides 1080p video for remote expert use cases while the dual fish-eye cameras provide room-scale tracking. “The A3 is a next-generation augmented reality solution – light, powerful and versatile. The smart glasses are part of a comprehensive integrated digital solution from Lenovo that includes the advanced AR device, ThinkReality software, and Motorola mobile phones,” says Jon Pershke, VP of Strategy and Emerging Business at Lenovo. “Whether working in virtual spaces or supporting rem...
South Africa’s Best and Worst Mobile Networks Revealed
MTN has been named South Africa’s best mobile network by the 2020 Mobile Network Quality Report. The report is based on 1.2 million speed tests which were performed by 41,000 MyBroadband Speed Test App users across South Africa between 1 January and 31 December 2020. The research shows that South Africa had an average download speed of 29.33Mbps and an average upload speed of 11.24Mbps last year. MTN had the highest average download speed at 52.84Mbps, followed by Vodacom on 29.39Mbps, Telkom on 21.58Mbps, Cell C on 17.46Mbps, and Rain on 11.90Mbps. During 2020 the average network speed of South Africa’s mobile operators increased significantly despite higher data usage. This was made possible by temporary spectrum which was issued to Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, and Rain by the Independent Commu...
Samsung Introduces World’s First QLED Chromebook
Samsung has officially unveiled its new Galaxy Chromebook 2 – marking the first-ever QLED display on a Chromebook. “Many kids grew up using Chromebooks in school, and as they enter the workforce and their needs evolve, they’re looking for premium, powerful hardware that can elevate that intuitive Google experience,” says Shoneel Kolhatkar, Head of New Computing at Samsung Electronics America. “We designed the Galaxy Chromebook 2 with these users in mind, taking the popular features from Galaxy Chromebook—incredible visuals, great specs, and gorgeous design and colour—and bringing them to a wider base of customers.” Powered by an Intel processor, along with ultra-fast Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) capabilities, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is expected to allow users to multitask with ease. It also runs on Goog...
Why Access to Technology is Critical for Farmers in Africa
The African continent is home to an estimated 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, an abundance of fresh water and about 300 days of sunshine each year, according to the World Economic Forum. However, the reality is that the agriculture industry is mostly made up of the older African generation — who often discourage their children from working with the land. So despite seemingly ideal farming conditions, African nations spend close to $65 billion importing food — a number that is expected to grow exponentially within the next decade. The African Development Bank (ABD) believes that this is unsustainable and unaffordable — noting that the secret to the continent’s economic viability and growth is to equip farmers, as well as the next-generation, with training, advice an...
Facebook and Instagram Ban US President Trump for 24 Hours
Sourced from Politico. Facebook has made the decision to stop US President Donald Trump from posting for 24 hours. This comes after the social media giant removed two posts that were reportedly in support of a pro-Trump attack on the US Capitol. “We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” reads a statement from Facebook. We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time. — Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021 Not long after, Facebook-owned Instagram also confirmed that it would be blocki...
TT100 Awards Interview: Mochocho IT Consulting
Mochocho IT Consulting (Mochocho ITC) was established in 2010 as a 100% black, youth-owned and managed. Its mission is to take technology to rural areas in South Africa and serve our clients by providing the highest quality information technology services that address their business issues. What is the core focus of your business?The company’s primary function is to address the growing need for ICT services among the small businesses, cooperate with clients, schools, municipalities and other government departments. What have been the company’s biggest highlights for 2020?Being nominated for the TT100 Director General’s overall excellence and winning the Management of people’s award on the small business category. Could you tell us about your future plans and upcoming programs?Our plan...
Trump Pushes Executive Order to Ban Alipay, WeChat Pay and other Chinese Platforms
Image sourced from Al Jazeera US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to prohibit transactions with eight digital Chinese payment platforms, including Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s QQ and WeChat Pay. “Additional steps must be taken to deal with the national emergency with respect to the information and communications technology and services supply chain,” reads the order. “The pace and pervasiveness of the spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by persons in the People’s Republic of China… continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross confirmed that the Commerce Department will “begin imple...
