Top Stories
Acer Introduces New Swift, Spin and Aspire Series Notebooks
Acer has launched a suite of powerful notebooks across its Swift, Spin and Aspire series – all featuring the performance of new 11th Gen Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics. The company says that these devices have been “designed to push ultra-portable PC design to new territories” and that notebooks come with “intuitive features, striking design aesthetics and the latest technology in a thin and light package”. Here’s a closer look at the new additions to the Acer Notebook range: Acer Swift 3X /* custom css */ .tdi_3_b9b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_b9b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The Swift 3X sports the new Intel Iris Xe MAX discrete graphics solution paired with 11th Gen Intel Core processors in order to offer creative professionals, such as photogra...
How to Effectively Enable a Remote Workforce
While a mobile workforce has long been possible, thanks to the availability of cloud technologies, the COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the adoption of remote-working practices. And as we move forward, it’s likely that a cloud-based workforce will be the foundation of how organisations operate, compete, and succeed. Leaders in tech will need to embrace the philosophy of remote working, particularly when it comes to rethinking the core concepts of infrastructure, workplace productivity, and business processes. The Migration to the Cloud Webinar will allow you to develop new cloud-collaboration strategies to get the most out of your work-from-anywhere teams. Through this interactive programme, taking place on 22 October 2020, attendees will learn how to manage remote workers while unpacking th...
Top 3 IT Security Threats in Africa
Sourced from IDG Connect There’s been an overall decrease in certain malware cases across sub-Saharan Africa, according to Kaspersky research. However, the human cyber threat remains rife and Africa is not immune to the evolving techniques of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), as well as the possibilities of being a future target of hacking-for-hire threat actor groups. Kaspersky research has found that globally, APT groups are evolving their techniques and are upgrading their toolset to continue stealing sensitive information. Furthermore, there has been a rise of hackers-for-hire or cyber mercenaries during the first two quarters of 2020. In fact, three cyber mercenary groups have been exposed across the world this year alone. As this activity has taken place outside of Africa, it’s sus...
LG Launches its Rollable OLED TV
LG officially launched the LG Signature OLED R (model RX) – the worlds first rollable TV – priced at $87 000. The tech company says that this TV is the very definition of exclusive, an exceptional feat of engineering. [embedded content] The LG Signature OLED R boasts a liquid smooth 65-inch flexible OLED display that leverages self-lighting pixel technology and individual dimming control to deliver supreme picture quality. The R in the name not only signifies that the TV is rollable but that the TV is also revolutionary in the home entertainment space, redefining the relationship between a TV that can disappear from view at the touch of a button and the surrounding space. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_69c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_69c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } LG...
Vodacom to Invest R320 Million into Rural Broadband Connectivity
Vodacom has revealed its plans to invest just over R320 million into network across KwaZulu Natal during 2020/2021. The lion’s share of the capital expenditure will go towards building new LTE base station sites in both urban and deep rural areas of the province. This network acceleration is expected to aid in removing barriers to communications, provide access to fast internet and help in driving digital inclusion among communities in deep rural areas of the province. The availability of high-speed broadband is critical to deep rural development, but research shows that deep rural communities are lagging behind in terms of broadband connectivity, excluding many from digital transformation. “We have always maintained that the key differentiator for us is the quality, strength and reliabili...
Nokia and NASA to Build First Ever LTE Network on the Moon
Nokia and NASA have joined forces to deploy the first-ever LTE network on the moon – a major step towards a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. The end-to-end LTE network – pioneered by Nokia Bell Labs’ – is expected to be ready in late 2022. Nokia is partnering with Intuitive Machines for this mission to integrate it’s technology into their lunar lander to deliver it to the lunar surface. The network will self-configure upon deployment and establish the first LTE communications system on the Moon. The network is expected to provide critical communication capabilities for many different data transmission applications, including vital command and control functions, remote control of lunar rovers, real-time navigation and streaming of high definition video. /* custom css */ .tdi...
Fake News Impacts 84% of Ghana’s Youth, According to Survey
Nearly nine in ten (84%) of Ghanaian youth polled suggest that the rise of ‘fake news’ breaking out across their country and around the continent has impacted their ability to stay informed, according to the African Youth Survey (AYS). Commissioned by the South African-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation, the survey also indicates that leading social media platforms Facebook and WhatsApp were deemed untrustworthy by over one-third of Ghana’s youth population (37% and 35%, respectively). The AYS is said to be one of the most comprehensive research on Africa’s youth to date. Conducted by PSB Research (part of WPP Group), the study involved face-to-face interviews with young Africans (aged 18-24) men and women, held across the major urban centres of Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, K...
MultiChoice South Africa Appoints New CEO
Image sourced from The Vanguard Nigeria MultiChoice Group has appointed Nyiko Shiburi as the new CEO of its South African (MCSA) operations – effective from 1 December 2020. Until now, Shiburi has been the Regional Director of MultiChoice Africa: Southern Region — a role that spans nine countries. “Nyiko is an extremely experienced leader and has successfully navigated the complexity of multiple territories and businesses, working with deeply skilled teams within the organisation as well as a multitude of stakeholders in our ecosystem,” says MultiChoice Group CEO, Calvo Mawela. As the new CEO of MCSA, Shiburi will be expected to further drive the growth and momentum of the South African business. Fhulufhelo Badugela will assume the role of Regional Director of MultiChoice Africa: Sout...
Stripe to Acquire Nigeria’s Paystack
Sourced from Redbubble and iStock. Stripe has revealed that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Paystack, a payments collection company based in Lagos, Nigeria. According to an official statement, Paystack works with more than 60,000 businesses in Nigeria and Ghana to securely collect online and offline payments. It also processes more than half of all online transactions in Nigeria and has plans to expand across the continent, having recently started a pilot with businesses in South Africa. Stripe and Paystack have been working closely together for some time. In 2018, Stripe led Paystack’s Series A financing round and has provided ongoing guidance as the company rapidly scaled. “In just five years, Paystack has done what many companies could not achieve in decades. Their tech-firs...
Twitter Suffered Worldwide Outage
Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy Twitter has reportedly suffered a global outage which lasted about an hour and a half. According to Bloomberg, the social media platform said it saw “no evidence of a security breach or hack, but was investigating internal causes for the problems”. Twitter has been down for many of you and we’re working to get it back up and running for everyone. We had some trouble with our internal systems and don’t have any evidence of a security breach or hack. — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) October 15, 2020 /* custom css */ .tdi_3_818.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_818.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Twitter was said to be looking into an “irregularity” with its APIs, “the technology that lets different software systems interact with e...
MTN Named ‘Most Valuable African Brand’
MTN Group has been named the ‘Most Valuable African Brand’ by Brand Finance Africa. The ranking ascribes a brand value of $3,3 billion to MTN. Brand value is said to be the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. In its survey, Brand Finance said that “over the last year, Africa’s largest mobile operator has celebrated solid profits and impressive subscriber growth.” The survey assessed the impact of COVID-19 on the enterprise value of all brands in its survey, compared to their values on 1 January 2020. It categorised the telecoms sector as ‘limited impact’, which it said meant “minimal brand value loss or potential brand value growth”. This was due to the increasingly important role that mobile operators have played in keeping peop...
Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro won’t Ship with Earbuds or Wall Chargers
Apple has revealed that its iPhone 12 series will ship without earbuds or wall chargers. This, according to the tech giant, is part of its strategy to reduce climate impact across its entire business. “Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations and, by 2030, plans to have net-zero climate impact across the entire business, which includes manufacturing supply chains and all product life cycles,” reads an official blog post. “This means that every Apple device sold, from material collection, component manufacturing, assembly, transport, customer use, charging, all the way through recycling and material recovery, will be 100% carbon neutral.” Apple goes on to say that the iPhone 12 Pro models were designed with the environment in mind – and for the first time, it’s removing the p...
