Top Stories
Google to Enforce 30% In-App Payment Policy
Google has revealed that it will be taking on app developers, who circumvent the Play Store’s in-app payment system, by enforcing its 30% service fee. In a blog post, Google reveals that a number of developers have reported being confused over the company’s billing system policies. “We want to be sure our policies are clear and up to date so they can be applied consistently and fairly to all developers, and so we have clarified the language in our Payments Policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods in their apps are required to use Google Play’s billing system,” reads the post. The tech company has always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service...
Jumia and Airtel Kenya Partner to Enable Mobile Payments
Jumia and Airtel Kenya have partnered to allow consumers to complete their online payment transactions using Airtel Money. “Millions of Kenyans rely on mobile money daily to make fast payments. By expanding our payment options to include Airtel money, it will make it easier for more consumers to incorporate online shopping as part of their daily transactions,” says Nelly Movine, Head of Financial Services at Jumia. The service is expected to further enhance the Jumia contactless-delivery initiative launched in March as a safety measure against COVID-19. Consumers are encouraged to prepay for their purchases to avoid cash exchange or pay with Airtel money upon delivery. “We are delighted to be working with Jumia on this exciting partnership to enhance customer experience on the Jumia platfo...
How Cybercriminals are Using the PS5 to Scam Internet Users
Cybercriminals are becoming more and more interested in the PlayStation 5, according to research from Kaspersky. In the period of July – September 2020, almost 150 suspicious web resources around the world included the word ‘PlayStation’ in their names. The phishing websites were mainly offering the chance to pre-order PlayStation 5 by leaving a prepayment or personal information. On some sites, it was supposedly even possible to purchase a console at a reduced price. There were also resources where the previous version of the console – PlayStation 4 – was on offer for much lower prices, with the major discounts attributed to the release of PS5. “We want to remind users that if something looks too good to be true on the Internet, then it’s most probably a scam,” says Tatyana Sidorina,...
vivo Unveils New Y20 Smartphone in Kenya
vivo has unveiled its newest mid-range smartphone – the Y20 – in Kenya. The device, which is expected to launch on 8 October, is the latest addition to vivo’s youth-oriented Y-series. The vivo Y20 is expected to be equipped with a Triple AI camera supporting macro, bokeh, and other advanced selfie features, a fingerprint scanner as well as super-capacity 5000mAh battery supported by power-saving technology which can last up to 16 hours of online HD movie streaming, or 11 hours of resource-intensive gaming. The overall design of the device is teased to be sleek and polished, sporting a 6.51-inch Halo Display with an elongated aspect ratio of 20:9 and HD+ (1600 x 720) resolution that ensures crystal clear visuals and detailing for immersive viewing and gaming experience. The modern scan...
Microsoft 365 Suffers Worldwide Outage
Microsoft has confirmed that a number of its cloud services – including Teams, Outlook, and Office 365 – suffered an outage. “We’re investigating an issue affecting access to multiple Microsoft 365 services. We’re working to identify the full impact and will provide more information shortly,” reads an official tweet. The tech company revealed that the outage could have been caused by a recent update – which it has now reverted. “We’ve identified a recent change that appears to be the source of the issue. We’re rolling back the change to mitigate impact.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_852.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_852.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “We have confirmed via our monitoring that the majority of services have recovered for most customers,” reports Micro...
Google Drive to Automatically Delete Trashed Files
Google has revealed that it will be making an adjustment to the longevity of ‘trashed files’. In an email to users, the tech giant confirms that files moved to the ‘trash’ will be deleted automatically after 30 days. “We are writing to let you know that starting October 13, 2020, Google Drive is making a change so that its trash behaves more consistently with the rest of Google applications (such as Gmail) with regards to automatic deletion,” says Google. “This means that any file that is put into Google Drive’s ‘My Drive’ trash will begin to be automatically deleted after 30 consecutive days in the trash.” “You can always restore files from trash before the 30-day time window.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_b5c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_b5c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } ...
US Federal Court Delays TikTok Ban
Sourced from Cosmico TikTok has been awarded a life-line after a US federal court ruled to delay its impending ban. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump said the popular Chinese video-sharing platform’s ability to handle user data as well as its relationship with parent company, ByteDance, raised national security concerns. 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”. However, TikTok hit back saying that was “led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product, and public policy here in the US. We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our use...
OPPO Smartphones Launch in South Africa
OPPO has officially entered the South African smartphone market with the local launch of its A72 device. The company says that South African consumers stand to benefit from the innovations like SuperVOOC rapid charging and bespoke audio tuning that OPPO has spread around the globe over the last 16 years. “OPPO is committed to offering South African businesses and consumers the best technology experience possible and is excited to enter this vibrant market,” says Sam Zhang CEO, OPPO SA. “This is an important moment in our collective history and through forging strong relationships with our partners, we aim to equip our society with the tools it needs to prosper.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_83f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_83f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } According to the ...
Telkom Kenya and Airtel Subscribers Fall Over Failed Merger, says CA
Image sourced from Bandwidth Blog Telkom Kenya and Airtel have recorded a 16% fall in mobile Internet subscribers after consumers grew uncertain over a proposed merger of the telcos, according to Gadgets Africa. A report by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) reveals that there were only 38.85 million Internet subscribers as of March 2020 – this resulted in a decline from 46.46 million in the same period last year. “The merger deal collapsed last month with Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya citing unacceptable conditions placed on the proposed amalgamation besides delays in receiving regulatory approvals,” reports Business Daily. “The companies had entered into an agreement on February 8, 2019 to combine their mobile, enterprise and wholesale divisions, a proposed deal that led to uncert...
4 Reasons to Love the Huawei Watch Fit
Huawei recently unveiled its newest wearable – the WATCH FIT. It is the first Huawei sports smartwatch to feature a rounded rectangular watch face design combining a dazzling 1.64-inch AMOLED display, which lends itself to displaying more content and better interactive experience. This watch is expected to bring a more ‘cohesive connected experience’ to consumers in their everyday lives. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer BG, says that “great user experiences are always founded on innovation, but our journey of innovation always begins and ends with consumers”. The device is officially launching on 1 October. Here are four exciting features to look forward to from the Huawei WATCH FIT: 1. Lightweight design – This device has a unique, perfectly proportioned square form and a dazzling ...
Opera Launches New Android and Desktop Browser Update
Opera has revealed new versions of its Android and desktop browsers – Android version 60 and Opera for desktop version 71. The new version of Opera’s flagship browser for Android ships with a completely redesigned Sync feature that uses a straight-forward QR-code reader to establish a seamless connection between Opera for Android and the Opera desktop browser on Windows, macOS or Linux. The latest version of Opera’s desktop browser, on the other hand, introduces a useful Easy Files feature. When attaching files in the Opera browser, Easy Files presents the user with their most recently downloaded files in a visual form, helping them select the desired files quickly, without having to search through folders or remember the file names. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_645.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: le...
Certain TikTok Accounts are Promoting Scam Apps, Research Shows
Sourced from Cosmico Avast claims to have found a total of seven “adware scam apps that were available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store”. These apps have since been downloaded over 2.4 million times, generating roughly $500,000 for the creators. The security firm also discovered three accounts that are ‘aggressively’ pushing the apps on TikTok, one of which has more than 300K followers, while on Instagram a profile with more than 5,000 followers has been promoting one of the apps. “The apps we discovered are scams and violate both Google’s and Apple’s app policies by either making misleading claims around app functionalities or serving ads outside of the app and hiding the original app icon soon after the app is installed,” says Jakub Vávra, Avast threat analyst. “It i...
