Top Stories
How Card Swipes Point to Economic Recovery in South Africa
Sourced from Htxt.Africa Following months of uncertainty, data from FNB shows that businesses are already seeing signs of recovery as card swipes at merchants point of sale devices rebound close to pre-pandemic levels. Purchases recorded on FNB Speedpoint devices show that transactions recorded in August, when the country moved to level 2 of lockdown, recovered to 93.2% compared to February this year. In the same month, merchant transactions recorded across six provinces were already above pre-pandemic levels, with Free State and Gauteng at 90%, followed by the Western Cape at 70%. Signs of recovery were already apparent in July when the country was still on level 3 of lockdown, where activity had recovered to roughly 86% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Gordon Little, CEO of FNB Business,...
Nokia to Expand LTE Network in Nigeria
Nokia and Tizeti have partnered to supply over one million subscribers in Nigeria with LTE technology. The telco will deploy Nokia’s AirScale Base Station TDD-LTE and Fastmile Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) gateways in order to deliver Internet and Virtual Private Network (VPN) services. The solution is expected to enable Tizeti to deliver a more robust, high-speed internet service to subscribers and the flexibility to seamlessly evolve to 5G Fixed Wireless Access when needed. Nokia says that its FWA solution will allow Tizeti to fast-track broadband access and provide a best-in-class broadband experience to its subscribers. Whereas its AirScale Base Stations ensure high-quality connectivity and coverage and enable Tizeti to evolve the network in line with customer demand. “We are committed t...
5 reasons you don’t want to miss DTC2020 this October
The highly anticipated Digital Transformation Congress virtual event is set to dominate the digital transformation conversation in South Africa this October. Over 200 local and international industry leaders and senior executives will convene on the 07-08 October 2020, for two days of top-level content, case studies, industry tracks and plenty of networking opportunities.Here are 5 reasons why you should join them: 1. You’ll be in good company – DTC 2020 offers a superior virtual networking experience with the biggest names in the African technology arena. Meet and engage with top of the line speakers, exhibitors, and delegates from organisations such as Transnet, Accenture, Transunion, National Lotteries Commission, Momentum, ABSA New business – This is a premier business develo...
Telkom SA Signs Roaming Agreement with Telenor
Image sourced from Bandwidth Blog Telkom South Africa and Telenor have announced the signing of a three and a half year Managed Roaming agreement that will enable Telkom to improve the roaming retail offering to its end users. Through this agreement, Telenor will be responsible for the full end-to-end wholesale roaming process for Telkom. Meanwhile, Telkom will be able to utilize the Telenor wholesale roaming group platform and leverage on the group scale in terms of cost and revenue. “We have a long-standing and important relationship with Telenor. Their extensive roaming coverage combined with the vast experience and competence is significant in providing our end users with the desired roaming experience,” says Althon Beukes, CEO of Telkom’s Wholesale division, Openserve. “Partnering wit...
LG Wing Dual-Screen Smartphone Unveiled
LG has officially unveiled its new smartphone – the LG Wing – a dual-screen device with a swivelling form factor. [embedded content] The tech company says that the LG Wing’s two displays and ‘revolutionary’ form factor can facilitate new ways to engage with certain apps and features, ‘making it far easier to multitask’. “Users can watch their favourite movies in all their widescreen glory while searching for information about their favourite actors or discussing the movie via chat with friends.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_008.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_008.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “Swivel Mode can also prove handy when driving, allowing users to follow map directions on the Main Screen reserving the Second Screen for calls, which on other phones would cover the map...
ByteDance Rejects Microsoft’s TikTok Bid
Sourced from Gadgets 360. Microsoft has confirmed that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has rejected its bid to acquire the video-sharing platform – the acquisition would allow Microsoft to own and operate the TikTok service in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The tech giant revealed that it would have made ‘significant changes’ to the way that ByteDance and TikTok deal with security, privacy and online safety – something that it believes would have been good for American users. In a statement, Microsoft says, “ByteDance let us know today they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft. We are confident our proposal would have been good for TikTok’s users while protecting national security interests. To do this, we would have made significant chan...
Oracle Reportedly Wins TikTok Bid
Sourced from Cosmico Oracle and ByteDance have reached a “technical partnership” for TikTok’s US operations, according to The Wall Street Journal. This, however, does not include the sale of the popular video-sharing app. A number of people familiar with the matter believe that Oracle will address the national security concerns surrounding TikTok, raised by the Trump Administration. Sources told FT that the US tech company was already in “preliminary talks with TikTok owner Bytedance, and was working with a group of investors that already holds a stake in the Chinese company.” This comes shortly after Microsoft revealed that ByteDance has rejected its bid to acquire TikTok – the acquisition would’ve allowed Microsoft to own and operate the TikTok service in the United States, Can...
KaiOS and Telkom Launch Feature Phones in Kenya
KaiOS Technologies and Telkom Kenya have unveiled the new Kaduda T-Smart, a KaiOS–enabled smart feature phone. The T-Smart is said to be a ‘significant upgrade’ of Telkom Kenya’s feature phone portfolio as the device aims to address the growing demand for competitively-priced Internet-enabled devices with affordable data packages. The T-Smart enables Kenyans to access the Internet via 3G/4G/LTE and Wi-Fi. It has an easy-to-use interface that’s optimized for first-time internet users. The phone comes with the world’s most popular apps such as WhatsApp, YouTube, Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Facebook, and provides access to hundreds of other applications through the KaiStore. The device retails at KSh 3,100 (roughly $28) and comes with a variety of data packages, including a free daily...
Kenyan Telcos could Compensate Users for Network Outages
Safaricom, Telkom and Airtel Kenya have decided to compensate customers who experience interrupted services due to network outages, reports Gadgets Africa. This comes shortly after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) issued new draft regulations “to compel telcos to either pay or offer credit equivalent of the time users are without voice, data and SMS services”. These guidelines are said to be part of the Kenyan governments “effort to shield the millions of subscribers across the country from poor services related to network outages which include lack of internet connections”. This is something that is expected to push telcos to step-up the quality of their services. CA draft regulations “A licensee shall develop and implement an outage credit policy in situations where servi...
Huawei Introduces 6 New Gadgets at Global Launch Event
Huawei has unveiled six new gadgets at its global launch event, these include the FreeBuds Pro, the FreeLace Pro, the WATCH GT 2 Pro, the WATCH FIT, the MateBook X and the MateBook 14. These products are 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.” Here’s a closer look at Huawei’s new gadgets: /* custom css */ .tdi_3_1ff.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_1ff.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Huawei FreeBuds Pro These are the world’s first true wireless stereo (TWS) earphones to support intelligent dynamic noise cancellation. Featuring both a hardware and ...
Google Launches Android 11 Go
Image sourced from The Verge Google has unveiled Android 11 Go – designed with low-powered budget devices in mind. A key feature of the stripped-down OS is that it is able to work on devices with 2GB of RAM or less. However, Google told The Verge that Android 11 Go is “only going to come out with new phones with that much memory”. Otherwise, Google expects Android 11 Go will allow apps to launch 20 per cent faster than on Android 10 Go. Google Launches Android 11 Google has launched the highly-anticipated Android 11 – the latest version of its mobile operating system – to a number of users who own select Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO or realme devices. The tech company says that this update has been optimised for how people use their phones – “giving you powerful device contr...
INTERVIEW: How Tech is Changing the Face of Fundraising
Charities in the ‘know’ have been using technology to boost their fundraising abilities for years – whether it’s through live-streaming, virtual auctions or crowdfunding. But it wasn’t truly until the COVID-19 pandemic that these organisations had to solely rely on the digital sphere. With this in mind, a non-profit fundraising platform founded by two South Africans, GivenGain, decided that any charity or fundraiser can use its technology free of charge, connecting them with a socially aware new generation of Generation Z charity supporters. ITNA’s Jenna Delport had the opportunity to chat to Jannie Smith, Operational Manager at GivenGain, about the platform and its mission to not just connect streaming and fundraising but simultaneously helping to level the playing field between large and...
