IT News
Mobile Connectivity: Staying Flexible is Key During Uncertain Times
As many companies in South Africa scramble to keep their employees working from home, the reality of connectivity costs, control and flexibility is becoming more important than ever. In the traditional office environment, managing connectivity and data use was not such a serious issue for IT managers, as data costs were essentially a part of overall fixed network infrastructure. Now, with many employees being forced to work from home, using mobile data where home fibre connectivity is not available has become costly and difficult to manage. Mobile data use has shot up while trying to keep employees connected and productive. Furthermore, many traditional mobile connectivity options such as corporate APN’s are not ideal for certain uses due to high data costs, not hav...
Free Webinar: How to Sell Faster and More To Your Digital Customer
Over the last few years, more and more consumers have opted to engage with brands and businesses digitally. This technological evolution — while very beneficial for consumers — is extremely valuable for organisations, and it has only been fast-tracked by the impact of COVID-19 on social and economic activity. In these uncertain times, potential clients will interact with your company by phone, instant messaging, email, mobile app or social channels — providing a deep treasure trove of data that your sales team can utilize to close deals. This means that now, more than ever, it’s important to not only use but also properly understand the wealth of data within your organisation. With this in mind, leading call centre software company, Genesys wants you to join the virtual convers...
YouTube Supports New Optimisation Mode for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
Samsung and Google have reached a new level in their collaborative efforts to bring a fresh user experience design that fits the innovative form factor of the Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung says that with the Galaxy Z Flip’s unique folding system, users can set the device on any surface and watch their favourite YouTube channel hands-free. And now, this hands-free experience is taken up to the next level with Flex-mode compatibility. YouTube’s Flex-mode optimised app ensures that videos can be adjusted to fit in the top half of the screen. The bottom screen can then be used to search for other videos, read descriptions and write comments. YouTube’s Flex-mode optimised app ensures that videos can be adjusted to fit in the top half of the screen. The bottom screen can then be used to sea...
5 Ways to Protect Your Business from Mobile Adware
One of the most common forms of cyberthreats designed to collect personal information from a user’s device is mobile adware. This is because roughly 4 billion people are connected to the Internet via their smartphone. Despite the adoption of mobile devices, companies rarely prioritize mobile security. Check Point’s Cyber Security Report 2020 shows that in 2019, 27% of companies suffered a cyber-attack because the security of a mobile device was breached. “It only takes one compromised mobile device for cybercriminals to steal confidential information and access an organization’s corporate network,” explains Pankaj Bhula, Regional Director for Africa at Check Point. The main problem with adware is pinpointing how a phone became infected. Adware is developed to sneak onto a device undetected...
5G Connections in Sub-Saharan Africa will Reach 28-Million by 2025, Says GSMA
The Global System for Mobile Telecommunications Association (GSMA) has stated that about 28-million devices in Sub-Saharan Africa – representing a total of 2.7% of total mobile connections – will be connected to a 5G network by 2025. Akinwale Goodluck, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa for the GSMA said this during a Huawei online interview. He explained that when 5G eventually comes to Sub-Saharan Africa, it will be more for the enterprise market as opposed to the retail consumer market. “We will see little 5G hotspots in countries like South Africa. I know that some operators have started some of those, but the ultimate goal will be for us to fill up the 4G pipes. Then when 5G comes there will be a sort of limit in terms of wireless roll-outs, but the bottom line is governments need to aggressi...
Twitter is Testing a New Tweet Reply Feature
Image sourced from Twitter Twitter is testing a new feature that will allow users to choose who can reply to their tweets. Essentially, before posting a tweet, users will be able to select one of three options: everyone (standard Twitter, and the default setting), only people you follow, or only people you mention – thereby controlling who can (or cannot) reply to a specific tweet. This new setting is all a part of Twitter’s plan to give users more control over their conversations across the platform. “Twitter is where you go to see and talk about what’s happening. But sometimes, unwanted replies make it hard to have meaningful conversations,” says Suzanne Xie, Director of Product Management at Twitter, in an official blog post. “Being able to participate and understand what’s happening is...
Apple May Delay its iPhone 12 Announcements Even Further
Sourced from Computerworld California-based tech giant Apple may delay its iPhone 12 announcement event, expected for September, due to the global coronavirus pandemic. The company had delayed the launch of its new iPhone 12 by over a year into 2021 when the pandemic first began affecting tech companies across the globe. Now, Apple is considering pushing the announcement into October to avoid a gap between the event and handsets reaching store shelves – the iPhone maker will have more stores reopened by that point, according to Jon Prosser, a reliable Apple insider. Prosser, who correctly reported the release date of the iPhone SE, says that there is also the possibility that a later iPhone 12 launch event could allow more reporters and analysts to attend in person. WeeklyVoice.com reports...
DHL Debuts Digital Road Freight Platform in Uganda
Image sourced from Transport Advancement DHL Global Forwarding – an international provider of air, sea and road freight services – has launched its digital road freight platform Saloodo! to shippers and transport providers in Uganda, connecting the country to its growing digital network on the African continent. With a total road network of over 129 000 kilometres, it is no surprise that almost 95% of cargo freight in the country relies almost entirely on road transportation. However, similar to the situation in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, there remains infrastructural challenges – a top priority to address as laid out by the Ugandan government in its National Development Plan II and Vision 2040. A 2016 World Bank report found that imports of transport and logistics services make up 55...
FNB is Leveraging AI to Redefine Risk Management
Sourced from Htxt.Africa FNB has been harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to reimagine risk management and forensic due diligence processes. The result is the ability to review profiles for various financial crimes holistically, more rapidly, and more consistently, and free up the time of analysts to perform the functions that they remain better suited to than AI. FNB claims that this doesn’t mean that they need fewer analysts, but rather that their focus is now being used to conduct quality assurance of reviews, and to constantly feedback data into the evolution of the AI. On average, the use of AI frees up 70% of analysts’ time and generating a forensic synopsis ready for a human analyst to review that previously took hours can now be completed in as little as 8 seconds. AI is growin...
Apple and Google Launch COVID-19 Exposure Alert Tool
Apple and Google have officially launched their Exposure Notification system – previously debuted as contact-tracing software – which is designed to alert users of possible contact with individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. “Starting today, our Exposure Notifications technology is available to public health agencies on both iOS and Android. What we’ve built is not an app — rather public health agencies will incorporate the API into their own apps that people install,” says the tech giants in a joint statement. The Application Programming Interface (API) will enable apps created by public health agencies to work more accurately, reliably and effectively across both Android and iOS devices. “Our technology is designed to make these apps work better. Each user gets to decide whet...
Over 1 Billion SMSs Sent since the Beginning of Lockdown in Nigeria
Sourced from allAfrica. Nigeria’s lockdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the usage of SMSs – the quintessential short message service used all across the world – as subscribers were discovered to have sent over 1-billion messages within the last month. Though this mass of messages was largely free, checks on some operators revealed the rate of how customers made use of the SMS platform to send messages to one another. For instance, a check on MTN showed that within the first five weeks of lockdown, where people all across the country began to work remotely. Over one billion text messages were sent by customers within the first four weeks of the pan-African telecom introducing a new free SMS package – the package allows MTN Nigeria subscribers across the country to send 1...
South African EduTech Supports Online Learning for Students in Rural Communities
Sourced from CodeXtra Trends Syafunda, an educational platform that provides access to digital content through mobile technology, has received investment funding from SME-enabler Edge Growth which will allow them to scale their platform to meet the surging need for online learning in South Africa. Syafunda, which means “we are learning” in Zulu, was the inspiration of entrepreneur Zakheni Ngubo. Together with his Durban-based Syafunda team, Zakheni is capitalising on South Africa’s high mobile penetration rate to make education more easily accessible. Syafunda partners with local content developers and publishers, setting up digital libraries in places like townships and rural schools where connectivity is limited or non-existent. The digital libraries have five terabytes of pre-loaded con...
