Southern Africa
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 ...
Cell C Joins #SavingTheClassOf2020 Project
Image sourced from Town Press As the fourth industrial revolution becomes reality on a global scale, the need for learners to master STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects has never been more important. According to STEMblogSA, this revolution will create more jobs than technology displaces, but STEM skills will be more critical than ever, given that between 65% and 85% of jobs that will exist in the future, currently do not exist. STEM subjects don’t just equip learners with know-how about how jobs in the future will work, it teaches them critical and creative thinking to navigate this space. In South Africa, the importance of STEM education is vital. The country lags behind a lot of other nations in the world in equipping its youth with STEM knowledge; in 2019, ...
Cartrack Launches Personal Safety App in South Africa
Cartrack has launched Karu Safety, a rapid response safety app that dispatches emergency security assistance for people in need. Founder and Group CEO, Zak Calisto says the launch of Karu Safety was a natural evolution for the company. “We’ve been in the software business for 16 years and consistently introduced ground-breaking innovations that have made significant contributions towards the growth of the industry globally. We have unparalleled experience and insight into the need of people living in South Africa for personal safety. We too are concerned with the growing safety concerns in our communities. We view this new service as our duty to respond to the dire call from the South African people for affordable and accessible safety,” says Calisto. The Karu Safety app dispatches a ...
5 Ways to Effectively Defend Against Cyberthreats
Sourced from Republic Title Garmin and Twitter recently joined the ranks of a string of global organisations that have fallen victim to crippling cyberattacks. A little closer to home, last year, the City of Johannesburg’s network was also hacked and held ransom for a hefty 4 bitcoins (worth around R520 000 at the time). While the nature of these attacks may be different, it’s clear that cybercrime is on the rise and companies of all sizes and across all sectors need to be vigilant. An ideal environment for cybercrime It’s no surprise that these attacks are becoming more common in today’s increasingly connected society. The rise of online applications and services means unprotected users are more exposed than ever before. Added to this, the current pandemic has pushed man...
Ukheshe Confirms Two Key Appointments
Ukheshe has announced the appointment of Victor Ndlovu as its new Vice President for Africa and Paul Opie as Head of Issuing for Ukheshe Africa. Both appointments come as the fintech innovator continues to branch out from its South African roots into Africa. Joining Ukheshe from Wirecard South Africa, where he was responsible for driving regional business development, Opie says he is looking forward to working on local solutions that meet local market requirements and expanding them more broadly. “The challenges in the African payment industry as well as current global trends presents an opportunity for us to provide cost-effective payment acceptance infrastructure, such as QR code or mobile, rather than POS. Increase in acceptance creates trust and limits the want to withdraw cash from AT...
Pinnacle Extends Huawei Distribution Agreement Further into Africa
Fred Saayman, Huawei BU Executive at Pinnacle Huawei and Pinnacle initially commenced their partnership in 2015 and have seen some terrific growth in the past five years, including their now extended distribution agreement. In 2017 the partnership saw a 74% growth in revenue, and in 2018 the revenue growth more than tripled to 261%. With the Pinnacle and Huawei team working closely together, there has been a major focus on the AirEngine WiFi-6, OceanStor Dorado and their recently launched IdeaHub. Pinnacle’s SADC Sales Manager, Roderick Pillay, is excited for the opportunities that this extension will be creating in the SADC regions. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_4a8.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_4a8.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “The majority of our partners are not even awa...
Sony to Launch Alpha 7S III in South Africa
Sony has announced that the Alpha 7S full-frame mirrorless camera series — the Alpha 7S III — will be available in South Africa from the first week of October, for R64 999,00. [embedded content] The Sony Alpha 7S III features a brand new 12.1MP back-illuminated full-frame image sensor with ultra-high sensitivity and 15+ stop wide dynamic range. The camera boasts a host of impressive video recording capabilities, including 4K 120p and 10-bit 4:2:2 colour depth, a new heat-dissipating mechanism and dual-slot relay recording that delivers over one-hour of 4K 60p movie shooting. A brand new autofocus system, touch screen interface and side flip LCD screen make the new Alpha 7S III the ultimate creative tool for video professionals and all types of hybrid stills/video shooters. /* custom css */...
3 Reasons to Love the Huawei FreeBuds 3i
Huawei recently unveiled six new gadgets at its global launch event, these include the FreeBuds 3i which retail in South Africa for just R1,999. These earphones are said to be the world’s first open-fit true wireless stereo (TWS) with advanced active noise cancelling (ANC) technologies. Here are three reasons to love the Huawei Freebuds 3i: 1. A connected ecosystem of intelligence The Huawei FreeBuds 3i offer a fully integrated ecosystem of seamless interconnectivity between all Huawei devices. As soon as the charging case is open, a pop-up notification will appear on any nearby Huawei devices, enabling users to instantly connect to their earphones. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_63b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_63b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A pop-up notification will als...
Telkom takes on eCommerce Partnership with Takealot
Image sourced from Bandwidth Blog Telkom has announced that a number of its products would now be available from Takealot.com. The companies believe that this new partnership will bring superior service and convenience to new and already existing Telkom customers. “This partnership with Takealot.com brings together a vision centred around one important stakeholder, the customer. The connectivity of our customers from the comfort of their homes during this pandemic has been our primary focus and with Takealot’s innovative e-commerce platform and success in customer service, we will leave no man behind. Our strategic partnership is sure to add much-needed comfort and value to our customers,” says Gugu Mthembu, Executive of Brand & Product Segments at Telkom. “Selected Telkom Prepaid...
What does Lockdown Level 1 mean for eCommerce?
South Africa is about to move into Lockdown Level One as from midnight on Sunday, 20 September. And while the hard lockdown saw eCommerce activity skyrocket to unprecedented levels, trade volumes in brick and mortar stores have already started to see a pick-up during the previous shift down to Level Two. As restrictions ease further off the back of last night’s announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa, questions have been raised as to whether the spike in eCommerce activity will wane and what the future holds for the sector. Based on international market trends, Matthew Leighton, a spokesperson from OneDayOnly.co.za, believes that continued growth is inevitable. “Well-established eCommerce markets are still experiencing growth, and we expect to see the same locally. A recent example was A...
Sony Introduces New Smart TVs to South Africa
Sony has announced the arrival of its new TV range which comprise of the A8H, X90H, X75H and X80H 4K models. The lineup is equipped with the Android 9 Pie smart TV platform, powered by Sony’s proprietary and houses the game-changing Picture Processor X1. “We’re excited to announce the arrival of our TVs on South African shores, which boast the latest technologies to offer an immersive entertainment experience for fans,” says Shuichi Mugitani, Head of Marketing at Sony MEA. “The South African market is extremely important to us, which is why we’ve made it our top priority to fit this exciting new 2020 lineup with Sony’s innovative Voice Search and remarkable premium large screens – highlighting our commitment to delivering content the way creators intended. This new range of TVs is designed...
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,...
