Home » tech news » Page 305

tech news

MTN Donates 5000 Smartphones to COVID-19 Field Workers

Sourced from Business Tech MTN Business has announced that it will donate 5 000 smartphones, each preloaded with 3GB of data, to the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health. These devices are to be distributed to field workers for the conducting of tests, screening of citizens and tracing of people that may have come into contact with patients that have been found to have the coronavirus. In addition to the smartphones, MTN has also pledged to conduct free after-sales services such as repairs device replacement, on-site device support, service and account management. As of 11 May 2020, 54 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in Limpopo, with 3 deaths and 28 recoveries according to statistics provided by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases. The number of confirmed cases ...

COVID-19: TransUnion Provides Key Info to Kenya’s Financial Services Providers

Global information and insights company TransUnion says Kenya’s financial services providers and consumer credit market will have to drive a robust, proactive response to the COVID-19 crisis if they are to manage the risks to the industry, with the pandemic expected to have a major impact on the country’s economy and the consumer landscape. Past crises and initial data suggest there will be ‘a significant reduction’ in the quality and volume of credit in Kenya as consumers and businesses grapple with lower income. What will define the COVID-19 pandemic for the consumer credit market is how banks and lenders respond to the challenges it presents, says Billy Owino, CEO of TransUnion Kenya. To help the consumer credit market respond to the crisis, TransUnion this morning launched its COVID-19...

Original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater Games Getting Re-Released for PS4, XBOX One, and PC

Whether you’re regular, goofy, or even a cop (we see you Officer Dick) get ready to drop back in to the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater universe. As THR reports, 1999’s Pro Skater and 2000’s Pro Skater 2 are being remastered with 4K HD graphics. The games will be available on PC, XBox One, and Playstation 4 starting on September 4th. The original Pro Skater titles represented a revolution in freewheeling gameplay, and as hard as it is to believe today, the graphics were top-of-the-line. The re-released games will feature the old familiar maps, as well as the same skaters, moves, gameplay modes, and best of all, the original soundtracks. But this isn’t just a new skin on an old structure; led by publisher Activision and developer Vicarious Visions, the updated Pro Skater gam...

3 Key Trends for the FMCG Sector Post-Pandemic

Sourced from Footstuffs SA. It’s clear that the Coronavirus has changed the landscape for FMCGs (Fast-moving consumer goods) – in some ways permanently. However, despite its similarities, the impact has not been the same across its subsectors and through the supply chain. Itumeleng Merafe, Head of Interest Rate Structuring at Investec says that “the lockdown has hit the economy hard and despite efforts by the government and Reserve Bank to mitigate the effects, ultimately only a medical solution is likely to provide lasting relief to consumers and businesses servicing those consumers.” The market for fast-moving consumer goods faces considerable changes – impacted by the demand for consumer-packaged goods, changes in household spending, increase in e-commerce and frequency of shop visits. ...

Cybercrime has Increased by 33%, Report Shows

The 100 Days of Coronavirus report – published by Mimecast – shows that the volume of malicious and opportunistic cybercrime has increased significantly by 33% in the period January to March 2020. The new report has found that in the period January to March 2020 monthly volumes of: Spam and opportunistic cybercrime detections increased by 26.3%, Impersonation fraud detections increased by 30.3%, Malware detections increased by 35.16%, and Blocking of URL clicks increased by 55.8%, meaning people are more likely now to click on unsafe links than before the outbreak. Over the months of February and March, as South Africa reported its first case and moved swiftly into lockdown, the Threat Intelligence Team saw dramatic increases in cyberattacks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Carl Wearn, Head of E-Cri...

One-in-Three Ransomware Attacks Target Corporate Users

Sourced from Kaspersky On May 12, 2017, the largest ransomware epidemic in history, WannaCry, reached its peak. Three years later, this and other ransomware threats are still affecting people and companies. Recent Kaspersky research has revealed that in 2019, WannaCry kept its position at the top of the most prevalent ransomware families, while almost a third (30%) of those targeted by ransomware were corporate users. On 12 May 2020, Kaspersky and INTERPOL continue to urge organisations to think about backing up their data and adopting relevant protection so that they could avoid any potential ransomware siege and a catastrophe similar to WannaCry doesn’t happen again. Ransomware has become a big challenge for many organisations. Even though this is not the most advanced threat from a tech...

How COVID-19 is Changing the Music Consumption Industry

Self-isolation and social-distancing laws have given rise to new trends in the music industry. In a bid to flatten the curve, fans across the world have substituted live music concerts for virtual alternatives, relying heavily on technology’s ability to recreate these experiences in the comfort of their homes. From the yesteryears of evenings spent on the couch, enjoying the ambience created by the magnificent combination of vinyl and gramophone to the more current trend of wirelessly streaming the latest chart-topping hits through state-of-the-art Bluetooth speakers – audio technology has continuously adapted to the changing requirements of fans and performers alike. A new trend is on the rise for music consumption Research by Billboard and Nielsen Music, titled COVID-19 tracking the impa...

Bitcoin is Part of Mainstream Finance, says deVere CEO

Sourced from Ethereum World News. Bitcoin’s historic halving event on Monday underscores that the “long-term future of cryptocurrencies is secure”, says the CEO and founder of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations. The comments from deVere Group’s Nigel Green come as the world’s supply of Bitcoin was forever slashed. The highly anticipated halving event, occurring only every four years, means that less and less Bitcoin – which is limited to 21 million units – will now be mined. Monday’s was only the third ever halving. In 2012, the number of new Bitcoins issued every 10 minutes fell from 50 to 25. In 2016, it went down from 25 to 12.5. Now, in the 2020 halving, it will drop from 12.5 to 6.25. Nigel Green says that the “Bitcoin halving event has demonstrate...

Twitter is Using New Labels to Fight COVID-19 Misinformation

Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy In an attempt to make finding credible news a little easier, Twitter has announced that it is introducing new labels for tweets that contain COVID-19-related misinformation. The social media goliath started testing labels in February after it became known that a number of public figures were tweeting misleading and manipulated media – these untrue tweets were highlighted with an orange label that includes Twitter’s policy guidelines as well as accurate information from fact-checkers and journalists. And now it seems that Twitter wants to take these labels one step further – “earlier this year, we introduced a new label for Tweets containing synthetic and manipulated media. Similar labels will now appear on Tweets containing potentially harmful, ...

NCC says No 5G Licenses have been Issued to Network Operators in Nigeria

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is adamant that it has not yet issued 5G licenses to any of the countries operators – despite rumours spread via social media platforms that claim the local telecoms industry would switch on 5G networks in Lagos this week. In an official statement, the NCC says that these rumours couldn’t be further from the truth – “there is no deployment of 5G in Nigeria at the moment”. The commission – which insists that the rumours come from “faceless sponsors” – told The Vanguard that it had approved 5G trials in November 2019 for a three-month period, ending January 2020. The trials have since been concluded and installation decommissioned. “The trial among others was to study and observe any health or security challenges the 5G network might present. Rele...

Elon Musk Reopens His Tesla Factory Against Local Coronavirus Orders

Elon Musk has resumed production at his Tesla factory in Fremont, California, defying local shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of COVID-19. “I will be on the line with everyone else,” he tweeted today. “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.” The Tesla CEO and new father seems hell-bent on making electric cars for people right now, as if those who could afford a Tesla in the first place are unable to wait a few months to purchase one. Apparently his Fremont factory is packed to the gills like a normal work day, reports NPR, because photos of its company parking lot show each spot filled. “California approved, but an unelected county official illegally overrode,” Musk tweeted. “Also, all other auto companies in US are approved to resume. Only Tesla has been singled out. Th...

How COVID-19 Misinformation Continues to Go Viral

Sourced from Speechling. Despite pledges from massive social media companies to remove dangerous instances of coronavirus misinformation – from false causes to false cures – Silicon Valley and fact-checkers around the world are struggling to stem the flow of fake news about the pandemic. Last week, a video titled “Plandemic” went viral, clocking up millions of views and clicks across Facebook and YouTube before the companies took action. “I’ve not seen a video of this type gain this kind of viral traction so quickly,” Alan Duke, the editor in chief of Lead Stories, a fact-checking group that works with Facebook told CNN. As of last-week Thursday afternoon, a book that features the subject of “Plandemic” has rocketed to number 1 on Amazon’s Best Seller’s List, where it remained over the wee...