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COVID-19 to Cut IT Spending in Nearly Every Industry in 2020

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The International Data Corporation (IDC) currently forecasts worldwide IT spending to decline by 2.7% this year due to the economic impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. While every industry will be affected by the global slowdown, IDC notes that some will reduce their IT spending more than others. IDC in its Worldwide ICT Spending Guide: Industry and Company Size, document hospitality and tourism-heavy industries like transportation and personal and consumer services are expected to be the most negatively impacted markets with IT spending expected to decline by 5% or more. However, both markets are relatively small in terms of IT spending. Discrete and process manufacturing are both large market opportunities for technology (nearly $400 billion combined) and face significant risks du...

Politics

Groundbreaking AI Scans Lungs for COVID-19 Presence

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In Wuhan, China, when the rate of coronavirus infection was at its highest, doctors were able to use an AI algorithm to scan the lungs of thousands of patients. The algorithm in question, developed by Axial AI, analyses CT imagery in seconds. It is able to declare whether a patient has a high risk of developing viral pneumonia from the coronavirus or not. The coloured area shows where the algorithm has detected pneumonia. Sourced from the BBC The BBC writes that a consortium of firms developed the AI in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. They say it can show whether a patient’s lungs have improved or worsened over time – when more CT scans are done for comparison. A hospital in Malaysia is now trialling the system and Axial AI has also offered to donate it to the NHS in the UK. However, th...

Politics

Teraco to Build Second-Largest Data Centre in Africa

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Teraco has officially confirmed the construction of Teraco Cape Town 2 (CT2), a new 30MW data centre facility. This follows the company’s recent 60MW expansion announcement of its Johannesburg data centre campus in Isando and makes the Cape Town facility the second-largest on the continent. Jan Hnizdo, CEO at Teraco, says that the company is standing by its 2019 commitment to support the South African Government’s investment drive and with this build will be investing Billions of Rands in South Africa’s digital infrastructure: “We are truly proud that we can keep investing in the region and make good on our promise.” Driving this investment, according to Hnizdo, is the growth of cloud in the region, resulting in increased demand from cloud providers, enterprises and sub-sea cable operators...

Politics

EA Racks Up Higher than Expected Revenue as Gamers Stay Indoors

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Sourced from Electronic Arts Inc. One of the world’s largest and most successful video game publishers, EA (Electronic Arts Inc) forecasts a full-year adjusted revenue above estimates projected for it by WallStreet. Experts believe this is because the company has been riding on the broader surge in videogame sales as people shelter at home due to the worldwide pandemic. Reuters reports that videogame sales in the US have surged in the last two months as the country was shut down by COVID-19 – sales in March managed to hit their highest in over a decade. Analysts expect the extended stay-at-home orders to further boost sales and user engagement for videogames across all platforms. Even with successful projections for the rest of the year, EA’s shares went down about 5% in extended trading. ...

Politics

Huawei P40 Lite to Launch in South Africa

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Image sourced from Connected Devices Huawei is about ready to release the first device from its highly-anticipated P40 series. According to the Chinese tech giant, the P40 Lite is more powerful and robust than its predecessors – it also marks the second Huawei smartphone to launch in South Africa that comes standard with Huawei’s HMS ecosystem. The Huawei P40 lite is powered by the Kirin 810, a high-end 7nm chipset, which is integrated with a Mali G52 GPU that boasts excellent graphics processing capabilities. In addition, the 4200MAh battery and 40W Huawei SuperCharge support offer lower power consumption and long-lasting battery life. With its 6.4-inch Punch FullView Display, 90.6% screen-to-body ratio and 48MP quad-camera, Huawei believes this handset is all about creating and viewing h...

Politics

How to Tell if a WhatsApp Message is Actually Fake News

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Facebook-owned social media and chat powerhouse WhatsApp continues to take part in the fight against misinformation and Fake News – now, thanks to a new chatbot, users can fact check messages right in the app. Partnering with the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), WhatsApp is allowing users around the world to talk to this chatbot to inform them of the latest facts so that they can decide on how true or false messages sent to them are. Gadgets Africa says that “the bot is able to easily check whether a piece of news about COVID-19 is true or not”. This new chatbot service comes soon after WhatsApp began taking several measures to curb the spread of fake news and false information. Just recently, the company announced that limits put in place to reduce the amount of copy-paste chai...

Politics

6 Simple Ways to Help the Elderly Safely Connect Online during Lockdown

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For the last few weeks, much has changed in our lives. People have been urged to only leave home if it is absolutely necessary, such as to shop for essential items or to seek medical care. However, there are plenty of technologies available to help us maintain the usual rhythm of our daily lives. For instance, food delivery services on offer allow us to order grocery items without having to leave the house. Unfortunately, not everybody is able to take advantage. People who are at greatest risk and need these services most – the elderly – can often experience some difficulties in using modern tools that many of us otherwise take for granted. To stay in touch and buy the essentials, older generations are having to learn how technologies work and become more comfortable spending more time tha...

Politics

Zoom Rolling Out New Security Features

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Sourced from Getty Images Zoom is planning to roll out additional security features this week in order to prevent the highly unwelcome ‘zoombombing’ that has plagued the platform in recent months. This comes after the app suffered under the microscope of cybersecurity experts and even legal authorities as its explosion in popularity exposed its steep and cavernous holes in safety and security. One especially damning report by The Intercept stated that Zoom’s meetings weren’t encrypted end-to-end as they had advertised. Instead, the company offers “Transport Encryption”, a form that protects content from external attackers, but not from Zoom itself – despite what Zoom says. Zoom could use this lack of encryption to view your meetings. Another issue users of the app are having, is when troll...

Politics

MTN Plans to Re-open Stores across South Africa

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Sourced from The Techie Guy As South Africa’s economy slowly starts regaining traction, MTN has announced that all of its 410 stores across the country would reopen. Around eighty per cent of MTN’s stores already began trading on May 1. Limited trading hours, a strictly controlled shift system, 2m social distancing barrier markings, and regular health-checks are among the key proactive measures MTN has put in place. “Our focus is on continuing to give customers all the support they need to stay connected to their friends and family.  Of course, safety is of paramount importance and we ask all customers going into our stores to please adhere to the protocols in place to help them, and our employees, to stay safe,” says Jacqui O’Sullivan, Executive for Corporate Affairs at MTN. All...

Politics

Lenovo’s New Gaming Smartphone Shown in Leaked Videos

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Sourced from XDA Developers. Lenovo’s first gaming phone, the Lenovo Legion, has leaked in a series of promotional videos showing off the device. The Verge claims a “trusted” anonymous source provided the unreleased material, as well as some new specs. There isn’t a guarantee yet that these videos will reflect the final design of the product, but they do offer an interesting look at what it may be. Per XDA Developers, the videos indicate that the phone will feature 90W wired charging, “30 minutes to 100%” it claims, thanks to a beastly 5,000mAh dual-cell battery. A USB-C charging port, SIM card tray, data port, an extra USB-C port – no headphone jack, and a microphone hole on the top of the device. The device’s back features a symmetrical design similar to the letter Y, a design feature on...

Politics

Vodacom’s Chatbot Answers up to 20 000 Customer Queries per day

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With the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown in full effect, Vodacom has put numerous measures in place to protect customers and employees. These include measures that have seen frontline agents now working from home as well as stepping up its reliance on TOBi – Vodacom’s chatbot. Using the latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, TOBi was created and designed to resolve issues as quickly and efficiently as possible online. According to the network provider, TOBi now solves between 10 000 to 20 000 customer queries a day via SMS, WhatsApp, the My Vodacom app and on the Vodacom website. “Since TOBi’s launch, we have seen how the deployment of a powerful chatbot can transform the way our customers engage with the brand, especially when the chatbot is of high quality,” says Ugestra Alwar, Man...

Politics

The 5 Least Secure Video-Calling Apps, Reports Researcher

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Sourced from Lifesize Now more than ever, video call apps have become a cornerstone of society. But as apps gain popularity more and more should users expect security issues as the developers struggle to keep their security and privacy policies updated – we saw it with Zoom, and we will continue to see it with other platforms. Security flaws in these apps could expose your personal data or private conversations to eavesdroppers and trolls. Now, non-profit security researcher Mozilla evaluated the 15 most used video call apps including Zoom, Signal, Google Hangouts, Houseparty, Skype, and Microsoft Teams, and evaluated them based on their security. “It’s more important than ever that this technology be trustworthy,” Mozilla’s VP for Advocacy Ashley Boyd says in a statement. “The good news i...