technology news
Over 1 Million South Africans Use National Department’s COVID-19 HealthCheck Tool
South Africa’s National Department of Health (NDoH) has confirmed that over 1 million South Africans have already used their COVID-19 digital self-assessment tool called HealthCheck. The HealthCheck self-assessment tool allows for early detection, mapping and management of COVID-19 cases using USSD and the official COVID-19 WhatsApp Service (COVID-19 CONNECT). The tool comes at a crucial moment in the South African government’s COVID-19 response – when certain aspects of the country’s lockdown have been relaxed and more responsibility is being placed on individuals to ensure their own health when going back to work or school and engaging in outdoor activity and other areas of public life. Members of the public will be able to use HealthCheck to self-assess their COVID-19 risk by completing...
TikTok Set for Explosive Growth in South Africa, says Expert
Sourced from Cosmico South Africa’s largest annual study of social media trends has revealed that Facebook remains the social platform of choice for marketing – but TikTok is rising fast among both brands and consumers. According to the 2020 edition of the SA Social Media Landscape, released this week by World Wide Worx and Ornico, almost a third of major brands intend to become active on TikTok, which is also the fastest growing social media platform among consumers. Fewer than 20% of brands have used it in the past year, but none believe they are doing so very effectively. These numbers are likely to change significantly during 2020. It is estimated that around 6-million South Africans are already using the platform. Nine out of ten major brands – just more than 89% – indicated they were...
7 Must-Have South African Apps to Simplify Your Life
Sourced from The Verge and Shutterstock. Sometimes we’re told about a really great app, that, once downloaded, just takes up space on your phone. There are, however, some incredibly useful apps out there for South Africans, and usually by South Africans too. Below is a list of 7 really helpful apps that South Africans will miss if they ever see their phones without them. These apps are set to save you stress and save you time. 1. Lockdown Bozza Information about the lockdown and each of its phases tend to fly fast and loose on social media and on news outlets across the country, but this app is a one-stop for all of the lockdown’s rules. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_0dc.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_0dc.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The app’s tagline is “I am the Lockdown Bo...
Amazon Won’t Allow Police to Use it’s Facial Recognition Technology
Image sourced from Detroit Metro Times Amazon has announced that it will implement a one year ban on law enforcement from using its facial recognition platform, Rekognition. “We’re implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of Amazon’s facial recognition technology. We will continue to allow organizations like Thorn, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and Marinus Analytics to use Amazon Rekognition to help rescue human trafficking victims and reunite missing children with their families,” reads a statement from the tech giant. In the last decade, incredible milestones in the development of facial recognition technology have been achieved – often due to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. However, according to The Verge, “the technology — because i...
Cloud Tech Helps With The Transition into a New Normal
Sourced from PC Mag With companies needing to support remote working strategies and with a rise in demand for cloud-based business continuity tools and services during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that the global cloud market size will grow from $233 billion in 2019 to reach $295 billion by 2021. The importance of the cloud can no longer be debated. Instead, the focus shifts to optimally integrating it into the business strategy to ensure business sustainability. The research suggests that companies are using cloud automation and increasing their online presence by developing e-commerce websites on cloud platforms to decrease the impact of COVID-19 on productivity and operational efficiency. Cloud-driven market /* custom css */ .tdi_3_eee.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_ee...
1Life, Samsung and LifeQ Launch “Life Insurance Ecosystem”
1Life, Samsung South Africa and LifeQ have partnered to launch life insurance ecosystem, 1Life Pulse. This initiative is backed by wearables and app technology and enables consumers to grow their life insurance cover by “making better choices”. 1Life Pulse acts as a lifestyle monitor and management system that tracks and guides heart, activity and sleep – monitoring overall wellbeing. Every time a consumer chooses to get a little extra sleep or go for a walk, for example, they’re likely to grow their life cover by up to R216 per day, or up to R6 560 per month, starting from day one. Over two years, policyholders are able to grow their additional life cover by up to R200 000, as they grow their wellbeing. All qualifying new 1Life policyholders that take out cover for R1 million or more...
Google Releases Android 11 Beta – These Are The Best New Features
Sourced from Computer World Google has quietly released the first public Android 11 beta. A release such as this is usually accompanied by announcements and fanfare reserved for its Google I/O event, but with the event this year cancelled by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the beta update was simply put out there. That isn’t to say that the update isn’t important, or large. There is a bounty of new useful features including changes to notifications, bubble conversations, security improvements, and more. Refined notifications /* custom css */ .tdi_3_cce.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_cce.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The most notable update is a change in the way Android now handles notifications. The OS is undergoing a large jump over how Apple handles its notification...
SA Startup Making Waves with New COVID-19 Tracing Tech
Sourced from Forbes. A South African startup has launched a cheap approach to contact tracing in efforts to help with coronavirus measures. Contact tracing is a method of tracking used in countries like the United Kingdom, Singapore and South Korea to aid in containing SARS-CoV-2 infections. The tracing is able to track exactly who was in contact with an infectious person and thus limit further contact. South Korea, one of the only countries on Earth that have been able to bring a massive COVID-19 outbreak rapidly under control used contact tracing heavily. Currently, the country has just over a thousand cases and is no longer forcing stay-at-home lockdowns and most businesses are open. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_77d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_77d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto...
How Startups Will Impact the Real Estate Industry
These days, most entrepreneurs are opting to use co-working spaces as opposed to renting out traditional offices and committing to leases. This means that there is a growing opportunity for people who want to provide these co-working environments in what’s called space as a service. A co-working space provider is capable of taking the risk on behalf of entrepreneurs, they can (with enough entrepreneurs on the floor) afford to pay for a long lease to occupy a building or office, something that a sole entrepreneur might not be able to do. In Kenya, current space as a service options for entrepreneurs includes Nairobi Garage, iHub, The Kijiji, Nailab, Ikigai and iBiz Africa. These co-working environments ensure that they take care of providing the services that entrepreneurs would ...
Facebook is Applying Labels on “State-Controlled” News Publishers
A massive and exceedingly popular platform for the sharing and spreading of news content to the general public, Facebook has become the primary news source for millions of people around the globe. Now, in renewed efforts to gauge its own responsibility to halt the spreading of fake news and to inform their users, Facebook is identifying certain media outlets that could be government mouthpieces to their users. Sourced from Facebook The social media goliath announced these measures in part to protect the integrity of the 2020 US elections, and in another part to protect its reputation from further damage, especially after the 2018 Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal. “We are starting to apply labels to those state-controlled media outlets,” Facebook says on their blog. “We are providi...
72% of People Can’t Check if Their Passwords have been Leaked
Sourced from International IDEA Passwords are the most common method of authentication, but they only work if they are hard to crack and confidential. And with an increasing number of applications requiring them, it can be hard to come up with new ideas for complex passwords and keep them all in your mind – especially when users may be required to change their passwords regularly. 87% of South African users are thinking up their own passwords, while 72% say they are unaware about how to check if any of their credentials have already been leaked – according to the latest Kaspersky report, ‘Defending digital privacy: Taking personal protection to the next level’. This highlights the need to store passwords securely and look out for possible instances when these credentials could be leaked. A...
Uber Cash Digital Wallet Launched in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sourced from The Guardian. Uber is launching its Uber Cash digital wallet feature in Sub-Saharan Africa through a partnership with Nigerian founded fintech Flutterwave. The arrangement will allow riders to top up Uber wallets using the dozens of remittance partners active on Flutterwave’s Pan-African network. Flutterwave operates as a business-to-business payments gateway network that allows clients to tap its APIs and customize payments applications. According to TechCrunch, Uber Cash will go live in the next two weeks for Uber’s ride-hailing operations in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Tanzania according to Alon Lits, GM of Uber for Sub-Saharan Africa. “Depending on the country, you’ve got different top-up methods available. For example, in Nigeria, you can ...
