All about Tech.
Meta Platforms, the company formerly known as Facebook, is developing a smartwatch with a front-facing camera and rounded screen, according to an image of the device found inside one of the tech giant’s iPhone apps. The photo shows a watch with a screen and casing that’s slightly curved at the edges. The front-facing camera —…
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced that Flutterwave, a global payments technology company, has launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on the Stellar network. Working with TEMPO, Flutterwave is leveraging the Stellar network and Stellar USDC to simplify remittances in Africa. Opening these new corridors will greatly benefit businesses focused on building more efficient, cost-effective remittance services, contributing to a stronger, more inclusive…
With the hybrid workplace becoming the new norm as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, attempts and spates of attacks on individuals and corporate bodies by hackers have been on the rise. Cyber thieves, a band of premeditated and dangerous criminals, are unleashing a reign of terror of unimaginable proportions on individuals, underscoring the need…
Pan-African telecommunications services provider SEACOM has announced that it has completed the 100% acquisition of Hirani Telecom’s metro fibre network. Hirani Telecom is one of Kenya’s fastest-growing triple-play service providers, and the largest last-mile provider in the region. The network will be incorporated into SEACOM’s existing metro network in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi and…
Professor Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, the former president of Mauritius and Laureate of the 2007 L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, delivered a trenchant address at the African Export-Import Bank’s (Afreximbank) fifth annual Babacar Ndiaye Lecture on “the importance of science, technology and innovation in the transformation of African economies”. She called on African leaders to close…
IPT Africa launched at the recent Africa Fintech festival as it seeks to position itself as the platform for Frictionless African payments, delivering a continent -wide, multi-channel payment platform tailored to the needs of global corporations doing business on the African continent. The AFF was held as a hybrid event in Mauritius from 13-15 October 2021. The event…
Less than 48 hours after its official launch by President Muhammadu Buhari, the individual wallet for eNaira has recorded more than 100,000 thousand downloads on Google Playstore alone. Apple’s App Store does not readily show an estimate of downloads. The Nigerian official Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) was initially scheduled for launch on October 1…
During the month following its release, Squid Game, a South Korean survival drama TV series, became Netflix’s biggest show, with more than 111-million viewers. Following this unprecedented demand from viewers, cybercriminals were not shy in taking advantage of fans’ eagerness to watch the show, with well-known fraud schemes hitting the web themed after the series. Experts from…
Zoom has now extended its live translation feature to all users — free and paid. The feature that auto-generates closed captions or live transcription during video calls was earlier only available to paid Zoom Meetings users. The option to enable subtitles will be available for Zoom video calls and as well as webinars. The San…
US electric car maker Tesla on Sunday rolled back the latest version of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta software, less than a day after its release, after users complained of false collision warnings and other issues. The setback comes as Tesla is under regulatory scrutiny over the safety of its semi-autonomous driving technology, which it calls “FSD.” “Seeing some…
Facebook is rolling out a new Group Effects feature on Messenger video calls and Messenger Rooms. Group Effects bring new AR filters and effects that can be applied to everyone on a video call, at the same time. These Group Effects will be rolled out soon to Instagram, Facebook says. The social media giant says…
A common refrain about social media is that a major part of it toxic. It is often said to be a result of people following in the footsteps of social media influencers. A new study claims that banning or removing ‘extremists’ from social media can reduce the spread of anti-social ideas and conspiracy theories. In…
Google Meet is getting new audio and video locks to let hosts turn off the microphones and cameras of other participants. The new feature essentially lets you mute a user and prevent them from unmuting themselves until you unlock them. Earlier this year, Google rolled out the ability for hosts to mute everyone all at once in…
South African payment solutions provider Pay@ and local startup FinChatBot, which specialises in conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, have partnered to launch what they say will be a unique payments solution they hope to export across the continent in future. Established in 2007, Pay@ is one of Southern Africa’s leading payment solutions providers, while FinChatBot, launched in 2016, specialises in…
Vodacom South Africa is launching Eco-SIM cards made from recycled plastic as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to reduce its impact on the environment by halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2025. Vodacom will soon provide customers with new Eco-SIMs in the half-sized format made from recycled plastic, progressively replacing SIM cards currently made from new…
Chrome 95 has rolled out to the stable channel for Android, Windows, Mac and Linux users. The exact desktop firmware version is Chrome 95.0.4638.54, while on Android, its Chrome 95.04638.50, and they contain a number of fixes and improvements. It brings along improved payment authentication, and the ability for web apps to register themselves as…
Microsoft has published a new advisory warning of a security bypass vulnerability affecting Surface Pro 3 convertible laptops that could be exploited by an adversary to introduce malicious devices within enterprise networks and defeat the device attestation mechanism. Tracked as CVE-2021-42299 (CVSS score: 5.6), the issue has been codenamed “TPM Carte Blanche” by Google software engineer Chris…
Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a leading pan-African telecommunications technology group has announced the launch of its shortest terrestrial fibre route between the East to the West coasts of Africa, connecting Mombasa, Kenya to Muanda, DRC. With the completion of this route, Liquid establishes a new global internet transit route between Asia and the USA through Africa,…
The latest edition of Kaspersky’s annual IT Security Economics report reveals the growing severity of cybersecurity incidents affecting businesses through suppliers that they share data with. The average financial impact of such an event for an enterprise reached $1.4 million in 2021 which makes it the costliest type of incident worldwide, while the same type of attack…
The Attacks From All Angles 2021 Mid-year Cybersecurity Report by Trend Micro highlighted a 47% year-on-year increase in email threats as well as malicious files and URLs in the first quarter of 2021 globally. South Africa’s technology landscape is almost identical to that of other countries, which has seen black hat hackers using it as a testing…
Sendbox, the Nigeria-based e-commerce fulfillment platform for merchants in Africa, has today announced the completion of a $1.8 million seed round from investors including 4DX Ventures, Enza Capital, FJLabs and Golden Palm Investments. With participation from Flexport and YC Combinator as part of its 2021 winter cohort, Sendbox’s total investment raised has now reached $2 million following a pre-seed round from Microtraction and 4DX Ventures in…
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) has inaugurated a five-day capacity training programme for members of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA) in Lagos, Nigeria, TechEconomy.ng can report. The DG said the capacity training programme aims to upskill the members of NITRA – an umbrella body for journalists reporting information…
SEACOM, a fibre-led telecoms provider and owner of extensive ICT infrastructure across Africa, has announced a 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GE) upgrade for its IP network. The increased capacity of 100 Gbps equipment reduces the cost and complexity associated with procuring and maintaining multiple 10 Gbps ports and also simplifies load balancing through the flexibility of…
Don’t you hate it when your keyboard skills are superior to the power of your computer monitor? Being a keyboard warrior – in the gaming world and daily work life – is no easy feat, especially if your monitor is outdated and can’t keep up with your activity level. Throw in dull graphics and delayed…
Google Trends publishes the top searches for every day of the week and covers 4 African countries in which it sees the most activity, namely Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. The top search trends from along the week provide an interesting insight into the minds of each country, what captivated users the most and what…
The 6th Orange Digital Center in Africa and the Middle East, which is committed to digital development and innovation and aims to teach young people in digital technology and improve their employability, was inaugurated by Orange Cameroon and the German Development Cooperation. The highest political and administrative authorities from Cameroon, Representatives of Germany and France in Cameroon,…
Nigerian retail-tech startup Alerzo has acquired fintech company Shago Payments as it looks to build on already impressive growth that saw its annualised September transaction volume exceed US$155 million. Founded in 2019, the Ibadan-based Alerzo is an all-in-one technology and services platform that transforms how Nigeria’s informal retail stores operate. Retailers can order stock, have it delivered…
In emerging economies, where spending billions to build public transit infrastructure can be out of reach, startups are using technology to meet the mobility needs of a rising urban middle class. Swvl, Treepz, Jatri, SafeBoda, Urbvan, Chalo and Buser are just a few of the startups that have popped up in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America in recent years, all with…
Google Search is undergoing a change that will allow users to continuously scroll results on mobile devices. With the latest update, Google Search on mobile will automatically list out more results when users scroll to the bottom of a results page. The new feature released by the search giant will eliminate the need to click…
According to Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg, Instagram will adopt new methods to steer kids away from hazardous content and encourage them to “take a break” from the platform. Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, testified before Congress on the company’s internal research that found Instagram to be hazardous, particularly for teen…