This year event witnessed enormous announcement targeted at helping more people in Nigeria, and across Africa benefit from the opportunities the web has to offer.
“We are offering new solutions to improve and expand access in Nigeria and across Africa; these launches demonstrate our commitment to Africa through products built to help people in Africa to make the most of the Internet,” said Google Nigeria Country Director Ehimuan-Chiazor.Here are the big announcements.
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Users of the service were unable to send and receive messages which prompt them to vent their opinions on twitter.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is aware of the outage and it was working to fix it.
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The Apple analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo said from his investor note that "Samsung will experience lower sale numbers because consumers desires still linger in getting an iPhone 8 instead." Also, he cited the Samsung device won’t be fascinating with great features unlike the iPhone 8 which will be much more enhanced with better-quality features. Continue Reading...
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The program provides grants to NGOs to increase equity in computer science education with a focus on girls, minorities who are historically underrepresented in the field, and youth from low-income communities. We are committed to equipping youth from all backgrounds with the skills to be creators, not just consumers, of technology.
For more info and how to apply, please go to Google Rise Awards. Applications are open until September 23rd, 2016.
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Its official! Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in Lagos, Nigeria. The easy going tech billionaire didn't make his trip a loud affair and on Tuesday, pictures of him circulated on Social Media sites of his presence.
But what exactly could have brought an Iconic tech executive to Nigeria?
"I'll be meeting with developers, and entrepreneurs, and learning about startup ecosystem." Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post. Continue Reading...
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According to Vatican spokesman Greg Burke “how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and make a message of hope arrive, especially to those most in need,” was the highlight of their discussion.
The series of discussion which evolves in an informal atmosphere was held in the Santa Marta residence, in Vatican City where the pope resides. Continue Reading...
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Samsung, the South Korean-based company is set to launch its Tizen Z2 smartphone, in India on Tuesday.
Samsung has its own native operative system named Tizen which also operates on its wearable devices. Over the weekend, the company sent out invites to stakeholders in the industry possibly hinting at the launch although the invite didn’t specifically refer to the device launch.
Hindustan Times sources hinted the likely features of the new Samsung Tizen Z2 includes;
- 1.5GHz quad-core processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB internal memory storage which can further be expanded
- 3.97-inch display of WVGA resolution
- The battery power capacity of the device goes from 1,500mAh
- 5MP rear-camera and
- 0.3MP VGA front camera. Continue Reading...
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Android is a creamy platform widely accepted by tons of people globally as it keeps leading the pack. On Thursday, the worldwide Mobile Phone Vendors research report by Gartner – (a research and advisory firm) released the statistics of mobile operating system dominance and Android operating system strongly leads over Apple’s iOS.
The American research firm, shows a downward percentage of 14.6 in the Q2 2015 to 12.9 percent during the Q2 of 2016. While Android in Q2 2015 moved up from 82.2 percent to 86.2 percent during the Q2 of 2016. Clearly, hundreds of millions of people have migrated from iOS to Android device.
“Apple sales declined in North America (its biggest market) as well as in Western Europe,” Gartner said. “However, it witnessed its worst sales decline in Greater China and mature Asia/Pacific regions, where sales declined 26 percent. Apple had its best performance in Eurasia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Eastern Europe regions in the second quarter of 2016, where iPhone sales grew more than 95 percent year on year.” Continue Reading...
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The operating system has definitely innovated over the years and Microsoft Inc is simply the pioneer of a unified operating system – integrating both Windows 10 and Windows Mobile for optimal performance.
Nonetheless, another giant tech company; Google which developed the Chrome OS and Android operating system respectively is gradually springing forth with a new Google-made operating system called “Fuschia”. According to Neowin, reports it could be Google’s unified OS.
Over the years, Google has been rumored to be planning integrating Chrome OS and Android. Still, it’s unclear Chrome OS and Android apps could blend together, but it’s worthy to note that there’s strong possibility the merge will work out. A look at the Goggle Source page for Fuschia said, “Pink + Purple = Fuschia (a new Operating System)”. Continue Reading...
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The Galaxy Note 7 potential is living to this right proverb – Charity begins at home! The smartphone which is expected to be launched on August 19th is already recording tremendous pre-order sales in native country, South Korea.
The phablet has set a new record sale of more than 200,000 devices in just two days, beating previous Galaxy devices records.
The Korea Herald reports, the latest records of units presently sold is the highest in the Galaxy Phone era. Continue Reading...
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A beautiful American Google employee, Vanessa Marcotte, 27, who was reported missing by her family after going for an afternoon Sunday jog has been found dead near her mother’s Massachusetts home.
Vanessa resides in New York City and worked as an account manager at Google’s New York City office. She was on a weekend visit to her mother in Princeton, Massachusetts, a wooded community near Worcester.
According to state police in Massachusetts, Vanessa’s family reported her missing after waiting for seven hours without her returning home. Authorities are still investigating the nature of her death, but it’s believed to be a homicide. Continue Reading...
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Apple Inc. has formally aligned itself with other major tech giants in creating a platform for people to discover loopholes in their security features and operations.
TechCrunch reports today, Apple's head of Security Engineering and Architecture Ivan Krstic announced at Black Hat that his company will now offer cash bounties of up to $200,000 for hackers and researchers who find and report security flaws in Apple products.
The $200,000 might sound huge for an official corporate bounty program, but comparing it is still only a fraction of a payout like the $1 million the FBI reportedly paid hackers to break into an iPhone owned by one of the shooters involved in the San Bernardino incident last year. Largely, such high bounties can also be detrimental to security research in general. Continue Reading...
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How time flies considering the progress of Apple's venture into music streaming. November 2015, witnessed Apple released its music streaming service for Android phones as a beta. 9 months later, the app is now official a version 1.0. It boast of an average rating of 3.3 stars on the Play Store.
When Apple launched the Android beta of Apple Music, the company promised a full native app with everything you’d expect from a modern Android app.
Apple Music simply features a homescreen widget, which allows you save songs on a microSD and more. On this front, when you compare this philosophy against Google’s design philosophy, Apple wins — Google Maps, Gmail or YouTube look out of place on an iPhone as they look like Android apps. Continue Reading...
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It's quite evident innovation is a trademark of Google.
The US tech company is introducing a new version of Chrome for Android this week that includes important changes to the way video content loads in the mobile browser. Google has tweaked Chrome for Android version 52 to improve playback speed and power efficiency. This would enhance Web videos to start playing quicker, instead of pausing to load initially.
In a report by The Verge, Google claims "your battery will last longer" as a result, and HTML5 video also now works with Chrome's Data Saver Mode to save up to 50 percent in data by streaming a lightweight version of the video. Chrome for Android 52 should be rolling out this week. Continue Reading...
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Social Media Reacts To Apple Replacing Gun Emoji For Water Pistol And Introduces 100 Other Characters
Apple Inc. has launched a series of more than 100 new and updated emojis. The US tech company replaced the gun with a water pistol plus new designs to blend with it. Hoping it will be more inclusive.
According to Apple blog, it wants to "ensure that popular emoji characters reflect the diversity of people everywhere" .amidst support to push the US congress in amending the gun laws of the nation. Continue Reading...
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So much goodies in a day! With Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 launch still buzzing the air with excitement for you. Here comes Mozilla, rolling out an update that brings a multi-process version of Firefox to some users.
A close look at the new update shows useful potentials in Firefox's new ability to split its workload into multiple processes. By splitting up Web content and Firefox's own UI processes, the toolbars and buttons should never become unresponsive. Continue Reading...
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Google has created a new feature for Android users designed to further empower them to keep safety of their account on multiple devices. The announcement was made via its blog.
This simply implies, the moment a new device is added to your Google account; you will receive an alert notification on your current Android device about the security nature. The displayed notification question will be; “Did you just sign in?” If the activity appears suspicious, then you will be able to take immediate action. Continue Reading...
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HP, the U.S Tech company has apologised after an error on its website letting shoppers buy expensive laptop computers for less than £2.
One device was listed with a previous sale price of £2,378, but was "reduced" to £1.58. The computer firm briefly took its UK store offline on Saturday to resolve the error, and said it would not honour the sales that had been made.
"We apologise sincerely to impacted customers for any inconvenience caused," the firm said in a statement. Continue Reading...
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Earlier today, Google introduced new features and services for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
The aim is for you to utilize Google Search and access all the latest information about the sporting event. You will be able to find out about things such as game schedules, teams and athletes, medal counts, etc. All you have to do is essentially sign up for the updates via the Google app for iOS and Android devices.
Don't forget that you can catch up by watching highlights of games and events from select providers and broadcasters across more than 60 countries on YouTube. On top of that, you can enjoy mobile live streams from 15 YouTube Creators who have been exclusively selected to cover the Olympic games. Continue Reading...
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Google Search is experiencing an all-new feature which will empower people to not only find out who is saying their name, but also receive notifications when they are being said.
It's called “Stay in the Loop”, and intends to inform users like you and I via Gmail every single time our names are said or searched. If you want to use the feature, you will need to stay logged in to your Google ID and authorize Google Search to keep a log and save your Internet activities.
So once you are on the Google homepage, you will notice a new widget that's available at the bottom of the first page of search results. From there you can set-up a new Google Alert for new references of your name. Continue Reading...
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This morning, Tesla announced that it has plans to buy the solar energy firm SolarCity. The companies hope that by joining together, it will allow them to enlarge their battery and solar energy movements. Tesla described the emerging firm as "the world's only vertically integrated sustainable energy company." By buying SolarCity, Tesla says it will allow them to create "fully integrated residential, commercial and grid-scale products" for generating, storing, and distributing solar power.
Tesla originally offered to acquire SolarCity in June, part of CEO Elon Musk's "Secret Mater Plan" for Tesla. This long-term plan attempts a broad, ambitious outline of their future. They have plans to create "stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage" along with expanding Tesla's collection of electric vehicles including heavy-duty trucks and public transit systems. Continue Reading...
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Microsoft free goodies offer on Windows 10 is officially off the table. Microsoft has been offering a free upgrade to Windows 10 since it first came out July 2015. Nonetheless, the company has left a loophole. If you need to use assistive technologies, you can still upgrade for free. In addition, the overall beauty of this development does not require Microsoft verifying if you do. Continue Reading...
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That's it! Proudly holding up the one billionth iPhone in his hand - an iPhone 6s Plus Rose Gold version, CEO Tim Cook announced before a crowd of Apple employees during a meeting that Apple had just reached the 1 billion mark in iPhones sold. It’s a great feat for any tech company, one that very few tech companies can proudly proclaim.
There are a few reasons why the iPhone works. First, unlike their Android counterparts, iPhones are built right from home, so Apple directly manages the manufacturing and selling process. Another reason is that the iPhone just loads incredibly fast, and this improves with every hardware upgrade. Thanks to its popularity, app developers are also quick to update their iOS apps to keep them running smoothly if users find any glitches, bugs, or overall slowdown. Continue Reading...
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Today, Google added eight new categories and renamed two others, meaning apps will be better sorted into the relevant category, which will hopefully result in users being able to find what they're looking for quicker and easier.
New Play Store categories:
- Art & Design
- Auto & Vehicles
- Beauty
- Dating
- Events
- Food & Drink
- House & Home
- Parenting
Google has launched Family Library for Google Play allowing up to six family members to share purchases including apps, games, movies, television shows, and books for free. Continue Reading...
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Beinjing based Xiaomi has delved into the world of Laptops. Introducing the brand new Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air which has a close identity to an Apple product. The Mi Notebook Air easily pitched as a rival to the 13in MacBook Air.
The Mi Notebook Air comes with an ultra thin bezel 13.3in screen, a discrete graphics card - are typically faster and is 11 percent smaller in size. It’s 13 percent thinner too, and a little lighter in weight: 1.2kg as compared to the MacBook Air’s 1.3kg.
Highlights of the Mi Notebook Air
- Is a Windows 10 running operating system,
- With an Intel Core i5 2.7GHz processor,
- 8GB of RAM,
- An Nvidia GeForce 940MX GPU, and
- 256GB of SSD storage.
- The full-size keyboard has individually back lit keys, while the screen
- Has a full HD resolution.
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| Nigeria's Communication Minister; Barrister Adebayo Shittu with Bayero Agabi |
The Minister's visit is on the launch of the ground breaking innovation that will change the face of business, youth innovation and enterprise in Africa. DIGIVATION NETWORK.
More photos after the cut.
>>Image: [Facebook.com/Bayero Agabi]
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Samsung is churning out yet another special edition of its curved smartphone — this time to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio. This unlocked version of the S7 Edge will be gifted to everyone participating in the games.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comment.
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It may have just become a little easier to get the blue check mark on Twitter.
The company has just announced that they are opening applications to apply for verification on the platform. Being verified gives users a blue check mark on their profile to “let people know that an account of public interest is authentic”. In the announcement the company said that 187,000 users are currently verified on the platform, which is about .06% of the company’s 310M monthly active users.
In order to be verified, users will have to make sure their account has a verified phone number and email address, bio, profile picture, birthday and website.
The company also said they will ask you to tell them why you should be verified, and potentially ask for a government-issued ID to confirm your identity.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comment.
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T-Systems has been announced as Platinum sponsor of the 2nd Healthcare Innovation Summit.
From 24-25 August 2016, healthcare and technology professionals will convene at the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel located in Sandton, Johannesburg for the upcoming summit, under the theme – “Transforming Healthcare with Technology.”
T-Systems forms part of the Deutsche Telekom group of companies, which puts the company in a unique position to combine Information Technology and Telecommunications into replicable, cost effective solutions. Internationally, T-Systems is one of Europe’s leading providers of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), and is responsible for serving major business accounts.
Since its inception in South Africa in 1997, T-Systems has cemented its position as one of the most successful companies in the group outside of Europe. T-Systems South Africa proudly employs between 1000 and 1500 professionals. The head office is located in Midrand, Gauteng, with a second major office in Cape Town and several representative offices in locations throughout South Africa. Continue Reading...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Nintendo Soars on Pokemon Success
The video game giant rocketed nearly nine percent to 16 270 yen its latest foray into mobile gaming was embraced by consumers.
Pokemon GO - which connects a user's real-world location to the game as they try to catch on-screen characters - launched in the US and Australia and was an immediate hit with fans.
In March, the Super Mario maker released Miitomo, its first-ever mobile game, as it moved away from a longstanding consoles-only policy.
Despite Nintendo's rise, investors remained wary at the end of a volatile week dominated by the fallout of Britain's move to quit the European Union.
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Tecno, Lagos-Africa’s leading mobile technology multinational, TECNO has partnered Goge Africa Foundation to host the 8th edition of GAF seminar at the National Theatre Iganmu venue, Thursday June 30, 2016. This is in line with one of its Corporate social responsibility initiatives of supporting children and young minds in building a bright future for themselves and the nation.
This year’s edition of the event tagged “CHOOSE WHAT IS GOOD” was aimed at fostering the growth of sustainable African economies through human capital development and youth inclusion in wealth creation. Speaking on TECNO partnership in GAF seminar, TECNO Marketing and Public relations lead, Mr. Attai Oguche solicited more private stakeholders’ involvement in initiatives targeted at empowering Africa’s teeming youth population, in his words: Continue Reading...
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GOtv To Give Its Subscribers Free One Month View In October, 2016
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| GOtv |
According to GOtv Public Relations mMnager, Efe Obiomah, subscribers will also enjoy unmatched entertainment in the month of July, with exciting new shows to be launched on the platform.
“At MultiChoice, we place our customers first, we know what our subscribers want, and deliver it to them. Furthermore, we are offering all our GOtv Plus and Value subscribers the month of October at no extra cost if they stay connected non-stop from 1 July to 30 September 2016,” Efe added.
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According to media reports; 24 hours after Alton Sterling was shot to death by Baton Rogue cops, another black man Philando Castile, died Wednesday night after being shot several times by a police officer in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
Majority of Americans; mostly black Americans and the world at large are calling for honest justice to be meted out to these officers who perpetrated these acts.
Members of the public flocked to social media to air their opinions via #BlackLivesMatter
Continue Reading....
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China Invests in the Hunt for Aliens with World’s Largest Radio Telescope
The last of 4,450 triangular panels was installed to complete the world’s largest single-aperture radio telescope, located in China’s Guizhou Province. A monument of China’s dedication to the field of astronomy, the telescope will be used to study pulsars and search for alien life in the universe.
The 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is a $185 million project that began in 2011 and is designed to listen for radio waves up to 1,000 light-years away and search for intelligent extraterrestrial life.
>>TechCrunch
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------South Africa Votes Against Internet Freedom
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| South Africa Votes Against Internet Freedom |
The resolution was however supported by countries ranging from Australia, the US, UK, Nigeria, Senegal, and Turkey. The report reveals that the United Nations had held a vote on the resolution, which seeks to bring political commitment from member states to protect human rights online such as freedom of expression and privacy.
According to the report, the resolution additionally seeks to ensure the release of those imprisoned for the “legitimate” freedom of expression online. As revealed by the report, other key points of the resolution include investigating attacks against bloggers or other internet users, and refraining from preventing access to information online by, for example, shutting down the internet during key times such as elections or terror attacks. Continue Reading...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------10 Rural Villages Receive Voice and High-Speed Data Services
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10 Rural Villages Receive Voice and High-Speed Data Services
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Gilat Satcom has revealed that it is providing voice and high-speed data to ten villages in the states of Adamawa, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Oyo and Yobe in the North East of Nigeria.
According to the company, its Village Island system has been deployed in each village and provides a full communications system that includes VSATs, Wi-Fi routers, solar-power, two communal tablets per village as well as service management.
The company further revealed that it is also providing the satellite connectivity to its VSATs in each village. The integrated Wi-Fi networks then provide local connectivity for data and VoIP to the communal tablets as well as to devices – phones, PCs, tablets and laptops – already owned by villagers and local businesses. The entire system is housed in a purpose-built communications block (the Community Hub) in each village.
Gilat Satcom’s Village Island solution was chosen by Nigeria’s Total IT Solutions as the infrastructure and service platform for the Community Hub networks. Total IT Solutions are currently rolling out the networks on behalf of Nigeria’s Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) which was established to facilitate the extension of ICT and network services to rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country.
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Etisalat Reveals New Super Recharge Offer
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| Etisalat Reveals New Super Recharge Offer |
Etisalat Nigeria has introduced a new offering to its clients dubbed “The Super Recharge Offer.” According to the company, its latest offering guarantees real bonuses that can be used across all networks.
The latest recharge offer, according to Etisalat, is available to new and existing subscribers on any of the following plans: Easy Starter, Easy Cliq, Talkzone and Cliqlite plans, and offers a 250% instant bonus on all recharges above N100 and 150% on all recharges below N100 with a simple flat tariff of 40 Kobo per second billing for all national calls.
In addition to the above offering, new subscribers on the Etisalat network will get an additional 1GB data plan at just N500.
According to Director, Consumer Segment, Etisalat Nigeria, Adeolu Dairo: “This offer reflects both the transparency and integrity with which Etisalat Nigeria prides its business on, as well as its commitment to creating innovative solutions that can improve the experience of its customers.”Continue Reading...
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Following a direction to the telecommunications service providers in the country, the operators, will from July 1, 2016, activate the DO NOT DISTURB facility which gives subscribers the freedom to opt out of receiving unsolicited promotional messages and calls from the various networks.
@NgComCommission Twitter handle says;
With this direction the operators have been mandated to dedicate a common Short Code (2442) which will enable subscribers take informed decisions. Text HELP to 2442 for free. The Do not Disturb(DND) list has been created to protect the privacy of customers.
Below are the various options:
“SMS 1” for receiving SMS relating to Banking? Insurance/ Financial products to 2442
“SMS 2” for receiving |SMS relating to real Estate to 2442
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A check on Monday morning revealed the development.
The militant group has announced its attacks, which have negatively affected oil production in the country.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
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| Prof. U.G. Danbatta; Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Barr. Adebayo Shittu; Minister of Communications and Mr. Tony Ojobo; Director of Public Affairs NCC at the Code of Corporate Governance Forum in Lagos today. |
Full Text of the opening remarks by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at the Corporate Governance Forum hosted By The Commission at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, Tuesday 21st June, 2016.
Your Excellences, Members of National Assembly here present, Distinguished Stakeholders, Members of the Press, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen (Adopt and stand on existing protocol)
Until recently, particularly in forums such as this, discussions around the subject of corporate governance were often dismissed as mere academic abstractions only fit for classroom debates. Part of the problem was the illusory theory of “Too Big to Fail”. Captains of industry and Managers of large corporates with significant asset base thought that, like the Titanic, their vast business empires and large corporate ships were incapable of sinking. It was also difficult to see the causal relationship between weak corporate governance structures and the failure of corporate organizations.
Not anymore; in our lifetime and before our own eyes, nations once seen as formidable are sliding in and out of economic recessions, while multinational business concerns are failing at rates never witnessed in recent memory.
In Nigeria, our situation is even more precarious. Years of operating a mono product economy driven mainly by oil revenues, coupled with dwindling earnings from that sector and vicious attacks on oil installations, are pushing the economy to the brink. Continue Reading....
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Apple and Microsoft have reportedly banned a rifle emoji as a gun control row grips America.
The two tech firms allegedly pushed for the controversial icon to be removed from a line up of emojis due to be released to mark The Olympics.
Members of Unicode, the organisation which governs emoji, voted against rolling out the rifle, as well as a similar icon of a man firing a pistol.
It was due to unveil the rifle so it could be used be people discussing sporting events such as target shooting.
But according to Buzzfeed, it took the decision to ditch the gun emoji after Apple allegedly “led and championed” the ban at a meeting to discuss the sport icons.
“I heard Apple speak up about it and also Microsoft,” a tech industry source said.
Mark Davis, president of the Unicode Consortium, previously said the rifle was intended to be used to discuss sports.
“Some people are bothered by the inclusion of the rifle as a candidate,” he told the New York Times.
“But the reason that’s included is because shooting is an Olympic sport.” Continue Reading....
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Almost half of students are being forced to retake the baccalaureat exam, starting on Sunday, after the initial session was marred by online leaking.
Many students were able to access questions on Facebook and other social media ahead of the exam in early June.
Algeria has struggled with baccalaureate leaks in recent years. Continue Reading...
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| Anvitha Vijay, a 9-year old student developer at the Apple WWDC conference |
To her delight, Apple said yes, and now she's signing autographs, posing for selfies with grown-up app developers and hanging with Apple CEO Tim Cook. At WWDC, scholarship winners get to attend coding and programming sessions, and mix and mingle with app developers, to learn from veterans.
"It was like a dream to be here and meet so many people," Vijay says. "I've just touched the tip of the iceberg in coding, there's so much to learn."
She started coding at age 7 by watching YouTube instructional videos, and was motivated to make an app to teach her younger sister how to identify the names of animals. She used Xcode, an Apple program for creating mobile apps, and has seen a "few hundred" downloads. Continue Reading...
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The job creation and empowerment initiative of the Social Investment Programme of the Nigerian Government; N-Power Programme has come out via its twitter handle to address various fraudulent vices perpetrated by evil minded people to scam and mislead innocent Nigerians across board.
Continue Reading....
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Following last month's announcement, you can now do the one thing none of your Twitter followers want you to: retweet yourself.
If you feel any of your older tweets didn't get enough attention the first time around, you can now retweet or quote yourself. Previously, the button was hidden or unavailable on your own tweets and timeline. But today, Twitter announced that users are now able to retweet or quote their existing tweets.
When you click the retweet button on one of your tweets, it acts exactly as it does for retweeting another user. From the web, a window will pop up over your timeline, allowing you to retweet or add commentary to the original. Within the mobile apps, a pop-up appears which allows you choose between a simple retweet and a quote. Continue Reading...
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N-Power. gov.ng, the newly launched jobs portal of the federal government, has recorded over 400,000 successful registrations and 35 million hits since it opened for submissions on Sunday, presidency has said.
The job creation unit in the presidency said “we have been very impressed by the enthusiastic response to the call for applications.”
Heavy traffic has crashed the site as Nigerians seek to take advantage of the openings.
Afolabi Imoukhede, senior special assistant to the president on job creation, said: “As at noon on Monday June 13, only 36 hours after the launch of the portal, 403, 528 applicants had successfully registered on the site and were in the middle of completing the application process. Continue Reading...
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| Nigeria's Minister of Power, Works and Housing |
Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister of power and housing of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said he would make sure that all the promises made would be carried out before he dies.
In an interview with Channels television on Monday, Fashola vowed to tackle the problem of electricity in the country, saying he is a solution person and would soon implement solutions to electricity.
"I am a thinking person and I'm always looking for solutions to solutions. When I've found one solution, am not always convinced that it's the best solution, so even when am implementing it, I'm looking for ways to make it better," he said. Continue Reading...-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
June 12 And M.K.O Abiola
A day that brought out the best and worst in Nigeria, a day that can never be erased in the history of Nigeria, a day that would be remembered by those who dubiously go against the electoral law and the will of its citizenry in Nigeria. A special day that reminded us of a great man whose name is Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (M.K.O).
The first son of his father, Abiola played a vital role during his lifetime as philanthropist. He started his career at a young age; he founded a band at fifteen where he performs at various ceremonies in exchange for food.
He eventually became famous enough to start demanding payment for his performances and used the money to support his family and his secondary education at the Baptist Boys High School Abeokuta, where he excelled.
Abiola worked with Barclays Bank Plc, Ibadan in 1956, the great Icon (Abiola) invested heavily in Nigeria and West Africa. He founded Abiola Farms, Abiola bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Wonder bakeries, Concord Press, Concord Airlines, Summit Oil International Ltd, Africa Ocean Lines, Habib Bank, Decca W.A. Ltd, and Abiola Football Club. Continue Reading...
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The Intel Corporation within Nigeria has unveiled a new radio show, which according to the company, is set to empower women and girls while connecting them to opportunities for personal growth in Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
The radio show, which has been dubbed: “She Will Connect”, will air on a weekly basis on Nigeria’s very own WFM 91.7, while the new features column called ‘Through her Eyes’ will feature on the Bella Naija blog.
The new initiative, according to Intel, is a part of the company’s She Will Connect programme, and is targeted at helping young girls and women access an innovative combination of digital literacy training, online peer network, and gender-relevant content.
According to This Day Live, the Public Relations and Marketing Manager, Intel West Africa, Adim Isiakpona, disclosed that the programme would bring millions of women online, and reduce the gap in access to internet and digital literacy skills for young women by up to 50 per cent, while also connecting millions of women to new opportunities through technology. Continue Reading...
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MTN Nigeria has agreed to pay the $1.7 billion (N300 bn) fine the Federal government slammed on it following their failure to deactivate 5.1 million unregistered sim cards. In a statement released today June 10th, the company said the fine will be paid within a space of 3 years.
“MTN Nigeria has agreed to pay a total cash amount of 330 billion Naira over three years” the statement read.
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If you are an undergraduate of a Nigerian university or polytechnic actively seeking for an enriching internship program, the OIIE is currently receiving application from undergraduates in order to shortlist on merit those that will intern with them in a three month period.
The Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) is a subsidiary of NITDA (National Information Development Agency) with the responsibilities to nurture, cultivate and expand the ICT innovation and entrepreneurship within Nigeria in line with NITDA Act 2007 and National ICT Policy. Continue Reading...
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| Image: WordPress.com |
Well, if you have ever wondered having an opportunity to select a domain name that's all yours, WordPress says you can.
Popular website hosting service WordPress.com yesterday happily announced its plans to start offering a brand new “.blog” top-level domain extension later this year to help you create a unique identity for your blog or website. Not just that, the Automattic owned company said that with a top-level domain like .blog, you can get a name that truly matches your identity, plus you’ll get all the same benefits with Google search results.
“Just like .com before it, .blog is clear and accessible, and it creates millions of fresh, new options for naming your blog. It’s the perfect place to build your home on the web,” WordPress.com said yesterday in an online statement.
According to WordPress.com, the .blog domain extensions will be available for grasp before the end of this year — so if you really want to make a difference this time, now will be the opportunity to start making plans to secure your dream domain. To do that, you can sign up here so that WordPress.com will get you notified once they open it up to the world.
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Social media giant Facebook has paid a $10,000 reward to a 10-year-old Finnish boy for finding a glitch in its picture sharing app Instagram.
According to Reuters, Jani, whose last name was not released for privacy reasons, is the youngest ever recipient of Facebook's "bug bounty", which offers cash rewards to people who find bugs or weaknesses in Facebook's digital infrastructure. That includes the Facebook-owned Instagram.
"I wanted to see if Instagram's comment field could stand malicious code. Turns out it couldn't," Jani told Finland's Iltalehti newspaper.
Facebook said the glitch was fixed in February and the reward was paid in March.
Jani, who is still too young to have a Facebook or Instagram account of his own, said he learned coding from YouTube videos and found a way to delete user comments from Instagram accounts.
"I could have deleted anyone's comments from there. Even Justin Bieber's," he told Iltalehti.
He said he was thinking about a career in data security, but for now his plans include buying a new bike and a football with his reward money.
Facebook's bug bounty program welcomes anyone to find bugs and flaws, and offers cash rewards to problems that are significant, similar to Google's own security rewards program. According to the most recent release from Facebook, the company received over 13,000 submissions from researchers in 2015 alone, 526 of which were valid reports.
In 2015, Facebook paid out a total of $936,000 to 210 researchers, averaging about $1,780 per submission.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
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| Windows 10 To Receive Facebook, Messenger and Instagram Apps. |
Microsoft has revealed that Windows 10 will be offering consumers the opportunity to download, via the Windows Store, the latest Facebook and Messenger apps for Windows 10 PCs and Tablets. To add to the news, the official Instagram app for Windows 10 mobile will be rolling out in tandem with the other apps, across the globe, and will be available on the Windows Store.
Designed to run quickly and easily within Windows 10 and have the most up-to-date features, Facebook built Windows-only experiences into all three of these apps such as Live Tiles, which lets you quickly see new posts, messages and photos right from your home screen.
Source: IT News Africa
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At Day 1 of Facebook's F8 developer conference today, Mark Zuckerberg discussed its current road map for the next 10 years and everything the company's building to make the world more open and connected.
It’s simply divided into three main sections: improving Facebook proper over the next three years, strengthening Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and other products over the next five years, and developing virtual reality, AI and worldwide connectivity over the next 10 years. Continue Reading...
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Today at F8 conference, Facebook revealed the “Surround 360”, a 17-lens 3D VR camera that looks like a UFO on a stick and requires almost zero laborious post-production work, unlike most VR rigs. Facebook won’t be selling the Surround 360. Instead, later this summer it will put the hardware designs and video stitching algorithms will be available to developers on GitHub this summer. All the parts can be bought online for $30,000.
Facebook is open-sourcing the camera to "accelerate the growth of the 3D-360 ecosystem—developers can leverage the designs and code, and content creators can use the camera in their productions," said Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer. Continue Reading...
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At the on going Facebook F8 developers conference this morning, the company shared some interesting metrics related to the growth of its popular messaging applications; Messenger and WhatsApp.
A special notable figure CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled was the two messaging services owned by Facebook, when combined, saw more activity on a daily basis than SMS (traditional texting). This implies; Messenger and WhatsApp see 60 billion messages sent daily as against 20 billion for SMS.
Zuckerberg also noted that Messenger had grown to 900 million users, up from 700 million at last year’s conference. That means it’s catching up with WhatsApp, which hit the 1 billion users mark this February.
These figures were announced alongside other significant updates to Messenger’s platform, including support for “chatbots,” which are software utilities that work on top of Messenger to aid with things like customer service, e-commerce transactions, and other interactive experiences. Early partners include big names like 1-800-Flowers and CNN, as well as smaller startups like weather app Poncho or shopping app Spring.
For the time being, chatbots are limited to Messenger, while WhatsApp will remain focused on chat.
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March 10, witnessed an historic revolution of digital evolution in sourcing for diverse information laws in Lagos state. The Lagos State Government on Sunday announced the launch of an online platform where lawyers, investors and the public can have access to all the laws of the State.
The State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, in a statement on Sunday, said the digital platform which can be accessed via www.laws.lagosstate.gov.ng, was the first of its kind and another eloquent testimony to the tradition of excellence which Lagos is known for.
He said the online platform was in fulfillment of the obligation of the State Government to create easy access to the State laws thereby promoting accountability and responsibility, and enabling investors to make informed decisions about their investments in the state. Continue Reading...
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Facebook Wants You to Post More About Yourself
Facebook Inc. is working to combat a decline in people sharing original, personal content, the fuel that helps power the money machine at the heart of its social network, according to people familiar with the matter.
Overall sharing has remained "strong," according to Facebook. However, people have been less willing to post updates about their lives as their lists of friends grow, the people said.
Instead, Facebook’s 1.6 billion users are posting more news and information from other websites. As Facebook ages, users may have more than a decade’s worth of acquaintances added as friends. People may not always feel comfortable checking into a local bar or sharing an anecdote from their lives, knowing these updates may not be relevant to all their connections.
According to one of the people familiar with the situation, Facebook employees working on the problem have a term for this decline in intimacy: "context collapse." Personal sharing has shifted to smaller audiences on Snapchat, Facebook’s Instagram and other messaging services. Continue Reading...
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Twitter Inc has won the heart of many users in Africa. The micro-blogging service users in Africa are five times more likely to voice their political views than they are in the US and the UK, a new study reveals by Portland.
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Its obvious, Facebook is showing major commitment in Africa, Delegates representing 32 top media agencies from four countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa) gathered at a three-day summit in Johannesburg from 29 March to 1 April, where a Facebook team from around the world trained them to become Africa’s first Facebook Agency Ambassadors. The collaborative training equipped participants with the resources they need to understand how to drive real business results through digital marketing, and in turn share this knowledge within their organizations. The forum also afforded an opportunity for the agency representatives to provide feedback to Facebook. Continue Reading...
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The event which comprised of two sets of awards; the .ng web awards and the Presidential awards. The (.ng) web awards were given as a means of recognizing and celebrating institutions and companies that have used the .ng domain over the years. I believe such awards like this helps to further inspire, motivate and promote the Nigerian brand online.
According to NiRA, "the ultimate goal of the award ceremony was to get more Nigerians to use the .ng domains. This is because Nigeria currently has less than 100,000 (.ng) domains while South Africa (for instance) has over 1 million .co.za domains."
However, the Presidential awards honoured individuals and organizations considered to have contributed immensely to the development of the ICT industry in Nigeria. Such recipients included; Continue Reading...
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I decided to share news on the progress of the UN sustainable development goals. It's a way of taking actions for its implementation to impact positively on all humanity in my own little efforts.
The weekly progress on the SDGs can be shared using the #SDGsSaturday. Here are the activities for last week of the #SDGs in Nigeria and across board.
See more photo
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According to a police source report in the Punch newspapers, prospective candidates started registering online from 4am on Friday when the portals opened for registration and over 8,000 candidates had registered online as at 2pm. However, later in the day, applicants could not access the websites provided until this evening because the servers site had crashed possibly from the amount of traffic that hit it at once.
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The AP Stylebook, has been a reference guide to many journalists, newspapers and websites in writing style and new guidelines. In a recent tweet, the publication company defines Internet as “a decentralized, worldwide network of computers that can communicate with each other.” This implies when spelling Internet, capital "I" will be changed to "i."
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The event which is a breakfast forum has as its theme “Beyond Oil – Digital Opportunities a Veritable Alternative driven by Policy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.”
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Highlights of the issues discussed were; ranging from the realization of the commission's 8-point Agenda, measures by government agencies using ICT towards poverty alleviation, broadband deployment, quality of service, innovation, job creation amongst others.
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Undoubtedly, innovations keeps springing forth on daily basis to create beautiful moments to the soul of humanity. Google has brought emoji search to Photos on the Web, Android and iOS. It's for reals!
To simply get started, paste in the appropriate emoji and it will return the matching results. A gift for anyone who is just all too busy (or lazy) to type, such as ‘sunrise’ into the search bar.
Have something to add to this story? share it in the comments.
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On Wednesday, Microsoft unveiled at Build 2016 developer conference in San Francisco on latest technology and innovations that can help every developer easily and simply build intelligent apps and services.
Here are the most important announcements from Build 2016; Continue Reading...
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Reuters reported that, Pelé filed the lawsuit in federal court in Chicago earlier this month, with the complaint noting that the ad used a large portrait photograph of a model that "very closely resembles" Pelé.
Next to this was an image of a Samsung TV showing a soccer player in the middle of a "modified bicycle or scissors-kick, perfected and famously used by Pelé."
Continue Reading...
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Oracle sued Google six years ago, claiming the search giant needs a license to use parts of the Java platform in Google's market-leading mobile OS.
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The devices which were formally unveiled at an elaborate launch in Lagos are a blend of premium components with the most advanced Samsung technology.
Managing Director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, Mr. Paul Lee, said "the new smart phones are imbued with intelligent cameras, and have set a new industry standard for design, craftsmanship and performance."
He noted that the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge highlight the most refined phone experience ever by combining the latest technology that users expect from Samsung's Galaxy series. Continue Reading...
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Some scholars believe the @ symbol dates back to the sixth century, when scribes simplified the Latin word ad (at) by exaggerating the upstroke of the letter d and curving it over the a. Others believe that the symbol had its genesis in sixteenth-century Venetian trade as an abbreviation for amphora, a standard-size terra-cotta vessel employed by merchants that became a unit of measure.
Since the nineteenth century, @ has appeared on standard typewriter and computer keyboards as the "commercial a," used, until fairly recently, almost exclusively by accountants to mean "at the rate of."
In 1967, Tomlinson joined the technology company Bolt Beranek and Newman, where in 1971 he created the world's first e-mail system, Continue Reading...
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Mr Adekoya is a seasoned professional with over 17 years of business and management experience in finance, telecom, logistics retail and transportation across Europe and Africa.
Continue Reading...
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Akilah has an amazing back story associated with her drawing, especially considering the contestants she was up against. She drew a box-braided Doodle, titled “My Afrocentric Life,” using color pencils, black crayons and Sharpie markers. The Doodle includes symbols of black heritage and signs representing the Black Lives Matter movement and it only took her about two weeks to complete.
She is #Doodle4Google's first ever African-American contest winner and this is what she said about her artwork on Google's blog:
“I’ve always been encouraged to pursue art, especially by my teachers, but participating in Doodle 4 Google gave me an understanding of why art matters and why MY art matters—because it speaks to people. No matter our differences, everyone is touched by art in some way. Winning this competition opened my eyes to the many types of art and the many ways it can resonate with people. I’m excited to keep creating art that matters."Continue Reading...
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The Pan-African competition will be the first of its kind in Africa, bringing together over 1000 entrepreneurs, students and investors, to collaborate on ways to amplify and consolidate the continent's entrepreneurs. Targeting more than 60 universities in 13 countries across Africa, the competition will challenge students to develop a unique digital application or smart solution that will solve a tangible problem faced on the continent.
Applications for the first round of the multi-phased competition are open and will close on 27 March 2016. Continue Reading...
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The Social Media Week Lagos 2016 commences yesterday, February 22nd, 2016 with so much excitement and eagerness in learning different new tools, ideas and further re-energizes the desire on the way forward to a better digital revolution. The discussion was on: 'Leading a Digital Publishing Revolution' Continue Reading...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Why the Future Is Bright for the World’s Poorest Farmers
I believe this post is worth sharing!
The revolution of farming system practice in alleviating the menace of poverty in Africa is a great perception of hope and success to the taste of the eye. With innovations springing forth on daily basis on modern tech tools to improve the lives of farmers, it pretty safe to say poverty has lost its grip drastically in the agriculture sector.
Read Bill Gates article on future of farming and its role in fighting poverty using "Digital Technology."
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Port Harcourt 17th January 2015: Residents of Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria’s treasure Base, Rivers State, can now browse the internet at the fastest speed available, as Nigeria’s foremost Internet Service Provider, Spectranet, launched and activated the 4G Long-Term Evolution (4G LTE), a service that promises to redefine the life style of residents and business owners in the state.
With the launch of the 4G LTE, a standard that defines wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals, Continue Reading..
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The Wikimedia Foundation, a US-based non-profit and charitable organization that operates many wikis, has announced the launch of Wikimedia Endowment, a permanent source of funding to ensure Wikipedia thrives for generations to come.
The Wikimedia Endowment, whose goal is to raise US$100 million over the next 10 years, will empower people around the world to create and contribute free knowledge, and share that knowledge with every single human being.
The Endowment has been established, with an initial contribution by the Wikimedia Foundation, as a Collective Action Fund at the Tides Foundation, a public charity with a 40-year track record of holding and managing charitable funds for non-profit organizations. Continue Reading...
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Redmond-based Microsoft has announced a partnership with Liverpool FC to bring new ways for fans to connect with their club.
The partnership births the LFCofficial Skype ID which will enable fans to interact with each other in group chats during key games.
By connecting with LFCofficial on Skype from January 12, fans will be brought closer to the club through exclusive content from first-team players, as well as... Continue Reading...
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The Turkish government has insisted Twitter will pay a $50,000 fine for its refusal to remove “terrorist propaganda” from the site.
According to the Transport Minister, Binali Yildirim who has vowed to take measures and ensure Twitter pays the fine handed out by the telecoms regulator BTK communications technologies authority.
Twitter was blocked in early 2014, after which two prominent news accounts were frozen, all part of a crackdown on people disseminating information that criticized the government.
Both Twitter and YouTube were blocked again in early 2015, with the social network apparently complying with demands to take down content in order to get its service back up and running.
Today, at the on-going CES, Samsung introduced the world to the Galaxy TabPro S, a 2-in-1 tablet built for Windows 10.
The premium tablet offers the most popular features of laptops and tablets giving people access to full notebook PC functionality in a lightweight tablet. The sleek device is 6.3mm thin and weighs only 693g with a 12” display.
The Galaxy TabPro S is designed to be easily carried around all day and comes with a full size keyboard at purchase. The Galaxy TabPro S delivers full PC functionality with both Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro for business. Continue Reading...
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey explains why his company wants to move beyond 140-characters
The coast is clear on why Twitter is creating a structure that will allow us to tweet beyond 140-characters as the company wants to attract more users globally and also, create more freedom for users to freely express their message without limit.
Twitter CEO, @Jack Dorsey, in a series of tweets explains further:
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TIGO Tanzania has emerged the country's most popular company on Facebook.
Its Facebook followers recently clocked a staggering 1 million, effectively cementing Tigo's position as the foremost digital lifestyle telecom in the East African country.
According to Socialbakers, a social marketing company that analyses and monitors the use of social media and is also a member of Facebook Marketing Partners, Tanzania, with a 45 million population, currently has 4,1 million Facebook users.
Tigo's General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, said these numbers effectively meant over 41 percent of the total Facebook users in the country were Tigo Facebook followers.
"Our platform on Facebook and our official twitter handle (Tigo_TZ), have become essential tools for us to listen and learn from our growing technology-savvy customers and the public in general.Continue Reading...
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Pre-orders for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset are due to open on Wednesday January 6, at 8am PT, the company said today. At the back end of last year it confirmed the headset was on target to ship in Q1 2016.
Source: TechCrunch
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With more than 300 million Indians already on the Web and another 200 million set to get online by 2017, the country is a major area of focus for Google — so much so that new CEO Sundar Pichai centered his Google for India keynote around the company’s programs to help bring the Web to the next billion people in India.
Speaking in New Delhi during his first visit to the country as CEO today, Pichai explained that India has proven to be an excellent test bed for numerous technologies aimed at emerging markets.
"It may sound like we’re doing a lot, but in my opinion, we’re just barely getting started. We’ve realized that when we build products for India, they eventually make their way to a global scale. Given that India is on the cutting edge of the mobile revolution, we think that what we build in India will apply to many, many places." Continue Reading...
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Fast rising singer, Yemi Alade has joined the growing list of global celebrities who have a mobile application to their name.
The 'Johnny' crooner last week announced the official launch of her mobile app named 'Yemi Alade' ahead of the release of her sophomore album 'Mama Africa' on the Android platform. While announcing the new mobile application making her the first female Nigerian music act to do so, Yemi Alade shared a screenshot of the app on Google Play Store on photo sharing site, Instagram. She captioned it; "No need to use up your data anymore with this app..you might just catch me in the bathroom, it's personal like that! Continue Reading...
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Twitter Warns Some Users Of Possible ‘Government’ Hacking
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Twitter warns some users of possible ‘government’ hacking.
The microblogging service sent emails to an unknown number of users warning that hackers may be trying to obtain phone numbers, email addresses and IP addresses, according to Twitter users who have received the emails.
The emails warn that while Twitter is not certain recipients’ personal information was obtained, it has reason to believe they were intended targets. Continue Reading...
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President Obama Appoints Nigerian, Adewale Adeyemo As Deputy NSA
President Barrack Obama of the United States on Tuesday appointed Nigeria-born Adewale Adeyemo, 34, as the deputy national security adviser (NSA) for international economics.
In a statement annoucing Adeyemo’s appointment, Obama said the African-American helped the US combat global economic recession which started in 2008.
“I am grateful that Caroline’s (Atkinson, former deputy NSA) work will be carried on by Adewale ‘Wally’ Adeyemo, who has served in my administration since 2009,” he said.
“At the treasury department, he was part of the team that helped coordinate our response to the global recession, laying the foundation for renewed growth at home and abroad.
Continue Reading....
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| The Huawei Mate 8 |
China’s biggest smartphone maker Huawei, aims to takeover Apple in the smartphone market within the next 3 years. Huawei launched its latest smartphone on 27th Nov, 2015; “THE MATE 8”, which comes with the Android 6.0 marshmallow Operating System pre-installed, (which means customers will be able to access new features of the latest Android operating system). Continue Reading...
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Facebook has activated its Safety Check feature in Nigeria this evening following a deadly bombing in a marketplace that claimed the lives of at least 32 people. This is the second time in a week that the social networking company has used this tool.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but some are speculating that it could be the work of the armed extremist group Boko Haram, which most people will probably remember from the kidnapping of school girls.
Facebook users who are in Nigeria can inform their friends and loved ones know that they’re okay but simply clicking on a link within the social network. Continue Reading...
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With speculations being announced in early October, finally have firm launch dates for Microsoft’s newest Windows Phones in the US: November 20 and November 25th.
The smaller Lumia 950 is set to go on sale Friday via AT&T, however, if you desire a larger and slightly more powerful gadget then the Lumia 950XL, will smiles at you. It can only be bought unlocked from the Microsoft Store (pre-order are now accepted but orders won’t ship until the 25th). Continue Reading...
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Global giant tech companies lend a helping hand during a time of confusion and despair. AirBnB, Facebook, Google, Skype, Twitter and Uber launched into disaster response mode amidst terror attacks in France.
Facebook let users alert their friends they were safe, while AirBnB contacted all hosts in Paris asking if they could take in those stranded in the city, Google offered free calls to Paris via Hangouts, likewise Skype, Verizon and Sprint. Continue Reading...
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It started on iOS, but Apple Music has now made its way to Android.
Those without iPhones can take the new Apple Music (at least to Android users) for a three-month free trial, too.
In addition to streaming music, Android users will now have a direct link to iTunes, and can listen to Beats 1 radio.
The app is free to download, but will cost $9.99 per month once the free trial is over.
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In a quest to improve Information Technology (IT) education in the country, Exxon Mobil, in partnership with Aker Solutions, EPC3 Project Manager and the CAP Project Consultant, Crest stage Nigeria Limited, has donated three E-Learning Centres to three primary schools in Lagos State under the Community Assistance Programme (CAP) on the Erha North Phase 2 Project EPC3.
The three beneficiary primary schools under the programme are Ansar Udeen Nursery and Primary School, Ebute Metta; Awoyaya Nursery & Primary School and Obalende Nursery & Primary School, Ikoyi.
According to the Senior Project Manager, ExxonMobil, Wale Bishi, the programme is another significant step, "we are taking in our quest to improve the quality of education available to our young ones through social investment in critical infrastructure required to equip them with the requisite skills for competing in today's knowledge economy, especially from their early years."Continue Reading...
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Google To Merge Chrome OS And Android
While it’ll not come as a surprise to fans who have sure been marvelling at the idea of Google one day blending its Chrome and Android operating system. The Wall Street Journal is already reporting that that should be happening in the very near future, specifically through 2016.
The report states that Google Inc, now Alphabet has even been strategizing on that front, idea of folding Chrome OS into Android for two years now and come 2017 the public should expect a release of the resulting merged operating system. The Wall Street Journal is already reporting that that should be happening in the very near future Continue Reading...
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Get on YouTube and check out CODEGIRL, a true story about the power of young women and technology. The documentary follows what happens when 3,000 teen girls from 28 countries including India, Brazil, Moldova, Nigeria, and the U.S. are taught to code apps, create business plans, and develop market strategies to solve serious problems in their communities such as poverty, fractured communities, domestic violence, disease prevention, unemployment, and drought. The winning team gets $10,000 to develop and release an app.
Here’s Susan Wojcicki’s (CEO of YouTube) summary of the film: Continue Reading...
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Microsoft Officially launches Its Arrow Launcher For Android. Arrow is a simple personal launcher for android that relies on algorithms to decide which apps, contacts, and files it shows on the home screen. Arrow makes it easy to find, launch and get back to your favorite apps, keep in touch with friends, and stay on top of the important things. The more you use it, the smarter it gets.
The Arrow launch is a reflection of Microsoft’s new strategy to embrace cross-platform development instead of trying to lock everyone into Microsoft’s own software and services. Microsoft’s Arrow Android launcher is available for free download on Google Play Store. Continue Reading...
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Facebook continues to improve ways to find the people you want to communicate with. The social network is launching a new feature for Messenger called Message Requests, that makes it easier for people to receive or ignore messages from people they aren't friends with. Users can read the message and choose whether or not they want to respond without the other person knowing.
David Marcus, VP of messaging services at Facebook, took to the social media avenue earlier this week to explain more. Continue Reading...
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In what appears to be one of the biggest music and marketing tie-ups in recent memory a report claims that Samsung will be sponsoring Rihanna’s new album and upcoming tour to the tune of $25 million. According to the report both camps have been negotiating on the deal for seven months which covers Rihanna’s upcoming album reportedly titled “Anti” and the subsequent world tour, her eighth studio album is expected to be released in the next few weeks.
It’s interesting to note that Rihanna is signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation label, the rap mogul has had a long partnership with Samsung, and was recently spotted leaving Samsung’s offices in Silicon Valley. This led many to believe that perhaps he was trying to sell his music streaming service Tidal to Samsung but the New York Post suggests he was finalizing the Rihanna partnership. Continue Reading...
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Android users will soon be able to download podcasts directly from Google Play. The company is getting ready to open a portal directly in Google Play Music.
Currently, podcasters are able to upload to the Google Play hub, but none are available for playback just yet. Play Music users will reportedly be able to play podcasts in a few weeks’ time.
Speaking to Re/Code, Google Play Music product manager Elias Roman said “Podcasts allow us to do everything for our users. It makes us a more complete concierge.”
While not as direct an affront to third-party podcasting apps as Apple’s ‘Podcasts’ app is, this move will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers. Continue Reading...
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It seems Samsung is about to shake things up again? Following the complete redesign of its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note smartphones in 2015, a new report claims Samsung will now launch three variants of the upcoming Galaxy S7; and all at the same time.
Picked up by the ever reliable SamMobile via Samsung’s famously leaky Vietnamese supply chain, the report says Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge and Galaxy S7 Edge+ handsets will all be simultaneously released in early 2016.
In some ways this makes sense: Samsung would group its consumer devices altogether giving it a sizeable lead on the launch of the iPhone 7 in Q3. This would then allow it to focus the second half of the year on the Galaxy Note 6 as its differential business phone against the new iPhones. So far so good. Continue Reading...
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This handmade leather bag comes with a Karma Go WiFi device, essentially making it a traveling hotspot. It's called the Voyager.
The main compartment can fit a pretty good deal of stuff – about a weekend’s worth of clothes and one or two pairs of shoes. The side pocket, which houses the Wi-Fi device, has partitions for a phone, battery pack, a plethora of charging cords, and basically any other small gadget you can throw in there.
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Review: Microsoft Surface Book, Windows 10 Flaunt Its New Identity
Microsoft surprised the technology world with the Surface Book, a device that puts a new spin on what productivity might look like. The Surface Book is a laptop with a twist. It looks mostly like a conventional laptop, but has a detachable screen that becomes a widescreen, thin tablet. It is designed for the person who wants to get the most out of Windows 10’s touch-focused features inside a package that can be both mobile and desktop-focused.
There’s some of that heritage in the new Microsoft Surface Book. It detaches into two pieces at the touch of a button, its screen snapping free from its keyboard base. Ta-da!
There’s just one key difference: basically every other convertible has tried too hard to be all things to all people, doing everything under the sun and none of it well. The Surface Book, on the other hand, is a laptop. A great one. Continue Reading...
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Globacom, Nigeria’s first indigenous telecommunication company has launched a new promo that gives back to subscribers the following day, absolutely free, all the airtime they used for calls, sms and internet services in a day, Free Tomorrow. With this offer, if a Glo subscriber uses N500 credit in a day on calls, SMS and data, the service provider will give back N500 credit the next day to utilise for the next 24 hours.
Odafe Akerejola, Glo’s manager, devices and partnership, likened the benefit to going to “a first class restaurant to have a sumptuous meal and being served the full value and quantity of food the next day, free of charge.” Continue Reading...
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Facebook initially planned to connect the world by producing its own satellites, but it might be tacking a different tack now.
According to The Telegraph, a new agreement between Facebook and Eutelsat due to start in late 2016 will deliver free internet in Africa via an existing satellite.
Eutelsat says that the satellite capacity will provide “Direct-to-User” internet access using off the shelf equipment, so users in even the remotest parts of Africa can get online.
Facebook is also working on giant drones for providing internet access in remote areas, but that technology has only just begun being tested in the real world. Continue Reading...
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After years of speculation and member requests, Facebook is finally working on a Dislike button, according to Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg said the feature will be coming soon during a town hall meeting on Tuesday at the company's California headquarters. However, he also said it wouldn't be a way for users to "downvote" posts and instead would let users express other emotions besides the inferred positivity of the Like button. Continue Reading...
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| Ahmed Mohamed |
Ahmed Mohamed, 14 year-old, grade 9 student and his invention of a homemade clock have sparked passion and support from thousands of people who believe he was unfairly arrested after bringing his invention to his classroom at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas.
His innovation has also caught the eye of tech companies that are interested in helping harness and mentor Mohamed’s interest in technology. Continue Reading...
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The former governor of Lagos state, Babatunde Fashola has revealed his Twitter account has been hacked and several tweets had been published in a language that resembled Japanese.
Furthermore, all posts on Fashola’s official website and feeds redirected to his Twitter account, @tundefashola appeared in a similar foreign language (Japanese). The website as at the point of gathering this report can not longer be accessed due to ‘unknown technical problems’. Continue Reading...
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Folks who craves for the latest developments about the Surface Pro 4, looks like joyous songs will be crossing their path! Microsoft is sending out press invites for an event on October 6.
According to TNW, The invite is sparse on details, but we expect the newest Surface device(s) to be announced, as well as the first official Windows 10 Phone hardware. After all, it’s been nearly a year and a half since the Surface Pro 3 was released, and the mobile version of Windows 10 was due to be launched a few months after the desktop OS. Continue Reading...
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Finally, it's a breath of fresh air: Twitter has officially removed the character limit from direct messages.
Twitter is phasing in the change across Android, iOS and web-based platforms from today, lasting over the next few weeks.
In June, Twitter affirms on a new character maximum which would be 10,000 characters, from the previous 140 characters.
Twitter has updated its apps for iOS, Android and Twitter for Mac to allow long direct messages as well as TweetDeck and Twitter for Web. Continue reading..
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The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a British charity, is joining forces with Facebook, Google and Twitter in an effort to remove images of child sexual abuse from the Web, reports The Independent.
The IWF will share lists of file hashes — numerical representations of data — of such images with companies so that they can track and remove them automatically from their services.
While it may prove to be effective on sites run by large companies, experts say that the IWF’s hash Continue reading...
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I just love the sound of her surname, synonymous with mine - Awonuga.
Meet Julie, 27 year old British radio presenter who is one of the three lead DJs for Beats 1, Apple's 24/7 radio station as part of Apple Music. She is one to watch out for. The others are former BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe, and New York-based radio presenter Ebro Darden.
Julie made her debut in the music industry in 2010, when she joined London community radio station Rinse FM. At the 2015 Apple WWDC keynote, Adenuga was introduced as one of the DJs of Beats 1 radio that is part of Apple Music.
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Brian Action has hit the big jackpot! In 2009, he applied for a job in both Facebook and Twitter and was turned down by both companies. 5 years later, Facebook bought his company, Whatsapp, for $21.8billion.
Nigeria’s Entrepreneurial Reality Show: The Next Titan is back! Introduces New Prizes
The much awaited Season Two of The Next Titan, Nigeria’s Entrepreneurial Reality Show is finally here! Register now on www.thenexttitan.com Registration is free!
Season One was highly intriguing with 13 weeks of wits, nerves, education, suspense and fun by arguably 16 of the most dogged young aspiring-entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Iroghama Ogbeifun from PortHarcourt Zone emerged the winner, and she went home with N5million and a brand new Ford Focus Car plus mentorship from some of Nigeria’s business leaders such as Tonye Cole, CEO, Sahara Energy Group. Continue reading..
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How To Disable Adobe Flash In Your Browser
It’s obvious Flash needs to go.
The fact that we're faced with yet another major security flaw in the software — this time discovered in the stolen Hacking Team documents, only highlights what experts have been saying for years.
Flash is not only unnecessary with today's streaming technology, but can open users up to major security vulnerabilities.
Luckily, Flash is relatively easy to disable in most browsers, if you know where to look. This guide will help to find out exactly how to remove it from Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. Continue reading...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Householdmax.com Launches, Wants To Challenge Supermart.ng
Nigerian startup Householdmax.com has officially launched its e-commerce platform dedicated to domestic products, with the startup saying it intends to challenge Supermart.ng.
Householdmax.com hopes to become Nigeria’s premier platform for purchasing household products, and has officially launched following months of beta testing.
A key feature of the startup’s strategy is that pay-on-delivery – a payment option popular across Nigeria – is not available; with the startup arguing pay-on-delivery increases the possibility of payment default by consumers, and is problematic for perishable goods.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of Householdmax Abimbola Aisha Tinubu says the startup is initially focused on providing a quality service which will contribute to building trust of e-commerce in Nigeria. Continue reading...
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| You can freely customize and arrange the tiles of your Start menu. |
The end is in sight: Windows 10 will be released on July 29th, 2015 as a free download for anyone running Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1; the free update will be available for a year.
However, It was surprising when Microsoft announced that its new operating system’s name to be Windows 10 instead of Windows 9 as expected. It is however rumored this decision is due to the number of criticisms Windows 8 endured, so calling the new OS (Operating System) windows 10 kind of gives the impression the new OS is a lot better than Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. Here are five things to expect from the brand new OS. Continue reading...
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Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is pressing forward with so-called 'lawful interception’ which will give the NCC and security agencies powers to intrude into private communications of Nigerians such as telephonic calls, e-mail messages and SMS in the name of enhancing national security; prevention of crime committal; and facilitating criminal investigations.
Some lawyers claim that lawful interception has a strong legal basis, but most Nigerians are worried that that the provision of surveillance and interception capabilities would facilitate human rights abuses by security forces in a country like Nigeria.
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Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata has died of cancer at the age of 55.
Iwata started his career as a game programmer in the 1980s. He later joined Nintendo and was appointed its director in 2000. Two years later, he took on the role of president at the company.
It was under Iwata that the Japanese gaming company released the popular Nintendo DS and 3DS portable systems, as well as the Continue reading...
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For me, It's no doubt the social media platform is a huge turn over for different spheres of human endeavors. Always a step in the right direction!
So, Hillary Clinton is bringing you more mason jars, dessert porn and a brighter future for America.
The former secretary of state and current 2016 presidential candidate has expanded her social media presence to include several Pinterest boards that any avid Pinners will want to follow immediately. Not only for board-worthy updates from the Clinton camp, but also, you know, recipes for baked goods. Continue reading...
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It’s as simple as that: a wireless camera attached to the front of the truck, films the oncoming traffic, and sends the image to a video wall made out of four exterior monitors located on the back.
This way, the driver stuck behind the vehicle can have a better understanding of whether is safe to overtake or not. A brilliant idea that seems obvious in retrospect: thing is, Continue Reading...
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If you want to get the jump on Apple Music as soon as it launches on June 30, we now know when exactly when it’ll be available: 8 AM PST/11 AM EST/2 PM CAT.
Apple Music’s senior director (and former Beats CEO) Ian Rogers revealed the timing on his blog. Apple Music arrives with iOS 8.4, so you’ll have to upgrade your device to access the new service. He even created a Facebook event to help you remember. Continue Reading...
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| Dr. Samuel Achilefu |
A professor of radiology and biomedical engineering, Dr. Achilefu and his team developed the imaging technology in cancer diagnosis into a wearable night vision-like goggles so surgeons could see the cancer cells while operating.
“They basically have to operate in the dark,” said Dr. Achilefu in a Continue Reading...
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During the preview, the company says it heard from thousands of users, and over the last few weeks were able to incorporate a lot of their feedback into the apps. Read more.
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Google Inc (GOOGL.O) said on Friday that it is launching a live streaming gaming service called "YouTube Gaming", creating a rival to Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) Twitch service.
The service, to be available in the form of an app as well as a website, will focus exclusively on gamers and gaming.
More than 25,000 games will each have their own page on the site, bringing videos and live streams about various titles together in a single space, Google said. Read more.
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Nigerians who travel to the UK often and wish to make their staying in touch while abroad easier will now be able to top-up their UK mobile phone, thanks to a new innovation from Interswitch’s Quickteller.
The service, which allows customers of any UK mobile line to top up either from their Nigerian payment cards or their bank accounts, can be accessed on the Quickteller website, and is available on all major UK mobile networks including, Read more.
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The site plans to remove the 140-character limit on its direct messaging feature in July, the company revealed in a post on its developer forum on Thursday.
The character limit for regular tweets, which is also 140, will remain in place. Read more.
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The S6 Active, which is designed for the outdoorsy and adventure-seeking type, will be exclusive to AT&T in the U.S. and has a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with the same 2,560 x 1,440 (Quad HD) resolution, octa-core processor (1.5GHz quad-core + 2.1GHz quad-core), 32GB of internal storage, 16-megapixel back camera and 5-megapixel selfie camera on front. Read more.
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The former United States Secretary of State and presidential aspirant for the 2016 election, Mrs. Hillary Clinton, recently made headlines on social media when she joined LinkedIn, the largest global career networking site.
Reports posted online said the former first lady had returned to the labour market. Perhaps, the sarcasm was informed by the fact that the platform is mostly driven by career urge.
Like those looking for opportunities to start or build new careers, Clinton took to LinkedIn to seek an opportunity to become the next American President. Read more.
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Glo leads in Corporate Enterprise Market
Confirming the development, Head of Corporate Sales of Globacom, Mr. Kamaldeen Shonibare, said the recent network coverage and the massive network upgrade embarked upon by the company in 2014 to enhance service delivery have given it the edge over other operators. Other factors which he said endeared Glo to different industry players are its very aggressive and responsive sales team, highly flexible packages and reliable connectivity for voice and data services.
He said that corporate organizations that have pitched their tent with Glo for their voice and data needs are key players across international agencies, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing, Banking, Food and Beverage, Insurance and Religion, amongst others.
Some of the organizations include the United Nations in the international agencies segment, Dangote Plc in Manufacturing, Chevron, Seplat, Halliburton Energy, Addax, NIPCO, Sterling Oil and Septa in the Oil and Gas sector and Sterling Bank, Stanbic IBTC and FCMB in the banking category. Others are Deeper Life Bible Church, Mansard Insurance as well as Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) and 7-Up Bottling Company in the Food and Beverage sector.
Mr. Shonibare disclosed that Glo was also popular in the public sector, with the Presidency, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Ministries of Internal Affairs and Aviation, the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy being some of the government establishments whose telecom requirements are provided by the network.
Mr. Shonibare also explained that Glo has an efficient Account Management system which is complemented by a very courteous and effective team that puts a personal touch to customer service and relationship management. He added that several corporate clients had often commended the effective customer care management efforts of the Sales Team.
"We have a very dynamic team as well as a huge capital base, and we are able to design very flexible packages to suit the specific needs of our customers. These stand us out in the market," he stated.
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Google Offers Unlimited Free Storage of Photos, Videos
The online photo service announced Thursday is the latest example of Google's desire to wrap its tentacles around virtually every part of people's lives.
Google will provide unlimited storage of all photos up to 16 megapixels and high-definition video up to 1080p.
The service, called Google Photos, will be available as an app on Android and Apple devices, and on a website, http://photos.google.com . It's a variation of the photo-management tool on Google Plus, a social networking service that has struggled to compete against Facebook since its 2011 debut.
"There has been a renaissance in the thinking of what Google Plus is for," said Bradley Horowitz, Google's vice president of photos and streams. Google Plus will stick around, Horowitz said, although it is likely to focus on bringing together people who share common interests and hobbies instead of trying to connect friends and family.
Horowitz predicted Google Photos will free people from the hassles of managing their picture and video libraries, much like Google's Gmail service eased the burden of sifting through email boxes by offering larger storage capacities and a powerful search engine.
Google Photos is importing technology from Google Plus to automatically sort images into common bundles tied together by a vacation destination, activity, or even species of animal. Other tools will automatically create slideshows and albums accompanied by music.
One of the biggest challenges facing Google Inc. is whether it will be able to lure people away from other services that have been around for years.
Apple has a photo service that offers up to five gigabytes of storage for free and then charges 99 cents per month for an additional 20 gigabytes. Yahoo's Flickr service offers one terabyte of storage for free — enough to accommodate about five photos per day for the next 60 years.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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