Author: Gugu Lourie

Cape Town or the Mother City has been named as one of the best cities for remote working in the Work-from-Anywhere Index. The index, which attempts to quantify the characteristics that make a city-friendly to remote work, is published by the Berlin-headquartered accommodation rental platform Nestpick. The study compares and analyzes 75 cities according to 16 diverse factors to create a final ranking based on a total score. The cities were selected from a list of global locations renowned as popular destinations for relocation and livability, including those who have demonstrated willingness to encourage foreign-employed workers to move there. The…

Pick n Pay said today it had opened additional capacity in response to the high demand in online shopping on its scheduled delivery platform www.pnp.co.za. In Gauteng particularly, where the third wave is resulting in more people distancing and isolating, the retailer has increased delivery slots by 65% on the platform. “We have moved quickly to add delivery slots – particularly in Gauteng – to make sure that we respond to increased demand for online shopping during this time,” says John Bradshaw, retail executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay. The retailer says that certain areas in Cape Town experiencing high…

Mercedes-Benz announced today that it has sold a total of 121,500 plug-in-hybrids and all-electric cars worldwide in the first half of 2021. Deliveries of plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars more than quadrupled in just six months, reaching 121,500 units, reflecting a 305% increase compared to the same period last year. The German carmaker said in a statement that in total, the xEVs made up 10.3% of total Mercedes-Benz Cars sales in the first half of 2021. Around 39,000 all-electric vehicles were delivered from January to June showing a 291.4% rise versus the corresponding period in 2020, including more than 19,000…

China has ordered ride-hailing service provider DiDi Chuxing off the country’s app stores until future approval after correction and review. South China Morning Post reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a short statement on Sunday that Didi’s app, often referred to as the Uber of China, has seriously violated the country’s laws and regulations by illegally collecting users’ personal data. As such, the agency has told China’s app stores to remove the app indefinitely, one of the harshest punishments for an internet company. It has also ordered DiDi to take corrective measures and comply with regulations,…

The European Union (EU) has launched a digital COVID Certificate, which allows people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a recent negative test result, or past COVID-19 infection. The certificate will be available in a national language and English said the EU. The certificate consists of a QR code displayed on a device (like a smartphone or a tablet) or printed, and a digital signature, verified via EU Gateway. The certificate is issued for free by their national authorities and recognised by all EU 27 member states as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. The EU said if a country is not ready…

BMW i Ventures, the venture capital arm of BMW Group, is spending $300 million or R4.2 billion to invest in early-and-mid-stage tech startups that operate in the transportation, manufacturing, supply chain, and sustainability industries. Founded in 2016, BMW i Ventures is the BMW Group’s venture capital unit for investing in fast-growing technology start-ups. The aim of this unit is to make financially attractive investments that create strategic value-added for the BMW Group. With a broad focus that includes areas such as digital vehicle technology, autonomous driving, shared and on-demand mobility, electromobility, Industry 4.0 and customer innovation, BWM i Ventures is…

Zoom announced it has bought Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – Kites, a start-up dedicated to developing real-time Machine Translation (MT) solutions. Kites was founded in 2015 and has academic roots with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where co-founders Dr. Alex Waibel and Dr. Sebastian Stüker are faculty members. “We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and MT solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering at Zoom. “With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless – regardless…

Microsoft Office suite – Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and their siblings –  is for free for South Africans between the ages of 8 – 24. The offer is under the Mahala scheme, which will enable young people to be able to activate Microsoft licenses for the Microsoft Office 365 suite and 5TB OneDrive cloud-based storage services free of charge. The Mahala.ms offer is part of a broader “Digital Skills Hub”, which aims to position South Africa as a smart, connected, and competitive global player. Through the Digital  Skills Hub, brought to you by Microsoft SA and SAtion, the organisation says it…

I recently met Mobit founder, Njabulo Maphumulo, at MaAgnes Ndlovu’s spaza shop in Hambanathi. The place was lively. There was a boy washing a minibus taxi while playing a popular song by Emtee titled: Ghetto Hero. Hambanathi is in Tongaat, about 10km from King Shaka International Airport in Durban. Not far from the taxi other youngsters were standing in groups peering into their smartphones. A few giggling girls were buying mobile data from the spaza shop. The lyrics of Ghetto Hero goes: “Without you I’m nothing.  You turned me into something, yeah.  I wanna be, I wanna be a ghetto hero, yeah yeah.  I wanna be,…

The Google Assistant-powered Lenovo Smart Clock 2 has a wireless charging dock, which can also act as “a soft, ambient nightlight.” The new Lenovo Smart Clock 2 takes nightstands by storm (sans prying camera for visual privacy). Built for the bedroom, or wherever you need a clock that does it all, the Lenovo Smart Clock 2’s updated design, seamless tubing, and compact footprint blends in with nearly any home décor. Its fabric soft-touch, the organic-looking exterior is offered in three fashionable yet neutral hues: Shadow Black, Heather Grey and Abyss Blue. The Lenovo Smart Clock 2 with a wireless charging dock helps eliminate…