Author: Gugu Lourie
More than 3 million registered users now use Vouchercloud, making it one of the biggest voucher codes and deals apps in South Africa. By Gugu Lourie Vouchercloud is a geo-location enabled product that seeks out the best local deals, displays them via the mobile phone, and allows users to redeem either digital or printed vouchers at participating retailers. Ashraff Paruk, managing executive of Digital Services at Vodacom, told Techfinancials.co.za that the Vodacom’s location-based deals app now has about 3 million registered users in South Africa across all its various channels – web and app. Some of the brands listed on…
The inaugural Women in ICT – Partnership for Change Awards has garnered over 100 entries for the inaugural event. A panel of experts will be meeting on 12 August 2016 to judge the entries submitted. Finalists in the different categories will be announced on 15 August 2016. “Receiving over 100 entries for our inaugural event highlights the necessity of a platform that recognises the strides that women have made in the ICT sector in South Africa. We hope that by showcasing successful women in ICT more girls would be interested in entering into the sector from an early age,” says…
Despite some technological safeguards, self-service checkout machines in supermarkets rely heavily on customer honesty to scan, and pay for, their shopping. It turns out however, that around a third of all customers “cheat” the machines in some way. By David Glance Although self-service checkouts can do some technological checking by having scales in the bagging area, these measures are very easy to circumvent. Shoppers will swap barcodes on items, scan more expensive vegetables or fruit as lower cost varieties, avoid scanning an item and just placing it on the floor or in an already packed bag and sometimes go to more…
For some people, the human body isn’t a temple. Instead they see it as a source of frustration thanks to the considerable limitations compared to the powerful technology available today. In the last few years, a new community of biohackers or “grinders” has sprung up to experiment with enhancing the human body with technology. By Kevin Warwick Largely outside of the mainstream disciplines of science or philosophy, it is a raw, exciting field that turns longstanding ethical beliefs on their head. It is a long time since my own first electronic implant – a simple radio frequency transmitter – was inserted…
Broadband speed test results are about as useful to accurate consumer decision-making as infomercialsinfomercials. By ISPA That’s the word from South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) which represents almost 180 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that provide the lion’s share of the country’s broadband connections. A number of popular websites are advertising tools to help Internet users test the download speed of their fixed-line or mobile broadband connections. Media outlets, too, often conduct their own tests outside of laboratory settings where broadband speeds advertised by ISPs are compared to actual speeds achieved at very specific places and points in time.…
Hong Kong Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex announced that it had been hacked and 119,756 Bitcoins stolen which at current prices represents nearly US $69 million. Bitcoin prices dropped 20% after word of the hack became public but the price has since recovered. By David Glance It is not clear how the hackers were able to get hold of the cryptographic keys that protected the stolen Bitcoins. Bitfinex had instituted a new way of protecting its accounts that involved multiple signatures, one of which was held by BitGo, the creators of the system that was supposed to keep the Bitcoin accounts safe from…
Lawyers, advisors and other professional services firms involved in reducing MTN’s fine in Nigeria are laughing all the way to the bank. By Gugu Lourie When the brawl with the Nigerian authorities’ started MTN lined up top lawyers to argue its case in Federal High Court in Lagos, Nigeria The South African-based firm at the time hired seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) to fight the R59 billion ($3.9 billion) fine imposed on it by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC). The lead lawyer was Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who lead the others against the federal government and NCC before the Federal High…
The number of mobile money users in MTN’s network has hit 36.5 million across 15 countries, up by 5% in the six months to end-June 2016, according to the figures published on Friday by the mobile phone giant. By Staff Writer MTN said mobile money services generated R1.3 billion in revenues in the six months to end-June 2016, increasing by 40.8% compared to the same period in 2015. The mobile phone operator added that this was supported by strong performance from MTN Uganda, MTN Ghana, MTN Rwanda and MTN Benin. It also attributed revenue growth to focused customer engagement and…
Mobile phone giant MTN is reviewing its operations as the company seeks ways to operate far more optimally. By Staff Writer All mobile phone companies are under pressure as voice revenue continues to dwindle. MTN informed investors on Friday that it is undertaking with external assistance a ‘deep and fundamental strategic review’ of its operations and processes to ensure it is operating far more optimally given the pressure on voice revenues, evolving customer needs for high quality data and more complex and competitive market environments. MTN said this will reset and position the business for future growth in a rapidly evolving…
MTN, Africa and Middle East largest mobile phone operator, is planning to establish an advanced analytics unit dedicated to support the business to drive network quality and high-speed data connectivity. By Gugu Lourie The new division is part of MTN’s ‘deep and fundamental strategic review’ of its operations and processes to ensure it is operating far more optimally given the pressure on voice revenues, evolving customer needs for high quality data and more complex and competitive market environment. “As part of the review, the following key areas will be addressed: An advanced analytics unit will be established to support the…