Author: Staff Writer
As South Africans ease into Winter, more and more people will seek the comfort of indoor entertainment. To carry fans through the chilly season, Spotify is launching new offers for its free and first-time users to enjoy the benefits of a Premium account. Starting today, Spotify Premium is offering three months free to eligible free and first time-users for the Individual Premium plan. For those who are missing their Individual Premium plan and cancelled for one reason or another, Spotify Premium is offering three months for just R59.99. Spotify Premium gives subscribers an audio streaming experience with ad-free music listening,…
As companies forge ahead with their digital transformation, many are inadvertently excluding large parts of their customer base who don’t own smartphones, alienating vital demographics and crippling their digital inclusion agendas. A technology they should not forego is USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) – a technology that is not outdated even if it’s more than two decades old. “Far too often we see companies, in select markets, inadvertently, omit large parts of their customer base by overlooking USSD as a service from their channel offering,” says Jeppe Dorff, Clickatell Chief Product and Technology Officer. “USSD is an incredible technology that…
Satellite internet connectivity has been available for some years across much of Africa and has become established as a good option for remote business locations (such as mines, lodges and farms) looking for reliable connectivity in areas not typically serviced by fibre or LTE. The launch of new satellite networks has brought this technology back into focus but, has also reignited the debate around latency – an issue which many customers still seem to associate with satellite internet services. “We welcome the buzz surrounding new international entrants into the market, and we are confident it will translate into an increased…
Your smartphone app has just notified you that Eskom will be switching off the lights within the next hour, and your suburb is at the top of the list. Since you’ve just purchased your first electric vehicle (EV), should you be worried that you’ll be twiddling your thumbs until the electricity supply is restored? The short answer is, no! While there is certainly a degree of inconvenience that comes with load-shedding, the truth is that typical EV usage isn’t impacted much by scheduled blackouts. In South Africa and around the world, electricity consumption normally peaks in the morning and evening,…
Gerhard Fourie has been appointed Channel Lead at Commvault Africa, a global enterprise software leader in the management of data across cloud and on-premises environments. He will oversee a drive for growth across the company’s recently expanded region that includes the entire African continent (excluding Egypt) and the Indian Ocean Islands, positioning the company as the leading data management partner of choice. Fourie joined Commvault in June 2016 as Channel Manager for South Africa, and says of his new position. “I am excited to concentrate on optimising our distribution landscape and increasing our resource coverage throughout the entire expanded region,”…
Today HP Inc. launched its new, comprehensive, digital teaching and learning programme, HP Digitally Advanced Schools, in key markets in the Middle East and Africa. The initiative brings together the complete education ecosystem by integrating three components: devices, solutions and capabilities, all under the HP brand. Blending hardware and advanced pedagogy technologies into school curriculums, the programme ensures an impactful, immersive teaching and learning experience for both students and faculty members, the need for which has been accelerated by the pandemic. The HP Digitally Advanced Schools programme consists of: Intel-powered HP Notebooks: This includes using a range of HP’s specially…
A food app that connects users with the specials at restaurants or events has started to gain traction and has obtained 50 000 downloads in the last five months. Fomo uses geolocation to show users specials available at nearby restaurateurs listed on the app. Co-founders Ryan Marx and Jax Du Plessis birthed the idea for the app after a night out. After having gone out for supper and left the restaurant, they saw specials available in at a different restaurant in the same area and wished they had gone there instead – hence the name of the app, Fomo (fear…
German lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow for some driverless cars on public roads by 2022. The DW Academie reported that driverless busses and other autonomous vehicles could soon hit the streets of Germany after lawmakers in the lower house of parliament approved new rules for self-driving cars. The measure now passes to the upper chamber or parliament, the Bundesrat, for approval of the driverless bill before it can take effect. Once approved, it would be the world’s first legal framework for integrating autonomous vehicles in regular traffic, according to the German government. Also read: South Africa Must Accelerate Its…
MTN is embroiled in a R1,2 billion claim by a Soweto-based company Biza Telecoms for allegedly stealing the company’s social media network service called Chomi, to launch a popular Ayoba app. The Sunday World reported that Biza Telecoms’ management met the then MTN Group chief commercial officer Pieter Verkade in May 2015 to present in “great detail” its Chomi concept. In paper lodged at the Johannesburg high court, seen by Sunday World, Biza Telecoms claims that Chomi could be used on all mobile devices with 14 language options and cross communications between smartphone and feature phones. Biza Telecoms alleges that…
JSE-listed Altron has expressed its pleasure with the Constitutional Court ruling that affirmed the Supreme Court of Appeal’s previous ruling to the effect that the broadband network contract awarded to Thobela Telecoms, a special purpose vehicle in which Altron Nexus is a minority shareholder, is valid and binding. In an order dated 19 May 2021, the Constitutional Court refused the City of Tshwane’s application for condonation and dismissed the application for leave to appeal with costs. Altron Group Executive: Legal, Hansie Schutte, expressed the company’s satisfaction with the decision. “We are pleased with the outcome of the Constitutional Court’s order…