Author: Staff Writer
Mondia, a Dubai-based tech firm, has announced the launch of its time-based entertainment platform Monsooq in South Africa. Monsooq is a first-of-its kind model where time is the currency and users pay only for the time they spend consuming content. Monsooq does not require contracts or subscriptions. Instead, new visitors to monsooq.com will receive 60 minutes’ worth of free access to content, after which pricing is just R2 per 30 minutes. This unique time-based model allows consumers to buy entertainment time just as they would cellular airtime and use that time to consume any content they choose, including movies, series,…
South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association is warning the country’s 11 million gamers to minimise their chances of being targeted for vindictive hacking by being respectful online. The global gaming industry has exploded under lockdown when it was already the third most popular entertainment genre in the world after books and gambling. Unfortunately, more people playing games professionally or for leisure online has exposed the ease with which gaming consoles can be hacked, especially by fellow gamers with an axe to grind. Online games are played on PCs, mobile phones and dedicated gaming consoles. When it comes to the latter,…
Showmax has introduced a subscription-free streaming service in South Africa. Showmax Free features a hand-picked content slate that gives customers an opportunity to sample some of Showmax’s award-winning entertainment. At launch, titles on the service include local movies, series and sports shows. Users will be able stream movies and binge-watch the first few episodes of available series for free. Expect early episodes and some full seasons of many of South Africa’s most-loved series, including telenovelas like International Emmy nominee The River; Gomora, recently named Most Popular Soapie at the 2020 Royalty Soapie Awards; record-breaking reality shows like the Showmax Originals…
Telkom and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) today announced a partnership to launch a new streaming channel, TelkomONE. The mobile operator channel will house the public broadcaster’s free-to-air radio and TV channels. The five-year partnership, a first-of-its-kind digital carriage agreement for the SABC, will showcase South Africa’s most-watched TV programmes and most listened to radio platforms, on one online platform. TelkomONE will stream live SABC’s television channels 1, 2, Sport and Education as well as all 19 SABC radio stations. “We are excited about the opportunity to provide South Africans with free access to watch their favourite SABC content,…
The Nedbank Digital Team has been vital in the bank’s digital transformation journey, enabling the group to offer clients cutting-edge digital banking solutions to meet their unique needs. Despite COVID-19 making the job market unpredictable, a total of 29 digital design roles are available in specialized fields ranging from design research, product design, to design ops and UI and UX design. “Design at Nedbank is embraced as strategic capability and engages with all aspects of the value chain from business modeling, design research, Digital Customer Value Proposition development, design systems, UI & UX and design ops,” Head of Design Strategy…
South Africa’s first Mara Experience Store today opened its doors exactly one year since the opening by Mara Phones of the country’s first smartphone manufacturing facility. Eager shoppers at Soweto’s landmark Maponya Mall practised social distancing as they waited in line ready to snap up opening specials at the franchise owned by well-known broadcaster, philanthropist and businesswoman, Chante Jantjies. The opening of two Mara Phones facilities – one retail and one manufacturing – within a short space of time represents bold steps for Africa’s most established home-grown smartphone brand in a challenging but promising environment. An impressive 50 Mara Experience Stores,…
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says a recently unveiled multifaceted security plan, anchored on insourcing capacity, will make an invaluable contribution to the fight against theft and vandalism of rail infrastructure. Mbalula on Tuesday participated in a debate in the National Assembly, which focused on the impact that the ongoing damage to public rail infrastructure has on the economic lives of the most vulnerable and poor commuters. Security-related incidents in the rail environment increased by 20% between 2017/18 and 2018/19 from 7 737 to 9 268. Since 2012/13, security-related incidents per million train kilometres increased by 175% per million train kilometres.…
Internet of Things (IoT) innovator IoT.nxt has beefed up its management team to handle global growth as the roll-out of its solutions picks up pace across different territories. IoT.nxt has offices in South Africa, The Netherlands and USA. South African telecoms company Vodacom, a subsidiary of Vodafone, acquired a majority stake in IoT.nxt in 2019 which will drive the companies’ global roll-out of IoT solutions. “Our partnership with IoT.nxt majority shareholder Vodacom and its parent company Vodafone has fast-tracked access to markets globally, as both companies have added our advanced IoT offerings to their enterprise solutions for customers across a…
EasyEquities has partnered with Synatic to create data aggregation and data integration components for all the systems it uses to track clients current lifecycle, trading and investment history. The solution gives a comprehensive view of all client activities. The investment platform, aimed at making share trading accessible for all, needed to make sense of the data of its more than 500 000 clients. The challenge was to give the same level of customer experience to all its clients, regardless of the investment size. EasyEquities caters for all investors regardless of their wealth. It attracts investors big and small, young and old,…
South Africa’s largest digital bank, Capitec, has partnered with SA Home Loans to launch its first full home loan offering. Built on the principles of simplicity and affordability, the product has one of the fastest application processes in the country – allowing consumers to initiate an application in under 5 minutes – alongside highly competitive linked interest rates from 6%. Francois Viviers, Executive of Marketing and Communications at Capitec, says the offering was developed in response to strong demand for a simple and efficient, digitally-led home loan option. “We’ve continually received requests from both clients and the public asking us…