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Mteto Nyati

The Core Group, local distributor for Apple products, dropped the price of iPad 2 tablets after the announcement of the new iPad. The company cut the cost of all its WiFi iPad 2s by R1 000, while the 3G-enabled models have dropped by between R1 000 and R1 400. The top-of-the-range tablet – the 64GB with 3G – is now R7 299. Core cannot yet confirm when the new iPad will be available in SA. – ITWeb

Cloud computing will create nearly 14 million jobs globally by 2015, and of those, nearly 145 000 will be in SA, according to a research study released by Microsoft, and conducted by analyst firm IDC. According to Microsoft SA MD Mteto Nyati" rel=tag>Mteto Nyati, in SA, government and the retail sector are also expected to contribute strongly to new job creation through their growing interest in cloud computing initiatives. – ITWeb

Vodacom has gone live with a new tool that uses social media to tackle the longstanding issue of SMS scams. The cellphone operator added a specialised tab on its Facebook page, where the public can report SMS scams as and when they happen. Vodacom says it believes it can harness the popularity of the all-pervading social networking site to “spread the word” when new scams surface. – ITWeb

Embattled pay-television provider TopTV is negotiating a replacement channel for Current TV, since the US-based channel ceased operations on 11 March. TopTV last month announced the channel would be discontinued and no longer part of its bouquet. TopTV extended an apology to its subscribers for this inconvenience, but says the loss of Current TV as part of its channel offering is beyond its control. – ITWeb

Telecoms service provider, Nashua Mobile has rolled out a fixed data package, called Xtreme Data, for select Nokia smartphones and mobile phones. The service is priced at a fixed rate of R59 per month for post-paid customers, on top of standard contract charges. According to Nashua Mobile, the fixed monthly cost removes the uncertainty associated with surprise bills at the end of the month. - ITWeb

Pragmatic Works, a company that focuses on the Microsoft business intelligence, information management and database administration consulting spaces, recently opened a Cape Town office. Mark Stacey, Pragmatic Works SA founder, says the company will target the Cape Town market, starting specifically with the SharePoint 2010 and SQL 2012 products from Microsoft. – ITWeb

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Mike Styer" src="http://www.iweek.co.za/images/stories/2010/March12b/mike_styer.jpg" />Data storage and network management company NetApp opened an Africa hub in Johannesburg, as it seeks to capitalise on the continent’s economic boom. The company already has offices in Kenya, Angola and Nigeria. SA is to be NetApp’s regional hub that is to assist the business to focus more on sub-Saharan Africa, which the World Bank forecasts is to have strong growth domestic product growth of over 5% in 2012 and 2013. “It’s a sales office primarily,” says Mike Styer, NetApp’s Africa manager. – ITWeb

Identity-based, unified threat management company Cyberoam has signed local system integrator partnerships with Netology, FFG and System5. According to Cyberoam, the partnerships stem from the security company’s plans to boost local market penetration for network security in sub-Saharan Africa. Lynton Lubbe, Cyberoam channel manager for sub-Saharan Africa, says there’s a huge local demand for unified threat management security. – ITWeb

NEC Display Solutions Europe has appointed PartServe Channel Support at its local authorised service centre for all NEC Display Solutions Europe’s displays and projectors. PartServe will carry a full range of spare parts to support NEC projectors and large-screen LCDs. PartServe will now offer an NEC service at all its branches throughout South Africa including Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Polokwane and Nelspruit.

Into Africa

Omobola Johnson, Nigerian Minister of Communication and Technology, recently said the ministry is working towards a robust policy on ICT. She made this remark during a stakeholders forum on the draft ICT policy organised by the ministry in Lagos. “Today, we are here to discuss the harmonised draft ICT policy which will enhance the intended robustness of the policy,” the minister said. – Vanguard

The recent damage of an undersea fibre-optic cable off the East African coast of Mombasa, highlights the need by regional governments to strengthen laws that protect telecommunications equipment from vandalism. The cable owned by the East African Marine System (TEAMS), which runs between Mombasa and the United Arab Emirates, was damaged by a ship’s anchor on 24 February. – The Independent

Photographer David Ndung’u from Kikuyu in Kenya, has been arrested for calling Lewis Nguyai, Kikuyu’s assistant minister for local government, a dog on Facebook. Ndung’u’s comment reportedly read: “Call him Nguyai...nawa dais. HE is called ...NGUI INO...coz he is as useless as a dog...don’t apologise 4 telling the truth....tell him 2 go 2 hell 4 we are....” (sic) – ITWeb

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the country’s largest mobile phone operator in terms of subscribers and coverage, is on the verge of concluding an acquisition of 49% equity in TN Bank, businessdigest has established. Sources close to the development said Econet had agreed to pay US$20 million for a 49% stake in TN Bank, a development that values the bank at around US$40 million. – Zimbabwe Independent

Findings within the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in a 2010/11 survey titled ‘Census of Business Establishments’ show that 95% of businesses established by 2010/11 do not own computers while only 3% of businesses surveyed used Internet for business operations. The findings by Uganda Bureau of Statistics are in line with a survey made by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) whereby as of June 2010, 9.6% of Uganda’s population used the internet. – The Observer

Experts have commended the Nigerian Federal Government for opting for “guided liquidation” of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and M-Tel, its mobile subsidiary. MD of PINET Informatics Lanre Ajayi stated that the liquidation was long overdue, because the government had exhausted all other available options. – This Day

Rwanda’s mobile penetration rate increased by 3.4% in December 2011, to 41.6% up from 40.2% in September the same year. This was revealed in the latest Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency’s (RURA) telecom sector performance report. The figures represent 25% increase from December 2010. – The New Times

Abroad

Apple was told it cannot pursue ongoing patent infringement litigation against bankrupt photography giant Eastman Kodak. US bankruptcy judge Allan Gropper said it would be an “inappropriate way forward” to allow Apple to continue pursuing claims against Kodak while the company is in bankruptcy. The infringement claims centre on a Kodak patent that lets consumers preview digital photographs on LCD screens. – Reuters

Facebook added several women- and minority-owned investment banks to the roster of underwriters for its initial public offering. The social network, which filed an amended IPO registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, has hired 31 banks as underwriters for its $5 billion IPO, expected to value the company at up to $100 billion. – Reuters

Google has been pressuring application and mobile game developers to use its costlier in-house payment service, Google Wallet, as the Internet search giant tries to emulate the financial success of Apple’s iOS platform. Google warned several developers in recent months that if they continued to use other payment methods, such as PayPal, Zong and Boku, their apps would be removed from Android Market, now known as Google Play. – Reuters

Nokia has decided to close down Nokia Money, a financial service targeted for emerging markets, as it focuses on the phone business and location-based services. Nokia opened the financial service across India only late last year and was planning to expend to several other emerging markets. Nokia is in the midst of revamping its operations under chief executive Stephen Elop" rel=tag>Stephen Elop, who was hired in September 2010 to turn around the company. – Reuters

China’s Sina Corp estimates 60% of the users of its popular microblogging Weibo platform will have registered their real identities by a 16 March deadline in compliance with government regulations, a company spokesman said. Weibo, which operates like Twitter and allows users to post short messages and gather followers, has more than 250 million users, who often use it to vent about topics China’s government deems sensitive such as corruption and the status of Taiwan. – Reuters