At Home

Naledi Pandor, Minister of Home Affairs

First National Bank (FNB) Commercial and RMB Corporate Bank launched the new FNB banking tablet app. According to Mike Vacy-Lyle, CEO of FNB commercial banking, the introduction of the app means commercial banking clients can access all the banking services without having to go into a branch or be in front of a traditional computer. – ITWeb

Analytics can ease the challenges faced by SA’s healthcare system and can transform service delivery. This is according to Goran Dragosavac, solutions manager for information management at SAS Institute SA. Analytics can deliver insights about illness treatments and potential cures, as well as control disease outbreaks, help run hospitals efficiently, control costs and allocate staff where they are most needed, he says. – ITWeb

The implemantation of the smart ID card for South African citizens will cost taxpayers R5.3 billion, Naledi Pandor" rel=tag>Naledi Pandor, home affairs minister, revealed. “The total cost of the national implementation of the smart identity cards is estimated at R5 345 165 000. The smart ID card forms part of the Department of Home Affairs’ overall IT modernisation programme. – ITWeb

Telkom board member and former chairman, Jeff Molobela, withdrew his bid to be re-elected as director after a unanimous decision was made by the board not to recommend him for another term. Molobela was appointed by government in November 2009, and served as Telkom’s chairman between then and February 2011. – ITWeb

The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) has unveiled a range of mobile applications to access government services. GPG spokesperson Sithembiso Ndlovu says the GPG mobile applications will support government-to-employee, government-to-citizen and government-to-business interaction. The apps also offer a school and hospital locator which is GPS-enabled, a transport schedule (eg, with a Gautrain link), and school results notification. – ITWeb

Samsung unveiled its latest phablet, the Galaxy Note 3, and the brand’s Galaxy Gear, to the South African market, at an event in Cape Town recently. Described by the Samsung team as a “workhorse” type of technology, the Note 3 aims to combine entertainment and leisure features with business functionality. – ITWeb

Top-level domains with extensions such as joburg, capetown and durban are set to hit the Internet next March, after a lengthy process with the international naming authority. Vika Mpisane, GM of the ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), says the names will be open to everyone, including international users, so they can have sub-level domains. – ITWeb

The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has unveiled its new In-Orbit Testing (IOT) antennae facility, at its Hartebeesthoek station. SANSA space operations MD Raoul Hodges says the new facility consists of a 10m Ku-DBS band antenna and an equipment room, outfitted with IOT equipment and infrastructure to assist clients to successfully commission new satellites. – ITWeb

Into Africa

Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel and Ecobank plan to expand an Airtel mobile money service to Gabon and Sierra Leone. Chidi Okpala, the Africa director for Airtel Money, said the partnership between Ecobank and Bharti to further expand the presence of mobile money across the continent was a “further demonstration” of the company’s “commitment to provide affordable, simple and innovative solutions for” banking and telecommunications clients. – ITWeb Africa

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Angie Motshekga" rel=tag>Angie Motshekga, Minester of Education" />MobileRecharge.com has added Econet Wireless in Zimbabwe and Orange in the Democratic Republic of Congo to its list of networks whose subscribers are able to top up prepaid offerings from the Web site. Owned by US-based telecoms solutions company, KeepCalling, representatives of the MobileRecharge.com Web site said there are now even more “possibilities… for mobile recharges to African countries”. – ITWeb Africa

Two Nigerian-made mobile phone brands could be launched in the country by next month, according to the country’s Phone and Allied Products Dealers Association. The president of the association, Godfrey Iyke Nwosu, said the made-in-Nigeria phone brands are expected to be the outcome of a joint venture among 20 Nigerian investors who have pooled resources to bring the devices to market. – ITWeb Africa

Free WiFi Internet access has become available in certain public spaces in Rwanda’s Kigali, thanks to an initiative that plans to connect the city. An official from Rwanda’s ICT ministry has told ITWeb Africa that free WiFi has already been made available in certain public places, including commercial buildings, bus stations, airport, public transport buses and cabs. – ITWeb Africa

Kenya’s government has thus far spent more than $400 million on its migration from analogue to digital broadcasting, according to an expert. ICT sector policy advisor to the Kenyan government, Daniel Onyango Obam, revealed the figure at the Digital Dialogue Conference held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. – ITWeb Africa

Three million Zimbabweans are using EcoCash, a mobile money system on offer from local telecoms firm Econet Wireless. Econet – whose mobile network has 8 million subscribers and is the largest in Zimbabwe – has said it is revamping the EcoCash platform to expand its capacity. The expansion has been planned to also enable expat Zimbabweans in SA to send money back home using EcoCash. – ITWeb Africa

South Korean electronics firm Samsung is dominating Africa’s smartphone space, as its market share on the continent has touched 52.1%.This is according to an International Data Corporation (IDC) quarterly mobile phone tracker report that says Samsung has a strong lead in Africa, as BlackBerry follows far behind with a 17.8% market share. The IDC adds that Africa’s smartphone market is expected to double in the next four years. – ITWeb Africa

Chinese technology provider Huawei on Monday launched its first Mideast logistics hub in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Dubai: a facility planned to also eventually serve Africa. Huawei’s GM for the UAE, Peng Xiongji, said after the first three years of operation, the firm planned to expand the hub’s reach to parts of Africa, such as Kenya and Tanzania. – ITWeb Africa

Abroad

German engineer Siemens has secured a $3 billion revolving credit facility to replace a previous arrangement, which expired in September, the company said. The facility has a tenor of five years with two one-year extension options. It replaces the company’s $4 billion facility from 2006, which expired in August 2013. – Reuters
 
Apple will be unable to widely roll-out a new version of the iPad Mini with a high-resolution “retina” display this month, people who work in the company’s supply chain said. This leaves the gadget without the sharper screen found on rival tablets from Google and Amazon.com. – Reuters

The legions of people who use Instagram will start to see advertising in their photo sharing feed in the next couple of months. The popular photo-based social network, snapped up by Facebook, will roll-out advertising in the United States in a bid to become a “sustainable business”, Instagram said. “Seeing photos and videos from brands you don’t follow will be new, so we’ll start slow,” Instagram said. – Reuters

Sequoia Capital, a US venture capital firm which has backed groups including Apple and Google, has taken a minority stake in flight search company Skyscanner, valuing the Edinburgh-based business at $800 million. Sequoia, which has also worked with Cisco and Yahoo, did not give details on the level of funding, but said Scottish Equity Partners would remain Skyscanner’s largest investor. – Reuters