At Home

Graham Braum, Lenovo Africa

Andile Ngcaba, founder of Convergence Partners and executive chairman of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, has been named to join an international panel that aims to address the issue of Internet governance. Commenting on the formation of the panel, Ngcaba said: “The world, technology, society, politics, constitutions, religious doctrines, ideologies, and the economy – nearly all aspects of human life – are now being driven by the Internet. – ITWeb

Ster-Kinekor Theatres has completed the digital conversion of its sites across SA, the company said in a statement. Ster-Kinekor CEO Fiaz Mahomed says the company’s digital roll-out is its single largest investment. “The process started in June this year, and we are delighted to announce that the conversion of our final South African cinema in Kimberley was completed mid-November.” – ITWeb

Lenovo raised the curtain on its flagship Yoga Tablet in South Africa at an event recently, with tech-savvy entertainment personality Gareth Cliff. “The Yoga Tablet is truly a unique and an innovative industry first,” said Graham Braum, Lenovo Africa GM. The 10-inch and 8-inch models run on MT8125 for WiFi models and MT8389 Quad Core processors for 3G models, with 16GB or 32GB capacity, and feature Android 4.2.

The City of Tshwane has launched an online wayleave management system, which has replaced a slow and cumbersome paper-based system. This will significantly simplify and speed up the regulatory process for telecommunications companies wanting to lay fibreoptic infrastructure in the city. “This should result in speedy processing of wayleaves and expedite the rate at which companies can deploy telecommunications infrastructure,” said FTTH Council Africa CEO Juanita Clark. – ITWeb

South Africa’s second largest mobile operator MTN has revealed plans to introduce new 3G smartphones bearing the company’s brand as part of measures to make such products available at affordable prices. “The smartphones will be available in the next four to six weeks,” Kanagaratnam Lambotharan, chief enterprise business officer of MTN SA, said in an interview. – ITWeb Africa

A forum that aims to accelerate the adoption of high-speed, reliable and cost-effective broadband services in SA was launched at AfricaCom, in Cape Town. According to a statement, the WiFi Forum of SA is a voluntary industry body comprising operators, service providers, technology providers and associated parties. The forum will provide input to regulatory processes that pertain to the WiFi community. – ITWeb

A government plan to introduce set-top boxes with conditional access (CA) could compound delays regarding South Africa’s migration to digital television. This was revealed by the National Association of Manufacturers in Electronic Components (NAMEC) at its digital migration conference, in Johannesburg, South Africa. NAMEC describes itself as an association that represents around 80 emerging electronics and software companies in South Africa. – ITWeb Africa

Into Africa

Chipmaker Intel has officially launched its ‘Explore and Learn Marketplace’ education application for the Kenyan market. The Intel Explore and Learn Marketplace provides access to a repository of free and low-cost digital textbooks and interactive learning materials for students from grade 0 to adults completing their MBAs. The move to unveil the offering in Kenya comes weeks after Intel unveiled the offering for South Africa. – ITWeb Africa

Nigeria’s National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has signed on German-headquartered HJP Consulting to deliver test services and consulting for the country’s electronic identity card (eID card) project. The NIMC plans to introduce more than 100 million cards to Nigeria’s 167 million citizens. The eID cards are also expected to have identity functions as well as include a MasterCard prepaid functionality. – ITWeb Africa

Zuzu, Lenovo Africa

Personal technology company Lenovo has unveiled Africa’s “first” Android statue, Zuzu. The idea for the Zuzu statue was born after a social media competition whereby consumers could name the uniquely African Android statue. Lenovo received more than 5 300 entries across Africa, according to a press statement. The company said Africa remains an important growth region and it is committed to expanding its presence. – ITWeb Africa

Nigerian e-commerce Web site JUMIA has started selling Japanese electronic maker Sony’s PlayStation 4, the much-anticipated video gaming device, at a price of N139 995 ($881). This is more than double its US retail price of $399. “JUMIA continues to bring the best shopping experience to their customers in Nigeria by being the first company to offer PlayStation 4,” the e-commerce retailer said in a statement. – ITWeb Africa

Global search engine giant Google has launched a lightspeed fibre network in the city of Kampala, Uganda to facilitate faster Internet connection speeds. Google’s Project Link aims to build a “super-fast, high-capacity fibre network to enable local mobile operators or Internet service providers to connect people in Kampala to faster and reliable Internet”, reads a Google Africa blog post. – ITWeb Africa

A lack of addressing systems is holding back the take-off of e-commerce in Africa, according to Byron Moorgas, media manager at South African headquartered mapIT, a division of TomTom Africa. Moorgas said mapIT has developed a solution to this problem that could help Africans have their own virtual addresses. mapIT has developed a MapCode open source software that can be integrated with other solutions such as GIS. – ITWeb Africa

An open access model for broadband could help Kenya roll-out Internet access more rapidly, according to Abdirahman Sheikh, CEO of Soliton Telmec Kenya. “I have seen streets in Nairobi where there are up to six fibre connections belonging to different players,” Sheikh said. An open access broadband model involves competing telecoms firms and Internet service providers sharing infrastructure. – ITWeb Africa

Kenya’s largest mobile operator Safaricom has outlined plans to connect commercial buildings to the fibre-optic grid for ‘free’ as the Nairobi Securities Exchange firm tries to woo customers. “We will start off in Nairobi before rolling out to the other towns, as we expand the reach of our high quality metrofibre,” said Nzioka Waita, Safaricom’s director of corporate affairs. – ITWeb Africa

Abroad

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said he would expand his company’s small contract manufacturing business, paving the way for more chipmakers to tap into the world’s most advanced process technology. “We’re going to go much further. If we can utilise our silicon to provide the best computing, we’ll do that,” Krzanich said, adding that Intel has improved its chip offerings for tablet makers.

Brian Krzanich, Intel

Technicolor is bullish about its TV set-top box business for next year, and expects to outstrip growth in the market in Europe, Asia and North America, its chief executive said. “I expect that in Europe and Asia we will grow much faster than the market (in set-top boxes),” Frederic Rose said at Morgan Stanley’s annual Technology, Media and Telecoms Conference, in Barcelona.

Vivendi will have “significant” means to reward shareholders with buy-backs dividends after it receives the proceeds from selling its stakes in video games publisher Activision Blizzard and Maroc Telecom, its finance chief said. Philippe Capron said the board had not yet decided on the exact size or form of the return to shareholders. The group seeks to exit telecoms to focus more on media.

Microsoft aims to upstage rival Sony with a console that goes beyond gaming and helps transform media viewing, a longcherished but elusive goal. The software giant is betting its first new video game console in eight years will help sustain its position as a dominant player in gaming hardware.

Britain’s supermarket Wm Morrison will attempt to win customers from rivals’ long-established online grocery businesses by making it easy for them to switch, CEO Dalton Philips said. “By enabling customers, with one click, to import their favourites, we’ll be bringing switching to the online food market,” Philips said. Morrison’s plan to differentiate itself is to focus more on fresh food and superior customer service.