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Sipho Maseko, Telkom

DSTV has added a new feature to its DStv iOS app that allows DStv Premium customers to download selected videos from DStv Catch Up. DStv Catch Up is a video on-demand service available to DStv Premium customers. DStv says DStv Premium customers can stream major sporting events live via the Internet on the SuperSport Web site. – ITWeb

Altron Group subsidiaries Bytes Technology and Altech are working with municipalities to integrate municipal billing systems, in an effort to speed up the payment process for rate payers and administrators. The Bytes merger with Altech – which resulted in Altron’s Technology Multimedia Telecoms division – “has allowed for the rapid development of a highly efficient and effective financial payment and administration solution for local authorities and municipalities”. – ITWeb

The latest research from GlobalWebIndex says industry talk of Facebook’s demise is “over-exaggerated”, while also noting the social media landscape is increasingly shifting to mobile. SA’s social media landscape is dominated by Facebook, with 9.4 million active users, according to research by Fuseware and World Wide Worx. Fuseware MD Mike Wronski says the adoption of both Facebook and Twitter shows little sign of declining locally. – ITWeb

The Department of Science and Technology will host the inaugural Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA (BRICS) science, technology and innovation meeting, in a bid to strengthen co-operation between the countries. The meeting, set for 10 and 11 February, will take place in Kleinmond in the Western Cape and will be attended by science ministers from BRICS countries. – ITWeb

Mxit announced that its Mxit 7 version is officially available in the BlackBerry World application store. BlackBerry is SA’s most popular smartphone brand, as its market share in the country’s phone market stood at 23% in 2013, according to ‘The Mobility 2014 research study’, compiled by research firm World Wide Worx with the backing of First National Bank. – ITWeb Africa

According to Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko" rel=tag>Sipho Maseko, by this time next year, Telkom plans to have an integrated offer for consumers that includes uncapped Internet, voice services and video-on-demand (VOD) under one flat rate. “It hasn’t been easy, but our cost-cutting measures and new plans to generate revenue have already produced encouraging results,” he said. – ITWeb

South Africa’s public sector could experience a value-added boost of $14.3 billion over the next decade if it utilises the ‘Internet of everything’ (IOE) technology, according to networking firm Cisco. A Cisco research study says IOE could help the South African government create value by saving money, improving employee productivity, generating new revenue and enhancing citizen benefits. – ITWeb Africa

SA’s governing political party, the African National Congress (ANC), plans to woo young voters with its new Mxit mobile app ahead of an election later this year. Last year, the ANC launched its ‘My ANC Western Cape’ Mxit app to target users of the social network in that province. The ‘My ANC’ app can be downloaded for free via the Mxit app store. – ITWeb Africa

South African sports channel SuperSport has won the sub-Saharan African rights to broadcast the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil. Brandon Foot, acting CEO of SuperSport, said: “This agreement continues a long and proud tradition of SuperSport broadcasting the Olympic Games, which we have done since 1996.” – ITWeb Africa

Into Africa

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the use of the electronic voting systems for the country’s general election. INEC chairperson, Prof Attahiru Jega, said the commission does not have the legal backing to conduct elections through electronic means. He noted that the Act establishing INEC prohibits the commission from conducting elections using the electronic system. – ITWeb Africa

Fiona Asonga, TESPOK

Payment service provider Visa is launching a Kenyan transport card for commuters to pay fares via mobile money. Visa’s move comes as Kenyans brace themselves for a cashless fare policy planned to kick-in this July. “We’re currently engaging matatu (taxi) owners and banks to deploy contactless payments,” Jabu Basopo, Visa’s manager for sub-Saharan Africa, has said. – ITWeb Africa

Mobile operator Glo Mobile plans to extend its fibre-optic cable network in West Africa to more locations in the coming months. Globacom’s submarine cable Glo-1 is a 9 800km long network that connects Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana. The company said it plans to further increase the number of terrestrial connections to its undersea broadband cable. – ITWeb Africa

The Kenya Internet Exchange Point is set to be hosted by Liquid Telecom company East Africa Data Centre. The Internet exchange point will get a new home, says the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK). “This is an important strategic decision for the Kenyan telecoms market, as we herald a new future for interconnection in Kenya and the region as a whole,” said Fiona Asonga, TESPOK CEO. – ITWeb Africa

Almost half of Kenyans are using mobile money to pay their utility bills. This is according to a survey commissioned by the Kenya Bankers Association in conjunction with Think Business. Meanwhile, 60% of Kenyans use mobile money for financial and banking services, according to the survey. Mobile money was first launched in Kenya in 2007, by network operator Safaricom, when it unveiled its ‘M-Pesa’ service. – ITWeb Africa

MTN Zambia has become the first mobile telecommunications service provider in Zambia to commercially launch a long-term evolution (LTE) network. The operator said the LTE technology is expected to give Zambians the fastest mobile broadband service. MTN Zambia CEO Abdul Ismail said the commercial launch of LTE in Zambia is part of a bigger network transformation plan. – ITWeb Africa

Pan-African payment card brand Verve International plans to provide in-app payments for local mobile applications, following a partnership with Microsoft and Nokia. The initiative is being introduced with a competition, themed: “Build with Verve: Lumia Edition”, which will allow developers to build mobile apps using the Verve Payment SDK. The payment SDK is planned to be made available to all developers. – ITWeb Africa

Mobile applications such as WhatsApp are killing multimedia messaging services in Kenya, says the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). In reference to the CCK’s latest quarterly report for the period July to September 2013, the number of multimedia messages dropped 11.9% from 2.5 million in the previous quarter to 2.2 million. – ITWeb Africa

Abroad

Google said it had agreed to acquire privately held artificial intelligence company DeepMind Technologies. A Google spokesman declined to comment on the price. DeepMind representatives could not be immediately reached for comment. Technology news Web site, Re/code, which reported news of the deal earlier, said the price was $400 million, without disclosing where it got the information. – Reuters

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Werner Brandt, SAP" />Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, the major supplier of Apple’s iPhone and iPad products, said it’s considering expanding manufacturing to the United States in a move that could open up new prospects for business with Apple. Chairman Terry Gou also said Indonesia will be a top priority for investment this year. “The US is a must-go market,” said Gou. – Reuters

German business software maker SAP could start looking at large acquisition targets again, particularly among cloud computing firms, its finance chief was quoted as saying by weekly Euro am Sonntag. “We could look at almost any size,” SAP’s CFO Werner Brandt was quoted as saying. Brandt, who will retire in May, declined to name any potential targets. – Reuters