Wednesday, 19 February 2014 00:00
Written by Compiled by Phahamang Thakudi
At Home
President Jacob Zuma
Rdio, a digital music service, and Shazam, a media engagement company, will expand their music discovery partnership to include SA. “Working together in major countries across the globe, we are now providing more than 270 million Shazam users the ability to instantly listen to an entire song they just identified exclusively on Rdio,” says Daniel Danker, chief product officer of Shazam.
– ITWeb
A local company launched a plant in Stellenbosch to produce new solar panel technology to rival international products. Photovoltaic Technology Intellectual Property (PTIP), together with the
Department of Science and Technology (DST), opened Africa’s first semi-commercial plant, which manufactures thinfilm solar electricity panels to meet renewable energy needs.
– ITWeb
South Africa is a nation in “digital chaos”, with only sheer luck preventing locals from losing precious personal photos, videos and files, according to digital storage company, WD, which recently released results of a study that found that South Africans store personal files on no fewer than 14 electronic or storage devices, with 60% never backing up a single item of data.
– ITWeb
Telkom has reiterated that it is intent on turnaround as new appointees, chief marketing officer Enzo Scarcella and chief procurement officer
Ian Russell join the company’s executive team, which has been tasked with guiding its transformation.
Telkom CEO
Sipho Maseko" rel=tag>Sipho Maseko said: “In the near future we will have a capable and dedicated team in place to plan and guide
Telkom’s transformation.” –
ITWeb
<a href=
Sal Laher, Eskom" />President
Jacob Zuma" rel=tag>Jacob Zuma has ordered the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) to investigate allegations of “serious maladministration in connection with the affairs of the SA Post Office (
SAPO)”, including the implementation of point-ofsale system WebRiposte. The SIU will probe
SAPO’s loans granted to the Courier and Freight Group, management of movable and immovable property, and intentional or negligent loss of public money. –
ITWeb
Microsoft SA has warned local consumers of a phone scam which leaves unsuspecting users vulnerable to financial and IT
security threats. A
Microsoft statement says scammers use phone directories to gather information on consumers in order to gain their trust, before telling victims they are checking into a computer problem or virus detected by the global software giant.
– ITWeb
BlackBerry has added a new feature to its iconic BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app that allows users to find friends and contacts already using BBM. BlackBerry’s new Find Friends feature picks up which friends and people in a device’s contact list are already using BBM, and allow users to choose who to send a PIN invite to.
– ITWeb
Small businesses that wish to remain competitive can no longer afford to be complacent about technology support, says Dawie Bloomberg, MD at Green Apple IT. According to Bloomberg, SMEs rely on IT systems for communication, transacting and delivery of service. Bloomberg believes linking service level agreements to IT support has become vital.
– ITWeb
SA’s power utility, Eskom, aims to wrap up its move to
SAP in the next few years, at the same time as it targets automation to improve efficiencies. CIO Sal Laher says the utility is busy with 100 key projects in its IT unit, which it expects to wrap up in 2015. Laher’s plan is to make Eskom efficient by implementing automated processes and technology that improves efficiency.
– ITWeb
Into Africa
Technology giant
IBM is rolling out its supercomputer system Watson across Africa. Named after
IBM’s former president, Thomas Watson, the supercomputer technology uses artificial intelligence to quickly analyse huge amounts of data and understand human language well enough to hold sophisticated conversations. The move comes about after
IBM launched its first African research lab in Nairobi, Kenya last year.
– ITWeb Africa
Indian headquartered Bharti Airtel has moved to make key changes to its African management team. The shake-up follows the company’s announcement that its business in all countries where it operates is to be clustered into strategic business units (SBUs), whose leaders are set to report into the MD and CEO. This clustered approach is set to be implemented in Africa from 1 April.
– ITWeb Africa
Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu says his African proprietary investment company Heirs Holdings is investing in US-based satellite technology company, Planet Labs. Nigerian-based Heirs Holdings is the only African investor in the project, according to a statement. The amount of the investment, though, has not been revealed.
– ITWeb Africa
A ‘cash crunch’ in Zimbabwe is forcing more local companies to turn to mobile money to pay workers’ salaries. This is according to officials at Econet, who say that use of their ‘EcoCash Payroll’ service has risen 82% amid “liquidity problems” facing banks in the country. Econet Services CEO, Darlington Mandivenga, said EcoCash user numbers had now surged to 3.5 million.
– ITWeb Africa
A shift to a more secure chip-and-PIN bank card system in Kenya could kill off mobile money services such as M-Pesa in the country, claims a local expert. On 31 March, all Kenyan banks are required to migrate to the more secure Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV) interoperation system, as cards that use magnetic strips are deemed to be vulnerable to crimes such as skimming by fraudsters.
– ITWeb Africa
The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) has revealed that over two million SIM cards have been deregistered because the owners failed to beat the 31 January 2014 registration deadline. ZICTA said it has also instructed the country’s three mobile operators:
MTN, Airtel and Zamtel, to abide by the switch-off directive.
– ITWeb Africa
Nigeria’s total active telecom subscriber numbers reached 121.8 million at the end of October 2013. This is according to a report released recently by the Nigerian Communications Commission, which revealed the country’s active subscriber numbers grew by 600 000 between September and October 2013. The number of active mobile GSM connections also increased during this period, jumping from 118.4 million to 119.1 million, reveals the report.
– ITWeb Africa
Abroad
IBM is exploring the sale of its semiconductor business and has hired Goldman Sachs to find potential buyers. However,
IBM is not committed to the idea of selling, and could also seek a partner to set up a joint venture for its semiconductor operations.
IBM was not immediately available for comment.
– Reuters
Daniel Loeb
In the past, billionaire investor Daniel Loeb would often wait for an industry conference before revealing his investment ideas. Not anymore. The hedge fund manager and some other prominent investors have now turned to Harvest Exchange, a new Web site designed for investors, to release news of their big bets.
– Reuters
Google unveiled a video-conferencing system for businesses, the Internet search company’s latest effort to generate revenue from corporate customers. Google said it was partnering with Asus, Hewlett-Packard and Dell to offer a specialised version of its Chromebox PC that comes with videoconferencing gear, including a video camera and speakers. The product will put Google in competition against
Cisco Systems and Polycom. –
Reuters
Internet search company Google will own a 5.94% stake in China’s Lenovo Group, worth $750 million, once Lenovo’s deal to buy Google’s Motorola handset division closes, according to a disclosure on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Google would take 618.3 million Lenovo shares at $1.213 per share, the stock exchange said.
– Reuters