Mail.ru seeks to expand outside Russia with My.com

Mail.Ru Group is the largest Internet company in the Russian-speaking world and one of the leading Internet companies in Russia.  Now it seems the company is ready to expand to the rest of the world. Yesterday, it announced the brand it is to expand into international markets with: My.com. 

In a Google translation of his speech, Dmitry Grishin, CEO of Mail.Ru Group said "Today our services to more than 90% of the Russian internet audience. We have made progress in the Russian-speaking Internet, but do not intend to stop there. Therefore, more than a year testing the individual products in foreign markets. Now is the time when all these actions should be carried out by a single name, which will be more effective abroad. So we decided that we need a new global, short, memorable name. And we are pleased to present my.com."

The Google translation continues - At Mail.Ru Group has experience of entering new markets. The company's portfolio includes several dozen popular all over the world of browser and client games like Allods Online, Perfect World, Lord of the Rings Online, Warface. Mail.Ru Group has offices in several countries, including Germany, Israel, Latvia. The company has also set up a center of localization, which are engaged in the translation and adaptation of the service interfaces and projects for overseas markets."

But I believe this should be good news for its investors especially Naspers who owns 29% of mail.ru. As reported in its last financial report, Nasper's share of Mail.ru reported revenues grew by 66% to R1.1bn ($0.13bn) and core headline earnings were up 139% to R364m ($42m). Tencent, another Naspers property based in China, the largest and most used Internet service portal owns 7.8% of mail.ru. An then again Naspers owns 34% of Tencent.

It is unclear what My.com is but this should soon unfold very soon. 

Orascom considers sale of Central & South African businesses

Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) said it was considering the sale of all or part of its interests in central and southern Africa as part of a review of operations in the region.

In a statement made today, Orascom Telecom said it was conducting a review of its operations in Burundi, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic "to identify, examine and consider a range of strategic alternatives".

"Those strategic options include, but are not limited to, a sale of all or a material part of the Sub-Saharan African Operations either in one transaction or in a series of transactions," it said.

Russia's Vimpelcom took control of the Egyptian company last year in a deal worth around $6 billion.

Kenya: Server Crash Leads to M-Pesa Outage

A power outage on a Vodafone server in Germany caused a complete breakdown of M-Pesa services on Saturday night.The company said the power outage had damaged server discs. The money transfer service had not been restored by yesterday afternoon

Bob Collymore, Safaricom CEO said in a statement, "our technical teams both here and in Germany are working to restore normal services as soon as possible."

"We expect services to resume later on today. We regret the inconvenience caused," Collymore said. With over 15 million subscribers, M-Pesa transacts about Sh2 billion daily handling about two million transactions.

Rural Dwellers to Surf Voice Internet in Local Languages

A new phone technology will now enable thousands of illiterate farmers and traders in the rural areas of the country to surf the internet in their local languages, an expert Dr Emdad Khan said recently.

A Nigerian firm with a United States business partner recently said it is targeting over 100,000 illiterate farmers and traders in the rural areas of the country with Internetspeech which would allow them to do businesses through the internet in their local languages or with people of other languages via inbuilt translator.

Abuja based Adamu Consulting and Internet Speech Inc in collaboration with ICT University of Louisiana USA, who presented the new technology at a press conference in Abuja, said it is an innovation that will bridge the digital and language divides and will allow those who have no formal education access to the internet.

Olayinka Oni becomes Microsoft's Technology Officer for Nigeria

MICROSOFT Nigeria has appointed Mr. Olayinka Oni as the company’s national technology officer.  Oni comes with 15 years experience in Information Technology working in consulting and the banking sector.

His most recent experience was CIO/GM IT & Operations at Wema Bank Plc, a role in which he successfully provided strategic direction for banking operations and ensured that the IT function and capabilities was tightly aligned to the corporate goals and objectives of the company.

Oni has also worked with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc as CIO/Vice-President Information Technology and before then was with Accenture (Global Firm of Management Consulting) as an Experienced Manager in the Nigerian practice working across industries like banking, manufacturing and government and Access Bank Nigeria Plc., working across the Operations, Technology Support and Business Development functions.

As National Technology Officer, Oni will be very instrumental in ensuring that Microsoft Nigeria has the right relevance in society and with the Federal Government by helping generate policies and programmes that create a more sustainable ICT environment.  The role will also see him assist the government adopt and leverage technology to make them more transparent, efficient and competitive.

UAE’s Souq.com confirms Naspers investment

Dubai-based online retailer Souq.com confirmed on Monday fresh investment from South African media firm Naspers.

The announcement comes almost four weeks after Arabian Business exclusively revealed that Naspers was in talks to purchase a shareholding in Souq.com from parent company Al Jabbar Internet Group.

The value of the stake in Souq.com was not disclosed, although sources say that it is about US$40m. If true, the deal would be the second largest investment made in an ecommerce and internet business in the Middle East since the 2009 sale of Arabic-language portal Maktoob.com for US$165m.

Rocket Internet enters the food ordering business with "Hellofood"

Rocket Internet is really trying out any and every business in the African market, particularly in Nigeria.   It just launched its third business in Nigeria. It started out with Kasuwa and then Sabunta a couple of months ago; and then merged the two businesses into Jumia.

The third business is an online food ordering business known as hellofood. It claims it has entered into partnerships with 27 restaurants already. Currently the restaurants are in eight areas in Lagos - Ilupeju, Opebi, Ikeja GRA, Maryland, Victoria Island, Banana Island, Lekki Phase 1 and 2.

Hellofood is geared to attend to the needs of the person that wants to stay in his/her for lunch, tired of the same takeaways or wants to share a meal with the family at home.

From the homepage, it would seem that Hellofood has also launched in Morocco.

Despite its seeming trust in this business model, one wonders if this business will stand the test of time in Nigeria. Is there really a market for this kind of service? 

But hey, wait a minute, it is the same business model as Foodpanda in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Veitnam  Taiwan and Colombia. I truly salute the Samwer Brothers courage and vision. With over 50 businesses globally, maybe they are truly seeing something that is not visible to the average man.

Well I wish Rocket Internet the best in this new endeavour. So Welcome Hellofood. Hmm...interesting name.

Google unveils Nexus 4, Nexus 10 and Updated Nexus 7

Google was forced to postpone a New York City media gathering in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. So Google took to its official blog to announce its new hardware line of Android devices.

The company unveiled three new members of the Nexus lineup: the Nexus 4, the Nexus 7 with 3G and the Nexus 10.

And they all run Android 4.2, a new flavor of Jelly Bean—which includes the latest version of Google Now and other great new features.

The Nexus 4 is Google's latest smartphone, developed together with LG. It has a quad-core processor which means it's super fast, a crisp 4.7" (320 ppi) display that's perfect for looking at photos and watching YouTube, and with wireless charging you just set the phone down on a charging surface to power it up, no wires needed. Awesome!

KIA ENTERS THE TOP 100 GLOBAL BRANDS!

Kia Motors Corporation enters the exclusive list of the ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands,’ according to the 2012 study released recently by Interbrand, the world’s largest brand consultancy agency.

Kia’s remarkable increase in brand value is now estimated at $4.1 billion USD, which firmly sets the automaker at 87th place on the ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands’ list. This is a 50% increase from last year’s estimated brand value and far exceeds the average automotive brand value growth rate of 11%.

The 2012 edition of Interbrand’s annual ‘Best Global Brands’ study was executed through a comprehensive brand performance analysis using best practice research methodology by expert analysts. The study measures a corporation’s financial performance in terms of the raw financial return to investors; role that a brand plays in the actual purchase decision; and brand strength, which is the ability of a brand to secure the delivery of expected future earnings.

First Bank sponsors Team Naija at the 2012 Global CyberLympics in Miami, USA

Nigeria’s quest to grow and deepen local capacity in information security received a boost over the weekend following the sponsorship of Team Naija by First Bank of Nigeria Plc to the finals of the global Cyberlympics taking place in Miami, United States of America.

Information Security involves the protection of information and information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, perusal, inspection, recording or destruction. The Global CyberLympics is an international cyber security competition that seeks to build capacity across nations, create awareness for global cyber defense and promote global peace.

Team Naija and Team Broken Cipher of Sudan will represent the African continent and compete against teams from other continents at the finals which kicks off on October 29, 2012. Team Naija’s four-man contingent comprises Abolusoro Oluboyede David (FirstBank staff), Nasiru Abimbola Jaiyeola (FirstBank staff), Oluseyi Akindeinde (Digital Encode) and Adewale Obadare (Digital Encode).

mPawa, Flowgear, Qabila, Sasa Africa, Maliyo Games emerge as 2012 DEMO Africa winners

The first ever DEMO Africa Lions with DEMO Africa organisers. The five startups are headed to Silicon Valley

Five startups drawn from across Africa have made it to the inaugural group of DEMO Africa Lions. This comes after two days of more than 42 pitches at the event held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC). DEMO is an annual event now held in five continents where startups apply to launch new products and solutions. The five startups will be heading to Silicon Valley where they will receive mentorship and exposure to potential investors.

mPawa is based in Accra, Ghana and co-founded by Maxwell Kofi Efrem Donkor, Anthony Agyekum-Mensah, Nancy Neizer and Shadrack Boadu. The startup seeks to solve Africa’s jobless problem by focussing on the informal sector, which is the biggest employer in Africa. mPawa lists informal jobs such as carpenter’s on a portal where those who need such skills can find people to carry out their tasks. Maxwell says mPawa has already matched 2,000 job seekers in the previous 3 months, has raised $90,000 is looking to raise $100,000. (http://mpawa.com/ https://twitter.com/mpawa_africa )

MainOne's Funke Opeke wins 2012 CNBC All African Businesswoman of the year award

Ms Funke Opeke

The CEO of MainOne cable company, Funke Opeke, has won the 2012 CNBC All African Businesswoman of the year award (AABLA). The ceremony was held at the Vodadome in South Africa at the weekend. She had earlier won the same award for the West Africa region held in August in Lagos, Nigeria.

The AABLA, an initiative of CNBC Africa, serves as a platform to discover business leaders that are creating a culture of entrepreneurship, developing best practices and carving powerful and sustainable business models in the African and global economy.

Ms Opeke was the only Nigerian winner of the night as she edged out CEO of Top Image Limited, Kenya, Jennifer Barassa for the coveted award.

App Camera: Samsung Galaxy Camera.

It is definitely the season for photographers to lust after all-new gear for the new year. The past few months have been a horn of plenty in terms of intriguing camera announcements. Just last week's PhotoPlus Expo in New York City showcased all these new cameras on U.S. soil for the first time. Full-frame sensors and cameras with wireless features and apps are two of the biggest trends in 2012. Meanwhile, mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras and premium compact cameras continue to get better and better.

One camera that cut my eye is the App Camera: Samsung Galaxy Camera.

Along with its up-to-date Android operating system and connected features, the Samsung Galaxy Camera also has a far-reaching 21X-optical-zoom lens and manual exposure controls, two factors that make it a more-versatile photography device than your average smartphone camera. The Galaxy Camera's fast response times and sharp touchscreen; it really is like using a high-end smartphone grafted to the back of a camera.

Source: www.pcworld.com

Western Union Announces Commitment to Design and launches a New Financial Platform for NGOs

The Western Union Company, a leader in global payment services, recently announced its commitment to creating a financial platform specifically designed to meet the payment needs of non-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the people they serve.

The platform, Western Union NGO Global Pay, will be created to help NGOs overcome the 'last mile' and bridge the gap between funds that need to be disbursed and the people who need them in the field.

Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union, spoke on the opening day of the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York to announce the company's new Commitment to Action.

Blackberry in Nigeria...

Though it is getting a beating globally, the blackberry seems to be increasing in awareness in Nigeria. I think Research in Motion (RIM) has realized that for it to survive, it must leave the comfort of America /North America to find new markets in far distant lands. And it has done so by berthing in Nigeria, hoping to find succour.

Watch this video and listen to a diverse group of Nigerian businessmen and entertainers talk about their ongoing love for their BlackBerry smartphones.

Enjoy!!

Visafone becomes first carrier to introduce CDMA-enabled Blackberry phones in Africa

Visafone in Nigeria becomes first carrier to introduce CDMA-enabled Blackberry phones in Africa. This announcement was made recently in a joint meeting with Visafone and Research in Motion (RIM) - manufacturers of the blackberry suite of devices - in Lagos early this week.

Regional Director for RIM in East, Central and West Africa, Waldi Wepener, said, “We are proud to support Visafone with the launch of the BlackBerry solution to their customers in Nigeria, and to bring CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones to the region with Visafone for the first time. The BlackBerry solution from Visafone offers customers a strong selection of smartphones and a wide range of services that connects them to people and information around the country, across the continent, and throughout the world.”

It is not true. There is no iPad 4!! .......Well errr...yes, there is.

I went out this evening to visit a friend and he told me that the iPad 4 had come out. I argued on the contrary. I could not believe that Apple would release iPad 4 within a year of releasing iPad 3. I tried to imagine the reason for an ipad 4 - was the iPad 3 rushed or was the iPad 4 a response to a competing device? Apple had just released the ipad mini and some people were still waiting to receive their orders.  And I don't think I heard of the usual pomp and pageantry that accompanies the unveiling of an apple device. What would happen to the people that had purchased the iPad 3? Wouldn't they feel outdone and hoodwinked?

Well the only way to find out was to find out from the ubiquitous Google. Lo and behold, it was actually announced on the same day (i.e October 23) as the ipad mini. How did I miss that?

The ipad 4 is exactly the same size as the ipad 3 and has the same retina display. It packs the A6X processor that apparently doubles the performance of CPU and graphics as the A5X. The processor also includes improved image signal processing technology, which should improve the results from the iPad 4's updated 5-megapixel camera.  Battery life is claimed to be about 10 hours.

Mobile Money In Nigeria - The Case of Pessimistic Indeterminacy

Victor Asemota

Victor Asemota is prolific writer who has been in the payments space for quite some time. He writes regularly through his blog - BigChief Thoughts

Please read..........

I am sure there are very some very serious people at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi the Governor of the apex bank is on top of that list. He did a lot of things people did not like in his first year in office but he gave us a stronger financial sector and we are grateful for that. A lot of what his administration corrected was however due to flawed policies of previous ones.

The CBN also finally kick-started efforts towards greater financial inclusion by issuing mobile licenses and we were very hopeful. One year later however, there is more uncertainty than hope as none of the Mobile Money license holders have been able to reach any meaningful scale. The total number of Mobile Money users so far is less than the population of one suburb in Lagos. If Ernest Ndukwe (the former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission) had been put in charge of the Mobile Money initiative the same way he presided over the GSM licensing process, we would have had all licenses revoked by now for dismal performance.

Feed the Future Commercial Sorghum Project in Nigeria

Feed the Future Commercial Sorghum Project in Nigeria is Win-Win for Smallholder Farmers and Private Companies


A Feed the Future project in Nigeria has enabled more than 42,000 smallholder farmers to increase their sorghum yields by 128 percent by helping them to improve production practices and better meet the requirements of buyers. Meanwhile, a major malting facility in the southeast region is now operating at full capacity thanks to increased availability of high-quality sorghum.

In countries around the world, Feed the Future is increasing food security by improving agricultural value chains, targeting assistance in ways that strengthen the connection between private companies and the smallholder farmers who supply them with raw materials. This private sector-led project in Nigeria aimed to do just that, helping farmers grow commercial sorghum that would fit the demands of a specialized local market.

Nokia drops off the Top 5 list of smartphone vendors globally

According to an IDC report released yesterday, Nokia has been replaced by Research In Motion as a Top 5 smartphone player. Nokia's exit from the Top 5, where it had resided since the inception of IDC's Mobile Phone Tracker in 2004, was precipitated by the rise of Samsung and Apple globally and high-growth vendors like Huawei in China, where Nokia was the dominant player as recently as the third quarter of 2011.

"Nokia's share losses have meant gains for competitors," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "The company's transition away from Symbian-powered smartphones to ones shipped with Windows Phone has left ample opportunity for rivals to steal share away from Nokia over the past 18 months. However, the smartphone market is still relatively nascent, which means there's room for multiple vendors and operating systems to flourish, including Nokia."

The worldwide mobile phone market grew 2.4% year over year in the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12), driven by heavyweights Samsung and Apple. Vendors shipped a total of 444.5 million mobile phones in 3Q12 compared to 434.1 million units in the third quarter of 2011.

Safaricom, M-Kopa unveil Ksh. 40 a day solar unit

Safaricom Limited has in partnership with M-Kopa launched the first ever GSM enabled pay-as-you-go solar solution in the world that customer pay for using mobile money. Using embedded Safaricom enabled sim cards, M-Kopa Solar allows a customer to enjoy the use of a d.light solar home system, while paying daily installments of Kshs. 40 via M-Pesa for a period of one year. An initial deposit of Kshs. 2,500 applies, following which customers pay for usage at their convenience.

This credit-sale model is targeted at low income households in rural areas currently dependent on kerosene for lighting and local mobile bureaus for phone charging. An estimated 3 million Kenyan homes or 80 percent of the population living off the power grid spend an average of Kshs. 70 daily on kerosene and phone charging.

Vodafone turns down Essar Kenya’s request to use the M-Pesa platform

Vodafone has turned down Essar Kenya’s request to use the M-Pesa platform on the strength that the arrangement will be of no benefit.

The UK telecoms giant, which has a 40 per cent stake in Safaricom and owns M-Pesa, said on Thursday that Essar Kenya’s Yu is not part of the expansion of the money transfer service which will open the platform to rival operators.

Essar Kenya has been keen to operate its money transfer service on M-Pesa’s platform and to access Safaricom’s agents.

Vodafone set to expand the reach of M-Pesa across 35 countries globally

Vodafone is set to expand the reach of mobile money program M-Pesa by connecting it to Belgacom's HomeSend, an international remittance hub.

M-Pesa, launched by Vodafone through Safaricom in Kenya in 2007, gives consumers in developing countries with no access to basic financial services a secure platform to send and receive money via mobile phones using SMS messages. (Vodafone owns 40 per cent of Safaricom). It is currently available to consumers in seven developing countries including India, Kenya, Tanzania Afghanistan.

Beginning next month, M-Pesa will be connected to more than 21 international money transfer businesses in 35 countries through HomeSend, a money transfer platform. By opening up the M-Pesa service through HomeSend's hub, Vodafone is increasing the reach and utility of the service, the company said. Users will now be able to receive funds from a number of service providers as well as send funds to friends and relatives in their own countries.

Kenya restricts 'hate' texting for elections

Kenya's political parties have been banned from sending any bulk text messages to voters without the approval of state regulators.

The move is intended to prevent parties from sending out hate messages during next year's elections, the state regulator said.

More than 1,000 people were killed in ethnic violence that hit Kenya after the 2007 disputed elections.

Some analysts say hate-filled text messages helped fuel the conflict.

Francis Wangusi - the director-general of the regulatory body, the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) - said parties would have to submit to it bulk text messages for vetting 48 hours before sending them out.

Airtel Malawi and Smile Life Insurance in partnership

Malawi’s leading mobile network provider Airtel Malawi leaves no stone unturned in revolutionizing the digital world as regards the use of phones in enhancing the country’s economic growth via its Airtel Money product.

After striking partnerships with various institutions in areas of bill payment, bulk money transfer among others, Airtel Malawi is now a partner of Smile Life Insurance Company on cash transfer through Thandizo Funeral Policy.

Making the announcement in Blantyre, Smile Life Chief Executive Officer Stan Singo said his company was excited with the partnership since a number of Thandizo Policy clients did not have easy access to banks.

Grrrr... these "ads not by Facebook" virus - How to remove them

I noticed these annoying ads on my Facebook timeline recently. The ads are generally in the form of banner advertisements that show up on Facebook Timeline profiles similar to the one in the image below, in brackets. When they appear, there is always a byline "ads not by facebook". They are 'adware" - virus. I followed the steps below and they disappeared.

Facebook ads will never appear as banners in the center, top, or left column of Facebook web pages. If you're seeing banner ads in these locations, or ads that flash or play sound automatically, you probably have adware.

Facebook released a help video on removing malware from your Facebook Timeline profile.

Depending on which browser you’re using, follow the instructions below to remove the “ads not by Facebook” appearing on your Facebook Timeline profile.

To remove the non-Facebook advertisements you need to access your browser’s extensions and disable any of them that look fishy.

If you see an extension that you didn’t install, disable it. If none of them look suspicious, you should still disable them one-by-one and check Facebook after disabling each one to see if the advertisements have been removed.

Here are steps to access your extensions in each browser:

Note: After you disable the extensions, you must restart your browser for the changes to take effect.

Disable Extensions in Google Chrome:

• Click on the “Window” menu and then extensions.
• Disable and remove any suspicious extensions.

Disable Extensions in Mozilla Firefox:

• Click on the “Tools” menu and then “Add-ons“.
• Disable and remove any suspicious add-ons or extensions extensions.

Disable Extensions in Apple Safari:

• Click on the “Safari” menu, “Preferences…” and then the “Extensions” tab.
• Disable and remove any fishy extensions extensions.

Inlaks Connects 700 Rural, Community Banks in Ghana

Inlaks Computers, an Information Technology and Systems Integrator in Nigeria, with spread in West African region, has extended its expertise in real time online integration beyond Nigeria.

The company recently completed the automation of over 700 rural and community banks (RCBs) in Ghana on a single instance of Temenos T24 platform for real time online transaction processing.

The project was sponsored by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States of America and implemented by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), a government agency.

It was contracted to Inlaks to computerise and centralise the operations of all the 136 RCBs in the country, with over 700 branches on the T24 microfinance version (MCB).

VISA Study Reveals Mobile Money Drives Demand for Financial Services

Multi-country study reveals sophisticated payment needs and behaviors of unbanked consumers in developing economies. Preventing theft, ability to send money quickly drives mobile money adoption. 

Visa Inc. and Fundamo, the Visa-owned mobile money platform, recently announced the results of a study that reveals consumers in six developing countries are already highly aware of mobile money services - the ability to make payments or send funds simply by accessing an account on their mobile phone. Nearly 90 percent of consumers surveyed by Visa expressed interest in making use of these services in the future.

The Visa Mobile Money study analyzed the financial services needs and expectations of mobile money among nearly 2,500 consumers, mobile money agents, and merchants in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan. The results reveal that consumers' needs for financial services are far more sophisticated than previously believed and go well beyond the established transaction set offered by mobile money services today. The study also found that security concerns associated with carrying cash and the need to quickly send money to family members living far away are among the key drivers for mobile money adoption.

Dimension Data and BMSL part ways amicably after an eight year partnership

Dimension Data, the global ICT solutions and services provider, and Beachfront Management Services Limited (BMSL) have reached an amicable agreement to end their eight year relationship in West Africa. Dimension Data has purchased BMSL’s 49% stake in Dimension Data Nigeria for an undisclosed sum, and both companies confirmed they will explore new market opportunities separately in the Nigerian market.

The alliance between Dimension Data and BMSL began in 2004, and resulted in the formation of one
of the largest systems integrators in Nigeria.

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman, Dimension Data Middle East & Africa said “Both parties are committed to
West Africa and will continue providing the best, most effective solutions and services to further the
business goals of our West African clients.”

Frank Onuzo, Chairman of BMSL, commented “Both Dimension Data and BMSL have enjoyed a
successful partnership together over the years and we are parting ways as friends. Going forward the
Nigerian market will benefit from both companies’ focus on ICT solutions.”

“Dimension Data is committed to Nigeria and the African continent today, tomorrow and into the
future,” concluded Ngcaba.

Inmobi rethinks its strategy, closes African and Russian Offices

Multi-national mobile ad network InMobi is set to close up its operations in Africa and Russia.

The San Francisco headquartered company claims to be the world’s largest independent mobile ad network, with operations on five continents, with offices in Bangalore, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo. It also claims that it is capable of reaching 485-million consumers, in over 165 countries, through more than 93.4-billion mobile ad impressions monthly. Of those 35.4-million are in Africa, with the continent generating 10% of the total ad impressions.

This seems to a bolt out of the blue because it seemed that the company was making fruitful inroads into Africa and it had the right people to prosecute its business in Africa, in the person of Isis Nyong'o, the MD for Africa and Moses Kemibaro, The Director of Sales for Africa who joined the company early this year. It was even thought that the company would open an office in Nigeria very soon.

It is rumoured however that the closures come in the wake of the company’s acquisition by a large Japanese corporate.

It is said that it would continue servicing the affected markets from its London office. Who knows what will happen to the affected staff? Some may be retrenched or relocated to the London office.

A formal statement would be released to the press shortly. 

This would be updated as more information is received.

Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu make nominee list for "Forbes Africa Person of the Year"

FORBES AFRICA presents the top 5 nominations for Person of the Year 2012. The winner of this award would have had an influence on the events of the year gone by on the African continent.

Aliko Dangote, Dr. James Mwangi, Joyce Banda, Tony Elumelu and Stephen Saad

The nominees are:

Aliko Dangote: Founder and President of Dangote Group. Motivation: Last year's runner-up to Forbes Africa Person of The Year is still Africa's richest man, worth more $11.2 billion. Dangote continues to be one of the continent's biggest employers. He promises to donate most of his fortune to charitable causes upon his retirement.

Bringing Information to Ghanaian Voters

December 7th 2012, will be an important day for Ghana and Ghanaian voters. Ghana has already established a reputation for a being a vibrant and stable democracy, and expectations are that the upcoming election in December will be yet another opportunity to reinforce the well-deserved reputation. During the election campaign period, the Internet is increasingly playing a role in how Ghanaian citizens’ search for information about elections, and in how politicians seek to engage with voters.

To meet this growing demand for information online around the elections, we embarked on several activities. From training local journalists and political parties on digital tools for elections, to partnering with local media partners like Citi FM to hold Google+ Hangouts with leading candidates and local civil society groups, to livestreaming the IEA Evening Encounters in Partnership with IEA Ghana and MMG, to partnering our Google Student Ambassadors in Ghana with local civic group Ghana Decides - our focus has been on making elections-related information accessible and driving citizen engagement.
 
        

Today, we announce the launch of the Ghana Elections Hub, an information portal where you can keep track of news and information related to the Ghana election. Following up on our past efforts in Nigeria and Senegal, it is one more step in our ongoing effort to make sure our users can easily find and share locally relevant information.

Source: Ory Okolloh, Google Policy and Government Relations Manager, Sub-Saharan Africa

Nikon unveils DSLR-like Nikon 1 V2 mirrorless camera

A day before PhotoPlus Expo kicks off in New York, Nikon announced its second-generation mirror-less camera with a built-in eye-level electronic viewfinder (EVF). The Nikon 1 V2 has a different body style from its predecessor, last year's Nikon 1 V1, as well as a new sensor, a new image processor, and several new in-camera features.

The Nikon 1 V2's sensor is the same size as the one in previous Nikon 1 cameras—a 1-inch-type CMOS sensor that measures 13.2mm by 8.8mm—but it's a higher-resolution 14.2-megapixel version instead of the 10-megapixel sensor found in earlier Nikon 1 cameras. The V2 also looks a lot more like a shrunken-down DSLR than the previous Nikon 1 cameras, with a sizable hand grip on the front of its magnesium-alloy frame.

Like the V1, the V2 has a built-in 1.4-million-dot eye-level EVF plus a 3-inch-diagonal LCD on the back. In addition to a built-in pop-up flash, the camera also has a hot shoe that accepts external Speedlight flashes. ISO settings range from 160 to 6400, and the camera provides an automated two-shot HDR (high dynamic range) setting.

Cloud computing: NAMA deploys Windows sever 2012 to boost operations

By deploying Windows Server 2012, the Chief Information Officer, (CIO) of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency has said that government agencies can improve service and cuts costs through cloud computing.

The Chief Information Officer, (CIO) of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency Ogochukwu I.F in a statement said that Windows Sever 2012 has enabled NAMA to do more with less, thereby reducing cost and enhancing considerably the ICT ROI for their organization and bringing efficiency in the use of technology to value centric proportions.

According to him, NAMA has a mandate to ensure safe, efficient, expeditious and economic flight operations in Nigeria with state of the art technology solutions.

“This also includes enhancing service quality and reducing costs for its customers. Furthermore, it is tasked to develop the Nigerian airspace to a level that is consistent with international standards, AFI Region and ICAO CNS/ATM Global plans.

Bharti Airtel now 4th largest mobile operator while MTN ranks 11th

In a recent report of mobile operators global ranking by connections, Q2 2012 released by Wireless Intelligence, China Mobile maintains the number 1 position with growing connections by
11 percent year-on-year to 683.1 million.

India’s Bharti Airtel (#4) was the only other member of the top ten to move up the ranking, recording a 13 percent year-on-year rise in connections (to 250 million) and leapfroggingTelefónica to become the world’s fourth-largest operator group in Q2. MTN lost its 10th position from last year to become the 11th largest mobile operator in the world with 136.6 million. MTN is the largest operator in Nigeria.

Product Innovation: Moving From Ideas to Execution

Stefan H. Thomke

Many companies view product innovation as one of the few sustainable ways to grow. A vexing problem for company leaders today is how to instill a culture of innovation that creates business success. In a recent interview, Stefan H. Thomke, the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration and chair of the MBA required curriculum at Harvard Business School, shares his thoughts on why companies need to innovate, how they can model innovative behaviors, and why leadership is critical to instilling a culture of innovation.

Executive Education (EE): How can anyone really teach innovation? Doesn't it depend on "out of the box" thinking?

Thomke: From a practical business perspective, there are two ways to look at product innovation: it must create novelty, and it must have value. Innovation must be produced at a cost that the buyer is willing to pay, and it must allow the producer to cover the cost and generate a sufficient profit.

I would agree to a point that one cannot "teach" innovation. However, company leaders can learn certain skillsthat contribute to being innovative. Good leadership fosters the capacity for action, stimulates creativity, and motivates new ideas. More important, leadership is critical to moving from innovation to product development to execution. It draws from personal insights and capabilities, as well as actionable research. Companies can become great innovators provided they have properly equipped leadership.

Apple launches ipad mini today.

Apple launches ipad mini today....with the usual fanfare and videos...for the ipad mini and the smart cover.

The device has a 7.9-inch display with a 1024 x 768 resolution, Apple A5 processor, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. With a starting price of $329 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, the tablet is the least expensive iPad ever made.

"Iron Man 3" trailer now out....

Watch the first official trailer for Marvel's "Iron Man 3" coming to cinemas April 26th 2013, starring Robert Downey Jr.

In Marvel's "Iron Man 3", brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr., is pitted against an enemy, The Manadarin, whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

The villain, this time, is The Mandarin (played by Ben Kingsley).

Hope it will be better than Iron Man 2

A faster, easier, tree-saving way to share documents

I can't tell you many times I've gone to a trade show and been handed a folder full of product information—stuff I wanted, but certainly didn't want to carry around.

Sure, I could always say, "Email that to me," but then there's the hassle of handing over my email address and relying on the company rep to remember.

HP boosts security for data centre

Leading Information Technology Company, HP, has developed a number of new security solutions for physical, virtual and cloud environment and the entire data centre space on the country.

Speaking during an HP Networking forum in Lagos on Friday, experts from the company said the new solutions were part of the FlexNetwork solutions for video and mobile computing.

The new HP FlexManagement solution, the company said, brought together physical and virtual network management in a single pane of glass, and a new virtual and cloud optimised network intrusion prevention system to increase security in data centres.

If Eko Atlantic was developed, maybe we would have had a chance in winning the most innovative city of the year award

Truthfully, I didn't know whether I should be patriotic or realistic when I saw the headline "Lagos nominated for Most Innovative City of the Year Award" in one of the local newspapers in Nigeria. Lagos was nominated along with 24 other cities like London, Bratislava, Hong Kong, New York, Hamburg, Toronto, Copenhagen, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Shenzhen, Vienna, Medellin, Atlanta, Tel Aviv, Chicago, Vancouver, Berlin, San Francisco, Seattle, Raleigh-Durham, Melbourne and Boston.

The competition is sponsored by Citigroup in partnership with the Urban Land Institute. It recognises places where people, passion and ingenuity are shaping efforts to build sustainable and liveable cities.

“The Urban Land Institute used selected criteria to identify the initial 200 most innovative cities. The list was then narrowed down to 25 cities after an online vote by the general public and readers of the Wall Street Journal,” De Lille said.

Well, I didn't expect Lagos will make the final 3 selected on the 18th of October. But it was interesting that Lagos made the 25 city shortlist. By the way, the final 3 shortlisted are New York, USA; Tel Aviv,   Isreal; and Medellin, Colombia. 

But all this got me thinking. What if the Eko Atlantic project had been completed and considered in rating Nigeria, would we have had a chance?

What is the Eko Atlantic, you might ask?

The Eko Atlantic project is an innovative residential and business development being built from scratch on reclaimed land offshore, which is set to provide 250,000 homes and offices for 150,000 commuters.

This futuristic city will be everything that Lagos is not; possessing world-class transport systems, open spaces, efficient sewage systems and uninterrupted electricity. Development plans include shopping malls, skyscrapers and marinas, with a strong focus on sustainability and the use of eco-friendly materials and technologies. Eko Atlantic will enhance the status of Lagos and create a new and stronger financial hub for the whole of West Africa.

The development brings together private individuals and companies who have the knowledge and expertise to transform land lost to the power of the sea into an ocean city that will be one of the wonders of the 21st century.

The multibillion-dollar investment is provided solely by private investors. Those already on board include local and international banks - First Bank, FCMB and GT Bank in Nigeria, BNP Paribas Fortis, and KBC bank - as well as a growing number of private investors.

The development will boast of  "The Great Wall of Lagos" - a seven kilometer-long barricade - which is under construction to stop the sea eroding the shoreline. It is made from tens of thousands of concrete blocks (accropodes) weighing 5 tons each which interlock loosely to form an effective barrier that dispels the force of the waves and provides the primary armoured sea defence. Beneath the accropodes are various layers of rock that function as the secondary armour and core.

The video below will show you more about Eko Atlantic.

I daresay that if completed, it will give a major boost to doing business in Lagos.

P.S. Voting on the most innovative city will continue until December 31, 2012 to determine the winning city, which will be announced in the Wall Street Journal Magazine early next year. People can cast their votes online at www.wsj.com/ad/cityoftheyear

ITU and WHO launch m-Health initiative to combat non-communicable diseases

Press Release (Oct.  17th) - The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) today launched a new partnership called the ‘m-Health’ Initiative to use mobile technology, in particular text messaging and apps, to help combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases.

Non-communicable diseases are some of the leading causes of death and disease in both developed countries and emerging economies alike. They dominate health care needs and expenditures in most developed as well as most low and middle-income countries. Of the 57 million deaths globally, NCDs contribute to an estimated 36 million deaths every year, including 14 million people dying between the ages of 30 to 70. Using mobile telephone technology, m-Health practices can help save lives, reduce illness and disability, and reduce healthcare costs significantly.

Through the Initiative, ITU and WHO will provide evidence-based and operational guidance to encourage partners worldwide, especially governments, to implement m-Health interventions to address prevention and treatment of NCDs and their common risk factors – tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol.

Presenting the Smart school from Samsung using the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

This is a must watch for Parents, Teachers and all those involved in setting the educational curriculum in schools.

We will get there pretty soon as primary schools are already telling Parents that they will soon have to buy tablets for their children.

For those who cannot afford the samsung tablets, there are indigenous tablets like the "Inye" from Saheed Adepoju's Encipher Group which are cheaper and customised for the Nigerian Environment. They have just launched Inye 2.

Presenting the smart school from Samsung using the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1.

Etisalat is celebrating 4 years of innovation with 9ja's first ever Google+ CEO Hangout!

On Tuesday October 23rd 2012, Etisalat Nigeria will be celebrating 4 years of commercial operations in Nigeria.

Discover the secret to their success as Steven Evans, CEO Etisalat Nigeria discusses their business pillars of Innovation & Customer-Centricity with Nigerian online bloggers at 4.30p.m.

Click here to attend the hangout.... See you there.

Wema Bank attracts Nigerians on Facebook with "Sharp Sule" from Maliyo Games

Wema Bank Plc has enlisted Maliyo Games to develop a game to engage and promote its brand among Nigerians on Facebook (social media). The game, named Sharp Sule, is about an Okada rider riding through Lagos traffic and trying to jump over vehicles while also trying to collect coins at the same time that will translate to points in the game as well as real cash.

Wema Bank clearly knows that there are a lot of Nigerians on Facebook. The lastest figures released by Social Bakers states that there are currently 6,685,280 Facebook users in the Nigeria, which makes it #31 in the ranking of all Facebook statistics by Country. It has even overtaken South Africa (6,543,280) to be second largest in Africa after Egypt (11,697,260).

Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, CEO of Mxit steps down

Alan Knott-Craig Jnr.

Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, has stepped down from his position as CEO of Mxit just as it received R100 million investment by shareholders. Mxit is the largest mobile social network in Africa with over 50 million registrations to date. The company was acquired by Knott-Craig Jnr late last year and it is available in 128 countries.

“While the shareholders and I share the same vision, we differ on how to get there... therefore, I agreed to go my own way,” Knott-Craig Jnr was quoted saying in a statement.

Chief financial officer Francois Swart would be acting CEO until a replacement for Knott-Craig was found.

Knott-Craig wished the company well on his departure.

“I wish them all the best for the future, Mxit is Africa’s biggest tech success story, and can be a global success story.”

In a statement, the company says its strong image is partly credited to Knott-Craig, saying that it is South Africa’s biggest success story which is “in no small part due to Knott-Craig’s involvement and vision over the past year”.

“Mxit has a window of opportunity and is pursuing aggressive growth by increasing the user base in Africa through partners in targeted African countries,” it adds.

List of African mobile agriculture services and applications

Nowadays, it is almost common knowledge that smartphones and apps have the potential to help farmers increase their yields and revenue. Mobile services (voice, SMS, simple data) are perfect for areas where infrastructure and financial limitations prevent broadband Internet. They are already playing a valuable role in African agricultural markets, in many cases only two years after introduction.

Of course, many farmers still lack access to these relatively new mobile opportunities. Expect that to rapidly change in the next few years as mobile costs are driven down, as governments create agricultural frameworks, and as private business realizes the tremendous opportunity at hand.

In honor of World Food Day, we’ve put together a list of how African developers, governments, and organizations operating in Africa are harnessing mobile technology to improve agricultural practices. Private companies, budding IT entrepreneurs, NGOs, as well as governments are all involved in a variety of mobile phone-based products, services, and applications aimed at boosting small-scale agriculture. Perhaps the apps out of Kenya (iCow and M-Farm) earn the most global recognition, but dozens of other projects are serving a similar need.

Click here to read more

Breaking News: Newsweek magazine stops print edition to go online only

In an unprecedented statement made today, Tina Brown, announced that Newsweek, the 80-year-old US current affairs magazine, is to become an online-only publication.  The last print edition will be on 31 December, 2012. Tina Brown is the founder of The Daily Beast, an Internet news group. Newsweek merged with the internet news group the Daily Beast two years ago.

She said in a statement: "Exiting print is an extremely difficult moment for all of us who love the romance of print and the unique weekly camaraderie of those hectic hours before the close on Friday night.

"But as we head for the 80th anniversary of Newsweek next year, we must sustain the journalism that gives the magazine its purpose - and embrace the all-digital future.

"This decision is not about the quality of the brand or the journalism - that is as powerful as ever. It is about the challenging economics of print publishing and distribution."

The Daily Beast's founder, Tina Brown, said its site now had more than 15 million unique visitors a month, a 70% increase on last year.

In 1933, Newsweek hit the news stands - a weekly magazine covering global events. But its fortunes has been hit with the emergence of the Internet, thereby changing the way people access their information and the declining advertising revenues. It was sold by the Washington Post Company to Sidney Harman in August 2010, and was merged with the Daily Beast three months later.

According to Ben Thompson, a Business reporter based in New York, the number of Newsweek subscribers has slumped from more than 3 million at its peak to 1.5 million today. Couple that with falling advertising revenues for traditional print media and it's led Newsweek to ditch its print edition altogether.

Newsweek Global, the digital only version, will be available via a subscription. It's a way of tapping into the 70 million consumers who now use tablet computers in the US, a figure that's soared from just 13 million two years ago.

But while it's a large market, there are also more competitors, and analysts say standing out in a digital world will be tough.

Which mobile network would you choose based on the current trending videos?

Mobile telcos in Nigeria spend a lot of money trying to endear their hearts to the teeming 160 million Nigerians. In contrast to other countries, promotions never end in Nigeria. The telcos spit out promo after promo and your find the average Nigerian moving from one network to another. Hence you find the average Nigerian with 2 or 3 phones. This is apart from the fact that you may find yourself stranded in one part of the country with no signal if you decide to be on only one network.

As the different promos run, you also hear different music tracks, videos and artiste endorsements. The telcos know that music plays an important part in the lives of the average youthful Nigerian.

Lets take a look at the current trending music videos of some of their products and let's choose based on the videos. Which would you choose? Sorry only 2 entries for now...

First, "Padi na good thing from Airtel - Half Dollar". This video tells the story of how a common young lad reaches to the pinnacle of his fame with the help of his friends via the Airtel Network. The Padi Na Good Thing campaign celebrates the creativity and resourcefulness of Nigerian youth. It reinforces friendship as a key influencer and enabler of success especially among young people.



Second video is from Etisalat - "Etisalat 0802ja". This video is about a young guy who sneaks out of the house to perform at a gig.


Sorry no relevant entries from MTN and Glomobile for now..

So which network would you choose based on the video?

AOL’s Alto adds visual organization to e-mail

Attempting to stay relevant in a world where even Yahoo! gets more press, AOL on Thursday launched the beta version of its new cloud-based e-mail management tool, Alto.

Alto won’t replace Gmail, Yahoo!, AOL, or any other e-mail services. Instead, the free HTML 5-based client manages your existing accounts in a less linear, more visual way. You visit Alto’s site and sign in with your AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, or iCloud information.

AOL says it looked at how people sort their mail in real life—typically in stacks of bills, personal letters, and junk—and sought to replicate that system with Alto. For those of us whose inboxes are filled to the brim with a mess of unimportant chats, parent-child communiques, work documents, Craigslist furniture links, Facebook notifications, and Groupon deals, Alto may provide some organizational relief.

The tool lets you drag and drop mail into labeled stacks by category or sender, so you can designate messages from your mom or boyfriend to be filed away in their own stack rather than hitting your inbox with the rest of the riff-raff.

Nigerian FG charges NPC on biometric ID cards

The Presidency has directed the National Population Commission to embark on comprehensive biometric capturing of all Nigerians in 2015.

The initiative, according to the chairman of the NPC, Chief Festus Odimegwu, is one of the measures to address the security challenges in the country.

The NPC boss, stated this on Wednesday in Abuja when he visited the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Prof. Babatunde Osotemehin.

Odimegwu said biometric identification card would help to reduce the incidence of kidnapping, armed robbery and Boko Haram insurgency in the country.

He said, “The initiative has massive implications for planning and security issues in Nigeria. The President charged us to be innovative in our population policy. And we have come with something we think is very unique, to base our population policy on the premise that we want to improve the quality of our population.

“We want to provide a consolidated centralised national demographic data bank in the National Population Commission. To do that, we will meet the President’s charge to prepare very well to carry out a demographic biometric census in 2016.

Shop and build up loyalty points when u buy on Konga.com

You can now shop and build up loyalty points when you buy on Konga.com. Konga Points is the loyalty program offered by Konga.com. Konga Point is the loyalty point that a Konga customer earns on completing an order or other event based activity like registration. A konga customer can use the earned Konga Points as a payment method for future purchase. Only registered users of Konga.com can benefit from this program.

Sim Shagaya - led Konga is clearly defining the way for ecommerce in Nigeria by setting high standards such that any new player would have to meet these standards and even surpass the standards before they are reckoned with in the industry. They launched with Cash on Delivery service and they have been able to demystify the seeming logistics/delivery issue in Lagos by delivering goods across to their customers within hours after purchase.

Way to go Konga.

Click here for more information about the program.

Google Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center

If you’re looking for the beating heart of the digital age — a physical location where the scope, grandeur, and geekiness of the kingdom of bits become manifest—you could do a lot worse than Lenoir, North Carolina. This rural city of 18,000 was once rife with furniture factories. Now it’s the home of a Google data center.

Engineering prowess famously catapulted the 14-year-old search giant into its place as one of the world’s most successful, influential, and frighteningly powerful companies. Its constantly refined search algorithm changed the way we all access and even think about information. Its equally complex ad-auction platform is a perpetual money-minting machine. But other, less well-known engineering and strategic breakthroughs are arguably just as crucial to Google’s success: its ability to build, organize, and operate a huge network of servers and fiber-optic cables with an efficiency and speed that rocks physics on its heels. Google has spread its infrastructure across a global archipelago of massive buildings—a dozen or so information palaces in locales as diverse as Council Bluffs, Iowa; St. Ghislain, Belgium; and soon Hong Kong and Singapore—where an unspecified but huge number of machines process and deliver the continuing chronicle of human experience.

Read more by clicking here

76 million people have experienced Nokia Life Tools in India, China, Indonesia and Nigeria.

As at August 2012, over 76 million people have experienced Nokia Life Tools in India, China, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Nokia Life has its origin in the high growth economies, built ground up for the emerging markets, from the emerging markets. It was first launched in India in July 2009 as ‘Nokia Life Tools’ and soon expanded in to China, Indonesia and Nigeria.

Designed to address information gaps, Nokia Life is the first and the largest mobile based life improvement information services suite in the emerging markets delivering personalised and hyper-local information daily on topics of relevance across Education, Health, Agriculture and Entertainment.



In Agriculture, it helps to plan ahead, be more productive and make the most of the market with the weather forecast information, agriculture tips & techniques and regular updates of local market prices of
seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.

Nigeria to auction 2.3GHz spectrum in December 2012

Dr. Eugene Juwah, EVC of NCC

COME December, Nigeria will conclude the auction of the remaining spectrum band, including the 2.3GHz reserved for broadcast services, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah, has said.

Juwah, who spoke at the World Conference of the International Telecommunications Union, in Dubai, United Arab Emirate, explained that the planned auction will enable service providers to improve on their telecommunications services, although the exercise involving the reserved 2.6GHz would have to wait for a while.

The NCC boss added that the remaining two slots would be released to boost Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) connectivity, beside aiding broadband growth in the country.

He also disclosed that plans have also been concluded to get spectrum experts to train Nigerians on the use of the specialised spectrum.

Kenya’s top 150 local web sites on Opera Mini

Opera Mini is undoubtedly one of the most popular mobile web browsers in the world – and especially on the majority of feature phones that you find in highly mobile-centric markets such as Africa. In this respect, Opera Mini does represent the majority of mobile web users in Africa who tend to use everything from very entry-level GPRS enabled feature phones to those who have 3G on Advanced phones. In many African markets, feature phones make up as over 90% of the mobile devices that are used by mobile subscribers, across the board. Therefore, for this reason, I am very excited to share the information below which represents the top 150 local Kenyan web sites accessed via Opera Mini in the month of August 2012.

LinkedIn Launches Revamped Profile Pages

LinkedIn has released one of its biggest product face lifts to date. The company announced a redesigned profile page, giving its users a more customizable way to show their professional identity. Announced at a Tuesday event, the profile page now offers new editing tools, insights to a user’s network, and features that make it easier to connect with other users.

The release is part of LinkedIn’s continued effort toward simplification, what the company calls Project Katy. Most recently, the company announced a new “follow” feature and blogging platform. In the last several months, LinkedIn has also released a redesigned homepage, a new notifications feature, updated mobile apps, revamped company pages, endorsements and more.

Digital broadcasting: Can Nigeria meet the 2015 ITU deadline?

LAST week, a Digital Dialogue Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and at the end of the event, majority of the participants were of the opinion that the possibility of African nations meeting the 2015 deadline for migration to digital broadcasting was slim.

Apart from that, the public who access television services free on air will have to spend a little more when digitization is completed, for everyone will now have to purchase a set top box (STB — decoder to you) before TV signals can be received.

The Digital Dialogue Conference, powered by global pay TV leader, Multichoice saw tens of journalists from many African countries participating at the event which held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.

The conference kicked off earnestly with a welcome address and introduction of the participants by South African technology journalist, Aki Anastasiou who also moderated the event, after which Vicki Myburgh of PriceWaterhouseCoopers opened the dialogue proper with a presentation titled Entertainment and Media Outlook 2012-2016 — The End of the Digital Beginning.