I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING: DESKTOPS WILL BE FOUND ONLY IN MUSEUMS

Reflect on the last 12 months of your life. Does it feel like time passed by much faster than in reality? And there is always more to do, right?

Information overload is driving many of us to seek new ways of distinguishing what matters from what doesn’t in an effort to create a truly personalized world. One innovation already addressing our overly taxed attention spans is what’s called discovery technology.

Platforms such as Amazon, Spotify, Netflix, Yelp and Facebook use intelligent, predictive algorithms to match people with things they want, from articles, movies and products to food, services and even other human beings.

Think of discovery as the connective tissue of the future Web. It helps people navigate options by cutting through the clutter. This service is hugely important to humanity, because our biggest asset in life is time, and we will never have enough time to read all the books on our shelves or listen to all the music we want to listen to. So in what order should we engage with things we never knew existed?

EAST AFRICA TOPS AFRICA FOR INTERNET ACCESS & CONNECTIVITY

Kenya currently leads in African connectivity with the highest bandwidth per person on the continent, the fastest speeds, and some of the lowest internet costs, according to a presentation held by Liquid Telecom Kenya CEO Ben Roberts, at the EastAfrica.com conference in Nairobi.

“Investment in the continent’s connectivity is creating multiple benefits that Kenya demonstrates as a clear example of a virtuous circle, where each investment accelerates the next, with an ever increasing footprint of beneficiaries,” said Roberts.

Following on from the connection of the continent’s most concentrated cluster of undersea cables; the galloping development of the Kenyan Internet Exchange Point; the creation of thousands of Points of Presence by international and national service and content providers – delivering speedier content; and the achievement of the second cheapest internet costs on the continent, Kenya has now emerged in the top position in Africa for internet access.

“Kenya has achieved a confluence of infrastructure and provision that has positioned it with the highest growth in internet take-up compared to income per capita in Africa,” said Mr Roberts. “It has effectively become an outlier in its internet take-up, and seen Nairobi join Johannesburg as one of Africa’s two regional internet hubs.”

Research commissioned by the Internet Society and published in May last year further found that East Africa offers the lowest internet costs on the continent, with Kenya the cheapest in the region.

In its report on ‘Lifting Barriers to Internet Development in Africa”, the Internet Society found that Kenya had outperformed in surmounting a series of infrastructure barriers to arrive at its now emerging internet leadership.

The country has more undersea cables than any other nation on the East African coast, with government support having been directed at increasing access and participation by more carriers. The landing of the East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy), The East African Marine System (TEAMS), SEACOM and LION high-capacity submarine cables brought a 20-fold increase in international bandwidth in the country to 20Gbit per second.

APPLE WATCH - SQUARE SAPPHIRE DISPLAY, GOLD OPTION

One more thing! The Apple Watch is real – with a square screen and comes in 38mm and 42mm cases. There will be an 18 karat gold version but more affordable stainless steel and aluminum versions will be available too. The steel version will be called Watch Sport, the gold one will be Watch Edition.

All will have changeable wristbands, ceramic backs and sapphire screens. Six different bands will be available at launch.

The screen will not be always-on, it activates when you lift your wrist. The Glances feature lets you can swipe through pages of information on the touchscreen (hello, Android Wear).

The touch-screen is force-sensitive and you can add custom gestures (with swipes and presses).

Alternatively, you can use the digital crown to interact with the watch, including zooming in on the maps application.

Siri will of course work with the Apple Watch. The watch won't have you typing in answers, it will recognize questions from incoming messages and offer appropriate responses. Or you could use Siri for voice dictation.

Yet another way to communicate is with emoji or quick sketches on the touchscreen.

APPLE OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES THE IPHONE 6 PLUS WITH A 5.5" DISPLAY

The Apple iPhone 6 Plus is now official. It's built around a 5.5" IPS LCD display with an Retina HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels or, in other words 1080p). The pixel density is 400 ppi and iOS 8 has been tweaked to take full advantage of the larger display.

The back of the iPhone 6 Plus is made of anodized aluminum and the stainless steel frame of the phone ensures its rigidity.

The user interface has been optimized to take advantage of the larger screen and offers split-screen mode in several apps like earlierleaks suggested.

The new 64-bit A8 chip that powers the Apple iPhone 6 Plus is built using the 20nm manufacturing process. Thanks to this it's more power efficient, while still offering 25% more CPU power and 50% GPU boost.

The iPhone 6 Plus supports 20 LTE bands, but only 150Mbps cat4 LTE, rather than the latest 300Mbps Cat 6. On the positive side the phablet comes with VoLTE and Wi-Fi 802.11ac, which promises 3x faster Wi-Fi compared to the iPhone 5s. Wi-Fi calling is also a new feature, which will work on T-Mobile in the US and EE in the UK.

APPLE UNVEILS THE 4.7-INCH IPHONE 6 WITH RETINA HD SCREEN

Tim Cook took the stage at the start of today's event and almost immediately announced the new iPhone 6. The Apple iPhone 6 is based on iPod touch looks and has a 4.7" screen.

The screen is protected by "Ion-strengthened glass", which is curved around the edges for a more seamless experience when swiping. The screen itself is an LCD with "Retina HD," which translates to 750 x 1,334 pixels. This pushes the pixel density to 326ppi.

Despite the new resolution, apps will "just work" thanks to a desktop-class scaler. This will only be needed until devs update their apps to support the new resolution.

The 8MP iSight camera is back for a fourth year in a row. Apple claims the camera has been improved now - it still has 1.5µ pixels, but features phase detection autofocus and sits behind an f/2.2 aperture. There's no OIS though, it relies on digital stabilization. The camera can shoot panoramas up to 43MP.

The video resolution is kept at 1080p but the 60fps has now been promoted to the max FullHD resolution (up from 720p @ 60fps). Slo-mo video can shoot at 120fps and 240fps, but at a lower resolution.

The chassis is made of anodized aluminum with a stainless steel Apple logo. The body is just 6.9mm thick.

The Apple iPhone 6 is powered by a second-generation chipset, the Apple A8. It offers 25% more CPU power and 50% extra GPU oomph. The chipset is built on a power-efficient 20nm process, which also makes it 13% smaller physically than its A7 predecessor.

   
Three color options: Silver, Space Grey and Gold

The Apple iPhone 6 will cost $199 for the base 16GB model (with two-year contract). There's no 32GB model this year, $299 buys you 64GB instead and there's a $399 128GB version. Pre-orders start on September 12, the phones will ship on the 19th.

GSM ARENA 

ALLEGED APPLE IPHONE 6 SPECS REVEALED BY CHINA MOBILE

Less than a day before the official announcement, the alleged specs of the Apple iPhone 6 leaked out. The information was posted online by China Mobile – the largest wireless carrier in the world.

Curiously, the leaked specs of the hotly anticipated smartphone differ from past leaks. Purportedly, iPhone 6 will feature an Apple A8 chipset with quad-core CPU and 4.7” display with the rather unimpressive resolution of 1134 x 750 pixels, covered by sapphire glass.

According to China Mobile’s sign-up page, the iPhone 6 will pack an 8MP main camera and a 2.1MP front-facing unit. The device will be available in versions with 16, 32, 64, and 128GB of built-in memory.

Physical measures of the iPhone 6 are listed to be 138mm x 67mm x 7mm. Curiously, the Chinese carrier lists the device as being water and dust resistant.

China Mobile has listed only the specs of the 4.7” iPhone 6 model. Information on the 5.5” model is not displayed.

Overall, should the above specs turn out to be the real deal, iPhone 6 will have its work cut out against the competition. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to find out all about the device. In the meantime, you can check out a roundup of all past leaks over here.

GSM ARENA

AIRTEL TO SELL AFRICA TOWERS TO EATON

Bharti Airtel Limited, India’s largest mobile-phone carrier has agreed to sell more than 3,500 telecommunications towers in Africa to Eaton Towers Limited.

Bharti Airtel will lease back the towers for 10 years, Bloomberg quoted the companies to have said in a statement yesterday.

London-based Eaton bought the assets, located in six African countries, for almost $1 billion, according to a source.

The deal may help Bharti Airtel reduce debt, which stood at 712.5 billion rupees (about $11.8 billion) at the end of June, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. The company agreed in July to sell more than 3,000 towers in four African countries to Helios Towers Africa, offloading infrastructure that can be more expensive to maintain compared with other parts of the world.
After the purchase, Eaton Towers would own 5,000 towers in seven African countries, according to the statement.

The deal does not include Bharti Airtel’s infrastructure in Nigeria, Bloomberg quoted the unnamed source to have said.

Spokesman for Bharti Airtel, Prem Subedi and Eaton Towers’ Chief Executive Officer, Alan Harper declined to comment on the exact purchase price.
Eaton Towers was advised by Moelis & Co. (MC) on the transaction.

THISDAY

FACEBOOK TARGETS ADVERTISERS AS 100 MILLION LOG ON IN AFRICA

One in 10 Africans are logging on to Facebook every month, the world's No.1 online social network said on Monday.

Of those 100 million people, 80 per cent are accessing the platform via mobiles on a continent with very low internet penetration and smartphone ownership, it said.

Facebook's global mobile advertising revenue jumped more than 150 per cent in the second quarter, accounting for about 62 per cent of overall ad revenue.

"There is a fantastic opportunity for business as well if you are local or a global business. Knowing that there is all these people now in Africa that you can connect with, that is exciting as well," said Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook's vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Seven in 10 African consumers access the internet through their mobile phones, compared with 6 per cent who use desktop computers, according to an Ericsson study earlier this year.

Facebook would be pouring more resources into Africa to understand how consumers use its product and was considering opening an office on the continent in 2015, Mendelsohn said, without saying where the office might be.

The company is customising products to fit the needs of individual countries, she added. For example, it can now target users based on their internet speeds.

Facebook has more than 1.5 million active advertisers and more than 1.3 billion active users globally.

Mendelsohn could not say how much Africa contributes to advertising revenues but said the Europe, Middle East and Africa region makes up 30 per cent of global revenue.

 CNBC AFRICA

HTC TO ALLEGEDLY ANNOUNCE A MEDIATEK OCTA-CORE PHABLET

HTC will allegedly be launching a new 5.5-inch smartphone, according to @upleaks.

The new device will be similar to the existing HTC Desire 816, however, instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC, the new device shall have an MediaTek octa-core processor, possibly the MT6595. The amount of RAM will also differ from the 816, although it's not clear if it will be more or less than the Desire 816's 1.5GB.

GSM ARENA

5.5" IPHONE 6 TO RUN IOS OPTIMIZED FOR LANDSCAPE APPS

The upcoming 5.5" Apple iPhone 6 will ship running iOS 8 and the company could potentially make use of the larger screen and make it run apps in landscape. Using the Apple SDK iOS simulator, developer Steven Troughton-Smith has managed to run it at 736 points x 414 pixels (1472 x 828 at 2x or 2208 x 1242 at 3x) and shared screenshots.

As you can see from the screenshots, the 5.5" iPhone 6 could embrace its phablet spirit and provide a more productive app layout when used in landscape. The dual-pane interface is more akin to the iOS look on iPads, too. Apple talked about the feature, called Adaptive UI, at a WWDC 2014 developer session.

Yesterday we saw a couple of videos showing the iPhone 6 fully working.

The 5.5" model of the iPhone 6 is expected to arrive later than the 4.7" model, but would feature more powerful internals. It is also rumored to come with a different touch module. This unconfirmed piece of information falls in line with a past report, which suggests that the larger iPhone device will tote a sapphire display, while the 4.7” model won’t.

Apple is holding its iPhone-centric press event tomorrow

. Then, the company is anticipated to unveil the 4.7" iPhone 6, while the 5.5" version is rumored to launch in December.

GSM ARENA

UPCOMING BLACKBERRY CLASSIC POSES IN LIVE PHOTOS

The yet to be launched BlackBerry Classic appeared in a number of live photos. Back in June, the CEO of BlackBerry first showcased the smartphone with a hardware QWERTY.

The leaked photos showcase the device alongside a handful of its relatives. They include BlackBerry Q10, BlackBerry Bold 9900, as well as BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981.

The Classic, as its name suggests, will target BlackBerry purists who do not like to change their smartphone habits. The handset will feature a trackpad, menu and back buttons, as well as dedicated keys for picking up and rejecting phone calls.

Rumored specs of BlackBerry Classic include a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 SoC, 2GB of RAM, and a 3.5” unit with 1:1 ratio. The OS is reportedly BlackBerry OS 10.3.

BlackBerry Classic is expected to debut at some point in November at a significantly lower price point than the BlackBerry Passport. The later will launch later this month, on September 24.

JUMIA EXPECTS E-COMMERCE BOOM IN EGYPT

E-commerce models nowadays often take on an American style; however, this is not the case for Egypt. As a start up investing in the Arab world, Jumia Egypt has adopted the values and qualities of e-commerce in the Middle East and Africa. By utilising different payment and delivery methods such as “pay on delivery” Jumia has become one of the biggest and most popular online shopping malls in Egypt.

In a recent study conducted by Jumia, in cooperation with the Boston Consulting Group, Egypt was found to be one of the fastest growing countries in the digital space in the region. According to Mattia Perroni CEO of Jumia “Egypt’s e-intensity has been growing steadily over the past three years; “The incredible market potential and the technology infrastructure, combined with the human factor are the main drivers behind this growth. Looking at the rising significance of the Egyptian entrepreneurial and innovation space, it is clear that the human or people factor here is truly unique.”

Jumia Egypt knows that the success of any business depends on understanding the market and the powerful execution of innovative ideas. Mattia adds, “This is the secret of Jumia’s success; the right idea, the innovative execution and the people behind it. And this is exactly why a market like Egypt will be a big player in the technology and e-economy regionally. The e-intensity Index ranks countries through the measurement of ‘enablement’, ‘expenditure’ and ‘engagement’. Right now, Egypt may have a relatively small Internet economy compared to other countries worldwide, but it is certainly recording some of the fastest growth rates.”

Business models like Jumia Egypt prove that e-commerce is booming in the developing countries in the Middle East and Africa. In addition, Jumia demonstrates that by adopting local values new start ups can thrive even under the challenging circumstances of developing countries.

IT NEWS AFRICA

GHANA: TIGO REVEALS TOP-UPS FOR MOBILE MONEY SERVICE

Tigo Ghana will be allowing users to purchase airtime for friends and family from other networks. According to Tigo, the move is set to enhance its mobile money service.

According to the company, registered users of Tigo Ghana’s Mobile Financial Service, Tigo Cash, can now purchase airtime for other networks for their friends and family in real time. Head of Commercial and Mobile Financial Service at Tigo Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh, expressed his excited regarding the new innovation.

“In line with our commitment to offer a ‘Digital Lifestyle’, we have introduced this Electronic Top up service to reduce the hassle of our customers looking for scratch cards for friends and family on other networks.”

“It is convenient, time-saving and instant and this means that irrespective of the location, time or weather conditions, registered Tigo Cash customers can top up the accounts of their friends and families on other networks with ease,” he concluded.

The company stated that consumers can dial *100# and follow the on-screen instructions to access the service.

 IT NEWS AFRICA

iOS 8.0.1 ALREADY IN THE WORKS, WILL BE SEEDED TO PARTNERS SOON

Next Tuesday, Apple is set to unveil the long awaited and much leaked iPhone 6. The handset may come in two sizes, and it could be joined by new tablets at the same time.

What is certain though is that the finalized version of iOS 8 will be made available soon after those announcements, perhaps even on the same day.

Over the past few weeks, Apple has been tirelessly working on iOS 8, releasing a few builds as betas for developers to tinker with. Now it seems that the company is already hard at work on iOS 8.0.1.

This version might be seeded to Apple's partners very soon, according to some unnamed sources. There's no changelog right now for iOS 8.0.1, but given the small incrementation of the version number, it will probably consist mainly of bug fixes and various enhancements.

This seems to imply that Apple has already found a few things it could change for the better in iOS 8, hopefully they aren't very big or impactful - otherwise the launch of the 8.0.0 version might not please everyone.

On the other hand, the 8.0.1 update could arrive shortly after the release of 8.0.0. Or who knows, maybe Apple will go with 8.0.1 from day one.

 GSM ARENA

SONY INTRODUCES THE COST CONSCIOUS XPERIA E3

Sony has announced its latest budget smartphone, the Xperia E3. According to Sony, the Xperia E3 provides unmatched entertainment with features including creative camera apps. It also allows consumers to experience all its features in full throttle. With a quality flagship design body to complement, Xperia E3 is the ultimate smartphone for consumers, without an expensive price tag.

Calum MacDougall, Director of Product Marketing, at Sony Mobile said: “We’re pleased to introduce Xperia E3, a handset that matches form with function at an affordable price point. The Xperia E3 combines fast performance with impressive features, all wrapped in our flagship Z series design that you can be proud to show off.”

According to Sony, the Xperia E3 features a 4.5″ display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with quad-core 1.2 GHz CPUs allowing you to load all your movies, music and games instantly without any interruptions. Additionally, the 5 megapixel camera with HDR allows you to capture photos even with back light and to record HD videos.

The device features creative camera apps such as Timeshift burst and AR effect take your photos beyond the same old filters. Consumers can also download new AR fun to mix reality with 3D effects that change as you move the camera. Share your videos live to Facebook via the Social live app or to YouTube via the Live on YouTube – by Xperia app.

To add to the features, the E3’s ’shake to start’ app lets you customise shortcuts to any app. With a simple flick of the wrist you can launch or open Facebook, making accessing your favourite apps easier than ever. The ‘shake to start’ app allows you to control your phone in new ways.

The Xperia E3 is set to launch near the end of the year. The retail price is still pending.

IT NEWS AFRICA

AIRTEL NIGERIA UNVEILS AIRTEL INSURANCE

Airtel Nigeria has collaborated with MicroEnsure and Cornerstone Insurance in order to launch its latest, free insurance product. The product offers Airtel customers life and hospitalisation insurance with increasing benefits based on monthly airtime recharge.

The product, which is named Airtel Insurance is packaged to deliver insurance services and encourage insurance culture among Nigerians. According to Airtel, the product has been endorsed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). It is open to all Nigerian residents between the ages of 18 and 65 years. Dial *259# to register for the service.

All hospitalisations are covered, both for natural and accidental causes, with no medical exclusions, making it widely accessible and generous free insurance cover in the country.

Airtel Insurance rewards Airtel customers with a renewable monthly life and hospitalisation cover based on the amount of monthly airtime recharged. Customers can qualify for this insurance by recharging as little as N1,000 with Airtel each month, and as they increase their monthly recharge, they earn more insurance cover – with up to N 500,000 and N50,000 of life insurance and hospitalisation cover per month. Airtel Insurance becomes active on the first day of month following registration, and is based on the amount of airtime recharged the previous month, with a minimum monthly recharge of N 1,000

Customers also have a variety of packages to choose from. With a monthly recharge of N1,000 Airtel insurance gives the customer N10,000 hospitalisation and N100,000 life insurance while N5,000 recharge will earn customers as much as N25,000 hospitalisation and N250,000 life insurance. A N10,000 recharge will attract N50,000 hospitalisation and N500,000 life insurance.

YOOKOS MOBILE APP GETS A FEATURE UPGRADE

Yookos has recently updated its mobile app features in order to enhance the user experience on Android, IOS and Blackberry handsets. The social networking site released the upgrade on September 4th and intends on focusing on photos, status updates  and private messaging.

The Yookos app receives its user-base from Nigeria, UK, South Africa, Ghana and Zimbabwe. According to the social networking platform, the release of the upgraded features will now enable users to create photo albums, repost status and allow easy access of private messages across all mobile platforms facilitating more intimate conversations between friends.

The product development team has embarked on an ongoing project to improve the networking site. Tomisin Fashina, CEO of Yookos stated that: “Our operational philosophy is shaped by a desire to constantly leverage innovative ideas and solutions that will not only expand the functionality of the platform but also make its usage incredible.”

Yookos is a social networking site started in 2011 to encourage sharing and consumption of information for people across the globe.

SOUTH AFRICA: SAMSUNG LAUNCHES GALAXY S5 MINI

Samsung Electronics South Africa has revealed the local availability of the Galaxy S5 Mini. The device is set to retail at a recommended retail price of R6 699.

According to Samsung, the device features a 4.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display. Similar to the Galaxy S5, the new addition to the range features a perforated pattern on the back cover creating a modern and sleek look, along with a premium, soft touch grip. The device also features IP67 certification, Ultra Power Saving Mode, a heart rate monitor, fingerprint scanner and connectivity with the latest Samsung wearable devices.

The Galaxy S5 Mini comes equipped with a Quad Core 1.4 GHz processor and 1.5GM RAM. The device has a 8MP rear facing camera and a 2.1MP front facing camera. According to Samsung, the Galaxy S5 Mini also supports LTE in order to provide a faster internet connection.

Craige Fleischer, Director of Mobile Communications at Samsung SA stated that: “The Galaxy S5 Mini allows consumers to enjoy the iconic design, essential and useful features of the GALAXY S5, through a maximised minimalism approach. We strive to develop a variety of devices in order to appeal to our consumers’ taste and style.”

IT NEWS AFRICA

NIGERIA: AIRTEL & OPERA LAUNCH FREE EBOLA INFO

Airtel Nigeria and Opera Software have launched a free service for customers looking for information on the Ebola virus.

By zero-rating www.ebolafacts.com that provides educational information on Ebola, Airtel subscribers will be able to access vital information on their mobile phones without worrying about incurring data charges.

By clicking the ‘Ebola Info’ pass on the Airtel Nigeria mobile store, users will be directed to the URLs they can browse for free to educate themselves on the virus.

Commenting on this initiative, Chief Commercial Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Maurice Newa, restated Airtel’s commitment to empowering Nigerians with access to relevant, up-to-date information that will deepen their understanding on matters relating to the Ebola virus and ultimately assist them to stay safe and healthy at all times.

According to Newa, “as a responsible corporate citizen and key stakeholder, we are deeply concerned about the wellbeing of Nigerians and we will continue to leverage on our robust technological platforms to empower citizens, especially as this is in line with our corporate vision of becoming the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians,” he said.

“We have all been following the concerning news of the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa and we want to ensure that Nigerians have access to as much information as possible to avoid contracting the virus. We believe these facts should be available freely and conveniently, which is why we are working with Airtel Nigeria to help provide a valuable portal for subscribers to access key details at any time,” said Richard Monday, Director for Opera sub-Saharan Africa.

IT NEWS AFRICA

NIGERIA: EMERGING TECH FIRMS TO GET FINANCIAL BOOST

Start-up businesses are set to receive a major financial boost after CcHUB (Co-creation Hub) boosted its incubation programme with the launch of a $500 000 seed investment fund. The fund is intended to support early stage start-ups for a period of two years.

According to the firm, start-ups will receive sums ranging from $10 000 to $25 000 to support business model experimentation and operations.

According to allafrica.com, the announcement comes on the occasion of first anniversary of CcHUB incubation office, which among other services provides entrepreneurs with mentorship, user testing, access to markets, office space and administration.

The initial beneficiaries of the seed investment went through CcHUB’s Pre-Incubation program, which identifies and supports aspiring technology entrepreneurs looking to address local market problems with relevant solutions.

Allafrica.co also stated that through the $90 000 Tony Elumelu Foundation/CcHUB pre-seed fund, beneficiaries started out with a grant award of $5 000 each to support their ideas, build working prototypes, carry out initial market testing and proof their concepts. The ideas grew steadily, earning revenues, increasing their user bases and building partnerships hence needing a different kind of support.

“CcHUB incubation office launched in response to the need to provide business development, mentoring and funding support to start-ups that showed traction from our impactful Pre-incubation program. Our seed investment ensures startups have a sure footing post-preincubation to concentrate on rapidly executing their plans and learning from the market,” said Bosun Tijani, CEO and Co-founder of CcHUB.

Tunji Eleso, Director of Incubation, said discussions were already underway with investors to provide additional funding to two of their initial beneficiaries.

“We hope to break the news in the coming months. We welcome startups looking to transform the way Nigerians live, play and do business to apply to join our portfolio via,” he further stated.

IT NEWS AFRICA