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	<title><![CDATA[iAfrica :: Cooltech : News : Technology]]></title>
	<link>http://www.iafrica.com</link>
	<description><![CDATA[All the news that's fit to print.]]></description>
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<pubDate>2018-04-20 15:49:39</pubDate>
<content_id>1059009</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Win a Fitbit Ionic worth R5,499]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Win a Fitbit Ionic worth R5,499]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[The Fitbit Ionic is designed to work seamlessly with your smartphone to bring convenience to your wrist.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[The Fitbit Ionic is designed to work seamlessly with your smartphone to bring convenience to your wrist. The Ionic smartwatch connects you to the world of apps, links wireless Bluetooth head&shy;phones and has enough space to store and play 300+ songs for when you are on the go.
It also comes with some really exciting features, that allow you to take calls, access messages and see calendar events - and never stops going while you are, with a battery life that lasts up to four days.

Its cool features and specs include a personal coaching for easy access to personalised workouts for guidance, Built-in GPS to track your outdoor workouts, monitors your sleep quality, and checks your real-time heart rate zone, to see whether you&rsquo;re in the Fat Burn, Cardio or Peak zone to optimise your intensity.

This wearable watch also caters for swimmers as it is water-resistant to 50m. When in swim mode, it tracks laps, stroke style and lets you know how much calories were burnt.
Visit&nbsp;the Fitbit microsite&nbsp;to take the first step to change your fitness routine for the better, and get your hands on the Fitbit and be more health conscious by going to the cross-platform high-end smartwatch Starting from R5, 499. &nbsp;Two lucky people stand a chance to win the Fitbit Ionic, simply answering this simple question: For how long does the Fitbit Ionic battery life last?
All uncredited images are supplied]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Credit: Supplied.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[Sponsored Article]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2018-04-11 14:32:43</pubDate>
<content_id>1058858</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Wunderkind Zuckerberg in eye of the storm]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Wunderkind Zuckerberg in eye of the storm]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[His goal was to change the world with computer code, now Mark Zuckerberg is facing the test in rescuing Facebook from a deepening crisis.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[His goal was to change the world with computer code, but now Mark Zuckerberg is facing the test of his life in rescuing Facebook from a deepening crisis over its failure to protect privacy and thwart manipulation.
The 33-year-old computer genius who has been a Silicon Valley star for a decade is on the hot seat in Washington and around the world, trying to fix pervasive problems in the world's biggest social network.
As founder and chief executive of Facebook, with about two billion users, Zuckerberg controls the online giant which has power over an online &quot;conversation&quot; that affects the news media, elections and much more.
He began writing computer programs at the age of 11, and at the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy was captain of the fencing team, before entering the elite Harvard University.
Zuckerberg launched Thefacebook.com, as it was then known, from his dorm room on February 4, 2004 with some of his roommates and classmates.
He dropped out of Harvard three months later for Silicon Valley, where he received his first major funding -- $500,000 -- from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
As he prepared for his Tuesday showdown in Congress, Zuckerberg acknowledged that he and Facebook had been too naive.
&quot;For most of our existence, we focused on all the good that connecting people can bring,&quot; he said in remarks prepared for delivery.
Zuckerberg, who has ditched his customary T-shirts and casual wear in favor of a suit for his appearances in Washington, said Facebook has been an important tool for social movements and helps users &quot;stay connected to the people they love.&quot;
&quot;But it's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well,&quot; he said.
&quot;It was my mistake,&quot; he said.
- 'A reckless company' -
Some critics say Facebook was bound to crash into problems because of how it was built.
Zeynep Tufekci, a University of North Carolina sociologist specializing in social media, said Zuckerberg's business depends on the extensive data it collects.
&quot;It does not want to give that resource away,&quot; Tufekci said, but it did so &quot;in part because it is a reckless company,&quot; she wrote in The New York Times.
Zuckerberg's firm also gave away data because it was a tantalizing resource for programmers and could be used to lure developers to make games, quizzes and other apps for Facebook &quot;that would keep users coming back to the site,&quot; Tufekci said.
Facebook has prospered on digital advertising that benefits from being able to use what people share about themselves to target ads, reshaping the marketing industry.
What is sometimes called a &quot;duopoly&quot; of Google and Facebook controls about 56 percent of the US digital ad market this year, according to research firm eMarketer.
Zuckerberg's California-based social network has been a flashpoint for controversies about bullying, harassment, free speech, extremist propaganda, election meddling, privacy, and more.
&quot;They don't put enough effort into making sure the user is protected and the experience is assured,&quot; tech industry analyst Rob Enderle said.
In 2008, a $65 million settlement was reached with three Harvard classmates -- twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra -- over their charges that Zuckerberg had stolen the idea for Facebook from them.
The conflict was at the heart of &quot;The Social Network,&quot; an Oscar-winning film written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher.
- A Facebook fortune -
He is known for setting annual goals, which have included wearing ties every day, only eating meat of animals he kills himself, and learning to speak Chinese.
Zuckerberg cemented his fortune by leading Facebook to a historic Wall Street debut in 2012.
The $16 billion IPO was structured to keep control of Facebook in the hands of Zuckerberg, who has been Time's &quot;Person of the Year.&quot;
Forbes estimated his net worth at about $64 billion, and he cracked the magazine's list of the world's 20 richest people.
Zuckerberg and his doctor wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to give away their Facebook fortune to make the world a healthier, happier place for children.
&quot;Having kids changes a lot,&quot; Zuckerberg said in an interview with CNN.
&quot;I used to think that the most important thing to me by far was having the greatest impact across the world as I can; now I just really care about building something my girls are going to grow up and be proud of me for.&quot;]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Mark Zuckerberg is seen at the Facebook developer conference in 2010, at a time of rapid growth of the social network. Credit AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2018-04-05 15:41:32</pubDate>
<content_id>1058755</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Micayla Vellai]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[TCL brings MoveTime Family Watch to SA]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[TCL brings MoveTime Family Watch to SA]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Introducing MoveTime Family Watch (MT30), a handy device launched in SA that allows parents to maintain a watchful eye over their children.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[It goes without saying that as life becomes more fast-paced and demanding, parents become more concerned about the welfare of their children. Well, now that burden is able to be lifted&hellip;
Introducing MoveTime Family Watch (MT30), a handy device launched in South Africa by TCL Communication that allows parents to maintain a watchful eye over their children while kids enjoy a wide array of functions this watch has to offer. &nbsp;
Not only does this device appeal to children with its colourful touchscreen and compact stature, but it is also user-friendly, providing endless entertainment with built-in games. In addition it boasts features which allow easy communication between children and their parents and friends via calling and texting. It also features an SOS button that allows the device to signal for help in an emergency.
This latest initiative is based on the Qualcomm&reg; Snapdragon&trade; Wear 2100 and is described by Ernst Wittmann, Regional Manager for Southern and East Africa at TCL as &ldquo;Offer[ing] seamless connectivity and reliable safety features to help parents monitor their children&rsquo;s safety in a fun, feature filled watch.&rdquo;
Therefore, when it comes to peace of mind, parents can be rest-assured that the MT30 is renowned for its integrated GPS capabilities. In other words, it &ldquo;includes a variety of location features, providing indoor and outdoor positioning, two-way calling, and geofencing&rdquo; TCL Communication mentions.
The mobile app can be used to monitor the location of child throughout the day while &ldquo;the geo-tracking feature enables parents to see the child&rsquo;s exact coordinates as well as to define safe zones&rdquo; TCL Communication adds.
It&rsquo;s never been easier to stay in touch and have fun doing so!]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[MoveTime Family Watch MT30. Credit: Supplied.]]></caption>
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<pubDate>2018-03-22 10:29:20</pubDate>
<content_id>1058527</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Zuckerberg vows to 'step up' in FB scandal]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Zuckerberg vows to 'step up' in FB scandal]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Zuckerberg vowed to &quot;step up&quot; to fix Facebook problems, as it fights a scandal over the hijacking of personal data from millions of its users.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has vowed to &quot;step up&quot; to fix problems at the social media giant, as it fights a snowballing scandal over the hijacking of personal data from millions of its users.
&quot;We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you,&quot; Zuckerberg said Wednesday in his first public comments on the harvesting of Facebook user data by a British firm linked to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.
Zuckerberg announced new steps to rein in the leakage of data to outside developers and third-party apps, while giving users more control over their information through a special toolbar.
&quot;This was a major breach of trust and I'm really sorry that this happened,&quot; Zuckerberg said in a televised interview with CNN.
&quot;Our responsibility now is to make sure this doesn't happen again.&quot;
Zuckerberg said he will testify before Congress if he is the person at Facebook best placed to answer their questions, and that he is not opposed to regulating internet titans such as the social network.
&quot;I am actually not sure we shouldn't be regulated,&quot; the Facebook co-founder and chief told CNN.
&quot;Technology is an increasingly important trend in the world; the question is more the right regulation than should it be regulated.&quot;
Zuckerberg said measures had been in place since 2014 to prevent the sort of abuse revealed over the weekend but the social network needed to &quot;step up&quot; to do more.
The scandal erupted when a whistleblower revealed that British data consultant Cambridge Analytica (CA) had created psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users via a personality prediction app, created by a researcher named Aleksandr Kogan.
The app was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up their friends' data without consent -- as was possible under Facebook's rules at the time.
Facebook says it discovered last week that CA may not have deleted the data as it certified.
&quot;We should not have trusted Cambridge Analytica's certification, and we are not going to make that mistake again,&quot; Zuckerberg said.
Facebook is reviewing how much data was accessed by every app at the social network, and will conduct full forensic audits if it notices anything suspicious, according to its chief executive.
- 'Breach of trust' -
&quot;This was a breach of trust between Kogan, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook,&quot; Zuckerberg wrote in a post at the social network.
&quot;But it was also a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it.&quot;
&quot;We need to fix that.&quot;
Separately, in an interview with The New York Times, Zuckerberg said that even if the platform cuts developer access to Facebook data, as it plans to do, &quot;there&rsquo;s still this issue of: Are there other Cambridge Analyticas out there, or other Kogans who, when the platform worked a certain way in the past, were there apps which could have gotten access to more information, and potentially sold it without us knowing.&quot;
He also said that since the 2016 US election, Facebook has taken steps that make it harder for foreign governments to interfere in elections.
But, he added, &quot;we need to make sure that we up our game&quot; ahead of the US midterms in November because Russia and other states are going to get more sophisticated when it comes to meddling.
Zuckerberg's apology followed another day of damaging accusations against the world's biggest social network as calls mounted for investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.
Max Schrems, a Vienna-based activist who has brought online data protection cases before European courts, told AFP he complained to the Irish Data Protection Authority in 2011 about the controversial data harvesting methods.
Schrems also recounted a meeting with Facebook representatives the following year to discuss concerns around apps operating in this fashion.
&quot;They explicitly said that in their view, by using the platform you consent to a situation where other people can install an app and gather your data,&quot; Schrems said.
ABC News reported that special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, was looking at Cambridge Analytica's role in the Trump effort.
The British firm has maintained it did not use Facebook data in the Trump campaign, but its now-suspended CEO boasted in secret recordings that his company was deeply involved in the race.
- #DeleteFacebook -
The data scandal has ratcheted up the pressure on Facebook -- already under fire for allowing fake news to proliferate on its platform during the US presidential election.
A movement to quit the social network gathered momentum, while a handful of lawsuits emerged which could turn into class actions in a costly distraction for the company.
One of those calling it quits was a high-profile co-founder of the WhatsApp messaging service acquired by Facebook in 2014.
&quot;It is time. #deletefacebook,&quot; Brian Acton said in a tweet protesting the social media giant's handling of the crisis.
Both Facebook and CA have denied wrongdoing, as attention focused increasingly on Kogan, the inventor of the controversial app -- a personality survey dubbed This Is Your Digital Life.
But Kogan said in an interview he was &quot;stunned&quot; by the allegations against him, claiming CA had assured him his activities were above board.
&quot;I'm being basically used as a scapegoat by both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica,&quot; he told the BBC.
The University of Cambridge psychologist said CA had approached him to do the work, and that he did not know how the firm would use the data collected with his app.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged new steps to fix privacy at the social network amid a growing scandal over hijacked user data. Credit: AFP.]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2018-02-09 15:10:43</pubDate>
<content_id>1057956</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Staff reporter]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[First human eggs grown in lab]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[First human eggs grown in lab]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Researcher from Edinburgh and New York have made significant steps in the field of fertility preservation after successfully growing human eggs in the lab. ]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Researchers from Edinburgh and New York have made significant steps forward in the fertility preservation field after successfully growing human eggs in the laboratory.
The research, published in the journal Molecular Human Reproduction, outlines how human eggs can be grown from early stages through to maturity in the lab. &nbsp;
In the study, researchers took ovarian tissue from ten women in their late twenties and thirties and after a number of steps were able to develop the eggs through to maturity.
According to the research team, this advancement might prove of importance to young women at risk of premature fertility loss such as women undergoing cancer therapies including radio and chemotherapy.
Co-author of the research Prof Evelyn Telfer from the University of Edinburg says the approach may well be practically implemented in the future as an alternative to freezing and treating eggs to be implanted at a later stage.
The new research offers a means for the eggs to be extracted, grown and utilised without having to re-implant the tissue. &ldquo;When you have got the eggs, of course you would have no contaminating cells &ndash; hopefully it would be an embryo that you would be implanting back in,&rdquo; Telfer said.
The study also gives the opportunity to research and reveal more details about how human eggs develop.
Even though scientists were previously able to grow mouse eggs in the laboratory to the point where fertilisation resulted in live offspring, the same has not yet been possible for human eggs.
While the study has been praised by experts it is evident that more research is needed before the approach can be implemented clinically. Out of the 48 eggs that reached the second last step, only nine reached full maturity and since no eggs have been fertilised it not clear whether the eggs will in fact be viable.
According to Telfer, testing the viability of the eggs will be the next step in the research.
&ldquo;The next step would be to try and fertilise these eggs and then to test the embryos that were produced, and then to go back and improve each of the steps.&rdquo;]]></body_text>
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<pubDate>2018-02-07 09:04:25</pubDate>
<content_id>1057919</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[SpaceX's Falcon Heavy soars towards the stars]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[SpaceX's Falcon Heavy soars towards the stars]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Elon Musk's SpaceX will take numerous plaudits for the successful launch of the private airspace tech company's Falcon Heavy rocket]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[The world&rsquo;s most powerful rocket, SpaceX&rsquo;s Falcon Heavy, roared into space through clear blue skies in its debut test flight on Tuesday from a Florida launch site where moon missions once began, in another milestone for billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk&rsquo;s private rocket service.
The 23-story-tall jumbo rocket, carrying a cherry red Tesla Roadster from the assembly line of Musk&rsquo;s electric car company as a mock payload, thundered off its launchpad in billowing clouds of steam and rocket exhaust at 3.45pm from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Boisterous cheering could be heard from SpaceX workers at the company&rsquo;s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, where a livestream feed of the event originated. At least 2,000 spectators cheered the blast off from a campground near Cocoa Beach, 8km from the space centre.
Within three minutes, the Falcon Heavy&rsquo;s two side boosters separated from the central rocket in one of the most critical points of the flight.
Then, capitalising on cost-cutting reusable rocket technology pioneered by SpaceX, the two boosters flew themselves back to Earth for safe simultaneous touchdowns on twin landing pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, about eight minutes after launch. Each rocket unleashed a double sonic boom as it neared the landing zone.
The centre booster rocket, which SpaceX had predicted was less likely to be salvaged, slammed into the Atlantic at about 483kph, destroying two of its thrusters and showering the deck of the nearby drone landing vessel, Musk told a post-launch news conference.
&lsquo;BIG RELIEF&rsquo;
Still, the Silicon Valley mogul known for self-deprecating understatement hailed the launch as a victory and &ldquo;a big relief.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I had this image of this giant explosion on the pad, with wheels bouncing down the road and the logo landing somewhere with a thud. But fortunately, that&rsquo;s not what happened,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Crazy things come true.&rdquo;
While the Falcon Heavy&rsquo;s initial performance appeared, by all accounts, to have been near flawless, it remained to be seen whether the upper stage of the vehicle and its payload would survive a six-hour &ldquo;cruise&rdquo; phase to high Earth orbit through the planet&rsquo;s radiation belts.
The launch, so powerful that it shook the walls of the press trailer at the complex, was conducted from the same site used by Nasa&rsquo;s towering Saturn 5 rockets to carry Apollo missions to the moon more than 40 years ago. SpaceX has said it aspires to send missions to Mars in the coming years.
The successful lift-off was a key turning point for Musk&rsquo;s privately-owned Space Exploration Technologies, which stands to gain a new edge over the handful of rivals vying for lucrative contracts with Nasa, satellite companies and the US military.
Falcon Heavy is designed to place up to 70 tons into standard low-Earth orbit at a cost of $90 million per launch. That is twice the lift capacity of the biggest existing rocket in America&rsquo;s space fleet - the Delta 4 Heavy of rival United Launch Alliance (ULA), a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co - for about a fourth the cost.
The demonstration flight put the Heavy into the annals of spaceflight as the world&rsquo;s most powerful rocket in operation, with more lift capacity than any space vehicle to fly since Nasa&rsquo;s Saturn 5, which was retired in 1973, or the Soviet-era Energia, which flew its last mission in 1988.
Propelled by 27 rocket engines, the Heavy packs more than 5 million pounds of thrust at launch, roughly three times the force of the Falcon 9 booster rocket that until now has been the workhorse of the SpaceX fleet. The new rocket is essentially constructed from three Falcon 9s bolted together side by side.
Going along for the ride in a bit of playful cross-promotional space theatre was the sleek red, electric-powered sports car from Musk&rsquo;s other transportation enterprise, Tesla Inc.
The Tesla Roadster is supposed to be sent into solar orbit, on a path taking it as far from Earth as Mars. Adding to the whimsy, SpaceX planted a space-suited mannequin in the driver&rsquo;s seat of the convertible.
Musk mused that &ldquo;it may be discovered by some future alien race.&rdquo; The white spacesuit was real, he said.
Whether the car arrived on its planned trajectory will not be known before late on Tuesday, SpaceX said. The roadster, which carries a plaque inscribed with the names of more than 6,000 SpaceX employees, could instead end up in perpetual Earth orbit.
The launch followed an impressive run of successful paid missions - 20 in all since January 2017, when SpaceX returned to flight following a 2016 launchpad accident that destroyed a $62 million rocket and a $200 million Israeli communications satellite that it was to put into orbit two days later.
Musk said he hoped Tuesday&rsquo;s achievement would encourage a new &ldquo;space race&rdquo; by private ventures and other countries, an allusion to the 1960s Cold War contest between the United States and the Soviet Union.
&ldquo;Space races are exciting,&rdquo; he said.
SpaceX had previously announced plans to eventually use Falcon Heavy to launch two paying space tourists on a trip around the moon. Musk said on Monday he was now inclined to reserve that mission for an even more powerful SpaceX launch system, the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, whose development he said was proceeding more swiftly than expected.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[The Falcon Heavy rocket by SpaceX. Credit:Supplied]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[Reuters]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2017-11-30 09:01:18</pubDate>
<content_id>1056996</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Staff Reporter]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence in Africa]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence in Africa]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[AI comes to Africa as the top experts will judge selected start-ups for the chance to win a 1 million dollar investment and the perhaps the future of AI on the continent]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence is not just a project for the biggest names in tech. Starting in 2018 1 million US dollars will be invested in the African AI start-up as part of the AI Revolution Challenge.
The initiative aims to promote artificial intelligence on the African continent and showcase emerging businesses and top talent working to build expertise in their countries.
&ldquo;Africa as a continent is creative and has unique perspectives, providing a fertile space for innovation and disruption,&rdquo; says Paul Lamontagne, CEO at Sagarmatha Technologies.
A panel of seasoned investors and experts in Artificial Intelligence will offer their global and technology experience to select up to 20 start-ups to attend the final event. Finalists will be flown to South Africa in May 2018.&nbsp;
Sagarmatha Technologies will provide the $1 million in development funding and more than double that in marketing value-ads and prizes to the leading African AI start-up.
&ldquo;The business case for Africa is very strong and I see the continent at a tipping point if we embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution. There are trailblazing innovators and disruptors on the continent and we hope to shine the light on these pioneering entrepreneurs,&rdquo; said Lamontagne.
Businesses who illustrate the following criteria will be considered.
●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Businesses that currently offer (or intend to) a product, service or platform that utilise AI techniques, as defined by relevant scientific research
●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The product or service demonstrates commercial applications worldwide
●&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Have had a minimum investment of $25,000 at date of application, either in seed funding or sweat equity / loans.
Applications for the challenge close on 31 March 2018.&nbsp; Only companies registered and resident on the African continent may apply. Further information is available at www.airevolution.africa.]]></body_text>
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<pubDate>2017-11-29 08:52:26</pubDate>
<content_id>1056973</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[Staff Reporter]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Nokia 8 now Android Oreo friendly]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Nokia 8 now Android Oreo friendly]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[Android 8.0 Oreo is now available for the Nokia 8.]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, is excited to announce that Android&trade; 8.0 Oreo&trade; is now available for the Nokia 8. If you own a Nokia 8, you can enjoy a truly pure and secure version of Android Oreo, packed with the latest features to make content creation and sharing even more fun.
Patrick Henchie &ndash; Head of Product, Sub-Sahara Africa, said:
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re proud to deliver our pure and secure take of Android 8.0 Oreo on the Nokia 8. We always want to give our fans the best possible Android experience. That&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve taken the time to test, optimise and refine the platform.
&ldquo;Working together with our fans under our newly setup up Nokia phones beta labs, we&rsquo;ve created a pure version of this highly anticipated mobile platform, delivering all the exciting new features with none of the unnecessary clutter paired with great performance and even better battery life. Android 8.0 Oreo is packed with new features that make communicating, creating, gaming and exploring even more fun.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
Always pure, secure and up-to-date Android experience
Nokia 8 delivers a pure version of Android 8.0 Oreo with no skins and no changes in the user interface. And with no pre-installed apps you don&rsquo;t need or hidden processes that eat up battery life, it guarantees a snappy experience every time you pick up your smartphone. Monthly security updates come as standard to keep your smartphone safe, and give you real peace of mind in the palm of your hand.
&nbsp;
Super powers that give you the best real-life experiences
Android 8.0 Oreo update on Nokia 8 enables fans to enjoy new features that will enhance their day-to-day experiences with none of the gimmicks:
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Picture-in-Picture mode gives you the power to multi-task while processing power of Nokia 8 ensures the smooth operation of even the most demanding apps. Watch a YouTube clip while catching up with friends or check your bank balance while ordering from Amazon &ndash; the Nokia 8 processor ensures smooth operation.
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No unnecessary apps come pre-installed on Nokia 8 and with Android Instant Apps, you can de-clutter your software even further. Just go to the supported link on Chrome and you&rsquo;ll be able to use new apps without having to install them. Google Play Protect works to keep your device and data safe from misbehaving apps by scanning over 50 billion apps per day, even the ones you haven't installed yet.
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Smart software helps the Nokia 8 power up even faster, letting you create content quicker than ever as moments unfold in front of you. Exclusive to Nokia smartphones, Dual-Sight&trade; mode means you can also stream your reaction to events on social media in real time, using both the front and back cameras simultaneously.
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Android Oreo smart features limit background activity on the apps you use least, maximising battery life so your Nokia 8 will be ready for action when you are.
-&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Because Nokia 8 stands for self-expression through content creation, fans can now visualise their emotions better than ever before thanks to the fully redesigned set of emojis on Android 8.0 Oreo &ndash; more than 60 of them being brand new! &nbsp;
Your Nokia 8 will automatically update with Android Oreo. You will receive a notification on your smartphone when it becomes available in your country.
Android Oreo will be coming soon to other Nokia smartphones, stay tuned for updates.]]></body_text>
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<pubDate>2017-11-20 09:57:32</pubDate>
<content_id>1056782</content_id>
<author><![CDATA[]]></author>
<heading><![CDATA[Electric and driverless cars around the corner]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[Electric and driverless cars around the corner]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[A driverless, electric car is only a swipe away in the cities of the future]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[A driverless, electric car is only a swipe away in the cities of the future, where pollution clampdowns and rapid advances in technology will transform the way we travel, despite lagging infrastructure.
As more and more countries announce a phasing-out of pure petrol and diesel cars, early versions of tomorrow's models are already on the streets: hybrid cars, fully electric motors and vehicles that can partially drive themselves.
Attitudes to vehicle ownership in cities are changing as smartphone apps make a ride available in minutes.
David Metz, of the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London, believes developed cities have reached &quot;peak car&quot;, with ownership no longer associated with increasing prosperity.
Metz said city planning&nbsp;was changing to temper the vehicle access once thought vital.
&quot;We now see high-density urban areas are more successful with less traffic,&quot; he said, citing London's car-free Leicester Square entertainment district and the Canary Wharf financial hub.
Cars could be phased out of city centres altogether, as urban planners ditch the 20th-century, car-focused grid-plan model for city streets.
Private cars, sitting idle for 23 hours a day, might be eclipsed by car-pool clubs, journey-sharing apps or one-trip rental cars as seen in cities around the world from Berlin to Istanbul to Vancouver.
- 'Driving everywhere by themselves' -
Driverless technology also looks set to revolutionise urban road travel, according to industry figures.
Graeme Smith, chief executive of Oxbotica, a British company developing autonomous vehicle software, said new cities being planned in China envision all vehicles being electric, autonomous and publicly-owned.
&quot;In those cities, your life would be fundamentally different,&quot; he told AFP.
&quot;50 years into the future, maybe these things will be driving everywhere by themselves -- but there's a progression to go through.&quot;
Driverless technology faces the challenge, over time, of bringing down the cost of sensors while improving their performance -- and there is currently no standard operating methodology.
Some cars with levels two and three autonomy are already on the roads.
Britain's Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said he expected the first level four self-driving cars to reach the UK market by 2021, bringing the world closer to level five, or total autonomy.
Fully driverless cars could help ease gridlock by driving closer together in convoy and avoid traffic by exchanging real-time information.
- 'The final destination' -
The switch to electric vehicles (EVs), meanwhile, is already well under way.
Volvo will no longer sell solely diesel or petrol cars from 2019, while Volkswagen's Audi brand is gearing up to offer an electric version of every one of its models.&nbsp;
&quot;We think it is really the final destination for the auto industry,&quot; said Eric Feunteun, Renault's electric vehicle programme director, told journalists in Utrecht in the Netherlands earlier this month at an event where the French car maker unveiled partnerships with renewable energy companies.
Britain and France intend to ban the sale of fully petrol or diesel cars from 2040, while smog-plagued India wants to sell only electric cars by 2030.
Besides legislation on a pan-European and a national level, cities themselves are taking action on pollution.
London is set to introduce an ultra-low emissions zone in the city centre in 2019, with charges for more polluting vehicles, and hopes to extend it to the inner London ring road by 2021.
- 'Woeful lack' of charging points -
Manufacturers said they feel up to the challenge.
&quot;We'll supersede the sale of petrol/diesel cars way before 2040,&quot; said Jonny Berry, Renault's regional electric vehicles fleet sales manager.
Berry was speaking at a car show in Regent Street in the heart of London's shopping district, where electric models were the focus of attention.
&quot;I think it's a very easy target for us to reach. More and more people are coming round to the idea.&quot;
While some countries like Norway have a high take-up of electric vehicles, in many world cities, the charging infrastructure is patchy.
Some commentators see a future of wireless charging base pads laid under city streets, underground car trains or drone car flights; others are more sceptical.
Expert motoring journalist Matt Robinson said a &quot;woeful lack&quot; of suitable charging points remained a big problem for electric car users.
&quot;London is the best place in Britain to own an electric car but the infrastructure lags behind the uptake of early adopters,&quot; he said.
Robinson is also sceptical about the distance ranges given by EV manufacturers for their batteries, saying they are almost &quot;impossible to obtain in the real world&quot;.
Driverless cars also face overcoming the &quot;public fear factor&quot;, he said.
&quot;Do you ever trust your safety to something doing 70 miles (115 kilometres) per hour without human control?&quot;]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[Google's driverless electric Waymo car. Credit:Supplied]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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<pubDate>2017-11-17 09:37:48</pubDate>
<content_id>1056720</content_id>
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<heading><![CDATA[SpaceX postpones secretive launch]]></heading>
<title><![CDATA[SpaceX postpones secretive launch]]></title>
<description><![CDATA[SpaceX on Thursday postponed the launch of a secretive US government payload known as Zuma]]></description>
<body_text><![CDATA[SpaceX on Thursday postponed the launch of a secretive US government payload known as Zuma, a mission whose nature -- and the agency behind it -- is a mystery.
&quot;We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer,&quot; SpaceX said in a statement issued late Thursday about two hours before the planned launch window was to open.&nbsp;The fairing is the nose cone part of the rocket that protects the payload.
&quot;Though we have preserved the range opportunity for tomorrow, we will take the time we need to complete the data review and will then confirm a new launch date.&quot;
SpaceX and the Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment about the nature of the mission.
Northrup Grumman, the maker of the payload, said it was for the US government and would be delivered to low-Earth orbit, but offered no other details.
SpaceX is no stranger to national security launches.
Earlier this year the California-based company headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk launched a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, and an X-37B space plane for the US Air Force.
After liftoff, SpaceX will attempt to return the first stage portion of its Falcon 9 rocket to Earth for a controlled landing on solid ground near Cape Canaveral.
If successful, it will be the 20th upright touchdown for a Falcon 9 since the company began its effort to recycle costly rocket parts and make spaceflight more affordable.]]></body_text>
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<caption><![CDATA[SpaceX rocket. Credit: Supplied]]></caption>
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<source><![CDATA[AFP]]></source></item>
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