2014 has been a great year for the ICT sector. We have witnessed African tech entrepreneurs going global as well as seen the impact that ICT has had on the fight against the Ebola virus.
In 2014, many memorable events happened… not only did a massive earth tremor ripple through South Africa, but we also saw a microjobbing platform lift off. We discovered 10 African cities with free Wi-Fi as well as met 10 Africans making waves in technology.
2015 is right around the corner; however, so is Christmas. The team at IT News Africa would like to wish our reader’s a Merry Christmas and very happy and prosperous new year.
May 2015 be a great a year as we look back at the most popular stories of 2014, listed by headline.
10 African cities with free Wi-Fi
If Internet use proliferates in Africa at the rate mobile phones did in the early 2000s, the continent stands to add as much as $300 billion to its economic growth by 2025, a new study by the McKinsey Global Institute has found. While most internet connections occur at home or at the workplace, a number of companies and cities have started initiatives to provide cities, towns and suburbs with free Wi-Fi access. IT News Africa has compiled a list of 10 places across Africa that have either already implemented free Wi-Fi or have free access initiaitives in the pipeline. Read More.
Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015
The 2014 Gartner Symposium, which was held at CTICC in Cape Town, has presented a variety of different topics throughout the day. However, one of the highlights of the event covered the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015.
David Cearley, Vice President and Gartner Fellow highlighted the top ten technology trends that will be strategic for most organisations in 2015. Read More.
5 African techpreneurs going global
Given the increase in number of technology users, the rapid growth of mobility & the Internet, and increasing interest in Africa as a source of solutions, innovation and technical talent, the case for the continent being able to leapfrog in some ICT market segments (including mobile payments) is strong. Read More.
10 Africans making waves in technology
IT News Africa takes a look at ten of the continent’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs who are making some serious waves in the technology space – either by reimagining established products or services, expanding radically into new areas, or developing better solutions for Africa. Read More.
Top 10 African countries on Facebook
With over 50-million Facebook users in Africa, IT News Africa takes a look at the top 10 countries in Africa with the largest number of citizens using the service – and some of the countries in the list will be completely unexpected. Read More.
How ICT is responding to Ebola in Africa
The Ebola outbreak has captured the attention of many large corporations within the ICT sector. Companies like MTN, SES, Liquid Telecom, Econet, IBM, Airtel, LG and Samsung have all responded to the outbreak in a meaningful and impactful way. While Ebola is becoming a top priority for ICT companies within Africa, the virus has unfortunately spread internationally. Read More.
Massive Earth Tremor Hits SA
On Tuesday 5 August 2014, residents in Johannesburg experienced a massive earth tremor that shook Johannesburg and surrounding areas. Read More.
PlayStation Plus Free Game Lineup July 2014
Last month was a pretty decent month for PlayStation Plus members; however, July 2014 seems to be even better. Check out the lineup below to see what you can expect on PlayStation Plus this July. Read More.
BlackBerry launching cost conscious Z3 smartphone
BlackBerry revealed the new BlackBerry Z3 smartphone, which is set to launch in South Africa during mid July 2014. Read More.
South Africa: Nashua Mobile closes its doors
Nashua Mobile announced on in April 2014 that the company will be shutting its doors in South Africa as a third-party mobile operator, and that their existing subscriber base will be sold off to mobile operators MTN and Vodacom. Read More.
Win a plane with MTN’s Sky offering
Back in June 2014, One lucky MTN customer stands a chance to win a Sling 4 2014 aeroplane to take to the skies or the cash value, when they purchase any of the MTN Sky bundles from R25. Read More.
FIFA 14 gets free update
FIFA 14 Ultimate Team: World Cup, a separate mode within FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), lets players build their ultimate squad of players from all 32 National Teams attending this summer’s tournament in Brazil. FUT World Cup features all 32 National Team crests, the official adidas Brazuca match ball, National Team kits, the Estadio do Marcana stadium, and all new look and feel within FIFA 14 Ultimate Team. Read More.
Free airtime for MTN customers
MTN prepaid and TopUp customers who useed a minimum of R6 per day on either voice, internet surfing, were rewarded with an additional R60 on-net airtime by MTN. Read More.
Review: BlackBerry Z3 Smartphone
Smartphones are essential to our day-to-day lives; however, with the latest technology costing a pretty penny at times, does BlackBerry’s cost conscious Z3 bring an affordable option to the table that is both attractive and usable in today’s technology powered world? Read More.
Windows Phone 8.1 arriving with Lumia 930 & Lumia 630
Microsoft has announced the Lumia 630 and the Lumia 930. With the announcement of the latest Nokia Lumia devices, Microsoft additionally revealed that both devices will be powered by the Windows Phone 8.1 Operating System. Read More.
Vodacom launches low-cost Smart Tab aimed at SA
Vodacom has revealed a new 3G tablet designed specifically for the South African market. Called the Vodacom Smart Tab 3G, the 7-inch tablet will run on the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system. Read More.
Ericsson fires employee over racist tweet
Ericsson employee Vivienne Catherine Basson vented her anger on Twitter today, after being allegedly involved in a car accident with a taxi driver. In the rage-filled tweet she said, “Effing k**fir taxi. And once again I vote for the death penalty. These savages don’t deserve to live. But more importantly Daniel is alive and I am alive. They can rot in hell”. Read More.
Microjobbing service Money for Jam takes off in SA
M4JAM is a microjobbing service that gives NGOs and government organisations a new way to crowd source information and interact directly with the South African public. Read More.
Software pirates brought to book
In the most recent enforcement actions around 100 counterfeit disks containing Microsoft software were seized along with a number of PCs, which were operating on unlicensed Microsoft software. Read More.
Nokia launches first Android phone in Kenya
Finnish electronics manufacturer Nokia launched their first Android-based smartphone into the Kenyan market, with the Nokia X hitting the shelves this week. To date, Nokia has predominantly released smartphones running on Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system. Read More.
Darryl Linington
