Category: Global News
Facebook agrees to buy Whatsapp for $19 billion
Social media giant Facebook has just announced, the purchase of instant messaging app Whatsapp. Commenting on the deal his Facebook wall, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg did not say how much Facebook will pay for the IM which has 450 million users, but the deal is rumored to be in the region of $19 billion […]
Regional & Global round up: Cell C to fight MTN, Wikipedia free on MTN SA
Cell C to fight MTN’s application to review Call Termination Regulations (Mybroadband) As expected, a new twist to the Call termination regulations story in South Africa. Cell is expected to benefit the most from the new regulations that ICASA is trying to introduce, but which are being fought by MTN. Cell C is consulting […]
Regional & Global round up: Mobile payments soar in China, SABC boss in trouble
SABC’s Motsoeneng ‘lied’ his way to the top (Techcentral) It appears the scenes similar to our own Salarygate at ZBC are playing out at South African state broadcaster SABC. This time, SABC COO Hlaudi Mostoeneng is accused of lying about his qualifications which not only brought him to the top, but also “qualified” him for […]
Regional & Global round up: Icasa moves rate cuts, Facebook broadens gender options
Icasa postpones rate cuts (Techcentral) Facebook broadens Gender options (Bandwithblog) Viber acquired for $900 million (TechMoran) Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount ($): EcoCash or OneMoney number: Buy Please dial our USSD code *405# on your phone to buy airtime because this page will not work. {{error_message}} {{error_message}}
Regional & Global round up: MTN files suit against regulator, WeChat partners DStv
MTN files suit against regulator (Techcentral) WeChat partners with DStv to drive second screen user engagement (Ventureburn) A quick look at the government websites of the 54 African states (Mobility) Yahoo acquires and shuts down startup Distill (Business Insider) Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount ($): EcoCash or OneMoney […]
Regional & Global Round up: Bitcoin plunges, PesaPal launched in Malawi
PesaPal launches in Malawi, plans expansion in Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia (TechLoy) Moneygram customer can now use MPESA (Techmoran) Best mobile broadband service in South Africa (Mybroadband) Nigerian government may ban SIM card sales to improve service quality (TechLoy) Bitcoin value plunges (Mybroadband) Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime […]
Regional & Global round up: SA internet stats, Naspers attacks Google
Naspers accuses Google of dodging taxes (TechCentral) Nokia’s Android phone “Normandy” to launch at Mobile World Congress (TechWeez) HTC to build low cost phones to help increase profits (Bandwithblog) SA internet use demographics (Mybroadband) Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount ($): EcoCash or OneMoney number: Buy Please dial our […]
Flappy Bird is being pulled down by owner in under 7 hours (update)
Flappy Bird, the number one android and iOS game is being pulled down in a matter of hours by the owner. Dong Nguyen announced on twitter that he will be pulling down the difficult game because he “cannot take this anymore”. I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy […]
Regional & Global Roundup: Samsung’s “Africa” TV, Africa’s FB top 10, DotAfrica
Samsung with special curved UHD for Africa (TechCentral) Samsung unveiled a curved 23″ UHD TV targeting the African market. The TV has alternative power sources for continued viewing in the event of power cuts. The estimated price is under $400 and it is expected for retail mid-year. Top 10 African Countries on Facebook (IT News […]
Regional and Global tech news round up: Twitter stock down 18%, DSTV Milking Pistorius Trial, $50 Smartphone
Twitter stock fall 18% after it released first post-IPO earning (Techcrunch) Cheapest Smartphone in Africa? MTN releases a $50 smartphone (TechTrends) SA biggest MNOs fighting, this time with the regulator (TechCentral) DSTV launching 24 hour channel dedicated to Oscar Pistorius trial (TechCentral) Quick NetOne, Econet, And Telecel Airtime Recharge Number to recharge: Airtime amount […]
Microsoft 4Afrika program announces 5 African startups to receive grants
Microsoft has announced five African startups that will receive grants as part of the Microsoft 4Afrika program, an extension of the Microsoft Ventures program. You will quickly notice that the selected startups are from East and West Africa, specifically Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda, – non-from Southern Africa. The press release does not go into much […]
Global tech news roundup: Lenovo buys Motorola, Hackers attempt hit on Yahoo, WeChat in aggressive global drive
The Tech scene has been on the brim over this past week both locally and regionally. Locally, Telecel’s long awaited mobile money service Telecash was finally launched but the launch may have been overshadowed by the short lived EcoCash Droid app created by the Gedion Moyo’s – at least here on Techzim. Internationally, Lenovo’s purchase […]
Deloitte Technology, Media and Telecommunications predictions for 2014
Deloitte has releases its annual Techonology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) predictions for 2014. The annual TMT report started back in 2001 and this years’ predictions are dominated by mobile devices. Here’s a look at the key predictions. Big five to exceed USD $750 billion in sales Deloitte expects global combined sales of smartphones, tablets, PCs, […]
MTN launches Zambia’s first LTE network
One of Zambia’s largest mobile operators, MTN Zambia, announced this week the launch of the country’s first commercial LTE network. The announcement was made by the mobile operator’s Zambia Chief Executive Officer Abdul Ismail. The new faster broadband service will cover Lusaka (the capital), Kitwe, Ndola and Livingstone. Zambia joins 6 other countries in the region that […]
Econet’s Liquid Telecom now worth half a billion?
On January 12 Last week Altech announced the offloading of an 8.6% stake in Liquid Telecom Holdings to Econet Wireless for a reported $55 million. While this move has further secured Econet Wireless Group’s control of what is now Africa’s largest terrestrial fibre network operator. It has also shed more light on the value of the […]
Here are some emerging market relevant gadgets at CES 2014
The CES has always been too advanced to interest most African markets on a “lets do business now level”. The technology presented at CES 2014 is largely for early adopters and too expensive for emerging markets to even contemplate. However, the technology eventually reaches our humble markets and over the years, the technology has been […]
CES 2014 day one round up
The Consumer Electronics Show 2014 (CES 2014) kicked off in Las Vegas, Navada today (technically yesterday with pre-event announcements from different consumer brands). For those not in the loop, the CES is an annual gathering of the top global consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers. Techzim will be giving you a round-up of each days proceedings, […]
Do we really need new net names?
Late last month the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) took the radical step of approving nine new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs): .bike, .clothing, .guru, .camera, .lighting, .voyage, .holdings, .equipment and .singles. These gTLDs, while available to registered companies with the appropriate trade marks, will only be released to the public in […]