Nigerian And South African Startups Selected For Google Launchpad Accelerator

  Google has selected a trio of African tech startups to take part in the upcoming fifth class of the Google launchpad accelerator program.

A South African and two Nigerian tech startups were chosen to take part in the six-month, equity-free mentorship program, according to ITNewsAfrica.

Google’s Launchpad Accelerator aims to help startups by leveraging the company’s latest technologies in an effort to scale their businesses through mentoring.

A total of 24 startups from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America have been selected to take part in the program, which begins at the end of January 2018 in San Francisco.

Africa is represented by three startups, with two from Nigeria and one company from South Africa.

Twitter Lite app is coming to 24 more countries via the Play Store

  Twitter Lite was first introduced around eight months ago as a Progressive Web App, but it turned it into an Android application and published it on the Play Store for users in the Philippines back in September. Now an additional 24 countries will also be able to download it through the Play Store, even though the app is functionally identical to the PWA.

Meet Chris Schultz « High Growth Africa Summit 2017

   Chris Schultz is an entrepreneur and angel investor on a mission to support rising startup ecosystems globally. He was born in Zaria, Nigeria, grew up in Nairobi, and invests in startups around the world that are solving real problems for real people and attacking large frontier technology markets. He is CEO of Launch Pad, a network of co-working spaces focused on building the strongest community connecting entrepreneurs, creatives and professionals. From High Growth Africa Summit 2017                                                                                                             Hi everyone!


I run network of coworking spaces called Launch Pad and our mission is to help connect entrepreneurs in ecosystems outside Silicon Valley to opportunity (investors, partners, media, etc).


thanks!
- Chris

TSTV commences roll-out of free decoders

…Says accreditation still ongoing, shifts commercial launch
By Michael Eboh
Digital satellite and PayTv operator, Telecoms Satellite Television (TSTv), yesterday, said it has commenced the distribution and installation of the 5,000 promo decoders across the country, pursuant to its full launch.

The company, in a statement in Abuja, however, stated that accreditation of its dealers was still ongoing and that commercial sale and rollout of the decoders would not commence until the accreditation process is concluded.

Apple fires iPhone X engineer after daughter’s hands-on video goes viral

  Apple has reportedly dismissed an engineer after his daughter’s iPhone X hands-on video went viral on YouTube. Brooke Amelia Peterson published a vlog earlier this week, which included a trip to the Apple campus to visit her father and see an unreleased iPhone X. Peterson’s video was quickly picked up by sites like 9to5Mac, and it spread even further on YouTube.

Peterson now claims her father has been fired as a result of her video. In a tearful video, Peterson explains her father violated an Apple company rule by allowing her to film the unreleased handset at Apple’s campus. Apple reportedly requested that Peterson remove the video, but it was clearly too late as the content spread further and further.

THE VIDEO PROBABLY REVEALED MORE THAN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO
The video itself may have seemed like an innocent hands-on, but it did include footage of an iPhone X with special employee-only QR codes. A notes app was also shown on the iPhone X in the video, which appeared to include codenames of unreleased Apple products. Filming on Apple’s campus is strictly prohibited, so filming an unreleased iPhone X is a definite rule violation.

We’ve seen similar dismissals in the past. A Microsoft employee was dismissed after his son posted pictures of the Xbox 360 before its release. The Apple engineer in question had worked at the company for around four years, building the iPhone RF and wireless circuit design. The Verge reached out to Apple to confirm the dismissal, but the company has not yet responded to a request for comment.  

Ex Childville School Student Wins Microsoft Office Contest

  A former student of the Childville School, Ogudu, Lagos, Miss Katherine Eta, 16, has emerged second runner-up in the 2016 Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) world championship, a global competition designed to challenge students to demonstrate their proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

Eta was one of the participants in the rigorous competition held at the United States that attracted more than 560,000 candidates from 122 countries.

For her efforts, she got a cheque of N750,000 from Readmanna Empowerment Initiative, an organisation that promotes proficiency in basic computer literacy aligned to global standards among students through such competitions, and another from Zenith Bank, while her ICT teacher, Mrs. Rukayat Adebayo got N250,000.

Nissan to Show Concepts Cars at Tokyo Motor Show

   Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. will show a number of exciting concept cars and production vehicles at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, giving customers a glimpse of the company’s newest and future innovations.

A new concept model that embodies the future of Nissan Intelligent Mobility will be among the highlights of the vehicles on display. The Nissan LEAF NISMO Concept car, the performance-oriented Serena NISMO and an updated Skyline will also debut at the show. In all, Nissan plans to display 13 vehicles, according to a statement by the auto company.

The 45th Tokyo Motor Show, held at Tokyo Big Sight, is open to the public from Oct. 27 to Nov. 5. Press days are Oct. 25-26. The Nissan booth, in East Hall 5, will feature a “spiral” design theme symbolizing the company’s past, present and future commitment to making exciting products. It will showcase the values Nissan strives to offer, including the company’s latest electric vehicles. A simulator will let visitors experience the future of Nissan Intelligent Mobility.

CWG inaugurates innovation hub

  Leading technology solution provider, CWG Plc, has launched Innovation Hub to deliver efficient technological solutions to its clients.

The Chief Executive Officer, CWG, Mr. James Agada, said the Innovation Hub was significant to the growth and overall development of the company.

He spoke during the opening of the facility at the company’s headquarters at Lekki Phase 1 in Lagos.

According to Agada, since the company develops its own technological solutions, it is paramount to have a facility that will guarantee the speedy development of the solutions to its numerous clients.

The CWG boss said the transformation would allow the company to be the master of its own destiny.

SystemSpecs releases full version of Remita mobile app on Android and iOS

  SystemSpecs has released the full version of its Remita Mobile Application, for both Android and Apple users, to help individuals and businesses manage their accounts across multiple banks, settle bills of various kinds and generally stay in control of their finances.

The release of the full version of the app is coming after its beta version was released on the Android platform in March of this year. With the full release of Remita Mobile App on Google playstore and Apple app store, millions of Nigerians with accounts in any commercial bank can easily access their account balances on one screen, conveniently make and receive payments across various bank accounts, and settle bills to several merchants within the private and public sectors from their mobile phone.

Google Street View Is Now Available In Nigeria

  When I want to go to a new place read: restaurant, I google everything I can about that place. Is there parking? Are their staff rude? What does the place and/or their food taste or look like? Everything short of being able to see the place before I go there.

Google Street View allows people explore world landmarks, discover natural wonders, and step inside locations such as museums, arenas, restaurants, and small businesses from the comfort of their homes. Basically, allowing you experience places before visiting them.

On September 1, 2009, Google started started collecting images in Africa spanning South Africa, Tanzania, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal and Uganda. Now, the Nigerian coverage, which was scheduled for 2017, has started. Google announced this today at the ongoing Google for Nigeria event, which has Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, in attendance.

The coverage starts with Lagos: there's now over 10km of footage of Lagos available on Google Street View via Maps; the expansion to other states will happen soon.

6 Ways Excessive Use Of Smartphones Can Kill Us

  Smartphones are unarguably useful in many ways. They have become our greatest companion and have replaced most of our household and office gadgets like wall clocks, Alarms, Calenders, Diaries, FM Radios, Video games,computers, Telephones, Compass, etc. Because of its mobility and portability, smartphones have become very addictive. This addiction has taken a dangerous dimension as smartphone users are exposed to many adversities. Over 1.6 million driving accidents have been caused as a result of smartphone usage, our health and social life have been mortgaged as a result of excessive cell phone usage.

1. Accidents
Attention tends to be divided when one uses a smartphone either as a pedestrian or as a driver. Most of the times, we are tempted to reply important mails and chats while driving. Driving requires high consciousness of our senses that a split-second of distraction can be very disastrous. Most of us are so confident of our ability to focus that we drive and use our phones simultaneously; endangering not only ourselves, but other road users. According to studies carried out by National Accident Helpline in the UK, about 43% of people bump into obstacles while walking and accessing their phones. Pedestrians who use their phones tend to be four times unaware of road road and traffic signs. About 1.5 million people end up in the hospital as a result of using their phones while driving.

2. Posture Disorder
The use of smartphones can result to posture disorder. Maintaining a particular posture for a long period of time can be hazardous to our muscles.While using our smartphones, chances are suspend our neck and arms are suspended at a particular angle. This could lead to muscles spasms and chronic diseases.

If you are a Nigerian blogger, Google has something for you

L-R Communications & Public Relations Manager, West Africa, Google, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade; Online Editor, Olori Supergal, Tosin Ajibade; Analytical Lead, Google, Abdulsalam Abdullateef and Editor, TechCabal, Bankole Oluwafemi during “Get Fit with Google” held at Bodyline Fitness and Gym, Ikoyi, Lagos on Thursday, December 3, 2015

  The Code For Africa Digital Journalism initiative will take place over a period of nine months and it will span 12 African countries.
Google has announced a digital journalism initiative with a aim of training 6000 journalists in Africa on data journalism skills by February 2018.

Google News Lab and the World Bank are going to work with Code For Africa, a data journalism and civic technology initiative, to train journalists by giving them the necessary support to understand the web and utilise the tools they have available to them.

The Code For Africa Digital Journalism Initiative will take place over a period of nine months and it will span 12 African countries: Abuja, Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Casablanca, Dakar, Freetown, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, and Yaounde.

According to a statement made available to Tech, the program will take place in three formats:

In-person training sessions will be held in the cities mentioned above starting from June 15, 2017. In each city, the initiative will conduct training in 3 newsrooms and training will be held twice a month for the duration of the initiative.

Flash Messaging Now on iPhone

   Promoters of Truecaller have announced that Flash Messaging is now the new way one can communicate with his or her friends and family.

They explained that Flash maintains the urgency of phone calls while being a simpler and short-answered way of messaging.
“It’s fast, free and fun,” they added.

“We built Flash Messaging with our users in mind. There are moments in our lives when we need quick answers for simple questions. With the sense of urgency being low for responding to SMS we needed a new way to ensure that people get closure in communication.

Startup profile: Agricbase — find agricultural tools, resources and connect with like minds

  Just as the name implies, Agricbase is a platform for professionals, suppliers, buyers and service providers to exchange ideas, information, products and services related to agriculture.”


Agricbase Homepage
To deliver on its proposition, Agricbase combines social networking,  business directories, classified products, and tools for agricultural professionals to collaborate with customers.

Agricbase was founded by Shola Onoriemu in February 2017, with John Ademola as the manager, and Billy Malachi as the company’s analyst.

Ghanaian new media company, OMG Digital raises $1.1m in seed funding

  Ghanaian tech startup, OMG Digital has raised seed funding of $1.1 million from international investors. Investors in this funding round are: Kima Ventures, Soma Capital, Comcast Ventures Catalyst Fund, Social Capital, M&Y Growth Partners, and Macro Venture and a couple of other angel investors.

With its OMGVoice brand, the Y-Combinator  backed company targets millennials in Africa through its content and has been referred to in some quarters as the ‘Buzzfeed of Africa’.

OMG Digital currently operates in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya creating and curating listicles, pictorials, videos and memes that are tailored to the African continent.


Launched in February 2016, OMG Digital was co-founded by Jesse Arhin Ghansah, Prince Boakye Boampong and Dominic Mensah. The company says the funds will be used to further and expand operations across the continent.

Apply for the 1776 Challenge Cup for an opportunity to pitch your startup in New York

  The 1776 Challenge Cup is a worldwide tournament for the most promising and innovative startups. The challenge opportunes startups to win prizes, make connections and share their vision on a global stage. This year, 1776 is partnering with 75 cities to host Challenge Cup Local events, and Leadspace is hosting the competition for Lagos’ top startups.

At the 1776 Challenge Cup Lagos, 15-20 startups will be selected to pitch. From these, only one winner will emerge. The selected winner then gets a free trip to New York City to compete in the Global Finals Challenge Festival which holds from November 13 – 17, 2017.

The Challenge Festival affords competing startups the opportunity to participate in mentorship, curriculum and pitch coaching. Additional benefits are direct connections to potential funders, clients, experts, and 75 of the top startup peer-founders from around the world.

Instagram on copying Snapchat: “This is the way the tech industry works”

  I think it would frankly be silly of us if we were to say “Oh see that good idea over there that’s actually fulfilling a need people have to share more moments of their life, oh because one person did that we can’t even go near that idea.”

That’s Instagram’s VP of Product Kevin Weil’s perspective about cloning Snapchat. He’s the man in charge of bringing Snap CEO Evan Spiegel’s vision to a much larger audience, reforging his features for the mainstream, and then taking Instagram a step further.

But rather than showing guilt, remorse, or reluctance about copying what’s worked for Snap, he sees it as a foregone conclusion — the inevitable march of progress where you either step in line or get left behind.

Inspired! MTN Nigeria Announces that Prices of its Recharge Cards have not Increased

MTN Nigeria has said it has not increased the prices of its recharge cards!

According to the acting Sales and Distribution Executive of MTN, Adekunle Adebiyi, the cost of recharge cards remains the face value stated on the physical vouchers.

“We hereby use this medium to inform all our subscribers that we have not increased the prices of our recharge cards. Any increment from any quarters across the country on our recharge cards is without our knowledge, and we urge all our customers to always pay the exact value advertised on the cards,” he said.

Speaking further, Adebiyi said urgent steps were being taken to ensure compliance on sales of the recharge cards at the stated face value by all MTN’s trade partners and retailers.

“While we are working assiduously to resolve claims of illegal increases, we apologise to our customers for any inconvenience this might have caused. Alternatively, we advise our customers to explore other options of purchasing airtime such as MTN Virtual Top Up (VTU), Diamond Yello Account (DYA), or MTN Auto Top-up. For more information on these services, please visit www.mtnonline.com/autotopup,’’ he said.

Facebook to Employ 3,000 People to Review Reports of Murder & Suicide – Mark Zuckerberg

   Following recent cases of murder and suicide on Facebook, founder of the social network Mark Zuckerberg has said that the company will add 3,000 people to its community operations team around the world, who will join 4,500 others to review the millions of reports it gets every week.

Zuckerberg, in a statement on Wednesday, said that he’s been reflecting on how Facebook can do better to build a safe community.

“Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook – either live or in video posted later. It’s heartbreaking, and I’ve been reflecting on how we can do better for our community.

If we’re going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly. We’re working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner – whether that’s responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down.

Twitter, Bloomberg team up for streaming news channel

   Twitter is launching a 24-hour streaming news channel in partnership with the Bloomberg Media, in a major expansion of the social media firm’s video operations, the two firms announced Monday.

The new streaming channel “will combine the vast global editorial and newsgathering capabilities of Bloomberg with the digital power of Twitter,” a joint statement.

Michael Bloomberg, the founder of the financial news and information service and a former New York mayor, joined Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey at a New York media conference to make the announcement.

The streaming channel set to launch later this year will include user-generated content from Twitter which will be verified by Bloomberg editors, along with live video reporting from journalists at the news organization.