In smartphone age, the hajj is for sharing Mecca, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Arm outstretched, Abdul Rahman sweeps his mobile phone across the vista of Mecca, the Great Mosque dazzling in the sun, so his son in Tanzania can experience the pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites. He may be thousands …
Read More »‘Gifted’ high-tech takes spotlight at Berlin’s IFA fair
Berlin, Germany | AFP | The gadgets on display at Berlin’s mega consumer electronics fair this week may not look radically different, but they are smarter than ever before and designed to meet our every need — often before we’ve even thought of it ourselves. As smartphones and other electronic devices …
Read More »Japan’s ‘highway doctor’ does checkup on ageing roads
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | As Japan takes on the mammoth task of upgrading its capital’s outdated roads and infrastructure, a local “highway doctor” is betting that its 3-D technology can led a hand. Tokyo’s sprawling maze of ageing expressways, measuring 320 kilometres (or 200 miles) in length, have long been …
Read More »Watch out Messi, here come the footballers at RoboCup
Nagoya, Japan | AFP | With steely focus, player number 3 scored a stunning opening goal in the first few minutes of the high-stakes football match between a dominant Bordeaux and their plucky Chinese opponents. But as the crowds cheered, the pint-sized player, known as Arya, showed none of the customary …
Read More »TUMWEBAZE: Uganda must be ICT compliant
By Julius Businge Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Information and Communication Minister Frank Tumwebaze has said that government is committed to harnessing the opportunities of digital technology in offering service delivery to the people. He made the remarks at Sheraton Hotel on July 20 during the ICT stakeholders’ consultative …
Read More »Internet back in Somalia after weeks-long outage
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somalia rejoined the world wide web on Monday, more than three weeks after internet access was cut when a container ship damaged an undersea cable connecting the Horn of Africa nation to the world. “The technical issue, which has disrupted the internet connection, is resolved …
Read More »South Africa’s white enclave of Orania eyes move to e-cash
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A whites-only enclave in South Africa has resisted the country’s multi-racial reality for more than two decades, even adopting its own paper money in its bid to promote self-sufficiency. Now Orania, a town of 1,400 established during the dying years of apartheid and protected …
Read More »Things to know about Bitcoin
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox, went on trial in Tokyo on charges stemming from the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency from its digital vaults. Here are some key facts about the world’s most …
Read More »Africa must invest heavily in youth, if we are to lead in innovation
Africa must invest heavily in youth, if we are to lead in innovation COMMENT | By Awel Uwihanganye | In an increasingly mobile global economy, it is important that African thought leaders consider the subject of innovations in the context of the millions of jobs that can be created, and the …
Read More »Samsung to invest $18 billion in memory chip business
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Samsung Electronics will invest nearly $18 billion in its chip business, the South Korean firm said Tuesday, as it seeks to expand its lead in the global memory chip and smartphone markets. The world’s top maker of smartphones and memory chips will invest 20.4 …
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