Author: Rommy Imah

Facebook has recently announced a new feature called ‘Quiet Mode,’ which does pretty much what you’d expect: limit notifications and the time you spend on the app. Digital wellbeing,’ the movement to limit our times on devices so we can focus on other things, has been one of the biggest tech buzzwords in the past year or two. The concept has permeated so far that now even Facebook is trying to get you to stop using Facebook, according to a report in thenextweb.com Facebook says the feature “mutes most push notifications” and that if you open Facebook while it’s activated,…

Apple and Google Friday said they’re working together on Bluetooth interoperability between Android and iOS devices to empower coronavirus tracking apps for smartphones. Apple and Google own the world’s two most widely used mobile operating systems. The news was announced today in a joint Apple-Google statement and will enable tracking of close proximity between people across Android and iOS devices, according to a report by VentureBeat. “First, in May, both companies will release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These official apps will be available for users to download via their respective…

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), has observed that the implicit requirement of social distancing as a means of avoiding contact with COVID-19 pandemic has increased the adoption of online platforms and e-payment systems. “The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly transformed how we interact as individuals. In particular, there has been an appreciable migration of several meetings, lectures and other forms of interactions to online platforms,” the minister said. Pantami, who sees this as a positive development, admitted that it will support his ministry’s implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for…

MainOne, West Africa’s leading connectivity and data centre solutions provider, has partnered with the Lagos State Government and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to help curtail the COVID-19 spread in the State. The company is enabling the COVID-19 Command Centre and isolation facilities with high-speed connectivity infrastructure to facilitate effective monitoring, communication and response, as its contribution to Lagos State’s efforts to fight the pandemic.  MainOne’s CSR solution will ensure that the State Government, health officials and doctors on the frontlines battling the pandemic are well connected and to the rest of the world. The MainOne’s effort is being achieved via the provision of high-speed internet access as well…

Another day and another organization have banned Zoom over privacy concerns around the popular video conferencing app. This one’s pretty big: Google has barred all its employees from using Zoom on their devices. BuzzFeed News reported last night that the company’s security team sent an internal email last week notifying employees that Zoom would stop working on their work machines, citing “security concerns” in the app. A Google spokesperson said in a statement that Zoom‘s desktop client doesn’t meet the company’s security standards; employees can use Zoom through a web browser or mobile to stay in touch with family and…

Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has said that the ongoing laying of fibre optic cables and the deployment of other telecoms equipment by mobile network operators (MNOs) across Lagos and other states is entirely to expand their networks infrastructure across the country to provide more efficient services to the consumers. Danbatta made this clarification in response to insinuations being spread by some individuals through viral video, audio and textual contents on social media, where they wrongly claim that some ongoing digging/excavation activities and laying of fibre optic cables by MNOs in…

Beginning today, Thursday, 9 April 2020, DStv and GOtv customers will be refreshed with more Christian programming on the Hallelujah Channel, a new pop-up channel broadcast on DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 29. With the current restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hallelujah channel will give DStv and GOtv viewers an immersive ‘Church at home’ experience with praise and worship sessions, sermons, choir ministrations, prayers and other wholesome family programming from well-known churches in Nigeria. Viewers will enjoy soulful ministrations from churches such as RCCG City of David, Daystar Christian Centre, Mountain of Fire and Miracles (MFM), Kingsway International…

As Europe, the Middle East and other continents face a scarcity of devices occasioned by the on-going global COVID-19 crisis which has disrupted supply chains across the world; the pandemic has sparked a spike in demand for laptops in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. Investigations reveal that the COVID-19 crisis has necessitated a de-emphasis on mass gatherings, thereby prompting businesses and educational institutions in Europe and other continents to turn to virtual work in order to keep the wheels of their enterprise and academic pursuits turning. Consequently, staff and students have been encouraged to work and learn from home. The development…

With the coronavirus pandemic affecting countries all over the world, misinformation is on the rise on the internet. While it’s easier to track down the origin of posts on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, it’s hard to do the same on end-to-end encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp. In order to limit the damage, the popular chat app is introducing a new limit on forwarding messages: You can now only do that to one chat at a time. That limit kicks in once the message has been forwarded more than five times in total, according to a report in the nextweb.com. Just…

Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, yesterday paid surprise visits to the Emergency Communications Centres (ECC) in Kano and Kaduna. The visits were aimed at ensuring that the toll-free 3-digit National Emergency Number, 112, is being put to effective use in this critical time of Coronavirus pandemic, as well as the national objective of enhancing the security of lives and properties. Danbatta’s visits were also informed by his realization that, with Coronavirus spreading across the globe and more people living in isolation, the NCC’s 112 toll-free number could play a crucial role of…