Oracle to Support 500 Ghanaian Startups, Apple Unveils New TV Platform, And Huawei Has Bugs to Fix

Africa

Docutech launches Iridesse Production Press in Ghana

Docutech Ghana Limited has finally launched the Xerox Iridesse Production Press at an event in Accra on Tuesday, Citinewsroom has reported. The Iridesse Production Press is a digital printer that prints clear dry inks in metallic gold and silver within a single press. The High Definition Emulsion Aggregate (HD EA) Toner feature produces smoother tints and lower gloss loss, increasing the quality of digital prints at a rate of 120 pages per minute. Docutech Ghana Limited help create the ideal workspace by providing company network services as well as printing solutions to businesses.

Oracle to support 500 Ghanaian startups

The Oracle Global Startup Ecosystem is partnering government and innovation hubs to support 500 startups in Ghana, the software company has reported in a post on Africa.com. The project dubbed, Ghana-Oracle Digital Enterprise Program, will support technology-enabled entrepreneurs around the country. The programme will involve access to Oracle cloud technology, support resources, mentorship and workshops to boost the capacities of startups. The Oracle Global Startup Ecosystem is an acceleration programme that allows tech startups to leverage on Oracle’s advanced resources in order to scale and become more efficient.

Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative launched

The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) has been launched, paving way for the official application process to begin. The prize competition was founded by the Jack Ma Foundation and will award up to $10 million to deserving entrepreneurs across the continent over the next ten years. Ten finalists will be selected each year to take part in a pitch competition that will be broadcast across Africa. The award scheme is open to entrepreneurs across all industries and communities, a report said.

The Americas

Apple unveils TV streaming platform

Apple has unveiled its new TV streaming platform called Apple TV+. The new platform will feature original content that includes shows and documentaries from personalities like Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, and Steven Spielberg, the BBC has reported. In addition, the Apple TV+ app will have shows from platforms like Hulu and HBO, providing a wide-range of content for audiences. The app will be released in autumn 2019 and will be available on rival devices like Samsung, Sony, and Amazon’s Firestick. In addition, Apple launched a news stand with over 300 magazines available to readers. Unlike other platforms, however, Apple announced that it would not track what users read nor would it let advertisers do so.

A Twitter hoax about birth year locks users out of app

A hoax on Twitter about changing your colour scheme if you changed your birth year is locking users out of their accounts. The alleged hoax encourages users to change their birth years to 2007 in order to activate a particular colour scheme. Doing so, however, made users appear under 13 years, thereby ineligible to use Twitter. As such, the users were automatically locked out of their accounts. Twitter has cautioned users to not fall for the prank, BBC has reported. Twitter has given guidelines for those who fell victim to the hoax, asking them to follow instructions sent to them in an email or fill out an online form. For those still contemplating it, Twitter says: “Please don’t do this.”

Self-driving shuttles to be deployed in New York City

Autonomous shuttles will be tested in New York City by the middle of 2019, BBC has reported. Optimus Ride, a Boston-based startup, will organise the test ride on private grounds at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The shuttles will operate within a speed limit of 25mph as more vehicles were deployed within the test zone.

Europe

Fraud trial over $8.4 billion sale of Autonomy underway

US computer manufacturer, Hewlett-Packard, is suing the former head of Autonomy, a software company, over an acquisition deal worth $8.4 billion. HP has brought a civil case against founder Mike Lynch and chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain for allegedly inflating the value of Autonomy during its sale in 2011. Mr Lynch’s representatives deny any fraud allegations and insist the misunderstanding is the result of “dispute over differences between UK and US accounting systems.” Nonetheless, HP is suing Lynch and his associate for $5.1 billion over allegations that the company’s revenues and earnings between 2009 and 2011 were inflated. Mike Lynch is also facing criminal charges in the US over securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy, BBC adds.

Facebook knew of Cambridge Analytica earlier than was revealed

It has been revealed that Facebook staff knew about Cambridge Analytica’s data-collecting practices up to three months earlier than reported. Detailing information in a US court document, BBC has reported that a US-based employee warned colleagues about Cambridge Analytica’s actions as far back as September 2015. Meanwhile, Facebook had said it realised the situation only in December 2015. This could mean Facebook ‘misled’ UK Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee. UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office said, “We are aware of these reports and will be considering the points made as part of our ongoing investigation.”

EU supports controversial copyright law

Critics have slammed a new EU copyright law which intends to hold tech giants liable for copyright infringement on their platforms, BBC has reported. The controversial Article 13 will punish tech giants for materials users publish without requisite copyright compensation. While critics have said this would damage user-generated content, the EU has come out to say memes and GIFs were exempted from the law. Another article in the constitution says search engines and news aggregating platforms will have to pay news websites to use their links on their sites. Google has argued that this would “harm Europe’s creative and digital industries.” Among critics of the new law are Wyclef Jean and inventor of the internet, Sir Tim Berners Lee. If EU member states go ahead to approve the new copyright law, it will become operational within two years.

Huawei has long term security risks

The National Cyber Security Centre has said it can only offer limited assurance over the long term security of UK’s telecoms infrastructure constructed with Huawei products. The agency cited frustrations at Huawei not addressing fundamental challenges identified in the past. The damning report comes ahead of UK’s decision on whether or not to allow Huawei build its 5G networks. “No material progress has been made by Huawei in the remediation of the issues reported last year,” the BBC reported from the report. The US and some of its allies have raised concerns over Huawei’s alleged ties to the Chinese state.

Hydro cyberattack cost company GBP 25.6 million

The cyberattack that rocked Norway’s Hydro aluminium plants cost the company GBP 25.6 million, it has been revealed. This is said to be only preliminary costs while Hydro works to bring its systems back online. Production has fallen by some 30-40% as some automated machines are being operated manually on some sites. Hydro’s approach to handling the malware attack has been praised.

Asia

New Zealand Muslims welcome suit against Facebook, YouTube over streaming of mosque massacre

The Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ) has welcomed a decision by French Muslim groups to sue Facebook and YouTuber over the streaming of the mosque massacres, Reuters has reported. The suit was filed by the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) against the French branches of the tech giants. In a report, a spokesperson for FIANZ said, “We haven’t been in touch with the (French) group … but certainly something which can deter the social media space in terms of these types of crimes, we would be supportive of that.” The shooting in New Zealand which killed 50 people and left others severely injured was livestreamed on Facebook for 17 minutes, garnering thousands of shares across Facebook-owned platforms as well as YouTube.

Huawei unveils new smartphones

Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei, has unveiled two new smartphones at an event in Paris. The devices, P30 and the P30 Pro, will go on sale in April. The Huawei P30 Pro comes with 4 rear cameras, one of which has in-built AI sensors to properly identify objects in order to offer better exposure and quality images. The device also comes with an eight-megapixel SuperZoom camera incorporated with five-times optical zoom capability. Peter Gauden, the company’s global senior product marketing manager, said at the launch, “We’re going to completely rewrite the rules of smartphone photography.”