Ghana Launches First Dual Card, Huawei Unveils New Harmony OS, and Far-Right Hate Group Website Forced Offline

Africa

Ghana launches first GH Dual Card

The Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has launched the first ever dual card at an event in Accra, according to a report by Citi News Room. The GH Dual Card is being rolled out by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems, GhIPSS, incorporates both e-zwich and GH-Link applications. GH-Link applications support card-related activities at the various banks around the country, while e-zwich was introduced as a tool to improve financial inclusion. The latter was designed to provide cashless payment opportunities for the unbanked population but is now extended to cover all government employees. This means workers and holders of the GH Dual Card would not need an ATM card at their respective banks. “What we are launching today, which is the dual e-zwich card and gh-link card, is a world first; its not happened anywhere in the world. It is the first time that any country in the world is issuing this combined EMV card and a financial inclusion card,” Dr Bawumia said.

MTN Group subscriber growth increases by 7.7 million

MTN Group added 7.7 million new subscribers in the first half of 2019 across the world according to reports. This brought the total number of subscribers to a record 240 million. The number of active data users also rose by 3.8 million to 82 million clients across its markets on the continent. Financially, this led to a 10% increase in EBITDA on constant currency basis. MTN also revealed that its advanced instant messaging platform, Ayoba, which is currently active in only 3 West African markets, has an active monthly subscription of 300,000. Service revenue inched up to R67.9 billion. “MTN is well positioned to grow by leveraging our scale and enhancing our competitive position,” Group President and CEO, Rob Shuter, said of the developments.

Europe

HTC phones pulled from UK stores

HTC has stopped selling its smartphones in the UK as it awaits a decision on an intellectual property infringement row, it has been reported. The row involves German R&D firm, IP-COM, which alleges that HTC used a wireless technology it developed for car phones. While HTC allegedly promised to sell only modified phones during the time the case was in court, Munich-based IP-COM says HTC had not done that and rather offered the same version of mobile for sale. HTC has since withdrawn its mobile devices from the UK to await the court ruling. “We are proactively investigating an infringement claim by a third party with respect to a single handset model,” a company spokesperson said.

Facebook asked to close review-seeking groups

Facebook has been urged to close groups seeking fake Amazon reviews. According to a BBC report, the social media giant has failed to shut down some of the groups despite a June request by UK’s Competitions and Market Authority, CMA. The request was made after consumer group Which? joined up to 10 different groups on Facebook. Within 30 days, the consumer group found 55,000 posts offering free products in exchange for glowing reviews on Amazon. “It is deeply concerning that Facebook continues to leave customers exposed to poor quality or unsafe products boosted by misleading and disingenuous reviews,” Natalie Hitchins of Which? told reporters. Senior Director of CMA, George Lusty, said Facebook needed to be proactive in deleting such groups. In response, Facebook said it had removed 9 of the groups mentioned and was investigating the last one. “We don’t allow people to use Facebook to facilitate or encourage false reviews,” a spokesperson said.

The Americas

8chan offline after Cloudflare revokes security support

Far-right web forum, 8chan, has been forced offline after Cloudflare withdrew its security service, BBC has reported. The forum had been a hot-bed for far-right activists and was used to celebrate mass shootings. It is believed the 21 year old El Paso shooter used 8chan to spread his manifesto. The suspects in the Christchurch Mosque shooting as well as the Synagogue shooting were both said to have spread their ideologies on the site. Cloudflare decided to revoke 8chan’s access to its services earlier this week. Subsequently, a Distributed Denial of Service Attack forced the website offline. 8chan has said it would enlist BitMitgate to protect its website after losing Cloudflare’s service.

Apple to restrict Facebook messaging apps

Apple is reportedly working to limit Facebook’s messaging apps on its devices, Reuters has said. Facebook’s Messenger and WhatsApp run in the background even when they are not in use. This makes it possible to make calls or send messages faster. Apple intends to cut this access especially while the user is making an internet call. This could lead to an update to the WhatsApp design to make it compliant with Apple laws while maintaining its message encryption functions.

Asia

China warns India of sanctions if Huawei is blocked

China has warned India of reverse sanctions if it blocks Huawei from doing business in its market, Reuters has revealed. India is yet to make public whether or not it will use Huawei devices in its next-generation network. In order to thwart any negative news, it is reported that China invited India’s ambassador in Beijing to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Sources claim China discussed the US’s campaign to prevent Huawei from being on the 5G network. China is believed to have made it clear that Indian businesses operating in the country would suffer strict sanctions should the Indian government take any negative decision regarding Huawei. “On the issue of Chinese enterprises participating in the construction of India’s 5G, we hope the Indian side makes an independent and objective decision, and provides a fair, just and non-discriminatory commercial environment for Chinese enterprises’ investment and operations, to realize mutual benefit,” Hua Chunying of the Foreign Ministry said.

Huawei unveils new Harmony OS

Huawei has unveiled a new Operating System for its devices amid fears US trade cuts could limit its access to the Android OS, it has been revealed. The new Harmony OS, which is called Hongmeng in Chinese, is already ready for deployment. However, Huawei has delayed its use to support developers. Harmony OS will be used on Huawei’s new Honor smart screen device it plans to unveil on Saturday. Huawei has had to develop its own OS due to the US government blacklisting the company. The blacklist meant Huawei could miss out on the Android OS in the future as the US government makes it difficult for Google to sell products to the Chinese firm. “Harmony OS is completely different from Android and iOS,” Richard Yu of Huawei’s consumer business group said.