Groupe PSA captures 11.6% market share in Africa, sees revenue rise by 20.7% overall

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March 5, 2018

Groupe PSA – the brand that is behind the likes of OPEL Omega and Citroen – has posted its earnings for the year 2017, and they would hope to keep soaring in this new way. According to the data released by the company, the internal revenue has climbed a massive 20.7% as compared to what was obtainable in the year 2016.

While the company has been able to record a larger percentage of their sales in the European markets, they also have the Middle Eastern and African markets to thank for this massive upwards trend.

Speaking on the new, impressive statistics, the Chairman of the Groupe PSA Managing Board, Carlos Tavares, said

Our agile, customer focused and socially responsible approach is making the difference.

A lot of the success that Groupe PSA has recorded can be attributed to a series of executive decisions that they have made over time. The Groupe was able to bear the effect of negative exchange rates by releasing new models that more than compensated for their losses.

They then went on to initiate a product mix and various cost reduction strategies which saw them keep their heads above water even when the prices of raw materials were further going up through the roof.

In the African markets, Groupe PSA proudly sold a massive 618,800 units. The OPEL brand was well represented, taking no less than 26,800 of the total number. That ensures the brand can now lay claim to a market share of 11.7% while still gunning for their goal of selling 700,000 units in the region by 2021.

At this rate, and with the expert management the company is under right now, that doesn’t seem like such a fleeting idea.

To further cement its drive, car manufacturing plants have been set up in each of Morocco, Kenya and Ethiopia. Still expanding its base, pen has been put to a contract that would see one of such local manufacturing points spring up in Oran of Algeria.

Microsoft makes special version of Skype to work on older models of Android

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O. Christopher

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March 2, 2018

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Microsoft makes special version of Skype to work on older models of Android

Microsoft is crossing the OS barrier to please Android users who are still using old models of phones run on the operating system. In recent news, the Mountain View company announced that they have optimised their Skype for Android application to work well on older units of Android.

For now, that support is extended to those who have Android devices still on versions 4.0.3 to the 5.1 Lollipop.

The optimised Skype has a smaller size compared to the normal one and will take less memory too. All that will ensure the app runs smoother, better and makes better audio/ video calls.

Microsoft even promises that the application will be able to cope better in areas with challenging network conditions. It almost seems like this is a Lite version of the application as many top app developers have now been releasing.

The application is yet to hit the Play Store. It is expected that initial rollout starts in a few days. Still, it would take a few days before the application reaches all regions.

Lagos State Government to train 1 Million Coders by 2030

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O. Christopher

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March 1, 2018

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Lagos State Government to raise 1 Million Coders by 2030

The Lagos State Government has a plan in place to ensure that more than one million people have been trained in the art of coding by the year 2030. This was made known at the sixth edition of Social Media Week that is scheduled to round up today, March 2^nd.

It is believed that this is just the kind of move needed to make residents not only marketable in the local job sector but able to compete effectively with other professionals in the international job market.

Rendering a speech titled ‘Teaching One Million Lagosians to Code,’ the Special Adviser to the government on Education, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh said

The Lagos population is 65 percent young, so you have to give them skills that will make them successful. How do we ensure that the workforce in Lagos succeeds? Technology has to play a role. We want Lagos to continue to prosper and the average workplace continue to deliver.

Backing up the decision, Obafela continued that the skills acquired through coding will stay with one for life, and the proceeds would be beneficial to both the individual and the government in the future. He also stated that this is not something the government can take on alone.

He thus called on private and public bodies to rally behind the novel idea so as to make it possible.

Finally, he made known that the program will not be aimed at just teaching people. It would rather be directed at making sure everyone that partakes is empowered and given something they can fall back on.

Facebook Messenger gets new update, aims to improve businesses

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O. Christopher

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February 27, 2018

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Facebook Messenger gets new update, aims to improve businesses

2018 seems to be the year of the Facebook Messenger application. Having already seen a number of updates this year, the application now has a new version that would help businesses interact with their customers better.

The new Messenger v2.3 packs tools such as customer chat, Quick Replies and message tags that would facilitate easier and smoother interactions between the business and the customer.

Quick Replies has been a Messenger feature since 2016 but it has now been improved to guide business bots on better ways of interacting with customers. One of the important improvements is a neat feature that allows you send an automatic message to someone who asks for your business information. Once such a request is made, the bots can easily fill in the contact addresses on your Facebook profile.

The newly-added support for Internet Explorer can be used to fully enjoy chat plugin supports across the new version. Notifications, persistent menu and such other relevant chat information can now be better customised to suit the business. That is also one way to keep track of the numbers.

Speaking of numbers, open messaging and new messaging conversations are two new metrics that have been put in place to help businesses better determine how much people engage them. To cap it all off, message tags – similar to the smart reply system on Gmail and related Google applications – now make a faster way to reply questions issued by customers.

Don’t forget to put a personalised feel on everything lest you lose customers.

9Mobile sale: Barclays declares Teleology Holdings the preferred bidder, could still lose spot to Smile Holdings

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O. Christopher

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February 22, 2018

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9Mobile sale: Barclays declares Teleology Holdings the preferred bidder, could still lose spot to Smile Holdings

Barclays Africa has put a much-needed end to the debate that has ensued in the case of who gets the remains of 9Mobile – the network that metamorphosed from the Etisalat brand name.

While speculations had already pointed fingers at Teleology Holdings, an official letter from the financial advisor confirms this. In the letter, it is also stated that Teleology pays a non-refundable sum of $50 million on or before 21 days to the time of writing the letter. For the records, the letter was dated 21^st February.

On February 11, 2018, the NCC claimed that it had no information as to whom the new owner of 9Mobile would be since they were yet to receive any information from Barclays. As from now, Teleology can now count themselves the lucky owners of 9Mobile after a dragged-out acquisition process.

Emerging as the preferred bidder, Teleology was granted a 30-day timeframe to conduct all inside checks and finalise financial aspects of the deal.

Some of the privileged information that the communications house will be privy to include, but are not limited to, financial records of 9Mobile and the opportunity to seek further clarifications as concerns the brand.

Currently, the onus is on Teleology to either go forward with the deal or like Airtel, pull out at the last minute too. As a precaution, the preferred bidder spot will be lost to Smile Holdings Limited. This provision will kick into play should Teleology fail to follow through with the indicated amount and in the stated time frame too.

Nuance Communications announces an end to Swype keyboard, focuses on AI for Business

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O. Christopher

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February 20, 2018

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Nuance Communications announces an end to Swype keyboard, focuses on AI for Business

Swype – one of the most popular keyboard units on the Android operating system – will no longer receive updates. This was made known by the management of the company behind the keyboard technology, Nuance Communications, who have decided to discontinue the application altogether. It should be noted that this is coming at a time when several users of the keyboard are still reporting bugs on the application.

Nuance might have no plan to pull the application from the Google Play Store though. Should a user still be interested in it, they can get the latest version. However, on the iOS app store, there will be no traces of the application whatsoever.

In the starting days of Swype, they were able to break into a lot of markets and gain popularity due to being the official keyboard app that came with most Huawei devices. Now, the business would be looking at focusing on AI solutions that could be sold directly to the top buyers – businesses.

That is surely going to be a major blow to those who have come to trust the keyboard for all their typing needs. The good news is that there are still a number of great choices worth considering out there. One of them is the Gboard offered by Google, and another is the SwiftKey application developed by Microsoft. Both are still available on the iOS and Android stores and get regular updates to keep them going.

Samsung patents wearable technology to measure your blood pressure

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O. Christopher

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February 15, 2018

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Samsung patents wearable technology to measure your blood pressure

Samsung – and a good number of other brands – have been able to work the technology behind smartwatches (and even bands) measuring the heart rate of the wearer. However, there has not been any announcement as to the measurement of blood pressure.

That is because to obtain such data as the blood pressure of a person, you would need something that fits tight. Samsung believes a tight-fitting wearable is not going to be fun, so they might be working towards a light-fitting one instead.

According to drawings from a new patent filed by the South Korean tech giant, the world might be looking at the first blood pressure wearable in a few months or years to come. The patents are for a unit named the Samsung Gear X with drawings accompanying them on what the unit would look like.

Anyone would agree that these are not different from the other Gear wearables from the same manufacturer, so it might just be the addition of this feature that sets it out from the rest

To the inner workings, the watch would shine polarised light into the skin and through some complex calculations, measure the scattering of the light. With that, it would be able to relay the blood pressure of the user. For this to happen though, you will have to keep the watch tight on your skin. Before you make a complaint, remember that wearables with heart rate sensors only work when they are kept tight too.

Facebook launches Messenger for Kids on Android

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O. Christopher

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February 15, 2018

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Facebook launches Messenger for Kids on Android

Facebook has received a considerable amount of backlash for launching a Messenger for Kids application, but that has not stopped the social media giant from now rolling it out to people on the Android front. Before now, the application could only be obtained from the Apple Store on the Amazon Fire units. With this new push, the application is set to get to even more popular soon.

Intended for children between the ages of 6 and 12, the application is made without options to hide messages or make in-app purchases. That way, parents can monitor conversations while ensuring their kid is not keeping any inappropriate content from them.

Anything for kids has to be fun. Facebook had that in mind too, building the social media app with various stickers, frames, GIFs and emojis that would make life colourful for the little users. There are interactive AR masks that can even be used in the event of one-on-one video call with friends.

Facebook has allowed for parents to remotely monitor the activities of their wards on the application too. The regular Messenger application would require either of a phone number or Facebook account, but the version for kids needs none of both. An account can simply be created and verified with the parent’s Messenger profile.

In the same breath, the parent can follow up on their child(ren)’s activities from their own Messenger application.

Another laudable feature is the Block and Report function that Messenger Kids application has in place. Whenever a child takes any of these actions, a notification is sent to their parents too. This innovation is seen as a way to help families keep and stay in touch with their little ones remotely while eliminating all the fears of wrongful exposure that comes with social media. Should it catch on, this could be the next big thing for Facebook

Instagram: You could soon know who takes a screenshot of your Stories

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O. Christopher

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February 12, 2018

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Instagram: You could soon know who takes a screenshot of your Stories

Instagram is in the works over a new feature that will see users notified when someone takes a screenshot of their stories. The feature is still in the beta testing stage, with the media-sharing social media application having rolled it out to a select few of its users, but is expected to come to everyone should the test be deemed successful.

According to the margin set by the company, success would only be guaranteed if they see that the feature further drives engagement with users on the platform, not less of it.

When this feature happens, it would be right up there with the earlier screenshot feature on Instagram. The standing screenshot technology used to work in Direct Messages (DMs) only where the creator of a message would get notified when the reading end takes a screenshot of the messages.

Those who are part of this test would be able to see who took a screenshot of their stories by going to the list of viewers. There, they will find a new camera shutter logo next to the names of those that have taken a grab of the screen while watching.

It is worthy of note that Instagram does not see this feature fit to have a notification of its own, so the user would have to manually check to see when someone takes a screenshot or not.

There is the argument that less and less people might be interested in watching live videos and updates on the general if they feel they cannot take screenshots without notifying the creator of the content. That could just be a misplaced thought though, but whatever happens in the space of the next few days would determine what school of thought wins this argument.

Should this feature roll out to all users, Instagram could be on par with Snapchat which had already enabled this kind of feature on their Stories section too.

Week 6 Tech Roundup: Facebook aims to estimate your wealth, Galaxy S8/ S8+ gets Oreo, Qualcomm not selling and so much more

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O. Christopher

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February 10, 2018

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Facebook will always surprise us with the way they have revolutionised the words ‘social media.’ It has been said that the social media giant is now working on technology that would let them know the socio-economic class each user falls into. Quite frankly, you can’t hide your wealth from Facebook anymore should this come to fruition. In the same week, the same social media company started testing a ‘Downvote’ feature on its platform.

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That news was followed by some good news from HMD who could be giving us their first unit with an 18:9 aspect ratio, possibly the Nokia 7 Plus. Still in the smartphone scene, the worldwide dip in smartphone shipments hit tablet units too. The market saw a further decline in 2017 (after suffering one at the end of 2016 already) but Apple still managed to pull through, recording a boost instead.

It would not be much of a good week for Airtel who are now supposed to appear in court in defence of a #5 million suit slapped on it by a user. Apparently, someone got so tired of illegal deductions and decided to do something about it. The poor run of news does not end there with OLX being forced to close up shop in Nigeria. Not just Nigeria, in two other African countries too.

A silver lining to this series was provided by Opera News which reached a stunning 1 million downloads in less than a month. As if Opera opened the door for good news, the users of the Samsung Galaxy S8/ S8+ started getting the Oreo updates, Nigeria came out as one of the top three countries with the highest online presence in the world (according to Google) and we could get the Xiaomi Mi 7 with as much as 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage.

Going forward, we will be keeping an eye on what Broadcom would do next now that Qualcomm has refused, yet again, its offer to buy. With that, we have come to the end of the major tech happenings in the news this week