Thursday, November 21

Tag: Google

Chinese tech giant Huawei turns to Africa to offset US blacklist
Telecommunications

Chinese tech giant Huawei turns to Africa to offset US blacklist

As the United States leads a drive for the West to shun Huawei over security fears, the Chinese tech giant has sought to strengthen its position in Africa, where it is already well-established. Huawei has taken a leading role in developing next-generation 5G mobile phone networks around the world. But it has been in turmoil since Washington charged its equipment could serve as a Trojan horse for Chinese intelligence services. The world's second smartphone marker fiercely denies the allegations, but the US has urged countries to avoid it and several companies have distanced themselves. They include Google, whose Android operating system runs most smartphones. And as Washington and Beijing duke it out in an escalating trade war, nations around the world are faced with the dile...
Facebook Suspends Huawei From Pre-Installing Its App And WhatsApp On Its Phones
Apps, Social Networks

Facebook Suspends Huawei From Pre-Installing Its App And WhatsApp On Its Phones

Huawei is running into more problems after the US government banned major tech firms from doing business with the Chinese company. Reuters is reporting that Facebook is now joining Google, Microsoft, and others in the Huawei ban. What now? The social network giant is reportedly pulling its apps from Huawei devices. More specifically, Huawei will no longer be able to pre-install Facebook apps on its new phones, and that includes Facebook itself, as well as WhatsApp and Instagram. Facebook said the company’s apps will continue work and receive updates for existing users, but new users who get new (and existing) phones, won’t be able to get the apps pre-installed. Facebook blocking its popular apps from being pre-installed on Huawei devices is a big blow to the phone maker. Although ...
South Africa will be tracking social media fake news ahead of the 2019 elections
Social Networks, Southern Africa

South Africa will be tracking social media fake news ahead of the 2019 elections

Can South Africa really hold a general election on 8 May 2019 in a way that it really represents the views of its people? One might have thought this was an academic question. The Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa is well respected and the country's legal system is robust. There are certainly enough political parties – around 285 are registered even if most are unlikely to participate in the May 2019 elections – for the national and nine provincial legislatures. However, there have been worrying signs about the use of disinformation during previous elections and these need to be heeded. Google is deploying some of its vast resources to train political parties, journalists and editors how to spot and fight fake n...
Meet the 21-year-old tech whiz who’s coded for Instagram and Snapchat
Africans in Tech, Apps, Social Networks

Meet the 21-year-old tech whiz who’s coded for Instagram and Snapchat

Iddris Sandu has done a lot in his 21 years.Besides creating algorithms for Instagram and Snapchat and consulting for Twitter, he's now working with Kanye West and Jaden Smith to create augmented-reality experiences around music and politics for the tech festival ComplexCon next year in Chicago. "With Jaden, we are getting more young people to vote and creating experiences around that," Sandu told CNN about his work with the musician and actor who is the son of Hollywood stars Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith.Born in Accra, Ghana, Sandu's parents came to the United States when he was 3. He learned to code when he was just 13, during a work experience at Google eight months after the tech giant moved into Frank Gehry's "Binoculars Building" in Venice, California.For Sandu, it was a li...