Author: Akin Naphtal

Meta-owned social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, have been facing widespread issues which reportedly began on Tuesday morning, leaving millions of users globally unable to access their accounts or refresh their feeds. Many users have reported being logged out of their Facebook accounts and encountering difficulty logging back in. Instagram users have also experienced issues refreshing their feeds. Users of Threads, Meta’s messaging app, have encountered complete downtime, with the app displaying an error message upon opening. Meta has acknowledged the issue on its status page, with a statement timestamped 10:17AM ET, stating, “We are aware of an issue…

The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has greenlit an $11.96 million grant to accelerate the establishment of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, to bolster the pharmaceutical sector across Africa. Supported by the African Development Bank Group’s Regional Public Good window, alongside a $1.93 million contribution from the Rwandan government, the funding is reserved for the implementation of the Regional Pharmaceutical Sector Support Project in Rwanda. Head of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Rwanda country office, Aissa Touré Sarr, believes the project will benefits Africa’s health industy. “The cutting-edge research and technological innovations of…

The Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has unveiled plans to establish an innovation centre aimed at fostering digital creativity and problem-solving among the youth. Dubbed the ‘maker space,’ this innovation hub will serve as an active platform for students to explore, experiment, and collaborate on digital solutions. The Director-General, Prof. Francis Davis made this announcement during the celebration of World Engineering Day at the KNUST College of Engineering. The initiative seeks to create an encouraging environment for nurturing the next generation of engineers and innovators. Prof. Davis stressed the importance of…

Apple has announced that it has launched new versions of its 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops, equipped with the latest M3 chip as part of the tech giant’s aim to bolster its sales in the Mac segment. The M3 chip, previously launched in October for iMac desktops and MacBook Pro laptops, promises improved performance and efficiency. Despite reporting modest growth in Mac revenue during its fiscal first-quarter earnings report, Apple anticipates that the new MacBook Air models will help drive sales further. The latest MacBook Air laptops boast features such as sharper 1080p webcams, support for faster Wi-Fi networks,…

The European Union (EU) has fined Apple 1.84-billion euros ($2 billion), due to allegations of the tech giant hindering competition by preventing music streaming services like Spotify from informing users about alternative payment options outside of Apple’s App Store. The fine marks Apple’s first-ever EU antitrust penalty. The European Commission’s decision stemmed from a 2019 complaint filed by Spotify, citing Apple’s restrictive practices and its imposition of a 30% commission on App Store transactions. This move by the EU antitrust enforcer is notable for its novel argument regarding unfair trading conditions, a tactic also employed by the Dutch antitrust agency…

Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has predicted that the timeline for achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), could be as soon as five years, revealing this at an economic forum held at Stanford University. While speaking at the forum, Huang addressed the goal of creating computers capable of human-like thinking, stressing that the timeframe for achieving AGI depends on how it is defined. He explained that if AGI is defined as the ability to pass human tests, then significant progress could be made within five years. Nvidia, headquartered in the US, leads in producing AI chips used in large language models like…

EMURGO Africa, the investment and commercial arm of Cardano in Africa, has announced the establishment of EMURGO Labs, a dedicated development entity aimed at fostering the growth of emerging Web3 technologies. Focusing on leveraging the transformative potential of the Cardano blockchain, EMURGO Labs seeks to lead digital transformation across borders and support both established and emerging Web2 and Web3 organisations. EMURGO Labs aims to serve as a central hub for nurturing the growth of Web2 and Web3 ventures throughout the region, offering comprehensive support services, strategic partnerships, and industry-leading expertise. CEO of EMURGO Labs, Ahmed M. Amer, believes the launch…

Facebook parent company, Meta, has warned Oculus users that failure to migrate their accounts to Meta by 29th March, 2024, will result in permanent deletion of their Oculus accounts, along with associated data, apps, achievements, friends list in-app purchases, and more. Oculus was a virtual reality company founded in 2012 by Palmer Luckey, who created the Oculus Rift VR headset, an immersive technology. In 2014, Meta bought Oculus for $2 billion and rebranded Luckey’s design into the Meta Quest series. Meta’s gradual phasing out of Oculus accounts began in 2020 when the company mandated new users to sign up with…

Microsoft’s latest update for Windows 11 has introduced support that enables USB4 connections to be hosted at speeds of 80Gbps, also known as USB4 2.0, as part of the company’s efforts to enhance connectivity. The update, rolled out with OS builds 22621.3235 and 22631.3235, is set to be automatically delivered to users this week, promising a boost in data transfer rates for compatible devices. While the USB4 2.0 specification was finalised in late 2022, the adoption of products supporting 80Gbps connections has been relatively slow. The original USB4 variant, capable of reaching 40Gbps, has only recently begun to see widespread…

MainOne, an Equinix Company, has announced its role in landing the first and only submarine cable system in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, in a collaboration aimed at boosting broadband connectivity and economic development in the country’s South-South, South-East, and North-Central regions. Spanning 45,000km in length, the 2Africa submarine cable project is poised to become one of the world’s largest subsea cable projects. It will interconnect Europe, Asia, and Africa, boasting a design capacity of up to 180Tbps. 2Africa’s significance lies in its ability to address critical internet needs and enhance reliability across vast expanses of Africa, helping advance 4G, 5G,…