Author: Akin Naphtal

Apple has announced to the public its plans to release its Reality Pro mixed reality headset later this year with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) features. According to SamMobile, at the Unpacked event recently, Samsung announced that it also will be building a Mixed-Reality headset with help from partners Google and Qualcomm. Samsung did hint that the device will be arriving soon. Samsung referred to the wearable as an Extended Reality (XR) device. READ ALSO: Cape Town-based Startup Lulalend Secures $35M in Series B Funding Lifecycle Software Collaborates with Microsoft to Drive Innovation Starlink Gains Entrance into Nigeria…

SeerBI, an artificial intelligence and data science business based in North East, has appointed Dominic Lusardi as their new Chief Information Officer (CIO) and chair of the board. Dominic will be joining the company to help drive the continued growth and product innovation and development. Dominic brings to the team a wealth of experience in tech and business, having built, and sold tech businesses and recognised by the Sunday Time and Maserati in 2019 as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the UK. He has a proven track record of success and has a deep understanding of the industry…

An online lending company that provides fast and easy working capital funding to small businesses in South Africa, Lulalend, has announced that it has raised a $35 million (~R600 million) Series B round, led by Lightrock. The round included participation from investors including DEG, Triodos Investment Management, and Women’s World Banking Asset Management and existing investors including IFC and Quona Capital. Founded in 2014, Lulalend is South Africa’s first online provider of funding for SMEs. It markets itself as a digital lender with completely flexible repayment terms. The fintech startup offers loans of R10,000 ($576) to R5,000,000 ($57,630) to small…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) recently announced it was making its AWS Data Lab programme available in India. The complimentary programme is targeted at facilitating joint engineering efforts between customers and AWS technical experts to solve complex data, and architecture challenges using AWS products and services, the company said. AWS Data Lab, which primarily has three offerings in the form of the build lab, the design lab, and the resident architect, can be used for activities or initiatives such as database migration, setting up cloud operations along with analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning projects, and application modernization. READ ALSO:Lifecycle Software…

Lifecycle Software has partnered with Microsoft that will see the company use the Microsoft cloud across its solutions. The company will use Microsoft Azure to offer high levels of speed, resilience, security and reliability in its Business Support Systems (BSS) and charging solutions. Speaking on the partnership, Kelvin Chaffer, CEO at Lifecycle said, “The relationship with Microsoft and with its cloud, Azure, will enable us to keep our software future-ready by design. He stressed further that, “This will help our customers with billing and charging, maintaining a competitive edge and setting them up for sustained growth. This will ultimately help…

SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink has announced its availability in Nigeria, months after it signed agreement with the Nigerian government to bring in its satellite-based internet coverage. Starlink announced the launch according to its tweet, making Nigeria the first African country to use the satellite internet and 46th in the world. While lauding the great news, the Minister of Information and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim, acknowledged the development in his statement, saying the company hosted him in their Headquarters, USA in December 2022 to complete the logistics for the deployment. The availability of Starlink internet now widens competition in…

It’s unclear to what extent tech companies will sign up to the voluntary guidelines, and exactly how it will fit with the EU’s AI Act. But there are signs the EU and US approaches should be interoperable The US has released its answer to the EU’s artificial intelligence act, a voluntary set of recommendations that aim to make companies more responsible in how they develop AI systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) unveiled its AI risk management framework last week, but it’s uncertain how rigorously big tech companies will adopt the guidelines, and how the recommendations will…

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced the launch of a new Ireland Channel programme for 2023.The programme aims to reinvigorate HPE’s partnerships in Ireland and is centred on strategic investment to support partners in their continued growth and success with the HPE portfolio including HPE GreenLake. This move is underpinned by the promotion of Heather Walls (pictured) to channel leader for Ireland, who takes up her new role today. Walls explained, “For us at HPE, our channel partners are a core driver for the overall business, including our HPE GreenLake strategy. My top priorities will be to strengthen the relationship…

Aryaka has announced the launch of Aryaka Throttle, an elite seller programme within Aryaka Accelerate, the company’s global partner programme. Participation in Aryaka Throttle is invitation-only, with the five top partners at each of Aryaka’s technology services distributors (TSDs) able to take part. The programme was announced recently during Aryaka’s Q1 partner webinar. The new programme invests in partners and their success by offering: enhanced partner support, targeted marketing support, qualified lead generation, and personalised seller incentives. Craig Patterson, senior vice president of global channels, Aryaka, explained, “We designed Aryaka Accelerate to redefine and simplify our channel partnerships with easy-to-sell…

The developer of OroCommerce and other digital technology for deploying market places and customer relationship management systems says it will use the funds to further develop its products and expand its reach in the United States and other markets. Oro Inc., which provides open-source software for B2B ecommerce and CRM applications, received $13 million recently in strategic growth funding. Among its goals: expanding its presence in the United States as it further develops its products. READ ALSO: U.S. India forms partnership, targets arms and AI to compete with China China’s Baidu to unveil ChatGPT like AI Chatbot in March OpenAI’s…