Tuesday 7 July 2020
Daine Klate and Reneilwe Letsholonyane join forces in unlikely drive
No data, no internet connection, no SIM card! Streaming without data is finally in SA
No data, no problem! That was the assurance of Shermar Stuart, CEO and co-founder of Prime Tech.
A small, hand-held device called The Prime allows for dataless streaming. No internet connection, no data and no SIM card is needed to connect to the internet with this device.
All you need is a computer, laptop, tablet or cellphone that offers wi-fi capabilities, and the little device.
"We started the project last year, in June. We were sitting and discussing whether it is possible to actually do things on your device without data. Streaming is taking over in this day and age, and data is extremely expensive," said Stuart.
The Prime connects your device to wi-fi and enables streaming and researching at no extra cost.
The device is currently being installed at Bechet High School in Sydenham to allow Grade 12 pupils free access to educational content for revision in the build-up to their final examinations.
"I approached Bechet with the idea, and they were excited. The principal understands how technology is moving and jumped on this idea. There was no cost to the school at all," said Stuart.
He said they had plans to get The Prime direct to the consumer, but were currently focusing on students due to the global pandemic.
"The device currently costs between R1500 and R2000, but we're looking to get everything locally sourced and manufactured to cut down the cost. By the time that is done, it should be around R1000 or less," he said.
According to Stuart, they have already won several awards for the device. This year, The Prime featured among the top 10 innovations in Africa. It came first at the annual Innovation Festival in Durban and second in the Moses Kotane Institute Innovation of the Year awards.
"Going forward, we have in mind the local community centre so that we can provide access to multiple people from different locations. We have not identified a particular school, but next up, we know that we want to target a rural/off-grid and completely unconnected school," he said.
When asked what wi-fi connection the device would tap into, Stuart said it was "too difficult" to explain.
Monday 6 July 2020
#PhoneReview: #Samsung Galaxy A31 is as massive as winning the #Lotto. #MondayMotivation
The 6.4-inch edge-to-edge display has a wide aspect ratio that is suited for streaming, gaming, working or watching videos on its full HD Amoled screen.
It has a specific game booster feature to optimise gaming by adjusting the temperature and memory after monitoring how the game runs on the device.
The emphasis of the A31 falls on the quad cameras, which include a 48MP main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera with 123° field of view, a 5MP macro lens for 40mm close-ups, and a 5MP depth camera for portrait and bokeh shots.
The A31 has an octa-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and an all-day battery with 15W fast charging. It features an on-screen fingerprint sensor and supports Samsung Pay.
Thursday 2 July 2020
Sho Madjozi isn't done yet
Sho Madjozi has become the only SA act in North America to join US label Epic Records' esteemed roster, which includes superstar rappers Future and Travis Scott.
It didn't take Sho too long to gracefully recover from having lost out on a 2020 BET award to Burna Boy, because sis announced her big news on Tuesday and it left her Twitter page wobbly.
Sho thanked her tons of supporters for the unwavering support.
"Eisan! My Twitter keeps crashing. Thank you guys for all the love. Did so much stuff all by myself it feels good to finally have a music family," she said.
Label chair and CEO Sylvia Rhone sang Sho's praises in a statement, saying the label was "honoured" to have her as one of their own.
"African artists are enjoying an unprecedented level of visibility in music and Sho Madjozi is beautifully waving the flag for South Africa.
"She's bold, brilliant and remarkably talented and her music embodies all that is special about her homeland," Rhone said.
"We're honoured to have her as the newest member of the Epic family."
Ain't no doubt that sis is super-ecstatic.
Fans flooded her Twitter timeline with congratulatory messages and well wishes for the future.
All our women and children’s lives matter
The high number of rape cases in our region we read about on an almost weekly basis, is alarming.
The statistics of especially underaged girls being raped - and even killed - by fathers, stepfathers, uncles, nephews or family friends are even more distressing.
It is almost as if some kind of madness has been let loose among a disproportionate number of men.
I think we will be shocked if we could see the rape and murder figures over the past year alone.
But what really concerns me is that, apart from the customary condemnation of some politician or community leader with every atrocity reported, it appears as if there is little in terms of mobilisation by society to address this very serious scourge in our midst.
Is the perception that we have become almost accepting of the flood of evil that sweeps through our communities wrong?
I don’t think so.
We need much more than sporadic little noises when a woman or girl has been viciously abused and killed. We need a collective response such as we currently have with the Covid-19 crisis.
Religious, community and educational leaders, police structures and even the influencer role of captains of industry and the business sector - and of course the often complacent public must join hands to begin changing mindsets.
Instead of whispering, let all our voices be heard loud and clear every day, and not only during special campaign months. Women and children’s lives matter.