Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 19, 2013

Nokia adds yet another messaging platform to Asha phone users

Nokia introduces Mail for ExchangeNokia introduces Mail for Exchange

Despite what the Social Media Gurus tell you, having access to Email is the one feature that we must have on our mobile phones. Whenever we get a new phone, Email is still the first application that we set up and make sure that it works before we breath a sigh of relief and then go on to tinker with the other apps. 

Editori Nokia has recognised this fact and has announced that they will provide every South African Nokia Asha user with the Mail for Exchange app from the Nokia Store. The new app, which is compatible with the Nokia Asha 311, 310, 309 and 308, allows users to sync their email, calendar and contacts data with Microsoft Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010 Servers and Microsoft Office 365 Mobility Online Service.

Nokia has also introduced further apps, Editori text and sheet, which allow users to view and edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents on the go. This is expected to add huge flexibility for mobile phones to modify, save and share documents or spreadsheets for quick review right from your Nokia Asha phone.

Nokia LINEMail for Exchange is yet another communication channel that Nokia is offering its users and follows closely on last month’s introduction of the LINE messaging app.  Users with LINE app are able to send instant messages to friends or groups, and send photos and stickers to each other for free. It also enables users to send messages to friends from a PC to a mobile phone.

“Nokia is committed to enhancing the user experience by delivering more capabilities on the Asha smartphone range” concludes Patrick Henchie, Senior Manager of Product Marketing: South & East Africa

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 19, 2013

Minuum keyboard: QWERTY but minimized

Minuum keyboard

A couple of month ago I was introduced to the Minuum Project – a project that claimed to revolutionize the keyboard on smart phones and tablets.

Whirlscape, the creators of Minuum had asked a simple question: “why do we put up with the way the current virtual keyboards are as they are based entirely on the historical and out-dated typewriter keys that are large and spread wide apart to avoid typing mistakes.  You wouldn’t be happy with a keyboard blocking half your desktop screen so why do you put up with that on your smart phone”

The Minuum Project has taken the concept of the traditional keyboard and has totally reinvented it to produce this:

Minuum keyboard

A new keyboard that not only speeds up your typing speeds and accuracy but is also flexible enough to be moved anywhere on the device so it is out of the way and placed in a more comfortable position for you to type.

Buts that’s not all folks.

“Minuum is designed to work on just one dimension, which means typing no longer needs any surface at all”. So essentially any new devices such as Glasses, Bracelets, Watches that need any interaction can use this new keyboard.

Fast forward to June 2013 and not only has the company raised their initial $10 000 but there has been such a demand for the keyboard that they shot past the initial target 8 times over to raise $87 000 via the indiegogo crowdsourcing platform.  To date over 1.1 million people saw the teaser video below and the keyboard software had received coverage by over 150 media outlets around the world.

 

The result is that the software is coming out of the developers workshop and is now ready for the first round of beta testers as promised.  “It’s thanks to our amazing campaign supporters that we are here with our first Minuum beta,” said Will Walmsley, CEO of Whirlscape. “We’re very excited to release the Minuum keyboard to our community, who’ve been so encouraging and enthusiastic from the very start. Keeping our promise to release in June was very important to us, so the last two months have been all about working toward today.”

After waiting not-so-patiently I received my installation instructions and within minutes I have installed the Beta version of the software on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet. I have been using it for a little while now and so far I can report that the Minuum keyboard is simple to setup and takes very little room on the screen which had me worried as I have “fat fingers”. After a couple of minutes of using it I can report that the keyboard is scarily accurate! You don’t have to hit the keys dead-on and yet the keyboard is able to work out what you are trying to type. Freakingly accurate even for words that I use for the first time such as TheTechieGuy.com

I have included some screen shots of what it looks like and will post more updates the more I use the device.

Minuum keyboardMinuum keyboardMinuum keyboard

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 18, 2013

How to get rid of ads invading your Android Notification screen

I get really irritated when I install an application from the Google Play Store and then days later I start seeing notifications popping up asking me to download other applications or trying to sell me some services. These are NOT the adverts inside the app (which I fully understand and support) but these look like official system push notifications that can easily be mistaken for real notifications of updates. I was once caught like that and was scammed (read about it here) and ever since I have been really wary of these notifications.

In order to get rid of these notifications you have to identity which app is responsible for pushing these on your screen. Once you uninstall that app, these will stop. However, these app makes are crafty as the ads don’t start immediately after you install their app – this would make it simple to identify the app. These ads could start days later and by then you have installed other apps which makes identifying the offending app rather difficult.

The good news is that Google is starting to put a stop to these types of apps that make use of the sacred-notification screen to push their ads. Until they do, here are two methods that allow you to easily identify and remove the offending app:

Pre -Jelly Bean:

If you are running an Android system prior to Jelly Bean ie version 4.0 and below then download an app from the store called Air Push Detector or Lookout Ad Network Detector. These are tiny apps that scan your device for the app responsible for the notifications allowing you to uninstall that app.

How to get rid of ads on Android - AirPushHow to get rid of ads on Android - Lookout

Post – Jelly Bean:

If you are running an Android system that has Jelly Bean 4.1 and above, you do not need to install any app. When the notification arrives simply long-hold on the notification and a “App Info” pop-up menu appears:

How to get rid of ads on Android - App Info

When you tap on the App Info it will open the Application Information screen of the offending app. Simply uninstall the app by tapping on the Uninstall button.

How to get rid of ads on Android - App Info

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 17, 2013

Project Loon: the Sky is not the limit for Google

Project Loon: the Sky is not the limit for GoogleProject Loon: the Sky is not the limit for Google

Those people living in major cities and towns are privy to having internet access via ADSL or via a mobile device using the cellular networks. But what do you do if you run a farm out in the middle of the Karoo? or if you are a game warden on the edge of the Kruger National Park?  or if you run a hotel in the middle of the Drakensburg mountains ? Typically these areas have no internet access at all resulting in internet-isolation for the inhabitants of these areas.

Google has the solution.

Typically a small number of people reside in remote areas which doesn’t make it cost effective for telecommunications companies to lay cables or provide wireless base stations to such a limited number of people. It doesn’t make economic sense. Google has looked at the problem from a different point of view. They looked at it from the sky. If these people can see the sky, then special equipment could make a direct connection to a balloon floating high above the earth…and Project Loon is born.

Project Loon consists of high-altitude balloons that will circle the earth at around 20km above the ground far above typical weather patterns and airline traffic. These balloons will act as Internet providers and will allow people with special antennas on the ground to access the internet at “3G” speeds. Each balloon can provide connectivity to a ground area about 40 km in diameter.

 

 

Christchurch in New Zealand is the first test site where 30 balloons have been launched into the atmosphere and 50 people are now able to connect to the balloons via the Loon Antennas and are able to surf the web. Some of them for the first time at decent speeds.

Whilst this project is in its experimental stage and we are far from having balloons hovering above every remote area of the world, I look forward to seeing how Google will develop and improve this system as it collects more real-world data from its New Zealand test.

For more information about this project head over to :
http://www.google.com/loon

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 13, 2013

Want to see real innovation? Check out Africa: Toby Shapshak at TEDGlobal 2013

Reblogged from TED Blog:

Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post

The publisher and editor of the South African edition of Stuff magazine, Toby Shapshak is here to challenge our perceptions of his home continent. First, he asks us, who bought a pay-as-you-go SIM card on arriving in Edinburgh? Hands wave. "You're using African technology," he says proudly. "'Pay-as-you-go' was an idea pioneered in Africa by Vodacom 15 years ago. Now, pay-as-you-go is one of the most dominant forces of economic activity in the world."

Read more… 500 more words

Our very own Shapshak telling the world the difference between Angry Birds and true innovation

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 13, 2013

Nashua Mobile and Orange are now partners in South Africa

Sébastien Crozier -Managing Director Orange HorizonsOrange services

There is a new colour in the South African cellular market space. Orange. Nashua Mobile and Orange have announced a partnership today that will enable Orange to expand activities in South Africa by opening several physical retail outlets in the country.

France Telecom-Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with a presence in 32 countries. Orange is one of the main European operators for mobile and broadband internet services and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication
services to multinational companies.

Togethere with retail stores, Orange has developed a South African customised online store :
http://store.orange.com/za
 where customers can purchase their items and have them delivered anywhere in South Africa within  three working days.

Orange online store

Both the online and physical stores offer SIM cards from the global Orange network but will initially start with France and Botswana. This will allow travellers to be able to better prepare their journeys, like having their local phone number before their trip. This is a world first and whilst this sounds simple, the logistics of making this a reality is a seven month process.

South Africans going to France will be able to purchase:

  • “Mobicarte Holiday” package, which is a prepaid SIM card that functions on Orange’s French network. This offer is valid for 14 days after activation, includes 2 hours of calls and 300 SMS to any destination in the world from France allowing South African customers to stay in touch with home at an affordable price;  data access including 500 Mb of mobile data and unlimited access to the 30,000 WiFi hotspots in France allowing customers to surf the Internet and social networks while travelling; unlimited access to Orange Maps and GPS. Cost:R590 + R100 transaction fee
  • Prepaid SIM cards and top-up vouchers to be used in France at Cost: R115 + R15 transaction fee.
  • “le domino”, a mobile hotspot allowing customers to connect up to 5 devices to a personal WiFi network giving full Internet access over the Orange 3G network in France, with 500 Mb already included over 1 month. Cost: R520 + R75 transaction fee

The first Nashua Mobile stores to incorporate Orange products and an in-store
Orange-brand presence will be in Sandton City in Johannesburg, Brooklyn Mall
in Pretoria and both Icon Centre and Canal Walk in Cape Town.

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 12, 2013

Don’t accept multiple Facebook Friend Requests from your friends

Facebook cloning

You have a new Facebook Friend request from someone that you are pretty sure you are already friends with on Facebook. Strange but you click on Accept Friend thinking perhaps its just an update. You think nothing of it. Days later you start getting request for money from your friend along with a soppy sad story. You ignore it. You then start seeing more posts on your wall asking for money and when you don’t reply,your friend starts to abuse you online. Naturally you confront your friend and they have no idea what you are talking about.

This is the scenario that is plaguing many South African Facebook users according to timeslive.  

So what is going on ?

The phenomenon is called “Facebook Cloning”

Lazy scammers look for Facebook profiles that are open and not set to private. More active scammers, try to make friends with anyone on Facebook. The sole purpose of both types of scammers is that once they access your profile they start make an exact replicate of that profile, including pictures posted and recent wall posts. They then create a new Facebook account using your name and a fake email address. From this point, they pretend to be you on Facebook complete with your Facebook Profile picture. They send out Friend Requests to your current friend list and wait to see who would accept. Then they start using Facebook to try extort money.

This scam is not new. It is a twist on the usual 419 scam where we get SPAM mails saying our great aunty died and left us millions of dollars or we won a competition and just need to send some “handling fee” money. The Facebook cloning scam takes the same scam to a new level as the “send money” request comes from a friend. Afterall, how can you ignore a friend in need who is desperately asking for money after being retrenched and now cant afford to pay school fees?

How do you protect yourself ?

Here are 5 simple tips that can help protect you both from being cloned and from being scammed:

1. It is important to know who can access your Facebook info. Click on the padlock on the top right of your Facebook page and click on Who can see my stuff ? If it is set to PUBLIC change it to Friends.  Do it now.

Facebook cloning - posting

2. Whenever you upload anything or post on your wall, make sure that the info is only shared with your friends.

Facebook cloning - posting

3. Make sure your password is not a simple one. Password123 is not a password. Click on the “gear icon” on the top right, click on General, and click on Edit next to password. Now set a decent password with Capital Letters and Numbers and make it a long one. Tip: you can use a sentence as a password such Ilove5CATs

Facebook cloning - password

4. When you get an email with a friend request, don’t just click on Accept. Do you really recognise the person who is asking to be added? a simple rule to follow: if they are already your friend, then don’t accept a new request – there is no need. New requests should only be accepted not from the friend-request-email but by going onto Facebook webpage from your web browser and then accept the friends there. This way you not only get a chance to vet the friend but also ensure that you don’t click any link that can take you to a site which looks like Facebook but is actually a Phishing site and you give away your password.

Facebook cloning - friend

5. Beware of programs that request permission to access your Facebook. These often ask for too many permissions in the hope that people will simply accept these (which they usually do). To check which app has access to your Facebook click on the “gear icon”, Account Settings, Apps (on the left) and on the right will appear a list of apps that you have granted access to your Facebook. You can click on EDIT next to any app to see exactly what they can access. You can remove any app that doesn’t need to be there.

Facebook cloning - access

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Posted in Security, Social Mobility | Tags: , ,

Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 10, 2013

Nedbank’s Banking System is featured at the Accenture Global CIO Forum 2013

Nedbank’s Banking System is featured at the Accenture Global CIO Forum 2013Nedbank’s Banking System is featured at the Accenture Global CIO Forum 2013

Once again, South Africa has taken centre stage showcasing technology that is forcing the global community to take notice. This time the tech is in the Banking sector where Nedbank presented their banking solution at the Global CIO Forum in Rome, Italy.

The Global CIO Forum, is an exclusive and by-invite only event that is hosted by Accenture where only CIO of major world corporations are invited to attend to discuss and unpack the major technology trends shaping various industries. Cloud, analytics, Big Data and mobility will have a major impact markets in the next three years and the CIO Forum allows the attendees to understand the challenges and opportunities that could prove to be a game-changer.

Glenn Smith, Nedbank’s Group Technology Divisional Executive: Mobile and Digital, Nedbank LimitedWhen Accenture sent their consultants to Nedbank they were so impressed with what Nedbank has achieved that they invited Glenn Smith, Nedbank’s Group Technology Divisional Executive: Mobile and Digital, Nedbank Limited, not only to attend the Global CIO Forum. Glenn was also given the honour to present the Nedbank technological journey as a keynote speaker.

 

Glenn presented a highly engaging keynote that outlined the banking opportunity in South Africa and Africa recalling how Nedbank has always identified trends and delivered solutions. Nedbank was the 1st bank to offer internet banking, the 1st major banking institution to recognise the power of TCPIP and the 1st to install Microsoft at the front end replacing the old green/ orange screen terminals.

Nedbank’s Banking System is featured at the Accenture Global CIO Forum 2013When the mobile app revolution hit, Nedbank initially lagged behind deciding to focus their attention on not just copying what everyone else is doing, but rather focusing on how to create a delivery mechanism to deliver solutions to mobile customers. Nedbank recognised that mobile apps are here to stay and so they focused all their attention on security first. Glenn recalls that “this is the one area that it can’t be “good enough” but has to be perfect.”

Approve-it was born after Nedbank sourced its technology from a local South African company Entersekt. This technology has one single function – to allow the bank to know for a fact that the person they are dealing with on the other side of the mobile device is indeed the client. Approve-it gives Nedbank that ability as it has sophisticated (and confidential) methods to ensure that no information can be stolen or manipulated between the mobile device and the Nedbank system. Proving its effectiveness, since its inception in March 2012, there has been 23 million transactions with the value exceeding R15 billion via the Nedbank App Suite with almost zero fraud. This is a remarkable feat in an industry rife with constant Phishing attacks where hackers try to steal people’s banking details and access their accounts.

Through Nedbank’s platform, they were able to deploy solutions to Android phones and tablets, iOS phone and tablets, BlackBerry phones including BlackBerry 10 and even feature phone app. All these deployments occurred in three month between the 27th August 2012 and 23 November 2012.

Nedbank speed to market

Glenn’s keynote included in-depth discussions of their infrastructure and detailed learnings which were shared with the various CIOs who also got a sneak peak at  Nedbank’s future plans. Something that Glenn is not sharing with us just yet ending with only a clue that “the next evolution of our system and Approve-it is truly amazing”

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 9, 2013

Phone Virus – Dirty talk is bad for your health

germs on your phone

Sick again. It must be this change in weather or pollen in the air or that man you sat to on the plane that was coughing which made you sick. Right? The truth is that we just never know where we picked up those pesky germs that keeps coming back again and again and again. But have you noticed that over the past couple of years we tend to get sick more often than we used to ?

Once again we can blame the mobile device. According to the DailyMail Hygiene expert Jim Francis, who carried out the research has revealed that the average mobile phone handset carries 18 times more potentially harmful germs than a flush handle in a men’s toilet.

Some phone handset had 39 times the safe level of enterobacteria, a group of bacteria that live in the lower intestines of humans and animals and include bugs such as Salmonella. It boasted 170 times the acceptable level of faecal coliforms, which are associated with human waste. Other bacteria including food poisoning bugs e.coli and staphylococcus aureus were found on the phones but at safe levels.

Wireless WipesWe handle our phones constantly, even whilst we are eating. So bacteria and germs travel easily between the phone and the food and who know what else. Whilst we dont live in a sterile environment, the mobile phone is the one device that we constantly handle and wave it near our nose and mouth offering the germs an immediate way into our bodies.

We can minimise the germ-attack by obviously washing our hands, using hand-sanitizer and cleaning our phones with bacteria-killing wipes.

I received a product called Wireless Wipes which is specifically designed to target those germs on mobile phones and tablets. The packaging states that “mobile device has more germs than a New York subway seat” and that is pretty yuk!  Having seen the New York subway, I better arm myself with these packets…

[note: this is not a paid-for post but did get Wireless Wipes packets to use]

Want to know how many germs are on your phone ? take this test now

germs on your phone

germs on your phone

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Posted by: TheTechieGuy | June 7, 2013

Data Dealer–legal? Illegal? whatever – where game meets reality

Data DealerData privacy

According to the all knowing-oracle Wikipedia: “Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics in a non-game context in order to engage users and solve problems”  Gamification can be used to as a fun game where through game-play the player learns about real-issues.about It is a great way to take an otherwise boring topic and make it fun, interactive and thereby educational.

No matter how you spin it, “Privacy of Information” is never going to be an exciting topic – especially when you step outside the tech world.  Whilst people may hear what has been drummed into them for years about their online information by the Info Sec people, the ramification and consequences are simply not getting through.

So how do you get people to really understand what is happening to the information they are posting online ? You play a game – Data Dealer !

Data Dealer is online game that was developed by a small team from Austria which aims to raise awareness of personal data and online privacy issues in a completely new, ironic and fun way.

The player’s aim is to collect personal information about millions of people – and then ruthlessly sell it to clients of all kinds.

Players obtain data from a variety of sources – whether legal or illegal – and ruthlessly sell it to insurance companies, human resources departments, banks and other clients of all kinds. Players in the game run various companies and online ventures – from dating portals and loyalty card systems to search engines and their own social web.

By playing the game, the developers aim is for people ask questions such as:

  • what kinds of personal data exist?
  • Who is collecting this data and what are their intentions?
  • What could this data be used for and what are the possible impacts on individuals?

The game teaches the player at every step about what seemingly benign information can really mean:Data privacy

Most of the stories in the game are based on real life. The game developers stats that “In the digital age virtually everything we do is recorded, monitored or tracked in some way. As a result, the quantity and the value of personal data of all kinds being collected today is vast: our profiles and demographic data from bank accounts to medical records to employment data. Our web searches, the sites we visit, our likes and dislikes and purchase histories. Our tweets, texts, emails, phone calls and photos as well as the coordinates of our real-world locations.

In addition, today’s everyday services relying on aggregated personal information are becoming more and more complex – even if they look simple on the surface. When using today´s information technology it’s more difficult than ever to estimate what the long-term consequences might be.”

Data Dealer is a great initiative to get people to really think about their data.  By switching perspectives and becoming ruthless data dealers, the motivations and concerns of data brokers can be experienced from the other side.

Check out the game here:
http://datadealer.com/

Data Privacy

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