The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Google

  • Google launches AndroidOne in Nigeria

    Google launches AndroidOne in Nigeria

    Google, America’s multinational technology giant has introduced its latest Smartphone programme, AndroidOne, to the African market using Nigeria as the entry point.

    AndroidOne was launched on Tuesday at a major announcement by the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Juliet Ehimuan in Lagos, making it the second announcement after the Asian country of India.

    Ehimuan observed that in the area of entrepreneurship, there are over 10,000 trained developers and entrepreneurs in Nigeria within the past few years and Google desires to engage more.

    According to her, the technology company is focused on impacting lives in Africa and thus, the launch of AndroidOne, being the cheapest Smartphone version in Africa is an indication.

    The product was launched in partnership with South African telecommunication giant, MTN; online retail store, Jumia; and tech manufacturer Infinix.

    The product, AndroidOne is a project sponsored by Google and the tech giant is responsible for the design, development, marketing, and support of the product while Infinix mobile is responsible for the manufacturing mobile.

    Google also makes sure that timely software updates get to AndroidOne Smartphones for two years after launch of each device.

    The AndroidOne was launched with Infinix mobile phone, HOT 2-X510 Smartphone, which is the first device to run the Android Oneprogramme in Africa.

    The Smartphone (Infinix HOT 2) offers a high-quality experience while running the latest version of Android (5.1 Lollipop), all for N17,500.

    Infinix Hot 2 also has the ability to update to the new Android M release, an update that will offer Google’s new material design, enhanced security features, improved battery life and smarter notifications.

    In terms of hardware, the phone comes in 1G and 2G memory options, front and rear camera of 8 and 2 megapixel respectively, fast quad-core MediaTek processor, long battery life and and a 90 minutes low battery standby time, long enough to get you home.

    In addition, the device has a dual micro SIM slots, an FM radio tuner, 16GB in-built storage memory and a microSD card slot for additional storage.

    Speaking at the launch, Caesar Sengupta, Vice President, Google Product Management noted that the product could now be launched in 5 other African countries namely Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and Morocco after which it would be launched in Saudi Arabia as well as in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    Present at the launch include Mr. Michael Ikpoki, Chief Executive Office (CEO) MTN Nigeria; Jeremy Doutte, CEO 0f online retaile store, Jumia as well as Benjamin Jiang, Managing Director, Infinix Mobility among other.

    [news_box style=”2″ display=”tag” link_target=”_blank” tag=”Google, MTN, Jumia, Android” count=”6″ show_more=”on” show_more_type=”link” header_background=”#ff7f3a”]

  • WhatsApp introduces mute, unread option

    WhatsApp introduces mute, unread option



    [dropcap color=”#319e4f”]E[/dropcap]ver got tired of WhatsApp messages from friends especially while workload is much or late at night when the only sure thing is sleep, good news is that the instant messaging application now has provision to help handle that.

    The Android application PacKage (APK) has had a very fruitful and active day going through no less than 5 updates in the span of 24 hours. The app’s developers introduced a series of new options and seem to be fixing bugs with successive iterative updates from v2.12.189 to the most recent v2.12.194.

    According to an APK website, Android Police, the most significant change in this series of updates is the new custom notifications settings. When you open a contact’s or group’s details page, you’ll see a new Notifications box below the Media one.

    In it is the option to mute the chat for 8 hours, 1 week, or 1 year, as well as extensive custom notifications. These let you pick a specific tone, vibration length, light, popup notification, as well as the call ringtone and vibration.

    Another addition to the app is the ‘Mark As Unread’ feature. Tap and hold on any conversation and you’ll be able to mark it as unread, which switches its status to green but doesn’t affect the read messages status inside the chat or its chronological rank among your conversations.

    The significance of such is that it could serve as a visual reminder when you want to get back to someone later.

    And finally there are two new changes in the app’s settings. First is a Low data usage option for voice calls, useful when you’re on a limited or slow data plan. Second is a small hint to Google Drive backups.

    Under Account, Network usage, you’ll see Google Drive backup usage tallied along with the app’s media, messages, and calls. There’s still no way to trigger a Google Drive backup — the option was added several months ago then removed — so this could be a sign that Drive backups may be coming again soon or that someone on the developer team forgot to clear out these options before publishing this apk.

    One interesting thing about WhatsApp is that every couple of weeks, the team surprises its users with new features, and keeps on refining them and improving the app’s functionality.

  • Gmail introduces undo option

    Gmail introduces undo option

    Ever hit the send button before realising you made a great mistake you wish you could correct in that mail? Better times are here as Google’s electronic mail account, Gmail, now has the option for recalling such mails.

    Google added the option to its Gmail settings in order to enable users undo messages they sent out of errors.

    Interestingly, users have the choice of choosing the undo time between 5 seconds to 30 seconds within which any mail sent out of error could be recalled.

    To enjoy this new settings from Google, users would simply go to settings then scroll down gradually. The option is just beneath ‘Send and Archive’ but before ‘Stars’.

    Users can then enable or disable the option.

  • Survey reveals world’s most attractive employers

    Business and engineering students in the world’s 12 largest economies have chosen their favorite employers.

    The process had more than 240,000 respondents in Universum’s Talent Survey which ranked the companies they found most desirable for employment, and the results delivered some valuable insights.

    Field data collection from September 2014 to April 2015 which marking period of survey reveals that the millennial want to truly understand the purpose for which a company aligns with it and work with others to propel the organization’s performance as well as to be inspired but not overwhelmed, by employer messages.

    The millennial want to learn about employees who embody the organization’s values and communicate authentic stories about their working lives.

    However, millennial’s greatest fear is to be stuck without the opportunity for professional growth and development. Professional services firms like PwC and EY continue to pull the highest rankings in this regard; other industries should benchmark how this sector nurtures employees through training and mentoring.

    This is a very interesting comparison with our South African students because who also identify professional training and development as an important attribute in an employer’s attraction.

    Kelebogile Motsa, Project Manager of Partner Relations and Data Collection at Universum South Africa mentioned that, students are usually worried about securing a job after graduating and having the right skills and training the job requires from them.

    Therefore, employers that offer professional training and development, as well as security usually have a higher level of attraction for South African students. This is why you would also see government appearing a lot more in the Most Attractive Employer lists in South Africa.

    “The 2015 WMAE confirms that millennial will go to work for companies whose stories they can tell, whose values they can espouse and whose businesses they can learn,” says Petter Nylander, CEO of Universum.

    “Students are seeking platforms for their own performance and growth. And they told us which companies are accomplishing this.”

    Similarly, Luvuyo Magopeni, Key Accounts Manager at Universum South Africa also mentioned that this is a similar trend seen amongst South African Millennials: “The attraction of leadership opportunities to South African millennia is the opportunity to coach and mentor others, which speaks to that need of having a purpose”. Although South African millennial seek platforms for their performance and growth, they also want to help develop and grow others.

    There was little movement in the top five employers among business students from the 2014 rankings, with Google once again taking top spot, followed by PwC, EY, Goldman Sachs, and millennial are highly attracted to entrepreneurial energy in the workplace.

    They want to work in innovative settings, unencumbered by infrastructure, while still delivering strong financial results.

    Consequently, the tech industry generally attracts this kind of talent. Regarding employers in other industries, the energy sector took a hit with all employers losing ranks while the fast-moving consumer goods industry experienced a positive upswing.

    The WMAE rankings are compiled from the Universum Talent Surveys, conducted in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and US. These markets represent 69 percent of the world’s economy.

  • Self-driving cars and accidents

    Self-driving cars and accidents

    When the self-driving car was first introduced officially a couple of years back, the incidents of auto-crash were expected to become a thing of the past.

    Meanwhile, the new innovation is not impeccable in its self as faults are beginning to emerge. These faults are either man-made or failure in the part of technology.

    According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), in less than thirty years self driving cars will make up 75% of all cars on the road.

    And these would raise the question of how many human beings are ready to commit their lives to the care of a car driving itself through the use of radars.

    The IEED also projected that the number of more autonomous cars by 2040 will provide world traffic lights; stop signals or any visible signals.

    “Intersection equipped with sensors, cameras and radars that can monitor and control traffic flow to help eliminate drivers’ collision and promote a more efficient flow of traffic,” said Dr. Azim Eskandarian of the IEEE.

    It was believed that the production of more self-driving cars will bring about decrease in accident rate, reduction of fuel consumption and decrease in traffic jams.

    We also would not forget the lacuna of job unemployment that would be left open across the global.

    But on the contrary, a couple of accidents have been recorded. Maybe not at the same rate as in the case of manned cars anyways.

    It was recently reported that four out of the about 50 self-driving cars rolling in California were involved in accident since September when the state issued permits to companies to test them on public roads.

    Two of the four cars involved were reportedly in self driving mode and Google, a major partner in the production of the cars, would not discuss the incidents in details.

    In an October 2014 accident involving Delphi, the front of its 2014 Audi Sq5 was moderately damaged when hit from the side by another car while it was waiting to make a left turn.

    In a statement, it claimed that since September, cars driving on streets near its headquarter in mountain view had a handful of minor fender benders, light damages and no injuries.

    Google, who blamed the accidents on female drivers also added that the accidents were caused by human error and inattention.

    According to reports, five other companies have testing permits and they all said no accident so far.

  • Apple, Google reach deal in antitrust case

    Apple, Google reach deal in antitrust case

    Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOGL) have reached a new settlement over claims they and other Silicon Valley companies conspired to avoid hiring one another’s employees, after a judge concluded their first proposal didn’t offer enough money for affected workers.

    The agreement, which terms weren’t disclosed in a court filing yesterday, again hinges on the approval of U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose, California, who in August, rejected the initial $324.5 million accord as too small.

    Koh said the companies, which also include Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) and Intel Corp. (INTC), should pay at least $380 million given “ample evidence” of antitrust violations that might result in damages of more than $9 billion if the case went to trial.

    The companies resumed negotiations with the workers. In September they also appealed Koh ruling, saying she overstepped her authority.

    Kelly Dermody, a lawyer for the workers, and Chuck Mulloy, a spokesman for Santa Clara, California-based Intel, each confirmed the new settlement yesterday, declining to discuss details. Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, declined to comment.

    “We will be filing our papers with the court on Thursday,” Dermody said in an e-mailed statement.

    Employees walk past Google Inc. signage while arriving for work at company headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S. Close

    Employees walk past Google Inc. signage while arriving for work at company headquarters… Read More

    CloseOpen Photographer: Tony Avelar/Bloomberg Employees walk past Google Inc. signage while arriving for work at company headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S.

  • Most googled dress of 2014

    Most googled dress of 2014

    Google released it’s annual “Year in search” list and Rihanna’s sheer risqué Adam Selman dress topped the list of most searched dress on Google for the year 2014.

    Rihanna-May-2014-BellaNaija.com-01 - Copy

    Rihanna wore this revealing dress to the Council of Fashion Designers’ Awards in June where she received the Style Icon Award.

    Rihanna was also recently announced as Puma’s global creative director.

  • Linda Ikeji shut down: The real story

    Linda Ikeji shut down: The real story

    Linda Ikeji whose blog was shut down more than 24 hours ago, explains in a new post  the real reason for her shut down.

    According to her, an old cyber friend’s vendetta after he felt ignored by Linda.

    In the gmail chat conversations with the said AyeDee, he revealed “I really thought success had gone to your head”

    Linda explains in this blog post written by 1am, Friday October 10, 2014 her conversation with AyeDee and the real reason for the shut down.
    What you are about to read is quite long…and chilling! I wasn’t going to share this info in public but after I showed it to some family members and a few friends who came to the house this morning, everyone agreed that I need to share this, that you all need to read this. You see, what happened with my blog wasn’t about beef. It wasn’t because I showed off my new SUV. It wasn’t about plagiarism, or copyright infringement. It was something deeper, very personal and maybe even more dangerous. Some would call it obsession. Please continue…
    To understand this I am going to start from the beginning but before that I want to talk about plagiarism. My understanding of plagiarism is when you take someone’s work and republish it verbatim as your own work. I don’t do that. But if I have ever done that in the past then I apologize. It was an oversight. I do get a lot of original content, way more than any other blogger in this country. Some of the biggest news stories in this country in recent times was broken by LIB. From Goldie’s death (God rest her soul) Aluu4, ABSU rape, P-Square saga, Solomon Akiyesi and plenty more. And when I take news from other sources, I always credit them. When I don’t give credit is when the news is everywhere so I write it in my own words and make it mine. I don’t believe that is a crime. I admit that I have used photos without giving credit. I apologize. That will never happen again. You learn every day. And I have learnt from this.

    Now about Mr Aye Dee. Let me start from the very beginning so you guys understand what really happened. Like I said earlier, this was not about copyright or plagiarism. It was personal. Very personal. In 2009 or 2010…(not sure) a guy named Alex who used to run 1976AD blog contacted me. He said he was impressed with my work and wanted to encourage me to never relent. Alex Info 1976AD (how I knew him back then) and I became very good friends online. In fact he was my confidant. Every time I had questions or challenges, I would reach out to him.

    By 2011, Alex 1976AD and I became quite close…online. We even exchanged numbers and spoke a few times. He always reminded me how proud of me he was. He told me I would one day become a phenomenon. I wasn’t number one at the time but he told me that I would one day be the biggest news site in Nigeria…that he believed in me that much. He was my friend, my supporter; he sent me news to post on my blog. He wanted me to succeed. He told me things to do to get more readers. He knew a lot about the internet and how it works so I always went to him for advice. He was my anchor.

    Read more here

     

  • Google restores Linda Ikeji’s blog

    Google restores Linda Ikeji’s blog

    Barely 24 hours after Popular blogger lindaikeji.blogspot.com was taken down, it has been restored reportedly based on the fact that complaints filed against her were bogus.
    Her first response after the shut down states:

    Yay! LIB is back!
    Google has restored my blog. About 24 hours after it was deleted. I hear it’s a record. Yay! Normally it takes weeks or even months for Google to restore a deleted blog. But we are special here! Lol

    The people who took it down knew what to do. You get a number of strikes on blogger and after that it is automatically deleted. It’s automated, programmed to work that way. But the human beings got involved, checked out all the filed complaints, saw they were bogus and restored the Linda Ikeji Blog

    Thanks LIBers, you guys rock! Make sure you read the next post coming…!

  • LAUTECH wins 2014 Google online marketing contest

    Students of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso have won this year’s online marketing contest organised by the Internet search firm, Google.

    The contest is entitled: “2014 Google Online Marketing Challenge Contest for the Middle East and Africa.”

    A statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the institution, Mr Lekan Fadeyi, listed members of the LAUTECH team in the contest as Adedoyin  Jelili , Olayanju  Abiodun, Adeosun  Oluwole all of Mechanical Engineering Department.

    Others are Adesina Jamiu, Akadiri Olawole, both of the Urban and Regional Planning Department and Salami Ismaila of the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry. The team was led by the university’s Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Dr Tayo Arulogun.

    The statement quoted the Vice-Chancellor of the university,  Prof. Adeniyi Gbadegesin, as commending members of the team for the feat while receiving them in his office.

    Gbadegesin also hailed the founding fathers of the institution for bequeathing to it a legacy that has continued to stand the test of time.

    “The team would be leaving the country for Dublin any moment from now to see the workings at the Google office,” the statement added.