BLACKBERRY Switches to Android in Latest Device

BACKBERRY Limited has eventually switched over to the android operating system, (OS) with the release of what it described as the world’s most secured Android smartphone, known as DTEK50, the BlackBerry’s second smartphone powered by Android.

Fully equipped with Android Marshmallow 6.0, DTEK50 combines BlackBerry’s unique security, privacy and productivity with the full Android experience in an all-touch design, at a price point that’s accessible for consumers and ideal for enterprise fleet deployment.

Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, Devices, BlackBerry, Mr. Ralph Pini while announcing the launch of the new device said that BlackBerry take our customers’ privacy seriously, and “that’s why we’re proud to have all the security and privacy functionality that’s built in our newest Android smartphone. 

DTEK50 merges the unique security and connectivity features BlackBerry is known for with the rich Android ecosystem.”

He said “DTEK50 adds to BlackBerry’s lineup of secure smartphones, providing choices to our customers with different price points on both BlackBerry 10 and Android platforms.”

In a recent survey of Android smartphone users, BlackBerry found that 50 percent believe their smartphone is only somewhat secure, and what’s more, despite data security fears, one in six Android users don’t know about Android security patches.

 

Chief Security Officer, BlackBerry, David Kleidermacher, said that “With an increase in cyber-crime on smartphones, people need to recognise that the private details of their lives such as where they live, their bank information, pictures of their kids – are at risk on their personal device. You wouldn’t leave the doors of your house unlocked at night. Having a smartphone that doesn’t take your privacy seriously is the equivalent,”

He said, “It’s equally important for businesses to protect their sensitive data from cyber-attacks at all points of their mobile environment from the device to the network and servers.”  

HE said that the DTEK50 was designed to address the security and privacy needs of today’s uncompromising Android users. Smartphones are increasingly being targeted for cyber-attacks through tactics like malicious apps, scare-ware notifications and insecure Wi-Fi connections. BlackBerry’s Android smartphones, including DTEK50 and PRIV, have unique built-in hardware security.

BlackBerry said that the DTEK50 encrypts all users’ information, including business critical data and personal data such as pictures, videos and contacts, and that it comes with Malware protection along with back-up, wipe and restore capabilities noting that additional software provides users with visibility and control over which apps get access to personal info or device features such as the microphone or camera.

The new BlackBerry also delivers security patches on the same day that Google publicly releases information about them, while many popular Android smartphones put the users’ private information at risk of being hacked due to slow security updates, the company said in its unveiling press statement.

Other features that make DTEK50 the most secure Android smartphone, include its Rapid Security Patching, Hardware Root of Trust, Secure Boot Process, Android OS hardening and Compliant Full Disk Encryption.

HIGH TECH CENTRE TO Empower Nigerian Youth On Tech-Preneur Skills

THE High Tech Centre (HTC), a non-governmental organisation will be training youths in Nigeria on how to develop ICT skills that will transform them into technology entrepreneurs at its 2016 ICT Summer Academy Camp (ISAC) holding at strategic locations across the country.

The ICT Summer Academy Camp (ISAC) is a yearly event for youths from the ages of 15 and above and from secondary schools to tertiary institutions as well as the informal sector of the country.

A press statement from the President and Chief Executive Officer of High Tech Centre, Dr. (Mrs.) Wunmi Hassan says that the theme for the 2016 ISAC training  is “Local Contents in ICT: Building Skills for Tech-preneurial Attainments”

According to her, the ICT Camp will build ICT capacity and skills in all participants in all fields of Information Technology; train them on how to commercialise their invented products and services as well as empowered them with ICT tools for entrepreneurship development.

She says the Camp will engage the youths in indigenous designs related to hardware, Software and other relevant skills for solving immediate national challenges.

Highlights of the Camp, she says will include Computer Appreciation; Hardware mechanisms and PC configurations; Programming and Web design; Internet and Networking; Online marketing tools for entrepreneurship development; Coding techniques and Mobile Apps development; Cyber Crime and National Security: Issues, Opportunities and Options for Young people and Social Media and Technology Based Models for Business Developments.

Dr. Hassan says that the Camp is for Youths (Male and Female) from ages 15 and above from institutions and informal sectors, Senior Secondary School Students, Teachers from Primary and Secondary schools comes at minimal cost of N25, 000 per participant.

The ISAC will run for one week in a State within each of the geo-political Zones of the federation starting with Abuja: 7th-13th August, Anambra: 14th-20th August, Cross River: 21st-27th August, Lagos: 28th August-3rd September,

Taraba: 4th-10th September, Kano: 11th-17th September.

Other exciting package outlined to make the 2016 ISAC worth attending are a Quiz Competition that will examine the knowledge gained by the participants at the end of the teachings and learning.

Reward for the best participants include assistance on  self-employed business and empowerment, N250,000 for the overall winner with a laptop the second runner up winners goings home with a laptop each as well as internet data pack. 

Smile Introduces Voice Call With The Lowest Tariff

TELECOMMUNICATIONS company, Smile Communications Nigeria Limited, known for its 4G LTE data service, which it introduced in 2015 has vied into the voice segment of the telecoms industry with the lowest call tariff in the country.

Announcing the new service in the industry, which also targets the elimination of roaming cost for subscribers, the Group Managing Director, Mr. Godfrey Efeurhobo said that the voice call is Eight kobo per second.

L-R: Group Head of Communications and Marketing, Nicolene Van Zyl,  Group Managing Director, Godfrey Efeurhobo and Chief Corporate Services Officer, Tobe Okigbo all of Smile Communications Nigeria Limited at the unveiling of the Lowest  4G LTE Voice Call Rate in Nigeria by Smile.

According to him, Smile will be delivering the services to Nigerians using the latest 4G LTE technology, saying “you can make calls at 8kobo per second to any network in Nigeria. You can also make and receive calls at the same rate from any country in the world.”

 He said that Smile has been innovative since it entered the offering unlimited possibilities, particularly with the introduction of the first ever Voice over LTE, VoLTE, call in Nigeria during the beta testing of its voice service in October 2015.

“Since then, we have introduced SmileVoice to our customers who can use SmileVoice from a VoLTE-enabled handset with Smile SIM card OR downloading the SmileVoice App on their Android or Apple iPhone device. The SmileVoice App is a world-first, FREE mobile app that give all our customers access to SuperClear voice calls over 4G LTE network, without the need for a VoLTE handset.”

To enjoy the voice call service from Smile, he said that the SmileVoice app must be downloaded on a mobile phone, which stands as is a second SIM card in the phone, and that Smile’s customers “can use their data plan to make SuperClear voice, video calls and send SMSs to any number locally and internationally. There is no need for the recipient to also have SmileVoice.”

Efeurhobo promised that with SmileVoice, thousands of Nigerians are going to enjoy seamless, SuperClear voice calls to their loved ones to and from anywhere in the world stressing that it will end the era of roaming.

“On the Smile network now, whether with our SmileVoice or a VoLTE compatible phone, you can make calls to any network in Nigeria at local rate which gets as low as 8kobo per second on the SmileVoice ONLY bundle plan. (below N5 a minute). This is unprecedented”, he explained.

He added that “with the SmileVoice App, connected to any data network anywhere in the world, you can make calls to any network in Nigeria at the same rate! If home is where the heart is, you never have to be far from home again! On the Smile network, you take home with you everywhere you go. Remember, you can do video calls and send SMS using the SmileVoice App. It doesn’t get any better.”

He disclosed that Smile is Nigeria’s premier 4G LTE operator with coverage in eight cities, with plans to roll out services in more cities in Nigeria, and that Smile possesses a Universal Access Service License (UASL), which means that it is a full communications company, and not an ISP, albeit providing services using the latest 4G LTE technology.

President Buhari’s Approval Rating Dips to 39 Percent in June 2016

LATEST governance poll results released by NOIPolls have revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s job approval rating for the month of June 2016 stood at 39 percent. This latest score represents a 9-point decline when compared to the rating in May 2016 which stood at 48 percent. The survey also revealed a general decline in the approval rating of the President across 5 geopolitical zones, when compared to the month of May.  The North-West zone at 61 percent recorded the highest approval rating, closely followed by the North-East

zone with 59 percent. On the other hand, the South-East and South-South zones had the least approval rating of 8 percent and 24 percent respectively.

Nigerians were also asked to rate the President on key indicators and results revealed a high level of dissatisfaction of Nigerians on the performance of the president in the areas of Conflict resolution (28 percent), Agriculture and Food Security (21 percent), Health Care (20 percent), Education (18 percent), Economy (15 percent), Job creation (13 percent), Infrastructure (13 percent), and Poverty alleviation (11 percent) as he was rated poorly in these areas. However Nigerians seemed to show some level of satisfaction with his performance in the areas of National Security (48 percent) and Corruption (45 percent), where he received the highest ratings compared to other indicators measured in the poll. Though the president received an average rating in the area of National Security, more needs to be done in conflict resolution, especially in controlling inter-communal and/or intra-communal conflicts evidenced by the increased herdsmen-farmers conflicts in some zones in recent times.

This result is the thirteenth approval rating for President Muhammadu Buhari’s job performance and the 6th in the monthly series of governance polls for the year 2016. It represents the opinions and perceptions of Nigerians regarding the job performance of the President. These are some of the key findings from Governance snap poll conducted in the week of June 27th 2016.

Survey Findings

Findings from the poll revealed that the President’s approval rating stood at 39 percent in June 2016. Monthly trend analysis on the President’s performance rating revealed a 9-point decrease in his approval rating when compared to May 2016. This represents the lowest approval rating of President Buhari since NOIPolls started its approval ratings of the President 13 months ago; with the highest recorded in October 2016 at 80 percent.

More findings from the poll revealed that almost 4 in 10 adult Nigerians (39 percent: 19 percent + 20 percent) approved the President’s job performance. On the contrary, 41 percent (23 percent + 18 percent) of the respondents disapproved of the President’s job performance whereas 20 percent were indifferent.

Analysis by geo-political zone revealed that the North-West zone at 61 percent recorded the highest approval rating and this is closely followed by the North-East zone at 59 percent. The South-East zone at 8 percent had the least approval rating followed by the South-South zone at 24 percent.

To further evaluate the performance of the President respondents were asked to rate him on some key indicators. The President received the highest rating in the area of National Security (48 percent) and Corruption (45 percent), suggesting some level of satisfaction of Nigerians with his performance in these areas. However, he was rated poorly in the areas of Conflict resolution (28 percent), Agriculture and Food Security (21 percent), Health Care (20 percent), Education (18 percent), Economy (15 percent), Job creation (13 percent), Infrastructure (13 percent), and Poverty alleviation (11 percent).

The President’s high rating in the area of national security is an indication of perceived peace and gradual return of economic and agricultural activities especially in the North-East zone where insecurity has been a major problem. However, there are high expectations by Nigerians that the growing Fulani Herdsmen and Farmers conflicts in the North-Central, South-East, North-East and South-West zones, and the lingering bombing of pipelines by militant groups would be given adequate attention.

In conclusion, almost 4 in 10 Nigerians (39 percent) approved the President’s job performance in June 2016 and this represents the lowest approval rating since the President assumed office in May 2015. His ratings on some key indicators reflects dissatisfaction of the President’s performance in Job creation, Health Care, Infrastructure, Conflict resolution, Agriculture and Food Security, Education, Economy, and Poverty alleviation; while Nigerians showed some level of satisfaction with his performance in the area of national security and Corruption.

Survey Methods

The opinion poll was conducted in the week of June 27th 2016. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically precise - within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited, No1 for country specific polling services in West Africa. We conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria.

HIGH TECH CENTRE, NCC AND NITDA To Host ICT Stakeholders

The HIGH TECH CENTRE (HTC) for Nigerian Women and Youths, a non-governmental organisation in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) will be hosting Information and Communications Technology (ICT) stakeholders in the country at special forum across Nigeria.

A press statement by the President and Chief Executive Officer of High Tech Centre, Dr. (Mrs.) Wunmi Hassan says the ICT Stakeholders forum is for all ICT enthusiasts including those in the entertainment industry, academia, the public and private sector of the country.

The ONE DAY STAKEHOLDERS FORUM is a national discourse on how to empower and build the capacity of women and youths through ICT in a knowledge-driven economy and targets the effective and full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

For national coverage, the forum will hold on a regional basis with Port Harcourt hosting participants from the Southern Region on Tuesday 19, 2016 at Amadi-Ama Council of Chiefs Complex, Plot 82, Trans Amadi Industrial layout while Lagos State will host those from the South West on Thursday 21 at the Nigerian Internet Registration Association, NIRA, Office, Alaka, Surulere.

The City of Kaduna will host those from the Northern Region on Monday 25th July at VIP Hall, Ministry of Youths, Sports and Culture, Murtala Muhammed Square, Independent Way and in Abuja on Wednesday 27th July at Nugget Hotel, off ABC Park Utako. All the events will commence at 9 a.m. prompt.

To take part in any of the stakeholders’ forum which is free, participants are to register by filling a form online at www.hightechwomen.org.ng or sms your names and locations to 08060812766 or 08034241874.

HTC has been championing the course of women and youths in the country, and the stakeholders’ forum is critical because of the need for more Nigerian women and youths to become competitive and meet global challenges using ICT. The forum is also viewed as very vital for all ICT stakeholders to attend since it will further help to achieve HTC’s No 5 objective of networking with other national, regional and international organisations.

HTC currently has representatives in almost all states of the federation who are trained to use ICT tools and are serving as State Coordinators on its behalf. The states are: Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Lagos in the South West; Rivers and Cross-river States in the South -South and Niger State and Abuja-FCT in the North Central Zones of Nigeria.

Others are Sokoto, kebbi, kano, Kaduna, Edo, Abia, Enugu, Anambra, Imo and Plateau States.

NCC Enforces 2442 DO NOT DISTURB Short Code

FOLLOWING a Direction to the telecommunications service providers in the country, the operators, will from July 1, 2016, activate the DO NOT DISTURB facility which gives subscribers the freedom to choose what messages to receive from the various networks. While subscribers await instruction from operators on details concerning the short code details on how to opt out, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, unveiled the codes. 

With this Direction the operators have been mandated to dedicate a common Short Code (2442) which will enable subscribers take informed decisions.

Mr. Tony Ojobo, Director of Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in a statement, said this action was taken in order to protect subscribers from the nuisance of unsolicited texts, and therefore a direct regulatory response to the yearnings of the subscribers.

By this action, he explained, the Commission has invoked a regulatory provision which had hitherto been overlooked by the operators.

Taking cognizance of the broad range of services which include: Banking/Insurance/ Financial Products, Real Estate, Education, Health, Consumer Goods and Automobiles, Communication/ Broadcasting/ Entertainment/ IT, Tourism and leisure, Sports, 

Religion(Christianity, Islam, others), the Commission directed the operators to give the necessary instructions and clarifications that will enable subscribers subscribe to a particular service/services /none at all.

In fact, a Full DND which is SMS “STOP” to 2442 does not allow the subscriber to receive any unsolicited message from the operators at all.

Below are the various options:

➢ “SMS 1” for receiving SMS relating to Banking? Insurance/ Financial products to 2442

➢ “SMS 2” for receiving |SMS relating to real Estate to 2442

➢ “SMS 3” for receiving SMS relating to Education to 2442

➢ “SMS 4” for receiving SMS relating to Health to 2442

➢ “SMS 5” for receiving SMS relating to Consumer goods and Automobiles to 2442”

➢ “SMS 6” for receiving SMS relating to Communication/ Broadcasting Entertainment/IT to 2442

➢ “SMS 7” for receiving SMS relating to Tourism and leisure to 2442

➢ “SMS 8” for receiving SMS relating to Sports to 2442

➢ “SMS 9” for receiving SMS relating to Religion to 2442

Ojobo pointed out however that the decision of the Commission does not affect personal messages or person to person messages which are private communication by individuals.

He urged the operators to comply immediately with the Direction issued by the Commission and never again harass subscribers with unwanted messages.