Tag: Africa
Zuricom unveils dual-SIM Android smart phone, the Z-Phone
British company Zuricom has followed the launch of two 7inch tablets with a new Android-based smart phone. Called the Z-Phone, the key attraction of the new model is the Dual SIM card capabilities which means users can have two different…
Alienware M11x netbook with Intel Core i7 in the works
Alienware, the Dell off-shot who make PC gaming rigs fit for kings, are set to refresh their tiny M11x gaming netbooks with a substantial jump in processing power. From June, the 11-inch Alienware M11x will be available with options…
Eee PC hailed as top computer for developing countries
Three African Universities have lauded the Asus Eee PC as the best low-power computer option for developing countries. The study, conducted by charity Computer Aid, put three laptops and two ‘thin client’ solutions through their paces. The Eee was ranked top by teams in Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
The Eee didn’t rank top in every category – the OLPC XO won out on power consumption but ranked poorly for performance. The Intel Classmate was the opposite – doing well in performance tests but with its battery not holding out for long enough.
The ‘thin client’ solutions – the Inveneo Computing Station and Ncomputing X300 – were criticised as too expensive. The research team at Kenyatta University said:
“Asus had the best solution for an average individual owner and user in rural Africa who needs a low power PC, while Ncomputing proved to be the more viable choice for many learning institutions.”
It’s interesting that Asus’ netbook still wins out in the developing world, especially as the netbook revolution was founded on attempts to make low-cost PCs for developing countries. The results proved just as appealing to western markets.
(via @wildfirepr)
UK Government donates a thousand old PCs to charity
Fancy a bit of a feel-good story for Friday afternoon? The UK Government’s Department for International Development has decided to ship a thousand laptops that it doesn’t use any more to Africa. It’s all being done through charity Computer Aid, who we’ve covered before.
The laptops, previously in use by civil servants, aren’t OLPCs or any other low-cost, low-spec machines – they’re proper full-on laptops. They’re going to organizations like the Prof. Iya Abubakar Community Resource Center in Nigeria, which helps local people start their own businesses.
Rumours that each laptop is chock-full of confidential documents and databases are so far unsubstantiated.
UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw gets hacked
The UK government’s Justice Secretary, The Right Honorable Jack Straw MP, has been hacked by Nigerian fraudsters, who sent out hundreds of emails to his constituents and government figures asking for cash because he’d lost his wallet on charity work in Africa.
Straw says that everything’s okay because it was only his constituency office that was hacked, not his official government address. I’m sure that’ll make his constituents feel better, who’ve apparently been calling the office asking about the email. Only one replied, and his or her Hotmail account has since been suspended by Microsoft.
(via BBC)
