Messaging app WhatsApp has reversed its decision to stop supporting some specific phones which includes Blackberry OS, Blackberry 10 at the end of the year . Recall that the initial deadline given was December 31 2016. WhatsApp has now shifted the “dooms-day” to June 2017.
The initial deadline caused a lot of frenzy as users of phones that fell into the category of phones that were not compatible with WhatsApp had started selling their phones off or swapping directly for those that support WhatsApp after December 2016.
An airline flight ban on Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 is spreading fast after reports some phones have caught fire. Carriers in Australia, Asia and Europe put the phone on a prohibited list over the weekend, which comes after the US banned the device last week.
Carriers flying to the US inevitably had to follow suit, but the bans are spreading worldwide.
In addition to several flag carriers taking action, Air Berlin, Dragonair and Virgin Australia now have bans.
Qantas and its discount carrier Jetstar said in a statement: “The ban applies to devices being carried onto the aircraft, in carry-on baggage as well as check-in luggage.”
Virgin Australia issued a similar announcement, but added that passengers were “strongly advised” not to bring the Note 7 phone to airports.
Air Berlin has banned the phones with immediate effect. Larger German rival Lufthansa has a ban on flights to the US, but is reportedly planning to impose the restriction across all flights soon.
Singapore Airlines said on its Facebook page that “the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone will be prohibited from being brought on board all our flights in person, in carry-on baggage or checked-in baggage with effect from 16 October”.
Samsung recalled around 2.5 million phones in September after complaints of exploding batteries.
While it later insisted that all replaced devices were safe, there were reports that those phones were catching fire too.
The company then said it would stop Galaxy Note 7 production.
Canadian company shifts focus to software having struggled to compete as mobile users opt for touchscreens
WhatsApp in use on a BlackBerry phone. Photograph: Adam Berry/Getty Images
BlackBerry is shutting down its phone business after 14 years of making handsets.
The company’s devices were once the phone of choice for professionals, providing access to emails on the move, but BlackBerry has struggled to keep up with competition from rivals Apple and Samsung as mobile users increasingly opt for touchscreens.
The Canadian company is now focusing on making software and will outsource the manufacture of hardware to other companies.
John Chen, the company’s executive chairman and chief executive, said: “We are focusing on software development, including security and applications. The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners. This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.”
Chen said earlier this year that he would know by September whether the loss-making handset business was likely to become profitable.
John Jackson, analyst at IDC, said BlackBerry’s decision to stop making devices was “entirely sensible and probably overdue”. He added: “Software revenue and the margin profile associated with that is where the focus should have been, and now can be.”
CMC Markets said the death of the BlackBerry handset marked the end of an era for a company once considered one of the world’s major smartphone vendors. CMC said that at its peak in September 2013, there were 85 million BlackBerry subscribers worldwide, but by March 2016 the number had fallen to 23 million as it lost out to the Android and iOS platforms.
Colin Cieszynski, chief market analyst at CMC, said: “Today marks a big transition for BlackBerry and the end of an era for the company. The company plans to shift its focus fully to communications and security software development, reducing capital requirements and increasing margins.”
BlackBerry shares rose in pre-market trading after it announced better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter and revised up earnings expectations for the full year to a range of zero to five cents a share, compared with current market expectations of a 15-cent loss.
Cieszynski said traders were shrugging off a shortfall in revenues, which were lower than expected at $352m. “Traders have decided to focus on the 89% revenue growth over the year in their software services business,” he said.
BlackBerry also announced that its chief financial officer, James Yersh, was leaving the company at the end of October for personal reasons. He will be replaced by Steven Capelli, the former Sybase executive.
Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, of Lagos State Police Command have arrested a suspected madman with 22 Automatic Teller Machine, ATM, cards, two mobile phones and power bank in Victoria Island.
The man, who identified himself as Lanrewaju Jaiyeola, 39, was intercepted by the police after the suspicious manner he carried a backpack along Ozumba Mbadiwe Road.
A reliable police source said 22 assorted credit cards, one Nokia phone, a blackberry, a power bank, several bank tellers of recent bank transactions and lots of invoices, amidst numerous pieces of papers, were found on him. He added that they discovered that eight of the credit cards were still valid. Out of these, three would expire in 2018, another three would expire in 2017, while two would expire in 2016. All the credit cards bore different names and of various banks. Confirming the arrest, RRS Commander, ACP Olatunji Disu, added that upon arrival at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa, the suspect made “statements suggestive of somebody disguising as a mad man to perpetrate crime around that axis.” He said: “Initially, we noticed that he was mentally balanced because he was answering the questions posted to him ade-quately. But all of a sudden, he started sounding incoherent and illogical. “He threatened the investigative Police officer, saying ‘I will make life unbearable for you if you don’t let me go’.
The rate at which phones and chargers are exploding in people’s faces is a cause for concern…
Bhavesh Thummer, a professional diamond polisher, was left with burns to his face and chest, after his mobile phone blew up in his face when he tried making a quick phone call.Mr Thummer’s left eye and ear were burnt in the incident, leaving him wearing a heavy bandage across the whole of his left eye.
The device exploded whilst Mr Thummer was visiting his friend’s timber market in Punagam, Surat
Wanting to make a quick telephone call, he dialled the number and put the phone to his ear.
Feeling the extreme temperature, he dropped the overheating device. The phone landed on to a desk before setting fire to a pile of loose papers and damaging the desk.
Health and safety experts are set to launch an inquiry into the incident.
This is the moment immediately after new Speaker of the House of Reps, Yakubu Dogara was sworn into office on Tuesday…all his 3 phones didn’t stop ringing for hours. Lol. But that’s people for ya!
APC has accused the Presidency of hacking the phones of some of its leaders. The party listed the leaders whose phones have been bugged to include the National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun; the National Leader, Bola Tinubu, Senator Bukola Saraki, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, former Gov. Timipre Sylva and the party’s National Publicity Secretary. Lai Mohammed.
The leaders have also be placed under surveillance by security agencies. The party in a statement issued by Mohammed in Lagos on Thursday said that its leadership and members would not be intimidated by the latest alleged clampdown by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration in the run-up to the March general elections.
He noted that Nigerians should hold the Jonathan administration responsible if anything happens to the party’s leaders.
Largely off the back of Mpesa, the hugely successful mobile money-transfer system, the Kenyan capital has gained a reputation for technological innovation—and with it an influx of no-strings (or few-strings) development funding that has crowded out some of the private investment searching for tech startups to finance.
Now investors are looking to the other side of the African continent for results. Nigeria, with nearly 200 million people, a growing economy, and no shortage of local problems, stands out as an option. It’s slowly building up a tech sector of its own. The funding circuit is still small: probably no more than 10 companies investing money, says Kresten Buch, founder of the Nairobi tech accelerator 88mph (which has since expanded to South Africa).
The biggest difference between Nigeria and other major African economies is its sheer size. With roughly four times as many people as Kenya or South Africa, Nigeria is big enough to reward products and services that are domestic in nature.
One example of that is Obiwezy, a venue for selling used smartphones. Nigeria is primarily a pre-paid market, where customers pay the full cost of a handset up front. That puts most high-end devices out of reach for all but the very rich. But the aspiration to own a high-end Apple or Samsung handset remains, as it does elsewhere in the world. Obiwezy’s founders figure that a secondhand market—with warranties—is one way to sate that demand. They have tied up with MTN, a large telco, to offer the service.
Nigeria still has a big hole where investors willing to put in between $100,000 and $1 million should be. For now, investors are ensconced in Nairobi. But that might change as Nigeria’s companies grow larger, signaling opportunity to deeper-pocketed investors looking for returns.
