Author: Staff Writer

Uber has laid off another set of employees in its third final phase of restructuring to enable it prepare for the future. The first layoff of 400 employees which was in July this year affected the marketing function. The second, in September, affected 435 employees in the Product and Engineering…

American actress, writer, director, producer, and web series creator, Issa Rae has been revealed as Google Assistant’s second celebrity voice. John Legend was the first celebrity voice chosen by Google for this initiative. Henceforth Issa Rae’s voice is available as a cameo on the Google Assistant, in English for a…

Health care startup, Doctoora has won the NES25 startup pitch competition and is going home with 5 million Naira. Six hundred and eighty-nine (689) applications were received for the startup pitching competition and after a rigorous selection process, 10 finalists were selected. Doctoora beat nine other applicants to win the…

Days after PayPal announced that it was dropping out of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency association, a host of other companies have opted out of the association. They include Mastercard, Visa and Ebay amongst others. This was expected from Mastercard and Visa as they had earlier indicated intention to leave. Since Facebook…

Just four months after ride-hailing company, Uber, said it was planning a boat service in Nigeria, it has started the pilot run of UberBOAT service in Lagos. The launch event happened on Friday and was chaired by His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The pilot run, which…

To commemorate World Sight Day (September 10), Google unveiled a new feature on Google Maps to aid visually impaired people. The feature, Detailed Voice Guidance, is particularly helpful to visually impaired people moving on foot. It can also be used to reassure people with sight and those who would rather…

Andy Rubin, the ex-Googler behind Essential Products has just tweeted some pictures about a new device from the company, probably in development, that looks more like a remote control than a smartphone. Is it the next smartphone we should be expecting from the company? Would it change the fortunes of…

Facebook announced that it has added ten more countries in Sub-sahara Africa to its Third-Party Fact-Checking Programme. When added to Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon and Senegal,  this brings the total in Africa to fifteen. The programme was launched in Nigeria in October 2018. In partnership with Agence France-Presse (AFP),…

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics rewards new understanding of the universe’s structure and history, and the first discovery of a planet orbiting a solar-type star outside our solar system.

Whether you are setting out to hire the first employee in your new business or have a few already, there are always important factors that you need to consider. These come from both a business perspective and from a candidate perspective. You first need to understand why, when and how…

At the recent Microsoft Surface event held early in the week, Microsoft unveiled five new products coming this holiday and two new dual-screen devices – Surface Neo and Surface Duo – coming next holiday, 2020. The products are as follows: Surface Laptop 3Surface Pro 7Surface Pro XSurface earbudsWindows 10XSurface NeoSurface…

With all the noise about foldables like the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Royole Flexi-Pai mobile phone, Microsoft has unveiled its own version of foldable phone – Surface Duo and foldable tablet – Surface Neo. These two devices were among the six new devices unveiled by the tech giant two…

Uber has extended its tentacles into a new area; this time into jobs. It has launched a job platform for temps called Uber Works. Uber believes that “workers face rigid scheduling and opaque information about where they can pick up shifts and how much they can expect to earn. Businesses…

We reported some weeks that Facebook was working on another messaging app to compete with Snapchat. Now it has launched the app. It is called Threads by Instagram. Facebook calls the app “Threads by Instagram – a new camera-first messaging app that helps you stay connected to your close friends.”…

Smartphone data set to revolutionise credit scoring and jumpstart financial inclusion in Nigeria

PayPal enters the Chinese Payments market while Visa and Mastercard still await approval

Algerian ride-hailing startup TemTem announced that it has raised $4 million for expansion into other parts of the country. The investment was led by Tell Venture Automotive and other undisclosed investors. TemTem claims it is the largest Series A investment raised by an Algeria startup This investment brings total investment…

For the first time, African startups can apply for Facebook Accelerator London. In its third edition, the accelerator programme is designed for startups from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) that are creating impact at scale using artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR), blockchain and…

Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Oppo, has launched the Oppo A9 2020 in Nigeria. The 5000 mAh capacity smartphone has a quad camera setup (48MP rear main lens for maximum photo resolution, an 8MP Ultra Wide 119° rear lens for panoramic pictures and two 2MP rear lenses that provide artistic portrait effects)…

Nigerian digital content distribution startup, Publiseer, has been selected for the ITU Magnet Accelerator Program taking place in Turkey from October 31 to November 5, 2019. ITU Magnet provides services and synergy environment to help late-stage entrepreneurs and start-ups who managed to turn their ideas into products grow. It is a…