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44 Wire & Cable ASIA –July/August 2015
Telecomnews
Of related interest . . .
Ø Under the terms of a memorandum
of understanding announced by
the two operators, customers in
East Africa who are signed up to
Vodafone Group’s M-Pesa and
those using South Africa-based
MTN Group’s MTN Mobile Money
will be able to transfer money back
and forth between them.
The collaboration is intended to
facilitate convenient and afford-
able international remittances
among M-Pesa customers in
Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and
Mozambique, and Mobile Money
customers in Uganda, Rwanda
and Zambia.
Vodafone, of the UK, and MTN
will also share “best practice”
techniques and work together
to define the rules and stan-
dards governing mobile-based
remittances in Africa.
The ordinary hand
gestures of the
smartphone user
are enlisted in a new
defence against
sophisticated malware
Findings published on 26th March by
University of Alabama at Birmingham
(UAB) researchers hold promise for
protecting smartphones from attack
by malware.
Simple techniques developed by the
university’s Department of Computer
and Information Sciences enlist the
motions performed naturally when
people use their phones to block
intruder software from infiltrating a
smartphone or app to gain access to
information about the user.
As reported by Stephanie Kanowitz
in FierceMobileIT (1st April): “The idea
is that when a human tries to access
a service, the movement would be
recognised and access would be
allowed. Malware programs lack
gestures, so access would be blocked.”
According to the researchers,
the hand actions associated with
smart-phone use can – by means of
motion, position and ambient sensors
Mobile products created by British-born Nigerian Oke Okaro are used by
more than 60 million unique users every month and generate over $1 billion
in annual revenues.
Most recently he spent five years at Bloomberg LP as global head and
general manager of the Mobile and Connected Devices unit where he
built and led a team focused on transforming the company’s businesses
worldwide.
Recently Mr Okaro was interviewed by Kenya-based Forbes contributor
Mfonobong Nsehe on how smartphones are changing Africa’s digital media
consumption habits and the significance of this for the African future.
Here, lightly edited, are the main takeaways from that interview.
(“Bloomberg’s Former Head Of Mobile on How Smartphones Will Fuel
Innovation in Africa,” 10th April)
What does mobile expansion mean for Africa? New businesses and
industries are going to be built entirely around mobile devices. In the USA
and Europe the web was built around desktop users, and 99.9 per cent of the
digital properties today are desktop companies which support mobile.
In Africa it will be the reverse, with mobile leading the way; and this is
where the breakthrough innovation is going to come from. This is why I’m
convinced that a large proportion of the most innovative digital companies of
the future will come from Africa.
What does innovation mean to you? It means setting the new standard.
It means creatively solving a real problem in the market in an original,
thoughtful, elegant and commercially viable way. It means creative
destruction – throwing out the old because you can and without inhibition
or preconceived notions, rebuilding a new and better mousetrap. It means
leadership.
How are tablets, smartphones and connected devices changing
Africa’s digital media consumption habits? The modern devices are
gradually taking centre stage as the preferred platform for consumption. It’s
still early days, though, since the overwhelming majority of people still don’t
have access. But this is changing, and within the next ten years 800 million
more people are going to have smartphones and thus greater access.
Is there any African mobile-based business you’re watching closely
which you feel is primed for global domination in the next few years?
The most innovative digital businesses of the future are going to come from
Africa and I’m not just saying that because I’m African.
Mobile is going to be crucial to every business of the future especially here
in Africa. And, yes, I think a number of businesses have the potential to
go global.
What are some of the key mobile trends you believe will take centre
stage in Africa within the next decade? I think one of the most substantial
developments will be the emergence of the localised web, at scale. By
localised web I mean home-grown digital properties that uniquely satisfy
local needs.
Today, the majority of the most trafficked digital properties are foreign
[ie non-African] websites. This balance will shift over time with the
proliferation of devices and introduction of new services because the
mass-market audience will demand a web that’s more relatable.
A mobile-centric Africa is seen as providing impetus
for many of the most innovative digital businesses of
the future
BigStockPhoto.com • Photographer: Krishnacreations