NCC sets up taskforce to enhance QoS offerings

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it has set up a high level taskforce to identify all issues militating against quality of service in the networks.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of NCC who stated this at a press conference in Abuja to mark to mark his one year in office, said that the report of the committee is already being implemented for the resolution of some urgent issues militating against quality of service.
He said that the quality of service on the various networks, which includes infrastructure, service providers facilities had taken considerable attention of the commission.
“The commission has been able to identify and taken notice of the difference between the records of quality service as recorded in the switch of the service providers and from the practical experience of the consumers.
“We have therefore taken some measures to address the issue of quality of service.’’ Danbatta said that the commission was also promoting a Telecom Industry Working Group on Quality of Service that engages service providers to discuss germane matters leading to resolution of critical quality of service.

Automakers partner to compete against Apple and Google for autonomous car services

Alarmed by the threat posed by Silicon Valley firms developing autonomous driving systems, carmakers at this week’s Paris Motor Show showed signs they are ready to hit back by cooperating in areas where they might have been expected to compete.
“This is how the automotive industry may be able to fight off the threat that Apple and particularly Google represent to their brands as digital services become more and more important,” technology investment analyst Richard Windsor said.
BMW, Daimler and VW’s Audi announced this week they would launch new traffic monitoring services next year which give drivers a view of road conditions miles ahead. They are based on video data collected from sensors in other cars and fed to the three carmakers’ jointly-owned navigation mapping services firm HERE.
Separately HERE’s Dutch rival TomTom on Thursday announced traffic data deals with truckmaker Volvo and carmaker Skoda, a VW subsidiary.

Four million businesses advertise on Facebook

Over four million businesses currently advertise on Facebook, with 70 per cent outside the United States of America.
According to the Facebook, which disclosed this on Wednesday, the fastest growing region is South East Asia with the following countries: Vietnam, Indonesia, Greece, Ukraine and Philippines.
Founded in 2004, Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg, claimed that its mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.
The social media platform currently has 1.04 billion daily active users on average worldwide and

Google unveils free photos management service

Google has unveiled Google Photos, a free photos management system that could be used to create the ultimate album and memorable wedding.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Anglophone West Africa spokesman, said Google Photos also offered unlimited storage for high resolution images and videos.
“A wedding is that beautiful ceremony where two people are united in marriage and it is dependable on budget.
“Checklist done; the wedding venue, guest list, the cake, caterer, don’t forget the “aso ebi” frenzy and so on, but still, an essential item for any wedding ceremony is the photograph.
“Not capturing beautiful moments of weddings can be a disaster and so photos are essential even after the ceremony,’’ the Google spokesman said in a statement.
He said that smartphones had made it possible for almost everyone to be a photographer and Google was making it easier with Google Photos.
“Nowadays, wedding photos have moved from the usual hard copy printouts to having photo

Uber to introduce panic buttons in cars after series of alleged attacks in S’Africa

Uber is preparing to introduce panic buttons in its cars in South Africa after a series of alleged attacks linked to the app.
The company said it was testing a number of ways to improve security over the coming month, including a pilot of dashboard-mounted cameras in Cape Town and the “SOS” button service in Johannesburg, which will link cars to the company’s central security system.
It comes in the wake of a high-profile incident in which a woman was allegedly picked up by an Uber driver, strangled, thrown in the boot of the car, robbed and sexually assaulted.
The woman was raped after the driver took her to an ATM and ordered her to withdraw 5,000 rand – around £280 – according to Ulrich Roux, the lawyer who is representing the victim and another passenger involved in a alleged similar assault.
“She is still traumatised from the incident,” Roux told the eNCA news agency. “However, she’s determined and has been working with police to make sure the perpetrators are prosecuted.”
After another incident last week involving an alleged attack on a female Uber passenger, the ANC