Google Acquires Cloud Software Firm, Apigee For $625m

Alphabet Inc's Google said on Thursday it is acquiring cloud software company Apigee Corp in a deal valued at about $625 million, the tech giant’s latest effort to claim a greater share of the lucrative cloud business, according to reuters.com report.

San Jose-based Apigee's software helps companies' digital services interact with apps used by customers and partners.

The service is critical for businesses transitioning to the cloud, Diane Greene, who runs Google's cloud computing division, said in an interview. "They are a leader in this application programming interface area," she said.

Cloud computing is the increasingly popular practise of using remote internet servers to store, manage and process data.

Apigee specializes in managing so-called application programming interfaces, or APIs, the channels through which digital services connect when a company logs a purchase for a customer or places an order with a supplier.

Google will pay Apigee shareholders $17.40 for each share, a 6.5 percent premium to the

Galaxy Note 7: Don’t Use On Planes

Airline passengers have been warned by US authorities not to switch on or charge their Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones when on board the plane.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also advised against packing the phones into any checked-in luggage.

Samsung recalled the phone last week after reports emerged of the device exploding during or after charging.

Qantas and Virgin Australia have also told customers not to charge or use the phone during flights.

Samsung has said that battery problems were behind the phones catching fire, but that it was difficult to work out which phones were affected among those sold.

"In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage," the FAA said.

Following Samsung's recall of its Galaxy Note 7, Qantas said on Thursday it was "requesting that passengers who own [the devices] do not switch on or charge them in-flight."

The phone was launched last month and has been otherwise generally well-received by consumers and critics.

Some 2.5 million Note 7s have been shipped globally.

Samsung has said customers who have already bought the phone will be able to swap it for a new one and that it would take about two weeks to prepare replacement devices.

ntel Network Now Compatible With Samsung Galaxy S7 And S7Edge

ntel, Nigeria’s most advanced 4G/LTE broadband operator has announced its network’s compatibility with two high-quality mobile devices, the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge from the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer.

ntel said that following months of compatibility tests, its network is now compatible with Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge making it possible for owners and users of the devices to call and browse at superfast speeds on the ntel network.

With this feat, ntel becomes the first 4G/LTE provider in Africa to achieve device and network compatibility that will enable VoLTE capable calls,

ntel’s network supports crystal-clear HD Voice calling (VoLTE), as well as key LTE-Advanced features: Carrier Aggregation (CA); and Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) Antennae technology.  These features combine to enable downlink data speeds of up to 230Megabits per second (mbps) and are both supported on Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices.

Kamar Abass, CEO, ntel said in a statement, “Samsung is the leader in the Nigerian smart phone market and news of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge compatibility with our 4G/LTE Advanced network is fantastic news for our customers who have been eagerly waiting to use their high-end Samsung devices on our network. As Nigeria’s first pure-play 4G/LTE-Advanced network, ntel is

FEATURE: Samsung Trips On Quality Control In Rush To Pip Apple

By Se Young Lee 

In its rush to beat rival products to market, notably Apple's new iPhone, Samsung Electronics has accelerated new phone launch cycles, but its haste is raising concerns that it fell short on quality testing.

Since last year, the South Korean firm, the world's largest maker of smartphones, has brought forward the launch of its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series models by roughly a month.

For the June quarter, the strategy helped Samsung to its best profit in more than two years, but it is also putting strain on its supply chain and its manufacturing reputation.

On Friday, two weeks after launch, Samsung recalled Galaxy Note 7 smartphones in 10 markets including South Korea and the United States after finding its batteries were prone to ignite, and halted sales of the 988,900 won ($891) device in those markets indefinitely.

The recall looks set to hamstring a revival in Samsung's mobile business just as Apple gears up to launch its new iPhones this month.

"Samsung might have over-exerted itself trying to pre-empt Apple, since everybody knows the iPhones launch in September," said Chang Sea-Jin, business professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and author of "Sony vs. Samsung", a history of the electronics giants.

"It's an unfortunate event; it feels like Samsung rushed a bit, and it's possible that this led to suppliers also being hurried."

Samsung said in a statement to Reuters it conducts "extensive preparation" for its products and will release them to the market "only after proper completion of the development process".

The firm said on Friday it had identified a problem in the manufacturing process of a battery

PayPal, MasterCard Reach Deal For Store Payments

MasterCard Inc said on Tuesday it had expanded its deal with payment processor PayPal Holdings Inc, which would allow customers to use PayPal's payment services in stores.

PayPal's partnership follows a similar deal with MasterCard's larger rival Visa Inc in July as the company looks to expand its payments network.

PayPal will allow users to select a credit or debit card as the default payment method and share data on transactions made through MasterCard's tap-and-pay feature, which allows the shopper to wave a card or mobile phone over a reader to pay, the companies said in a statement.

As part of the deal, MasterCard will allow PayPal users to withdraw cash from their accounts using a debit card and also waive the digital wallet fee it currently charges PayPal.

The two companies have an existing partnership for co-branded consumer credit cards in the United States and Puerto Rico.

PayPal, spun off from e-commerce company eBay Inc last year, has focused on aggressive growth.

The company's revenue in the second quarter rose more than 15 percent to $2.65 billion

ICT Reporters Gather Stakeholders to Telecoms Seminar

*Emma Okonji, NITRA President

Stakeholders from public and private sectors at Federal and State levels are set for the third quarter seminar series being organised by the Nigeria Information and Communication Technology Reporters’ Association.

Sponsored by Airtel Nigeria, the seminar will bring together industry stakeholders to brainstorm on the theme: “The Impact of Over-Regulation of Telecoms Industry on Service Quality.”

The event is scheduled to hold inside Osun Hall of the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, September 16, 2016 starting by 10 a.m.

The seminar will bring together industry regulators including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) as well as representation from the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) and ZInox Group, among others.

Already, most industry stakeholders have confirmed attendance at the one-day forum to be chaired by the Chairman of ALTON, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo.

General Manager of Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory

NCC Boss Approves Data Release to NIMC

The Federal Government’s efforts at harmonizing biometric data captured by different agencies in the country has received a major boost, as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, has agreed to release the commission’s data from the ongoing Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards registration exercise to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

While receiving the Director General of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu A Aziz, who paid him a courtesy call in Abuja, Danbatta said the decision to release the data is in line with similar Federal Government’s instruction to transfer validated data to the sister agency.

It can, however,  be recalled that inter-agency and other stakeholders’ collaboration is a key component of the 8-Point Agenda the Professor of telecommunications engineering unveiled in February this year, with a view to moving the industry forward. 

“I would like to pledge our commitment to this cooperation between the NIMC and the NCC to ensure that we have a secure, reliable database containing biometric information for all Nigerians, which will definitely augur well for the security of the country among other benefits,” he noted.

“So we are committed to this. We recognize the importance of this cooperation and I would like to stress the need to give it all the seriousness it deserves. I am happy that there’s an MoU and