DIGITAL X

Online arm of DIGITALX magazine, the source for news and trends in technology business, gadgets, the Web, government policies, mobile, and social media. Published in Lagos, Nigeria.

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November 21st, 4:27pm 0 comments

In Pakistan It Will Soon Be Illegal to Say 'SEX' in a Text Message

Pakistan

The Pakistani Telecommunications Authority, PTA, on November 14 released a list of 1,695 terms that it thinks are "offensive and obscene." Sex is one of them. So are Jesus Christ, SIX SIX SIX, Atheletes Foot, Back Door, Boobs, Fairy, and Cock.

The government agency gave a seven-day notice to all mobile services provider to start filtering these words from text messages so as to curb SMS spamming. That ultimatum expired today but the administration has added that it would exclude the weekend break - Saturday and Sunday - from seven-day period. The Pakistan Telecommunication Act of 1996 prohibits the transmission of messages that are "false, fabricated, indecent or obscene."

Reactions from mobile operators has been loud, though. Omar Manzur, a spokesman for Mobilink, the leading telco in Pakistan told the AFP: "Obviously there are concerns and we have reservations. The regulation will be implemented only after mutual agreement between the PTA and us."

The PTA has previously blocked websites considered pornographic or offensive to Islam, it's not clear yet if it will exercise its legal authority if mobile companies resist this move to rewrite the dictionary of urban communication.

Posted by Sam Adeoye
November 20th, 5:40pm 0 comments

N1,500 Websites, Courtesy Google Nigeria

Getting-business-online

If you've not heard of GNBO, get out from under that rock! 

GNBO is the acronym for Get Nigerian Businesses Online, a coalition between Google Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, and Ecobank. Their motive is to help small businesses get some online real estate so they'll be more accessible to customers. And, of course, there is the benefit to Google of having more search content from Nigeria.  

By registering at gnbo.com.ng business owners can buy custom domain names (yourname.com.ng) at N1,500, with InterSwitch cards. Each domain name bought comes with 10 email accounts and the Google web builder templates can be used to design some pretty decent web sites - no coding skills required. We've tried this and it works very well. 

GNBO staff have been teaching people how to use these remarkable tools. To reach them, check the website or the nearest Sweet Sensation restaurant. 

 

Posted by Sam Adeoye
November 20th, 4:00pm 0 comments

Tag Heuer Diamond + Alligator Skin Phone: Nigeria, Here's a Phone That's Not Common!

Tag_heuer_link_white
Tag Heuer watches, you know. Mobile phones, you know. But Tag Heuer mobile phones? Now, you know. The Link model of phones, which comes in five variants (you access to each depending on how much you are willing and able to cough out), display the heritage of the Swiss watchmaker as the home of luxury timepieces. And it combines this with the creativity and ease of use of the popular Android operating system.

Being a big shotcaller, you probably don't make a fuss about how heavy a punch your phone packs in the software department - as long as it looks and feels great. That's why this phone comes with the now dated Android 2.2 on a 3.5" touch screen, 5 megapixel camera, and a paltry 256MB of memory, though expandable. 

Tagheuerlinkphone-_titanium

But. Check out the range: Classic (Stainless steel with 3D carbon leather or Calfskin leather), Elegance (Stainless steel with black or brown alligator leather), Prestige Full Gold (Stainless steel with 24.6g of rose gold and brown or black alligator leather), Prestige Light Gold (Stainless steel with 6.8g of rose gold and brown or black alligator leather), and Exclusive (mother-of-pearl plate on the back, stainless steel, white lizard skin, 1007 diamonds totalling 2.53carats). 

Tag-heuer-link-phone-full-gold

Prices hover around N954,000 for the basic model. Exactly why this one's going to be timeless. 

**Dollar to Naira exchange rate: $1:N159.

Posted by Sam Adeoye
November 20th, 3:00pm 0 comments

Polaroid is Back! And It May Be What You Want for Christmas

Z340-page
 If you never used a Polaroid camera, at least there will be a few of those pictures in your parents' albums - square with an extended bottom part, image area now turning greenish with age.... Who needs a Polaroid camera when everything has gone digital with face recognition, touch screen, on camera editing, expandable memory, and so on? The answer is the same people who use those fancy, flat like paper point-and-shoot models. Why? Because, most times, to print the photos you've taken with the 21st century cameras, you still have to get yourself to a studio, even if all you need to print are just pictures from a night out with friends. 

Enter Polaroid. Again. 

The Z340 14-megapixel instant camera does not use ink. Rather, it uses ZINK (Zero Ink Printing Technology), which is a process by which the system heats up clear dye crystals that have been embedded in the printing paper, to reveal the images captured during exposure. 

Polaroid-z340

Because it's a mobile photo studio, the Z340 (retailing at N47,541 - excluding shipping)  is bulkier than most amateur cameras you're used to. But it has a comfy strap by which you can hold it. Like latest digital cameras, however, you can preview the images you're capturing on an LCD screen, correct redeye, and crop. It saves your images in a file, which you may choose to print later. You can also share the pictures with friends online.

That's where the similarities end. With the Z340, you can print your pictures immediately, up to 40 prints on a single charge (although Polaroid puts its own figure at a modest 25 prints per full charge). 

Although it's a fixed focus camera, there are 30 different scene modes, including Portrait, Snnset, and Backlight. Advanced camera users can use the white balance function while casual photographers can simply rely on the auto setting. 

The camera can hold 10 sheets of 3"x4" printing paper at once (and that's all it comes with. You can refill by buying more paper @ N3,180 for 30 sheets - excluding shipping). 

Zink-paper

 

**Dollar to Naira exchange rate: $1:N159.

Posted by Sam Adeoye
November 18th, 5:54pm 0 comments

Why George Clooney May Not Play Steve Jobs in the Coming Movie about Jobs' Life

George-clooney_1
The story has been making the rounds since the death of Apple's stylish forme CEO, Steve Jobs, on October 6. Sony is reported (by the Los Angeles Times) to be planning a film adaptaption of Walter-Isaacson-penned Jobs' biography and award winning writer of The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin is on the shortlist of screenwriters to bring it to the big screen.

But, while George Clooney, whose recent movie projects have not earned any major buzz among cinemagoers, has been nominated as a possible lead, there is a little challenge in his way. That challenge is named Noah Wyle, a former costar of Clooney's on the hugely popular ER. 

Noah_wyle

Wyle is not just a respectable thespian, he has also played Jobs once - to the latter's great appreciation. After appearing as the former Apple captain in the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley in 1999, Wyle later made a cameo as Jobs at the opening of Macword that same year. 

And one more thing... Wyle looks a lot like Jobs.

What do you think, who'll feel more at home in the black turtleneck?

Posted by Sam Adeoye
November 18th, 4:41pm 0 comments

RIM announces BlackBerry Bold 9790, Curve 9380 - hitting the market within weeks

Bb

On November 15 2011, Canadian mobile phone giant, Research in motion (RIM) announced the release of two new smartphones based on the BlackBerry OS 7 operating system - BlackBerry(R) Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380.

The new smartphones offer impressively slim and stylish designs with enhanced communications, multimedia, productivity and social connectivity features. The BlackBerry Bold 9790 is both powerful and compact, offering users a fully loaded, high performance smartphone with the dual benefits of a high resolution touch display and a highly tactile keyboard. (Picking up where the Bold 9780 left off). The QWERTY-equipped handset also comes with 8GB of onboard memory and features a microSD slot that offers up to 32GB of additional space.

The BlackBerry Curve 9380 is the first ever BlackBerry Curve with a touch display with a 3.2-inch, 480 X 360 display and a 5MP camera. It continues to deliver the powerful social experiences, ease-of-use and smaller handset size that distinguish the BlackBerry Curve family, while also offering Curve users the choice of a larger display and an all-touch design. Both Phones will come pre-loaded with BlackBerry Messenger, Documents To Go Premium, and BlackBerry Protect.

BlackBerry OS 7 also introduces an enhanced browser that provides a significantly faster, more fluid web browsing experience. The browser includes a new JIT (just in time) JavaScript compiler to improve the load time speed of web pages and it offers optimized HTML5 performance for incredible gaming and video experiences. The popular universal search capability has also been enhanced with support for voice-activated search, so users can simply speak to begin searching their device and the web for information.

The BlackBerry Bold 9790 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 smartphones will begin to be available from various carriers around the world over the coming weeks. Availability dates for specific devices from specific carriers will be announced in conjunction with RIM's partners

Posted