IOL Technology Mag - December 2020

IOL

TECHNOLOGY DECEMBER 2020

SA’S FREE MONTHLY TECH AND INNOVATIONS MAG

2020 a mobile year

CONTENTS 2020: The Year of the Internet

2020: The Year Of Mobile

Top 10 games in 2020

Top 10 Smart Gadgets in 2020

Editor’s note

Top 10 mobile apps in 2020

Year in Fintech CONTACT US PUBLISHER | Vasantha Angamuthu vasantha@africannewsagency.com TECH EDITOR | Faheem Khota faheem.khota@inl.co.za PRODUCTION | Renata Ford renata.ford@inl.co.za DESIGN | Dominique Owen dominique.owen@inl.co.za

How social media exploded

The Year that was

PC market sees biggest growth in years

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | Keshni Odayan keshni@africannewsagency.com SALES Charl Reineke | charl@ africannewsagency.com Kyle Villet | kyle.villet@ africannewsagency.com GENERAL ENQUIRIES | info@ anapublishing.com

THE tumultuous year 2020 got off to a promising start with a booming tech ecosystem alive with possibilities. We all know what came next. We saw traditional brick and mortar stores close their shutters and social media platforms take centre stage for millions of voices all over the world trying to stay in tune with family and friends around them.

The tech industry was placed under the magnifying glass almost as much as the scientific community, and geared up just as fast.

From Covid tracing apps to fintech companies jumping in to assist with debt burdens brought on by Covid, we saw it all.

Such is the resilience of the tech and innovations industry that it is constantly able to adapt, evolve and improvise based on the current climate it finds itself in.

We also witnessed events becoming almost entirely digital. In addition to saving companies so much money, it also meant larger audiences viewing product launches.

This year we have had the launch of the Ps5 and Xbox in gaming, mobile device launches and even

Durban July and Comic-con go virtual.

This year has certainly been a game-changer for many industries and the tech industry was no different. It served as a catalyst for products and companies to streamline and fast-forward their business into a digital future.

This month we will be covering the year that was, looking back at each division of the tech industry and how it was shaped by this year.

I have no doubt that we will see many more disrupted businesses and products coming to the fore in 2021 and you can be sure that we will be here to show them to you. You can read this year’s magazine here.

Enjoy.

Was 2020 the year of the internet?

2020

DUE to the Covid-19 lockdown, the internet went from being a tool to access social media to being a necessity. We have become increasingly dependent on the internet for various reasons, from keeping in touch with loved ones via video calls to posting about pets.

According to a Statista report, almost 4.57 billion people were active internet users as of July 2020. This encompasses 59 percent of the global population.

Furthermore, e-Conomy Africa 2020, a report released by Google and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), estimates that Africa’s internet economy has the potential to reach 5.2 percent of the continent’s GDP by 2025.

This will contribute nearly R2.8 trillion to its economy.

These statistics show that the internet is not just a tool.

This year, South Africans experienced not one but two undersea cable breaks. This had a detrimental effect on our connectivity.

There have also been several conspiracy theories around 5G, with many claiming that it was linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some of us also witnessed the death of ADSL and moved to fibre for faster and better connectivity.

The shift to the digital world means it is important we all keep up.

A few years ago, the Internet of Things, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and smart devices were terms that we thought only IT professionals used. But we are living in the digital era and it’s about time we embrace it!

Top 10

GAMES

GAMING has been the order of the day for the past couple of months as lockdowns and social distancing regulations around the world forced many inside their homes.

According to a Newzoo report published in September, mobile gaming yielded $68.5 billion last year and by this year, it is expected to reach $77.2bn (R1.2 trillion). The same report predicts that by the end of 2020, PC gaming will have a revenue share of 23%.

Furthermore, a study by SimonKucher shows that out of more than 13 000 respondents in 17 different countries, 39% say they increased their spending on video games during the pandemic. A total of 21% of gamers suggested they were likely to spend more in a “post-Covid-19” world.

Seeing as the gaming industry hit an all-time high and shows no signs of slowing down we list the top 10 games of 2020 in no particular order:

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS

Everyone knows at least one person who downloaded this on the down low and probably enjoyed it. It was a happy place to make virtual friends and build things. Available on Nintendo Switch and on Play Store.

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

Despite the word “final” in its name, Final Fantasy has returned with a FF VII remake and a much-loved one.

Available on the PlayStation 4.

AMONG US

Ah. Among Us is the game that spawned millions of memes and embedded itself into 2020’s gaming culture. Will you get your tasks done or kill as the imposter? Available on Google Play Store and Apple Store.

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA

Ghost of Tsushima is an actionadventure open world game where you play as samurai Jin Sakai. You

are to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongol invasion of Japan.

Available on PlayStation 4.

GENSHIN IMPACT

The latest gaming craze (and rightfully so) is Genshin Impact. This is an open world game, RPG style gacha game that has its players wanting more with every roll.

Genshin Impact is available on PS4 and can also be played on mobile.

THE LAST OF US PART 2

The Last of Us Part 1 was already impressive and then Naughty Dog decided to spoil us with a second part. This third-person action adventure game boasts a strong story and incredible combat styles. There are also honourable mentions:

ROBLOX CALL OF DUTY WARZONE ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS CARRION

2020

Top 10

MOBILE APPS

HERE are the 10 best apps you should consider downloading if you haven’t done yet:

PODCAST ADDICT

Podcast Addict is the number one Podcast app on Android with over 10M downloads, 500K reviews, 2 billion episodes downloaded and an average rating of 4.7/5. It allows you to manage Podcast, Radio, Audiobook, Live stream, YouTube, SoundCloud channels and RSS News feeds from a single app.

Available on Android

FABULOUS: DAILY MOTIVATION & HABIT TRACKER

This incredibly fun and interactive habit app that helps you improve your energy levels, fitness, sleep, and productivity. You will learn to build a transformative morning routine and even pick up lifechanging habits like meditation and yoga along the way. Available for both Android and iOS users.

CANVA

With this app, you can create stunning logos and poster designs with your photos and videos even if you are not a design expert. Canva is a free and intuitive graphic design app that can help you get your designs done in minutes. Available for both Android and iOS users.

CRUMBLYY/LIFE HACKS

This life tips app is a free and easy-to-use application that contains tons of life tips in different categories such as technology tricks, health and drinks, money savers and many more to help users broaden their knowledge.

Users can get notifications for daily hacks that can be upvoted to help out fellow app users, bookmarked to be saved for later or shared easily on social media. Available for Android users.

ENLIGHT PHOTOFOX

When it comes to photo editing apps the list is endless, but nothing compares with the artistic capabilities of Enlight Photofox.

This app goes beyond common editing features it offers users unique tools like superimposed imagery, photo mixing, layering, blending and more that appeal to your creative side.

ADDICTED – SCARY TEXTS STORIES

This app is an ultimate time killer and a perfect scary chat stories game that lets you read amazing scary chat stories for free without any pauses.

HOUSEPARTY

The app is a face-to-face social network where you can connect with the people you care about most. It makes connecting face to face effortless, alerting you when your friends are “in the house” and ready to chat so you can jump right into the conversation. Available for both Android and iOS users.

TIK TOK

The short-form video app is exciting, spontaneous, and genuine. Whether you are a sports fanatic, a pet enthusiast, or just looking for a laugh, there’s something for everyone on TikTok.

GOOGLE DUO

Is the highest quality one-to-one video calling app and it is simple, reliable, and also connects up to 32 people in a group call. Available for both Android and iOS users.

SHAZAM

With this app, you can easily identify any song playing around you, explore the music you love.

Discover song lyrics from your favourite artists on Shazam.

2020 The year of the MOBILE

MASABATA MKWANANZI

THE year 2020 has become the year of the mobile, despite the fact that the whole world had to make huge adjustments due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And still, we have some amazing smartphones to show.

In previous years, the smartphone market seemed to hit a slump.

This was the year of innovations as we saw some really great smartphones being produced from the regular heavyweights of smartphones.

Apple, Samsung and Huawei really brought their A-game this year.

Some of the innovations got smartphone users excited, such as foldable phones, 5G network, long battery life, fast charging, integrated fingerprint scanning,

more storage space and multiple rear cameras, just to mention a few.

Remember when touch screens were introduced? Now we get to relive that moment as we begin to see foldable smartphones which are of a high quality.

Smartphone manufacturers began to redefine and unveil new types of smartphones. And Sumsang came in full force and introduced the Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G and Galaxy Z Flip. Both of these phones really brought some excitement back. The Galaxy Z Fold 2 has six cameras and the phone ships with Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ SoC paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB storage.

In the section of foldable smartphones, we got to see: ◆◆ Microsoft Surface Duo

◆◆ Moto Razr 2019 ◆◆ Huawei Mate X ◆◆ Huawei Mate Xs ◆◆ Royole Flexpai ◆◆ Xiaomi Dual Flex or MIX Flex ◆◆ LG Wing ◆◆ TCL Trifold

The fifth generation of cellular mobile communications saw internet speeds soar to new heights with Sumsang, Huawei, Apple, Google Pixel, LG Wing, and OnePlus releasing devices with 5G capabilities – 5G performance targets high data rate, reduced latency, energy saving, cost reduction and higher system capacity and connectivity.

While we saw some new technologies in smartphone releases from 2020 being helpful, we definitely can not wait to see how smartphones will look like 10 years from now.

2020 Top 10

GADGETS

REMEMBER the world where people never had to rely on the use of technology to get their day-to-day lives going? Well, that world seems like it never existed as life currently revolves around various gadgets.

These devices have improved productivity by guiding human intelligence through different processes and while saving money.

Covid19 has fuelled the use of digital devices.

Let’s take a look at some amazing gadgets that have surfaced in 2020.

IPHONE 12 AND 12 PRO MAGSAFE CHARGER

The MagSafe Charger makes wireless charging a snap. The perfectly aligned magnets attach to your iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro and provide faster wireless charging up to 15W. The MagSafe Charger maintains compatibility with Qi charging, so it can be used to wirelessly charge your iPhone 8 or later, as well as AirPods models with a wireless charging case, as you

would with any Qi-certified charger.

GOOGLE’S PIXEL BUDS

Last year Google had our favourite smartphones, and this year it came out swinging with its own take on wireless buds. The Pixel Buds are easily the most comfortable earbuds.

They’ll seamlessly switch from music to video calls, and work pretty well to drown out background noise.

OSMO POCKET

A fully functional, stabilised 4K camera. The Osmo Pocket fits, yes, right into your pocket and packs a wallop more powerful than some film crews. With the 4K-capable capture and its head mounted on a stabilising gimbal, you get clean, completely unshaky shots.

SAMSUNG WIRELESS CHARGING PAD

Using Qi Inductive Charging Technology, this charging unit cuts cables and charges your phone on contact. It’s compatible with

Qi-equipped devices, including the Samsung Galaxy range. The Wireless Charging Pad leaves your device visible and accessible so you can still use it while it charges.

HOMEDICS UV-CLEAN PHONE SANITIZER

The HoMedics UV-Clean Phone Sanitizer is a pouch that can hold your phone, even a large one like the Galaxy Note20 or iPhone 11 Pro Max. Once you zip it up and press a button, it uses ultraviolet light to kill up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses.

RASPBERRY PI 400 WITH COMPACT KEYBOARD

A compact keyboard with an ARMbased computer built in. Just plug it into a TV or monitor using one of its two micro HDMI ports, insert a micro SD card, attach a power cord and mouse, and you’ve got yourself a computer for day-to-day tasks.

NO-TOUCH FOREHEAD THERMOMETER BY IHEALTH

Health Thermometer PT3 is an infrared forehead thermometer that gives you 1-second testing to know the current body temperature. Safe and hygienic. No-touch design, noninvasive measurement.

The year in FINTECH ALTHOUGH 2020 has left many businesses with financial constraints, it has also seen a major spike in the financial tech space with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating the usage of the digital space.

Many newly emerging and old tech innovations are being used to their full potential as the world is forced to press the master reset button in different facets of life while still getting the corporate space operating.

The booming trend of cryptocurrency saw the combined value of all Ethereum coins in circulation spike at $53.8 billion (R824bn) in September, a 102%

jump in three months, while the BitInfoCharts data revealed the number of Ethereum transactions jumped significantly since the beginning of the year.

In the first quarter of 2020, the number of average daily transactions amounted to 537 900. After a slight drop to 463 100 in March, transactions continued rising in the following months.

Tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon and Zoom have played a vital role in keeping the world afloat as businesses and individuals were relying on these platforms to stay in touch with everything going on around the

globe.

It has been reported that Zoom profits doubled as revenues skyrocketed. Profits soared to $186m, while customer growth rose by 458%, compared with the same period in 2019.

Video conferencing apps remain a focal point due to the increase in remote working.

Zoom’s shares hit a record high in recent months at $325.10, as the firm raised its annual revenue forecast by more than 30% to the range of $2.37bn-$2.39bn, from its previous projection of $1.78bn-$1.80bn.

This is according to a BBC report.

The year that was t e us apar r o t it 0 2 0 r In 2 s togethe u d e ll u p and

How social media

D E D O L P X E

THIS year was a game-changer for all social media platforms. Many lambasted it for the volume of misinformation spread, while millions flocked to platforms to make their voices heard. Here are some of the key learnings: Covid-19 changed the way we do social media. Pre-Covid, social media was used as a way of keeping track of mostly friends, family and sports. Now social media has become an invaluable tool to keep track of news. The video calling functionality of various platforms had become the front line of usage on these apps.

We saw the houseparty app, which allowed video calling of up to eight participants (before Whatsapp implemented this) blast to 50 million new sign-ups in a

month. We would also be remiss if we didn’t mention TikTok and the hours we spent watching people do the Jerusalema challenge and so much more.

The age of misinformation truly arrived. This year has been a whirlwind of heated topics that generated a lot of fake news. Twitter banned more than 70 million accounts for spreading misinformation and made headlines by labelling tweets that contained disputed information. Twitter has an internal team that fact-checks tweets by political and social figures while Facebook outsources this to third party companies. This caused major problems for Facebook in 2020 where big brands pulled ad spend from the platform due to lack of enforcement with political advertising.

Twitter hacks exploded. In the great Twitter hack of 2020, the accounts of former US president Barack Obama, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and US presidential candidate and former vice-president Joe Biden fell victim to a massive hack. This hack was monumental in changing the way social media accounts view security and two-factor authentication has now become a norm.

Social media has always been a valuable tool for social awareness, but this year has taken it a step further. We saw people across the world come together to support each other through the pandemic and continue to do so. And we saw how social media platforms can be used in protest action like Black Lives Matter.

A decade ago, 4G was the hot new thing, TVs were still huge and cellphones slid or flipped open.

Just imagine what the next 10 years will bring. If we really live up to our innovation potential, it could mean the end of mobile phones altogether and maybe telepathic communication with chips embedded in our skulls?

Scary thought, sure.

What has been fascinating to see in the past year is massive corporations trying to boost themselves through the pandemic and stay on schedule to bring us the latest gadgets to fawn over.

In our previous magazines, we have unpacked everything from the latest artificial intelligence and tried to predict the future of mobile, but we are still astounded by how much has changed in the few months since those magazines were published.

Gadgets aside, we are also seeing a major drive towards growing start-ups worldwide. Large corporates like Amazon, Google and many others are investing heavily in start-ups and, more importantly, in their people.With this comes a new generation of thinkers and tinkerers that will usher in a new wave of products and inventions that will drive the next decade, This year also heard the talk of a “gig economy” growing louder, where a great discussion is happening around the need for employees to be 9-to-5ers as they always have been. Covid-19 has taught us that we can work from home, but the gig economy tells us it doesn’t have to be for one company. Between the gig economy and the spotlight on start-ups, there has never been a better time to be creating, innovating and enhancing skill sets.

If this year has taught us one thing, it’s that the next decade will be fraught with fast-paced change.

As people interested or involved in tech, we get a front-row seat.

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PC market sees biggest growth in 10 years

THE PC market has experienced its highest growth in a decade.

Globally, the market grew by 13% in the third quarter of this year compared with the previous year, with 79.2 million units sold, says analyst firm Canalys.

Notebook shipments reached 64 million units as many were forced to work from home amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Laptop and cellphone shipments grew by 28.3%, but desktops saw a 26% decline.

Lenovo came out on top with 11.4% growth and shipments of more than 19 million in the third quarter.

HP grew by 11.9% and shifted 18.7 million units, Dell saw a 0.5% drop in shipments, while Apple and

Acer grew by 13.2% and 15%, respectively.

Canalys analyst Ishan Dutt said: “Vendors, the supply chain, and the channel have now had time to find their feet and allocate resources towards supplying notebooks, which continue to see massive demand from both businesses and consumers.”

The firm’s research director Rushabh Doshi added: “The lasting effects of this pandemic on the way people work, learn and collaborate will create significant opportunities for PC vendors in the coming years.

“Although the focus has been on commercial PC demand in the last two quarters, consumer spending during the holiday season is set to bring more joy to the PC market.”

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