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Meet The Team
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HEART BEAT 1.
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uawei Mate RS Porsche Design As Huawei is wont to do, alongside the beautiful overkill of the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, the company unveiled the latest in its collaboration with Porsche Design, the Mate RS. The phone, which costs starts at $2000 depending on the storage size, is basically a smaller, squatter P20 Pro with a few niceties that somewhat (ok, maybe not) justify its higher price tag: an in-display fingerprint sensor like the one we saw from Vivo and Synaptics at CES (along with a rear fingerprint sensor for good measure) and between 256GB and 512GB of internal storage.
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There's also wireless charging on board, which is why the phone, at 8.5mm thick and 183 grams, is slightly thicker and heavier than the P20 Pro. That means the tri-camera setup is included on the back, including the whopping 40MP main sensor, and the bewildering 24MP sensor on the front.
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neplus 6
The OnePlus 6 is now available, and it's a compelling option for someone looking for a premuim android phone at a reasonable price — starting at $529 to be specific. But price aside, it's a great choice for anyone, even those considering more expensive options, thanks to a combination of hardware and software, and a community that continues to support the company and one another.
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Heart Beat
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y Livia
MyLivia Instant Period Cramps Relief Drug-Free Solution For Menstrual Cycle Pain - Revolutionary Electric Abdominal Treatment - Get Rid Of Menses Aches Little Ally To Fight Menstruation Cramps. Works (fast) to stop acute menstrual pain and cramps during flow. Relieves cramps, bloating, fatigue, backache, and headache! Natural Cycle Relief combines powerful & essential solution. Pills, lotions, and drops not needed. Say goodbye to that menstruation cup and massagers! Using two electrodes that transmit electric pulses to your lower abdominal area, Livia blocks the cramps. It's simple and has no side effects for $191.
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orwardX Ovis
The world's first vision-powered Side-Follow carry-on that follows you by side autonomously, enabling a true hands-free & worry-free travel. One of Ovis’ most impressive pieces of technology is its capability to understand what it sees. Through a series of complex algorithms we have created an AI with the ability to not only “see” as we do, but comprehend what it is seeing. What's more, Ovis' side follow technology is far more advanced then following from behind because of the requirement of prediction algorithms. With these state of the art algorithms, Ovis is able to easily stay by your side at all times so you don’t have to be constantly looking over your shoulder just to see your luggage. The obstacle avoidance algorithm of Ovis is based on self-driving technology; Ovis is able to accurately sense and assess the environment, calculate the distance, and estimate the direction and route to avoid potential obstacles, with a deviation precision of +/- 1cm.
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Heart Beat
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HILL Model Ci
The Model Ci is a category-defining product, one that uniquely combines a sleek, fashionable design with advanced driving features such as a joystick for precise maneuverability inside and patented front omni-wheels with two powerful motors to glide through rough undulating city streets as well as off-road terrain through without hesitation. Model Ci also disassembles into three components so that it can be transported easily. WHILL built the Model Ci Personal EV for those who are active, social and crave adventure. There is even an iPhone app that allows you to control the WHILL. The battery has a 12-15 mile range of life before recharging is needed.
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macircle S1
Smacircle S1, the world’s most compact and lightweight ebike. Weighing only 15.4 lbs, carbon fiber S1 can be folded in five simple steps into a small backpack and carried wherever and whenever. Feature rich with iOS and Android apps, Smacircle S1 is ideal for the connected commuter. The iOS and Android apps allow you to lock and unlock the S1, monitor battery usage, adjust the speed and change preferences. An integrated USB charger means your devices never run out of battery. The multi-functional Smacircle Trolley Bag perfect for your 1-3 day trips. Easily put your travel accessories and Smacircle S1 in the backpack. Simply pull it to save energy.
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Heart Beat
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kully Fenix-AR
The “new” Skully Fenix AR helmets feature pretty much all the tech from the original version, including the centerpiece 180-degree rear-view camera, a small full-time HUD display under the right eye, and the typical spread of expected smart helmet conveniences: music playback, phone ops, navigation and so on. The difference now is that the helmet works more closely with your smartphone (and a dedicated app) for some of the computing power, while things like the rear camera and HUD will still work by themselves if you feel like leaving the handset at home. The system will run for four hours on a charge and the helmet recharges using micro-USB, so refilling the battery with a portable charger on the fly is a simple solution for longer rides.
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uawei Matebook X Pro Huawei’s new MateBook X Pro is an exception. Even though the MateBook X Pro has a deep bench of specs and an eye-catching design, Huawei is not exactly an established brand in the laptop world. Prior Huawei laptops weren’t great, either: they had poor battery life, not enough power, bad design, frustrating trackpads, and were generally not worth considering. Fortunately, the MateBook X Pro has completely and thoroughly exceeded my expectations. While it is not a perfect laptop and it has a couple of faults that will stop some from considering it, it is still the best laptop I’ve used all year. That makes it my new recommendation as the productivity and entertainment laptop to buy right now.
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issan Leaf
Nissan Leaf The Japanese automaker confidently hailed this new Leaf as the world’s most advanced mass market electric vehicle and, since its September launch, media outlets have followed suit with rave reviews and generous awards (2018 World Green Car, Best Electric Car‌ you name it). New generation driving assistance systems such as Propilot and the e-Pedal got all the attention. Global sales to core markets started in January after an early opening in Japan and total orders have since surpassed 40,000 units with strong sales in all continents. But beyond the hype and good start, is the new Leaf living up to expectations?
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illow Pump
As a new mother, nobody tells you that you'll spend hours of your life sitting on the sofa with a noisy suction monster. No, not your baby -- your breast pump. The Willow wearable breast pump is bringing a much-needed technological twist to one of the last bugbears of parenting, making it easy to express breast milk while keeping your hands free. A plastic teardrop-shaped device that looks more like a Bluetooth speaker, the Willow sits inside the mother's nursing bra, detecting when she starts to express and adjusting the pump mode accordingly. The milk is pumped into a nifty doughnut-shaped bag inside the unit, and a one-way valve keeps it in without leaking.
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TechDrum Heart Beat Of Technology..
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FITNESS GEAR Women Ultimate Workout Gear
Apple Watch Nike+ Apple Watch Nike+ comes with light, breathable bands and new Apple Watch Series 3 features, including built-in cellular and Audio Guided Runs.
Freya Active's Force Bra Freya Active's Force crop top soft cup sports bra offers great shape and support with no wires tried and tested to be worn for all levels of support.
Nike Women's Pro Tights The Women's Nike Pro Tights in the Black Colourway deliver the sweat-wicking power of Dri-FIT technology in body-hugging silhouette. Mesh panels on the lower back legs offer additional ventilation so you can stay cool throughout your workout.
Jaybird Forward X3 Jaybird X3 bluetooth headphones deliver premium sound and rugged durability, making them perfect for outdoor training. Offers 8 hour play time, Secure + Comfort-Fit Sweat-proof and water resistant & Music + Calls. 11
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Bellabeat Spring Hydration Tracker Are you drinking enough water? No more wondering. No more headaches caused by dehydration. Spring tracks your daily hydration and sends you regular reminders to help you establish a healthy hydration habit. It calculates the optimal amount of water for your body based on your activity level, age, height, weight, local weather and if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
New Balance 860v8 Lace up the new 860v8 for women and you get responsive cushioning and reliable support when you hit the road for your run. Sneaker features TruFuse midsole that delivers sustained cushioning, while a dual-density post helps ensure stability mile after mile, so you can go the distance.
Bellabeat Leaf & Urban Bellabeat is a wellness-oriented outfit dedicated to creating attractive connected wearables for women. This smart piece of jewellery is designed to track your health. Wear it as a necklace or bracelet while you workout, too.
Nike Aura Solid Club Training Bag Sometimes, you just want a classic, no-frills bag to tote all your workout gear to and from the gym. The sturdy Nike Aura Club bag is a must, because you can easily throw the bag over your shoulder or carry it by the handles.
Smart Watch
HUBLOT BIG BANG REFEREE The Big Bang Referee 2018 World Cup Russia, a US$5,200 Wear OS smartwatch. With Hublot as the official timekeeper for the tournament, it comes as no surprise that this is the smartwatch they developed. There will only be 2,018 units of these made and some will be given to the referees for use during matches. It’s connected to what’s called “goal-line technology,” which is described as “an electronic video assistance system for refereeing which follows all the trajectories of the ball and determines for certain if the ball did or did not entirely cross the goal line.” Aside from this, the Big Bang Referee will notify you if a match is about to start (15 minutes before, to be exact) as well as player changes, whenever goals are made, and red/yellow cards. During games, the Big Bang Referee will also have a special watch face that displays things like the current score, player substitutions, number of cards/goals, and the match time.
MONDAINE HELVETICA SMART Mondaine is taking its hybrid smartwatch game seriously, as it unveiled the Helvetica Regular Smartwatch at Baselworld 2018. With a two-year battery life and a tonne of extra smarts, the company has come a long way since the original Helvetica 1 Smartwatch was launched back in 2015. Mondaine has teamed back up with MMT to handle the smart stuff on the Helvetica Regular, courtesy of its 281 connected movement. The Swiss X Silicon Valley company is the smart brains behind the Frederique Constant Horological Smartwatch and Alpina AlpinerX. The new Helvetica Smartwatch feeds into the same app for fitness tracking, sleep monitoring, and now, notifications. TD June 2018|
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Smart Watch
TAG HEUER CONNECTED MODULAR 45 Considered by many as the first genuine smartwatch to come from a Swiss luxury watch brand, the TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 watch gives the wearer the ability to choose from over 4,000 design options. The TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45 watch allows you to customise almost every element of the watch including the dial, lugs, buckle, case material, bezel and strap as well as boasting features like GPS functionality, workout tracking and NFC payment ability. Measuring to a comfortable 45mm in size, this TAG Heuer smartwatch is crafted from grade 5 titanium with a sandblasted satin finish and is fastened to the wrist by a black rubber strap and deployment clasp. The sapphire crystal touch screen is powered by Google’s Android Wear 2.0 operating system which means that it is still possible to use the watch’s features when it’s not connected to a smartphone.
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MICHAEL KORS ACCESS GRAYSON There's no denying that the Grayson wants to stand out, and fans of a more "dressy" or bigger watches will probably find it a better fit than those who like to keep their wrist wear understated. One of the most immediately noticeable improvements is that the flat tyre, a blemish on last year's designs, is gone, with a nice 1.39-inch, 454 x 454 pixel AMOLED display. There's often criticism for smartwatches lacking a heart rate monitor or GPS, but unless you're someone who runs with their expensive stainless steel watch on the regular, we don't see it as a problem.
Smart Watch
PEBBLE TIME SMARTWATCH While several companies are trying to create a breakthrough in the smartwatch market, Pebble is keeping things nice and simple for people who prefer simplicity over anything else. I say hello to the Pebble Time Smartwatch, a very simple, and probably amongst the cheapest smartwatches in this list. The Pebble Time Smartwatch has an always-on reflective colour display that looks good enough, but is on the dimmer side when you are looking at it under direct sunlight. It also comes with water resistance, allowing you to wear the watch even in the showers or in the rain. The watch also has onboard storage that can hold slew of your favourite apps that are compatible with the watch’s OS.
SAMSUNG GEAR S3 For years Samsung’s Gear series of smartwatches have been dominating the market for all the right reasons. This is what happens when you take clever marketing and amazing products in order to combine them together. Starting off, the build quality is extremely pleasing, with premium quality materials used throughout the construction. The watch definitely feels like a fashion statement as much as it feels like a premium smartwatch. Unlike some of the other smartwatches in the market, the Gear S3 does not run on Android Wear, instead, it runs on Samsung’s own OS called Tizen.
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Smart Watch
MOBVOI TICWATCH S Ticwatch S (Sport) empower your active lifestyle with the convenience of Google Assistant, fitness apps like Google Fit, and the powerful Google app ecosystem. Google Play brings you your favorite apps onto your wrist that enable sleep monitoring, music detection, multi-language support, and much more.
CASIO PRO TREK SMART WSD-F20 This isn’t a smartwatch for everyone, but if you’re outdoor-inclined then it might just be the best choice for you. Casio’s second Android Wear smartwatch is a serious piece of kit that’s been tested against the MIL-STD-810G standard, so you know it’s capable of withstanding some serious wear and tear. It’s also water-resistant to 50m. It has all the sensors you might want if you’re an avid runner, but it goes so much further. If you’re a hiker, you’ll love the altimeter, air pressure read-outs, the clock showing the sunrise and sunset times, compass and the indicator of the day’s tide levels. You can also download map data for use offline, meaning if you’re the Bear Grylls type then you’ll be well prepared.
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Smart Home
Live a smart life
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ANOVA PRECISION COOKER
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Add smartness to your home with a SmartThings Hub that wirelessly connects hundreds of compatible smart devices including lights, speakers, locks, thermostats, sensors, and more, allowing them all to work together. $149
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NETGEAR ARLO Q Stay close to home, no matter where you are See, hear, and protect what you love with Arlo Q's 1080p HD video and built-in 2-way audio. Live streaming and optional 24/7 continuous cloud recording make sure that no precious moment will ever be missed. $200
ECOBEE 4
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Ecobee4 is more than a smart thermostat. It's room sensor to help manage hot or cold spots, comes with built-in Amazon Alexa Voice Service. With Alexa, fulfill everyday tasks with a simple command. $249
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SAMSUNG SMARTTHINGS With SmartThings hub functionality, Connect Home allows you to connect hundreds of compatible cameras, lights, voice assistants, and more to control you home from your phone, tablet, or voice. Optimize your Wi-Fi signal anywhere in your home. Start with a single unit, or add additional Connect home units to create a mesh network. $174
Set Up a Smart Home ROBOT ROOMBA 980 The Roomba 980 robot vacuum gives you cleaner floors, throughout your entire home, all at the push of a button. Roomba 980 seamlessly navigates an entire level of your home, keeping track of its location and recharging as needed until the job is done. $800
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APPLE HOMEPOD 3 The HomePod is Apple's first foray into the speaker market. With Apple's Siri voice assistant built in, the device is Apple's response to the Amazon Echo and Google Home and it's made only for iPhone and iPad users. If you use an Android phone, this isn't for you. While the audio performance is superior to that of its rivals, Siri isn't as smart as Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa. $350
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Feature
Is your phone spying on you? Creepy apps that can track your every move.
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here have been some rumblings recently about smartphone apps using your phone's microphone to collect data on your TV- and movie-watching choices. The New York Times wrote about software from a company called Alphonso that collects data to sell to advertisers. The apps in question are mostly games. They seem harmless, but if you grant permission for those apps to use your phone's microphone, they can listen to your life through the phone—even when the app isn't being used. The Alphonso software can hear audio tones embedded in our video content to identify what we are watching. According to the article, Alphonso's spokesman says they don't record speech, but I'm guessing most of us do not want our privacy invaded by games like Real Bowling Strike 10 Pin. So what can you do to protect yourself? Pay attention to what happens when you install a new app. When you install apps from the Google Play store and iTunes App store, they will ask you if you'd like to grant permission for the app to use
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your phone's microphone. iOS apps will ask you during installation, while Android apps should ask the first time they launch. CHECK YOUR SETTINGS To know which apps are using your microphone; open your settings on your iOS device, tap on Privacy, from the options tap on the Microphone - this shows you a list of app with permission to your miscrophone and disable accordingly. On Android 6 and newer, open Settings, tap on Apps. from the list of apps, open any of the app that looks suspicious, view the app's Permissions line to see what permissions you've given it. You can also get to each app's permissions by pressing and holding on the app's icon and then choosing App Info from the pop-up menu. I'll admit I was a bit surprised at the list on my iPhone. I have six apps on my phone that use the microphone. The only app that surprised me was Instagram. I forgot I gave
Instagram permission to use the microphone when it added the ability to record video clips with audio. If you see an app using your microphone, and you are not sure why, touch the slider to turn off the app's microphone access. If you decide to turn it on again, you can do so by going back to the same spot.
Start Up
5 Online Businesses You Can Start with
N100k By line: Adewale Ojo
With the internet came opportunities to launch different types of business. Most popular in Nigeria is e-commerce which takes the popular buying and selling of goods and services online. Over the years, the cost of going online has continued to drop with quality smartphones now under $100 and cost of 1GB of data at approximately $2.50. According to a report published by Jumia, the number of Nigeria's mobile subscribers has reached 150 million, and the number of its internet users has climbed to 97.2 million at penetration rates of 81% and 53%, respectively. No doubt this presents a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to launch an online businesses. With startup capital often the biggest hindrance, here are 5 online businesses you can start with as little as N100,000 ($250): 1. Voice [Over] Artist & Podcaster Audio content is increasingly becoming popular in a world where we are almost always on the move whether its commuting in a car or having that early morning run, the radio, a playlist, or even podcast is often playing in the background. Another industry on the rise is that of the voice [over] artist. Voice overs are needed in animations, radio jingles, and even audio drama, and so if you’ve got a great voice, here’s what you can do: With N20k you can acquire a voice recording kit comprising of a microphone, stand, and filter. With another N10k you can get a sound mixing software such as WavePad Sound Editor. Starting a podcast? You should look to have a presence on Soundcloud and Apple Podcast. These can also double as a portfolio should you look at going down the Voice Artist route. 2. Sell Photos Online Photos are the most popular type of content on the internet today with over 90 million photos posted on Instagram on a daily basis. Stock photos are also in high demand with businesses always on the lookout for quality photos to use for marketing and promotions. One of such service, Unsplash, sees an average of 28 million downloads per month. And so with N100k you can harm yourself with a digital camera to
capture photos to sell online. You can look at having a presence on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest and then post your photos to Stock listing sites such as Unsplash and Shutterstock. You can also look at selling directly to businesses, media and news agencies in need of locally themed stock photos. 3. Online Tutor Have you ever gone to YouTube to find videos on “how to..” - fill in the blank? People go online for many reasons including learning. In fact according to a Nigeria Mobile Trend Report by Twinepine, 48% of the people surveyed indicated that they use mLearning apps. This is a strong indicator that many people are looking to the internet for education and this presents an opportunity to launch a business in the Edtech space. With less than N100k, you can acquire a camera and teaching aids to record videos on subjects and topics that are always in demand for example the Mathematics syllabus for WAEC, NECO, and JAMB. You can use the videos to generate leads for clients looking for 1-on-1 tutoring and willing to pay a premium for it. This doesn’t have to be face-to-face as you can leverage on video calls or even Whatsapp to deliver such a service..
4. Social Media Consultant While large businesses can easily afford to hire a full-time employee and sometimes create a department to manage their online presences especially on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, smaller businesses like startups and SMBs frequently have to manage their own marketing for social media. However, with a lot of other priorities, social media quickly takes the back seat especially where it’s a one-man business. Well, with less than N100k, you can become a consultant helping small business owners with social media management. You can get a Buffer Pro plan for N65k per annum which allows you manage up to 8 Social accounts and schedule up to 100 posts. 5. Virtual Assistant Other than social media management, business owners are often on the lookout for help with administrative tasks such as bookkeeping, inventory management, and even errands such as paying bills, laundry, grocery shopping, and bank runs. You can launch a site for as low as N5k, to work directly with customers who can contact you via Whatsapp or SMS. To build a reputation for quality service. I’d recommend collecting reviews and ratings on services like Trustpilot and Facebook pages as this helps in retaining and acquiring new customers. How do you make money? You can set your rates based on number of factors including weight, distance, and time-spent completing the set tasks. There you have it, 5 online businesses you can start with less than N100k. Got any thoughts on these or know of any other businesses you can start on such a low capital?
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Start Up
Spotlighting The Tech in AgriTech TechDrum (TD): Can you briefly tell us about yourself and your technology experience Jimoh Maiyegun (JM): My name is: Jimoh Maiyegun. I am an experienced ICT expert with well over 10 years experience in Software Engineering, robust internet network implementation, ICT consulting and project management -- and so I bring all of this experience to my role as the CTO at Farmcrowdy.
Nigeria is a trading nation and so with the advent of the internet, there was little surprise that ecommerce took the top spot for startup category with players like Jumia, Konga, Supermart, and Traclist. After a short while the friction of payments set in, giving way to FinTech startups to become king with players like Interswitch, Paystack, and Flutterwave. However, there seem to be a new kid on the block stemming from our nation’s past and future - an intersection between Agriculture and Technology. Enter AgriTech with players such as Farmcrowdy setting the trend, and getting the well deserved accolades. We caught up with the man who spends all of his time thinking about the tech in Agritech, the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Farmcrowdy:
TD: How does Farmcrowdy currently or plan to leverage technology with its employees, farmers, sponsors, and partners JM: At Farmcrowdy, just as it is meant to be, we believe technology is meant to be used to ease processes however simple or complex they may be, it is just proper to incorporate a bit of technology into you processes to make things seamless and helps for more accountability generally. With employees, other than the regular effective instant messaging apps and email, we don’t go overboard with Technology. As regards farmers, we are in the process of building a mobile application for our Technical Field Specialists (TFS) to use in managing farmers as regards farm inputs, payment of farmers and the likes. The plan is to make them more financially inclusive, as most of them are unbanked. In paying them after the farm cycle, we have struck partnerships with industry leaders to introduce agent banking, USSD transactions via Mobile Wallets. For Farm sponsors, we have built a robust platform that enable registration as well as subscribe to farm updates. There is also a mobile
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application - Android and iOS - where the farm is literarily put in the hands of the sponsor or follower for ever so easy access to all the information they may need about farms they have sponsored or followed or the ones the intend to sponsor or follow. Finally, for our logistics partners, we are building a mobile application for our Technical Field Specialists (TFS), this would help manage an inventory of farm input and everything related to each farm. We do not participate in the supply chain for the farms as those have been outsourced to industry leaders.. TD: What way do you lean when it comes to consuming technology software, hardware, systems, and apps - local or foreign tech JM: Hmm…. Hardware definitely is foreign, for obvious reasons. As for software, we have fantastic software developers here in Nigeria and some of them are here in Farmcrowdy. Although there are some software that we need to rely on proven worldwide acceptance to use them for optimum efficiency, we use these in Finance, CRM and the Digital Marketing departments.
TD: And when it comes to buy vs build - how to you strike the balance JM: That’s simple. We apply the logic of, if it is critical and affordable, we buy. While if it is critical and not affordable, we build. TD: What’s your view on local technology ecosystem -- opportunities and challenges JM: As I said before, we have fantastic Software Developers, and let me add “and Technology Experts” in the country despite the really harsh government policies which stifle the growth of Technology Solutions
Providers here in Nigeria. If we have favourable policies in place we would go a long way in solving real-life problems using available technology - systems and software TD: Finally, what’s the future for you and approach to further leveraging on technology JM: While we play in the agricultural space, we do see ourselves as technology company and so we’d continue to follow the worldwide advancements in the space very closely and look to bring these home to meet local needs in a smart and efficient way.
Start Up
5 Entrepreneurs Not Settling for
Little Problems Kessiena Majemite
With the maturing of the Nigerian technology ecosystem as come a calibre of entrepreneurs that the piece looks to celebrate. While entrepreneurship is about solving problems, these ones have not settled to solve the little problems but big ones; big is relative -- including market or size of opportunity to impact of the service or product offered. Long gone are the days… or at least we can put in our rear-view mirror, when entrepreneurship in Nigeria started and ended with setting up an online store. Here are 5 entrepreneurs who are going in big:
Tayo Oviosu Startup name - Paga Date founded - 2009 Funding raised so far - $13Mn in 3 rounds. Problem statement - Paga is a financial institution that allows to send money, pay bills and receive payments easily from your mobile. Interesting facts - Tayo is an avid Chelsea fan who not only goes on twitter storms on game days but also travels to London for live games. He’s an angel investor and is also married to an entrepreneur.
Chijioke Dozie
Temi Giwa-Tubosun Startup name - Lifebank Date founded - 2015 Funding raised so far - $225k in 2 rounds. Problem statement - LifeBank is a platform that makes blood and other medical resources available when and where it is needed in Nigeria to save lives. Interesting fact - Temi is a Nigerian-American but returned home after living the US for 11 years. Her work at Lifebank was reference by Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his visit to Nigeria. She’s shared power lists with the likes of Funmi Iyanda and Obiageli Ezekwesili.
Startup name - Paylater Date founded - 2012 Funding raised so far - $10.8Mn in 3 rounds. Problem statement - Paylater is a mission driven consumer lender with a goal of serving both the unbanked and underbanked through customer-centric products. Interesting fact - Chijioke is a twin and has ventured into a number of other businesses with his brother, Ngozi. Although now focussed on tech, he has ventured into non-techy businesses including the popular Lagos-based coffee chain, Cafe Neo.
Seun Onigbinde
Evans Akanno Startup name - Cregital Date founded - 2015 Funding raised so far - No funding round. Problem statement - Cregital is a digital design and development agency with a mission to collaborate with brands in order to increase their value and impact through digital experiences. Interesting fact - Evans was only a freelancer in 2010 and now serves clients like MultiChoice, Social Media Week, Zenith Bank, and Google. He advocates and practices youth development, cultural diversity, good food at the workplace.
Startup name - Budgit Date founded - 2011 Funding raised so far - $2.9Mn in 3 rounds. Problem statement - BudgIT is a civic organization that applies technology to intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement. Interesting fact - Seun is also an avid Chelsea fan who has taken a trip to Stamford Bridge. His career started in banking, first as a NYSC corper at Access Bank and then First Bank. BudgIT played a pivotal role in the #OccupyNigeria movement by educating the masses on key pieces of information in easy-to-understand formats.
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Start Up
10 Coworking spaces in Lagos and Abuja
Many factors fuel the growth of any technology ecosystem. These include funding, research and development, and government policies. However, the melting pot where this all come together is the coworking space which sometime double as incubators and often times than none, accelerators.
Here is a list of coworking space in Lagos and Abuja to check out:
1. Co-Creation Hub https://cchubnigeria.com/
Described as an innovation centre, the CcHub is dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity. Area of focus for the space include smart infrastructure, health and well-being, education, digital security, financial technology and governance. Since 2011, the CcHub in partnership with Omidyar Foundation, Google, The Inido Trust, and others has birthed startups such as BudgIT, Genii Games, Traclist, Efiko, Jakalo, Autobox, Wecyclers, to mention a few, out of it’s base in Yaba. It also launched re:learn an edtech space in Abuja.
3. Venia Hub
http://veniabusinesshub.com/
Also established in 2011, Venia noticed how entrepreneurs struggled to get an ideal workspace that will not break the bank and so the space launched to provide three simple yet essential things - Power, Internet and Ambience -- all of which appealed to startups, corporates, multinationals, and SMEs. Based in Lekki, Lagos, Venia provides customers and community members with coworking space, virtual offices, training rooms, serviced offices, and meeting rooms. The space also boasts of having over 5,000 businesses within its network and have given business platforms to hundreds of entrepreneurs.
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https://www.workstationng.com/
Looking for a variety of strategically designed private offices and aesthetic common spaces? Then, look no further than the Workstation coworking space in Lagos. Community sits at the heart of this space as the space hops to brings productive people together. With a mission to drive innovation throughout Africa by providing entrepreneurs, creatives, start-ups and small businesses with dynamic, curated work-spaces designed to cultivate creativity, the Workstation is no doubt one place to check out.
4. Capital Square http://capitalsqua.re/
With locations in Lekki and Ikoyi, CapitalSquare is a collaborative community for independent professionals - entrepreneurs, creatives, and innovators. Members enjoy access to a growing network of beautiful, fully serviced work and meeting spaces, event programming, business advisory, and other benefits, thoughtfully designed to help facilitate great work. Perhaps more interesting is that members on a monthly or annual plan get free workspace at partner workspaces in Accra, Ghana and New York for up to 3 days a month, with additional days at member rates, thus catering for the global and nomadic nature of entrepreneurship.
5. Cranium One
6. Leadspace
Cranium One, located in Victoria Island, Lagos is a warm, open and inviting shared workspace for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Main offerings are memberships for private offices, dedicated and shared desk with meeting rooms and pay-per-use as add-ons. Other facilities includes a communal kitchen and dining area.
Leadspace is a multi-location coworking space in Lagos. It was established by Passion Incubator to meet a need for fostering community and collaboration. Leadspace does have an interesting viewpoint that office chairs, desks, internet access and uninterrupted power supply are fundamental business rights.
Once described as a premium, but not ridiculously expensive, Cranium One was founded in 2016 by Olaotan Towry-Coker, who is also founder of Afritickets and Zandalu and so there is no doubt the needs of the entrepreneur and business owner are met and satisfied at this space.
Perhaps more impressive is its’ co-living initiative which allows members work and live in the same location and hence multiply productivity. This offering starting at N5,000 per night is targeted at expats, executives and freelancers that wish to take out dedicated time on a project.
http://cranium-one.com/
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2. Workstation
http://theleadspace.co/
Ai 8. Savvy Instant Offices
7. Venture Park
http://www.savvyinstantoffices.com/
http://theventurespark.com/
Another space in Abuja worth checking out is the Savvy Instant Offices. This is a central hub location in close proximity to all the Federal Ministries, Banks, Hotels, Recreation centres and Shopping malls. Now that’s attractive to startup entrepreneurs looking at targeting these as customers and clients.
“Love your workspace and you’d love your work more”. This is the premise for the Abuja based Venture Park, a coworking space where entrepreneurs, freelancers and brilliant minds, who share common attitudes, interests, and goals meet to create, collaborate and build things that matter..
So what’s on offer? Premium fit-outs, fully equipped with the latest IT technology, communications system, and video conferencing facilities. They also provide bespoke training on business networking, business competitive growth analysis, and customer services which does come in handy when starting out or scaling up your business.
The space comes equipped with high speed internet, front office services, gym, coffee and artsy finishes that make up the desk spaces as well as private Offices at competitive prices with flexible payment options.
10. Civic Innovation Lab
9. BoxOffice
https://civicilab.com/
http://www.boxofficeng.com/
This is one space that comes with a twist. As you can deduce from its name, this is a technology hub focused on merging creative and innovative social solutions with technology to solve our most pressing problems as a society. Membership starts at N3,000 per month for freelancers, up to N250,000 per month for Executives with the most popular membership set at N15,000 for Community members.
BoxOffice operates an incubator, accelerator and coworking space where entrepreneurs can observe, engage and adapt innovations to their businesses for growth. Based in Abuja, the space offers modern furnishing, telephones and high-speed Internet making it easy for members to carry out networking activities or collaboration sessions with clients.
Things on offer include, a furnished & serviced space, wi-fi, front desk services, gym, office address,meeting room, dedicated desk, signage, game room, to mention a few. The lab also runs programs in 3 major areas: Social Entrepreneurship Development, Civic Participation, and Policy Advocacy. So look no further if you’re working on any ideas or business in this area.
At BoxOffice, you can also get access to their training rooms, conference rooms and a cafe, ideal for business lunches. The space counts LSDC, BudgIT, Naij.com, PayConnect, Avienti, EnoughIsEnough, Paradigm Initiative of Nigeria, and Smart Alliance, as some of its clients.
Tiny Tooth Sensor
Tracks What You Eat, and It Could Help You Be Healthier The South Beach diet. The Atkins diet. Eating paleo.
different spectrum and intensity of radio frequency
wearing a sensor like this could help you get your
Cutting out gluten. Going vegan. The list of fad diets
waves back to the app.
quantities spot-on, ideally helping you improve your
and health crazes goes on, yet health statistics in the US and around the world show that most people still don’t know what to eat, or when, or how much.
Fiorenzo Omenetto, a biomedical engineering
food deserts, not a head of broccoli or a bunch of bananas in sight. Before monitoring the contents of
diet and thus your overall health. The sensor is just
each bite of food you eat, you must have access to
the latest in a series of wearable devices springing
healthy foods in the first place, not to mention know
professor at Tufts and co-author of the study, said,
from the quantified self movement—from Fitbits to
“We have extended common RFID [radio frequency
smart watches, these data-harvesting gadgets all
Ideally, then, the tooth sensor and other health
school has created a product that may be able to
ID] technology to a sensor package that can
aim to give users increased awareness and thus
tech like it will be geared towards a wide range of
help: a sensor worn on users’ teeth that wirelessly
dynamically read and transmit information on its
increased control over their own health, ideally
users, not just those who’ve already tried going
transmits data about food intake to a smartphone
environment, whether it is affixed to a tooth, to skin,
shifting healthcare norms from reactive to proactive,
paleo. Or pescatarian. Or dairy-free. You get the idea.
app.
or any other surface.”
curative to preventative.
New research from Tufts University’s engineering
what’s healthy and what isn’t.
Measuring just two millimeters on each side, the In a paper published in March in the journal
sensor is impressively tiny, and it’s succeeded in
It’s important to note, though, that while sensors
Advanced Materials, the Tufts team deconstructed
detecting sugar, salt, and alcohol. The team plans to
and similar tools could certainly prove useful, they’re
the sensor. It’s made of a porous silk film or a
refine the sensor to the point where it will be able to
just one small component on the vast landscape of
hydrogel that responds to changes in pH or
detect and measure all kinds of nutrients, and maybe
improving our diet and our health.
temperature—the active layer—sandwiched between
even biochemicals too. “In theory we can modify the
two square-shaped gold outer panels. The sensor’s
bioresponsive layer in these sensors to target other
middle layer detects chemicals and nutrients,
chemicals. We are really limited only by our
reacting to different inputs with a shift in its electrical
creativity,” Omenetto said.
properties. That shift causes the sensor to transmit a
Once you’ve chosen the right diet for you, then,
A disproportionate amount of the food we eat, particularly in the US, is heavily processed; we’re eating more chemicals than we are nutrients. In addition, many low-income areas are classified as
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Ai
Google’s Duplex Raises the Question:
Should Robots Sound Robotic? By now, you’ve probably seen Google’s new Duplex software, which promises to call people on your behalf to book appointments for haircuts and the like. As yet, it only exists in demo form, but already it seems like Google has made a big stride towards capturing a market that plenty of companies have had their eye on for quite some time. This software is impressive, but it raises questions. Many of you will be familiar with the stilted, robotic conversations you can have with early chatbots that are, essentially, glorified menus. Instead of pressing 1 to confirm or 2 to re-enter, some of these bots would allow for simple commands like “Yes” or “No,” replacing the buttons with limited ability to recognize a few words. Using them was often a far more frustrating experience than attempting to use a menu—there are few things more irritating than a robot saying, “Sorry, your response was not recognized.” Even getting the response recognized is hard enough. After all, there are countless different nuances and accents to baffle voice recognition software, and endless turns of phrase that amount to saying the same thing that can confound natural language processing (NLP), especially if you like your phrasing quirky. You may think that standard customer-service type conversations all travel the same route, using similar words and phrasing. But when there are over 80,000 ways to order coffee, and making a mistake is frowned upon, even simple tasks require high accuracy over a huge dataset. Advances in audio processing, neural networks, and NLP, as well as raw computing power, have meant that basic recognition of what someone is trying to say is less of an issue. Soundhound’s virtual assistant prides itself on being able to process complicated requests (perhaps needlessly complicated). The deeper issue, as with all attempts to develop conversational machines, is one of understanding context. There are so many ways a conversation can go that attempting to construct a conversation two or three layers deep
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quickly runs into problems. Multiply the thousands of things people might say by the thousands they might say next, and the combinatorics of the challenge runs away from most chatbots, leaving them as either glorified menus, gimmicks, or rather bizarre to talk to. Yet Google, who surely remembers from Glass the risk of premature debuts for technology, especially the kind that ask you to rethink how you interact with or trust in software, must have faith in Duplex to show it on the world stage. We know that startups like Semantic Machines and x.ai have received serious funding to perform very similar functions, using natural-language conversations to perform computing tasks, schedule meetings, book hotels, or purchase items. It’s no great leap to imagine Google will soon do the same, bringing us closer to a world of onboard computing, where Lens labels the world around us and their assistant arranges it for us (all the while gathering more and more data it can convert into personalized ads). The early demos showed some clever tricks for keeping the conversation within a fairly narrow realm where the AI should be comfortable and competent, and the blog post that accompanied the release shows just how much effort has gone into the technology. Yet given the privacy and ethics funk the tech industry finds itself in, and people’s general unease about AI, the main reaction to Duplex’s impressive demo was concern. The voice sounded too natural, bringing to mind Lyrebird and their warnings of deepfakes. You might trust “Do the Right Thing” Google with this technology, but it could usher in an era when automated robo-callers are far more convincing. A more human-like voice may sound like a perfectly innocuous improvement, but the fact that the assistant interjects naturalistic “umm” and “mm-hm” responses to more perfectly mimic a human rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. This wasn’t just a voice assistant trying to sound less grinding and robotic; it was actively trying to deceive people
into thinking they were talking to a human. Google is running the risk of trying to get to conversational AI by going straight through the uncanny valley. “Google’s experiments do appear to have been designed to deceive,” said Dr. Thomas King of the Oxford Internet Institute’s Digital Ethics Lab, according to Techcrunch. “Their main hypothesis was ‘can you distinguish this from a real person?’ In this case it’s unclear why their hypothesis was about deception and not the user experience… there should be some kind of mechanism there to let people know what it is they are speaking to.” From Google’s perspective, being able to say “90 percent of callers can’t tell the difference between this and a human personal assistant” is an excellent marketing ploy, even though statistics about how many interactions are successful might be more relevant. In fact, Duplex runs contrary to pretty much every major recommendation about ethics for the use of robotics or artificial intelligence, not to mention certain eavesdropping laws. Transparency is key to holding machines (and the people who design them) accountable, especially when it comes to decision-making. Then there are the more subtle social issues. One prominent effect social media has had is to allow people to silo themselves; in echo chambers of like-minded individuals, it’s hard to see how other opinions exist. Technology exacerbates this by removing the evolutionary cues that go along with face-to-face interaction. Confronted with a pair of human eyes, people are more generous. Confronted with a Twitter avatar or a Facebook interface, people hurl abuse and criticism they’d never dream of using in a public setting. Now that we can use technology to interact with ever fewer people, will it change us? Is it fair to offload the burden of dealing with a robot onto the poor human at the other end of the line, who might have to deal with dozens of such
calls a day? Google has said that if the AI is in trouble, it will put you through to a human, which might help save receptionists from the hell of trying to explain a concept to dozens of dumbfounded AI assistants all day. But there’s always the risk that failures will be blamed on the person and not the machine. As AI advances, could we end up treating the dwindling number of people in these “customer-facing” roles as the buggiest part of a fully automatic service? Will people start accusing each other of being robots on the phone, as well as on Twitter? Google has provided plenty of reassurances about how the system will be used. They have said they will ensure that the system is identified, and it’s hardly difficult to resolve this problem; a slight change in the script from their demo would do it. For now, consumers will likely appreciate moves that make it clear whether the “intelligent agents” that make major decisions for us, that we interact with daily, and that hide behind social media avatars or phone numbers are real or artificial.
Review
Samsung Galaxy S9 PLUS The Galaxy S9 Plus is considered a incremental upgrade from the Galaxy S8 Plus, but that’s not to mean the few new features it brings to the table aren’t worth your hard-earned cash even if there isn’t a flashy new design to go with them. That said, we can’t help but think that Samsung could have pushed the envelope a little further, rather than relying on some mediocre additions to drive sales. Here’s why.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Design Samsung’s radical transformation of its ‘S’ series last year was the start of a new trend in phone design. While there had been attempts to rid phones of a thick bezel before, none felt quite as natural and well-thought-out as Samsung implementation. For example, the LG G6 felt unfinished with its poorly circled screen edges, and Xiaomi’s Mi Mix 2 sacrificed functionality by forcing you to flip the phone around to take a selfie.
Dimensions: 158.1 x 73.8 x 8.5 mm. Weight: 189g. Screen size: 6.2-inch. CPU: Snapdragon 845 / Exynos 9810. RAM: 6GB. Storage: 64GB or 128GB Camera: Dual 12MP rear, 8MP front. Battery: 3,500mAh.
Editor’s Verdict The S9 Plus has seen a considerable improvement as compared to it's predecessors, but the iPhone X is a bigger brother. (5 Star Rating).
Screen Having seen a few poor OLED displays in recent Android phones from LG and Google, it’s great to finally have one that lives up to expectations. The 6.2-inch 18.5:9 AMOLED panel packs the same quad-HD+ 2560 x 1440 resolution as before, but it’s now brighter and even more stunning. Samsung’s OLEDs are the best, and this particular panel really shines in the customisations. The default Adaptive mode is great, but since switching to the full DCI-P3 colour-gamut-toting AMOLED Cinema option, I’ve enjoyed it even more. I’d say this mode gives the Samsung device a look that’s more iPhone X – dialling back a little with the blue hues and giving a warmer overall feel. I’ve found it much kinder on my eyes, too. There’s also a Photo mode that covers the Adobe RGB gamut, and a Basic mode that covers the sRGB scale. The burst of colour and vibrancy on this screen is sublime, but can at times appear a little oversaturated – but his nothing that can’t be fixed with a bit of tinkering in the settings.
Performance There are many reasons that the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is among the best Android phones on the market, but performance isn’t one of them. This isn’t because it lacks for speed, because it is super-quick. More because there are just so many fast Android phones these days, and as such, what I’m really interested in is how it will perform after a year or two – an area where Samsung phones have disappointed recently.
Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus specs
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Review
APPLE iPHONE X The iPhone X – or iPhone 10 – is an important device for Apple. Not only does its release coincide with the 10th anniversary of arguably the most important tech product of the past decade, but it’s the first iPhone in four years to undergo a major redesign. But it comes at a cost. A hefty one.
iPhone X – Design Apple has been coasting for too long with the design it introduced for the iPhone 6, but that all changes with the iPhone X – in a big way. You don’t need me to tell you the iPhone X is a huge departure from the iPhone design of old – just look at the pictures. Not only does it look good, however; Apple has done a fantastic job at actually making it feel really good too. This phone is simply gorgeous. It’s slightly taller than the iPhone 8 (and 7 and 6) but much narrower and smaller than the iPhone 8 Plus. It strikes the perfect balance, especially since you’re getting a 5.8-inch display here. The aluminium sides have been swapped out for stainless steel – as seen on the Apple Watch – and the front and rear of the device are glass. I received the Silver variant for review – and, unfortunately, it wasn’t long before it was covered in fingerprints, those shiny sides being a particular magnet. This is a phone that looks fantastic straight after a wipe-down; not so much a few hours after it’s been in your greasy palms. Also of concern is how the iPhone X will fare over time. No matter how unscientific they might be, drop tests indicate that the finish here doesn’t lend itself well to wear and tear. After all, the stainless steel Apple Watch I’ve been using is a scratched-up mess. As a result, my iPhone X has spent much of its time inside an Apple case, but this certainly sees it lose points in the glamour stakes.
Screen The iPhone X sees Apple switch out its usual LCD screen tech for an OLED panel for the first time. Samsung, Google and many other Android phone makers have been using this technology for some time now, and it’s nice to see Apple finally joining the fray with a product other than the Apple Watch. This is also the highest-resolution screen ever on an iPhone, with a slightly odd 2436 x 1125 pixels, plus there’s support for the DCI P3 colour gamut and Dolby Vision HDR. Apple’s OLEDs come from Samsung, and while there’s a small shift to blue if you tilt the device off-axis, it’s far less noticeable than on the Pixel 2 XL. Apple says it’s made a fair few tweaks to this panel, and the company’s optimisation of it is certainly different to Samsung’s approach for its own Galaxy S9 25
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and Note 8 panels. Colours on the iPhone X are more natural and the saturation isn’t quite so intense.
PERFOMANCE The internals of the iPhone X are exactly the same as those in the iPhone 8 Plus, making this one of the fastest phones I’vereviewed . It’s powered by the A11 Bionic chip, which is ridiculously fast, plus 3GB of RAM. Aside from a few software bugs in iOS 11, navigating the iPhone X is a universally smooth experience. The A11 Bionic is a six-core processor with two high-power and four low-power cores that churn through all tasks with ease. In benchmarks, it scored 10,000 in the multi-core Geekbench 4 test, which isn’t far off double the scores achieved by flagship Android phones; it achieved 4121 in the single-core tests.
SOFTWARE The lack of a Home button sees big changes to the way in which iOS 11 operates. No longer is this an operating system controlled pretty much via a single button; you’ll now need to learn a heap of new gestures. You now swipe up from the bottom of the display to head to the Home screen, and swipe and hold to access the multitasking menu. In addition, no longer can you simply swipe apps away anymore; you have to press and then tap the little ‘X’ icon. My favourite gesture is a quick swipe along the lower part of the display to quickly switch apps.
FACE ID I’ve used Samsung’s face unlock and iris scanners a fair bit, and have never been particularly impressed by either their speed or accuracy. So it was important that Apple’s Face ID worked every single time. It works accurately in both the light and dark; it can’t be fooled by pictures or masks; and it works if you’re wearing glasses too. There have been reports that twins have fooled it, and Apple told me some IR-blocking sunnies won’t work, but these are limited scenarios. Note that you need to be ‘actively aware’ for it to work – you can’t just shove it in someone’s face and expect it to unlock.
Editor’s Verdict: The iPhone X has dual 12-megapixel cameras on the rear, as there are in the iPhone 8 Plus, and that makes it the smallest iPhone yet to benefit from two sensors. The iPhone X is a great smartphone that combines power and functionality seamlessly. It's a 10! (RATE 5 STAR)
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Top Ten
SMARTPHONES
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LAPTOPS
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BUDGET BUY
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Editor’s Hype
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EDITOR’S HYPE Our selection of some of our favourite gadgets, movies, games and gears on the editor’s wishlist, if not owned yet. Here are some recommendation for your next shopping.
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1. Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless Earbuds $199.00
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2. Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 34 $110 3. Bowers & Wilkins PX Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones $399.99 4. Amazon Echo (2nd Generation) $84.99 5. Canon EOS M100 Mirrorless Camera $449.00 6. Fitbit Versa Smartwatch $199.95 7. Victorinox Lexicon Hardside Frequent Flyer Smart Carry-On Suitcase $400.00
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8. Prynt Pocket Instant Photo Printer for iPhone $88.90 9. The Crown, a true story on the British Royals. Netflix Original. $9.99/m 10. God of War - Playstation 4 $58.99 11. Peak Design Everyday Backpack $259.95
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