This is from Paypal official blog on the acquisition of  Fig Card – mobile payment company.   In my job, I get the opportunity to talk with a lot of merchants. And they see the same thing we do…retail is changing quickly. The lines between online and offline commerce continue to blur – thanks in large part to technology innovation in mobile. PayPal is extremely focused on being at the center of this new retail [...]

  The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has commended Etisalat Nigeria, for spurring competition in the industry. Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association, noted that Etisalat is stirring competition as well as setting the pace with  innovative products in the industry.   “Etisalat’s consistent effort targeted at stirring competition is laudable. That your products and services have set you apart for innovation is never in doubt, we can only request that [...]

  It seems the world is moving towards the mobile at a rate that even the traditional web platform could be under severe competition. Indian SMS GupShup is growing at unbelievable rate. The Kenyan Jumuika Mobile that we discussed few days ago is also promising, if well funded. We think this ecosystem has many promises.   Fasmicro, our parent company, is looking for a partner for this exciting development. Contact info@fasmicro.com   SMS GupShup, an [...]

I want to congratulate Perry Chen, the CEO of Kickstarter who was my room mate in TED 2010. It is amazing how this young company is firing on all cylinders. The numbers released today are very great. Congratulations Perry. It is great speaking with you – get the numbers up….always.     “Kickstarter is a way to break beyond the traditional methods — loans, investment, industry deals, grants — to discover that we can offer [...]

PETER DRUCKER SOCIETY EUROPE LAUNCHES ESSAY CONTEST The Peter Drucker Society Europe (PDSE) launches the “2nd Global Peter Drucker Challenge”, an essay contest for young managers, entrepreneurs und students until the age of 35. The authors of the top three essays will be flown to Vienna and invited to actively participate in panels and breakouts at the “3rd Global Peter Drucker Forum 2011″ in Vienna on November 3 and 4. In addition, up to 40 [...]

Maybe you can apply for this grant.   Gates Foundation is currently accepting proposals for Round 7 of Grand Challenges Explorations until May 19, 2011 on the following topics, the first two of which are new: * Explore Nutrition for Healthy Growth of Infants and Children * Apply Synthetic Biology to Global Health Challenges * The Poliovirus Endgame: Create Innovative Ways to Accelerate, Sustain, and Monitor Eradication * Create the Next Generation of Sanitation Technologies [...]

Distimo monthly publication is out and “The Google Android Market eclipsed the Apple App Store for iPhone in terms of free applications and now has 134,342 free applications, while the Apple App Store iPhone has 121,845 free applications”.  The publication covers the Apple App Store for iPad, Apple App Store for iPhone, Apple Mac App Store, BlackBerry App World (worldwide store), GetJar, Google Android Market,  Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog, and Windows Phone 7 [...]

At the Main Auditorium, University of Lagos (UNILAG) Akoka, Lagos, the National President, Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Prof. Charles Onuwa Uwadia delivered an inaugural lecture as a professor of computer sciences of UNILAG. He spoke on the usefulness of software to economic revival.   The title of his talk was  ‘Software Systems: The Driving Force Behind the e-Revolution’ and he made a case that software could be fundamental in designing the nation.   Prof. Uwadia [...]

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced 88 grants to explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve global health. The grants of  US$100,000 each will be made to researchers from 25 countries. This marks the sixth round of funding from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help lower the barriers for testing innovative ideas in global health. Projects selected for funding focused on polio eradication and vaccines, cell-phone applications for global health, new [...]

?The new Glo Infinito  tarriff plan offers call rates of 25 kobo per second to all networks starting from the very first second. SMS to any network in Nigeria at a flat rate of N8 each   •    It is available in two options:   1.   Select a special number (Glo) that you will be calling at a rate of 2 kobo per second OR 2.   Select 5 special numbers (Glo) that you will be calling at [...]