Microsoft Announces Windows 8 Global Availability

Microsoft has announced the global availability of the next version of its best-selling Windows operating system, Windows 8. Offering customers a no compromise computing solution that best fits their needs, on the device that works for them and with the features they want, Windows 8 is now available for purchase.

Windows 8 will be available for consumers in more than 140 markets and 37 languages in two primary versions—Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro, as well as Windows 8 Enterprise for large organizations. Also available is a new member of the Windows family —Windows RT, including Surface for Windows RT.

Designed for ARM-based tablets, Windows RT will be available pre-installed on new devices. In addition to the wide range of new Windows devices, existing Windows 7 customers can also upgrade their current devices in more than 140 markets available at www.windowsupgradeoffer.com.

MTN Brings Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 Devices to Nigeria

*Windows Phone 8

Telecommunications giant, MTN said it will be a key operator in Africa to deliver the recently introduced Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices to its customers in South Africa in November, with Ghana and Nigeria following in December.

Following the entry into a strategic alliance with Microsoft, acclaimed global software leaders, MTN customers in Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana will be among the first users in the world to experience the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices will be available in other MTN markets soon afterwards.

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 provide users with a unified experience across the PC, phone and tablet.

Microsoft had on June 20, 2012 unveiled Windows Phone 8, announcing a new generation of the operating system for release later in 2012. Windows Phone 8 will replace Microsoft’s previously Windows CE-based architecture with one based off the Windows NT kernel with many components shared with Windows 8, allowing applications to be easily ported between the two platforms.

But Brett Goschen, CEO, MTN Nigeria, said the launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices in MTN markets is integral to the telecom giant’s aim to offer

Nokia Launches Portable Solar Charger In Nigeria

It may perhaps, be the end to dependence on electricity for the charging of cellphone batteries in Nigeria as mobile phone giants, Nokia has announced the availability of a new portable solar charger in the country.

The new Nokia Portable Solar Charger, DC-40 is a pilot product designed and marketed by Nokia to test the viability of solar charging as an alternative mobile phone charging system.

The technical solution is said to be a thin film panel, measuring 165mm x 237mm with a long cable and 2mm Nokia plug interface and weighing only 93 grams, the solar charger is highly portable. The solution is incredibly simple and efficient. With one minute of charging, consumers will get approximately two minutes of talk time.

According to Nokia, the solar charger is most efficient when used in direct sunlight where the average charging time for full charge on a 1000mAh battery would be under four hours. However, the solar panel can also be used behind a glass window, but is less efficient in these conditions.

The mobile phone leader noted that Kenya and Nigeria provide the perfect opportunity for testing this solution, with recent World Bank reports indicating that only 16 and 51 percent of Kenyans

Microsoft Nigeria Intensifies Fight Against Pirated Software

.........Inaugurates ‘Clean Dealers’

*Emma Onyeje, Microsoft Nigeria GM

By ROMMY IMAH

Microsoft Nigeria has once more reiterated its desire to flush out pirated software from the Nigerian market following the recognition of some of its trade partners as Clean Dealers.

With this development, prospective Microsoft software buyers are guaranteed original Microsoft software products from any of the certified clean dealers.

In 2010, the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an international association representing the global software industry, in conjunction with the market research firm IDC, revealed that software piracy rate in Nigeria was 83% and that the Nigerian economy lost over US$156 million to software piracy in 2009 alone.

In fact, the IDC estimated then that the commercial value of software lost between 2005 and 2009 was approximately US$584 million. Counterfeit software is often sold at a much cheaper price, but can end up costing users hundreds or thousands of dollars.

But at a press conference held recently at its corporate office in Lagos, Microsoft Nigeria general manager, Mr. Emmanuel Onyeje said the company has been unrelenting in its fight against piracy adding that the inauguration of the Clean Dealer programme was in continuation of this fight.

The Microsoft Clean Dealer initiative allows partners and retailers of Microsoft products to enter into an agreement to sell, as well as promote the sales of only genuine Microsoft products. Such dealers are prohibited by the agreement from selling pirated and counterfeit Microsoft products.

Onyeje observed that though efforts by the software giant in the past to fight piracy may not have yielded the required result, he expressed hope that the new initiative would go