Microsoft is announcing a partnership with Liquid Cloud through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO) to provide cloud services to businesses across the continent. Liquid Cloud and the Microsoft ATO will collaborate to deliver resilient cloud in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe to meet regulatory and data residency requirements, address low latency workloads, strengthen resilience, and enable business continuity.
The hybrid cloud environment extends Azure capabilities enabling customers to create cloud-native applications faster with Azure platform and data services such as App Service, Functions, Logic Apps, Azure SQL Managed Instance, PostgreSQL database, and Azure machine learning. As a result, customers will be able to innovate anywhere and use the Azure platform to bring new solutions to life that solves today’s challenges, while creating the future.
“We witnessed an accelerated adoption of cloud technologies in Africa, and businesses are now reaping the benefits of their investment. Our customers are increasingly moving to hybrid work culture, meaning the demand for cloud-based services will only grow. Our partnership will enable us to build comprehensive and edge-based cloud capabilities that meet customer regulatory requirements and ensure that they deliver value to their customers,” said David Behr, CEO of Liquid Cloud and Cyber Security.
On his part, Wael El kabbany, General Manager, Africa Regional Cluster, Microsoft said: “Critical infrastructure enablers are needed to provide access to the cloud to accelerate digital transformation and the adoption of digital technologies. Working with Liquid Cloud, access to the local cloud will be available to more organizations and highly regulated industries across the continent. In addition, the hybrid cloud provides in-country resources that address data residency, latency, and storage requirements,“
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This is the Infinity X50 laptop, the high-end model of the Infinity branded laptop. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen 3 mobile processor with Radeon Vega graphics. Running on the Zen core architecture it has two CPU cores with a base clock of 2.6GHz and a maximum boost of 3.5GHz.
It runs on a six thousand milliamp battery which can give a user about six hours of minimum usage. It has four gigabytes of RAM and there is no mention of models with higher RAM sizes. Or an option to change or increase this for power users. The storage size is 512GB and is a solid-state drive (SSD). Available ports on the device include an HDMI, micro SD card reader and USB ports. The price of the laptop is set at $668, it comes with a warranty and after-sales support is available.
Check out more on the Infinity laptop in the hands-on video and full specs table below.
Designed, produced and assembled by the Zimbabwe Information Technology Company (ZITCO). The Infinity devices are a Zimbabwean brand to serve the PC market in Zimbabwe mainly but have plans to bring them to other African markets in the future. Other devices in production include the Infinity T46 Laptop, Infinity G79 Desktop PC, Infinity All-in-one PC, Infinity Mini-Laptop and Infinity Tablet.
What are your thoughts on the design, specifications and price of the laptop device? Kindly share them in the comment section below.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
A Zimbabwean company, Zimbabwe Information Technology Company (ZITCO) has received Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) certification from Microsoft to produce Windows 10 devices.
The ZITCO assembled devices are named Infinity and will bear the mathematical infinity logo. The company will produce laptops, desktop computers and tablets.
It will be a Zimbabwean brand that serves the PC market in Zimbabwe mainly. With plans to produce about 150 thousand devices annually bringing them to other markets in the future.
“We .. announce the partnership with Microsoft and certification as an OEM … it assures originality and guarantees the quality of ZITCO products.
Meet the Infinity T46 Laptop, Infinity X50 Laptop, Infinity G79 Desktop computer, Infinity All-in-one PC, Mini-Laptop and Infinity Tablet from ZITCO. Watch the video below for more details on the specifications and prices of the device.
ZITCO is a collaboration by telecommunications company TelOne, Inspur and the Zimbabwe Government. To improve the supply of ICT devices to public sector workers to enhance the government’s e-government program. The government wants to lower the costs of ICT devices and make them readily available. As it embarks on an ICT skills development and knowledge transfer in Zimbabwe to boost job creation and economic growth.
The partnership with Microsoft will see it get discounted prices for Windows 10 and Office software. As a result, some of the computers given to primary and secondary school students will have OS software as low as 1$ compared to $100.
Where OEM’s like HP, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, etc. get their components is where ZITCO gets its components. This should give an element of comfort to our clients or anyone who purchases our products.
The Zimbabwean company plans to move from its initial phase of assembling devices to also manufacturing components. It will have warranty and repair services available for its devices.
Check out images from the launch event of the ZITCO assembly plant below.
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Clint-Roy Muvirimi-Mukarakate, Zimbabwe and Joshua Ndemenge, Kenya are Insiders2Campus 2019 contest Winners. The Zimbabwe and Kenya Windows Insiders are part of 10 selected winners of the competition across the globe.
The Microsoft Windows Insiders2Campus Contest awards Windows 10 Insider Program fans with an exclusive experience at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond. A Microsoft campus tour and an opportunity to see cool stuff still in development. This year Insider2Campus winners will join Microsoft employees and interns for their global Hackathon. Which will include hearing from Microsoft leaders including CEO Satya Nadella.
Watch the contest videos made by the Zimbabwe and Kenya Windows Insiders
At Innovation Africa 2018 Microsoft signs MoU to create modern classrooms that drives innovation, performance and growth.
Microsoft signs partnership with the Zimbabwe Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education at Innovation Africa Summit 2018. The partnership will see it assist the Zimbabwean government in “crating modern classrooms that drive innovation, performance and growth”. Per the agreement, Microsoft will assist the Zimbabwean Ministry in identifying devices for its specific digital education strategies. Microsoft will assist the Ministry in building partnerships with international Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). It will also provide consultancy services in building a local OEM assembly strategy. This partnership comes at a time Zimbabwe intends to digitally transform as part of its 2030 vision.
As partners of the Innovation Africa 2018 Summit underway in Zimbabwe. Microsoft joined in the EdTech discussions represented by its directors. Chairing a panel on innovation in education for bridging Africa’s skills gap was Harb Bou-Harb, Senior Director of Education Microsoft MEA.
Mark East, General Manager Education Microsoft MEA, spoke to the ministers and stakeholders on education bridging the skills gap in Africa. He said “technology will never replace teachers nor make them irrelevant. But teachers need to keep up with the changes“.
“For Africa’s people to take their place in a 21st century global economy, the core ingredients to its digital education transformation recipe must include connectivity, digital literacy, the ability to code and command of the English language. Similarly, if we are to truly invest in the human capital of the future, we must prioritise the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning for all K12 students.”
For Mr. East skills shortages have a way of impacting a countries GDP.
Microsoft says it “believes in a future where every young person has the skills, knowledge and opportunity to succeed. Committing to impart 10 million youths in the Middle East Africa region with digital skills in the next three years.
