HELLO

Screen grab/Google Play store BlackBerry denied it had anything to do with "potentially fake" reviews of the BlackBerry Messenger for Android app on the Google Play store and said it is working with Google to get to resolve the problem. BlackBerry won a rare bit of praise earlier this week when it finally released its standalone BlackBerry Messenger app for iPhone and Android devices to huge demand. Screen grab/Twitter/Matt Baxter-Reynolds BBM is "user friendly" and "smooth." At least according to these "potentially fake" reviews. The mobile instant-messaging app was downloaded more than 10 million times in the first 24 hours, BlackBerry said , and many users were so pleased they decided to post glowing reviews of the software online. Problem with some of the reviews appearing in the Google Play app store, however, was that they looked oddly familiar to one another. Well, nearly identical really. One particularly obse...

Aug. 8, 2013 - FILE photo of Nigerian soldiers on an armored personnel carrier during Eid al-Fitr celebrations in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Hundreds of people are dying in military detention as Nigeria's security forces crack down on an Islamic uprising in the northeast, Amnesty International said. (AP) 74 Islamist militants are dead after Nigerian troops attacked several Boko Haram camps. Military officials tell Reuters that Nigerian soldiers hit the insurgent camps using both planes and ground forces Thursday, in an on going campaign to thwart terrorist activity in the region. The assault was on camps in the remote villages of Galangi and Lawanti in northeast Borno state, where militants have a stronghold. ``The operation, which involved ground and aerial assault supported by the Nigerian Air Force led to the destruction of the identified terrorist camps, killing 74 terrorists while others fle...

It was great to see my Twitter feed light up yesterday with the latest news on the Facebook-led initiative to   improve access to Internet for the developing world . Alongside Qualcomm, Opera, Samsung, and others, Team Zuckerberg is leading the charge on Internet.org, a   “global partnership between technology leaders, nonprofits, local communities and experts who are working together to bring the Internet to the two-thirds of the world’s population that doesn’t have it.”   That’s music to our ears here at Connectify. Our team is passionate about creating apps that get users and their devices online with fast and reliable Internet access no matter where they are. When we launched the first beta of Connectify Hotspot in 2009, we had no idea that our powerful little software router would become a lifeline for so many users around the world. Early on, we were thrilled to hear from business travelers and tech enthusiasts who wrote to tell us that Connectify Hotspot ha...

BlackBerry seems to be on seventh heaven after the cross platform version of its BBM or  BlackBerry Messenger app recorded 10 million downloads and positive reviews . However, it looks like a large number of positive reviews, at least on the app's Android listing on the Google Play store, appear to be fake or 'astroturfed' (paid or a PR effort).   One of the reasons for doubting the intent behind the BBM for Android reviews was that they featured the same text complete with grammatical errors, and a five star rating. The text said, "Thank you so much Blackberry team. I was waiting this app. It is really great user friendly and smooth." These reviews were first  spotted  by Matt Baxter-Reynolds who posted a screenshot on Twitter.   Interestingly, one review started with the text, "Please post the following comment on the new BlackBerry Messenger Android APP. 'Thank you so much black berry team...'" followed by the same positive review. Th...

Today, I laid my hands on the ASUS Padfone 2. For those of you who don’t know, ASUS is the world top-three consumer notebook vendor and maker of the world’s best-selling and most award-winning motherboards. The company’s well known for its innovations that set trends, creates new product categories and transform users’ expectations. And in my opinion, that’s exactly what they did again with the Padfone 2. The Padfone 2 is a literal and great combination of a tablet and a smartphone. The Padfone 2 is the smartphone. The tablet is called Padfone 2 Station. Unlike the traditional smartphone and tablet, the Padfone 2 has Dynamic Display -an unique technology developed by ASUS –which automatically re-size or re-layout the application user interface to fit the screen size, hence encouraging users to use the phone or the tablet at any time and any place, effortlessly. Dynamic Display is ASUS unique technique which automatically re-size or re-layout the application user interface to fit th...

GOtv As part of activities marking its second anniversary in Nigeria, GOtv - the digital terrestrial PayTV provider has unfolded plans to host a grassroots football tourney - ‘Hood to Hood Football Championship’ in Lagos between Saturday October 26 and Saturday November 9 2013. Speaking at a press conference to unveil the tournament, the General Manager, GOtv Nigeria, Mrs Elizabeth Amkpa, disclosed that the ‘Hood to Hood’ football championship is aimed at developing football at the grassroots by engaging the youth positively and redirecting their energy towards sports. She stressed further that the GOtv ‘Hood to Hood’ football championship is one of the ways through which the pay-TV operator is contributing to the society in which it operates. Mrs Amkpa noted that football is not only a global phenomenon but also the sport of choice for Nigerians which has over the years become a unifying factor with great entertainment value which is in sync with the GOtv brand promise to deliver...

These are definitely not the best of times for Olawale Ashimi popularly known as Brymo.  Chocolate City, his former record label through their law firm, L & A Legal Consultants on Monday, October 21 got an injunction against him, “restraining him from recording, releasing, distributing any composition, song, musical works or carrying out any activity as a recording or performing artist through or for the benefit of any person or organisation other than Chocolate City”, pending the determination of the suit against him. What this means is simple: Brymo cannot function as an artist, unless he and his former employers settle their rift. Apparently Brymo wasn’t happy with the way Choc City was handling his career and felt it was high time he left for greener pastures. One cannot help but wonder if Brymo was in the dark over some aspects of the contract he signed with Chocolate City. Apparently, he remains their artiste till 2016. We just hope this ma...

Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday told the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation that the Ministry of Aviation approved the controversial purchase of the N255m bulletproof cars for Ms Stella Oduah. The Director of Aerodrome in the NCAA, Mr. Joyce Nkem-Akonam, made this known during the  committee’s public sitting  in Abuja. Nkem-Akonam, who handled the transaction  as  the acting managing director  of the NCAA,  had made spirited efforts to defend the purchase. He told the committee members that since     “Leased financing, not direct financing, was   adopted to procure the vehicles,” the agency  breached no law. When asked if  leased financing was not a commitment that the NCAA would still  pay for the vehicles, he  said  it did not mean that it was extra-budgetary spending. Facing a barrage of questions from the committ...

Nigeria's ambassador says comments about 'Nigerian email scammers' are offensive. | AP Photo Close The Nigerian ambassador to the United States on Thursday decried Sen. Ted Cruz’s joke earlier this week that “Nigerian email scammers” built the government’s health care exchange website, saying his comments are offensive and demanded an apology. Ambassador Ade Adefuye told POLITICO that Nigerians are “disappointed and shocked” by Cruz’s comments. Continue Reading Cruz (R-Texas) made   the remarks   Monday night in Houston at a “Welcome Home” event with tea party supporters. The following day, Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) criticized the comments and said they appeal to a “backward” part of Cruz’s base that believes the president is from Africa. “We deplore the statement, and we demand an apology, and we demand it be withdrawn,” Adefuye said. ( PHOTOS: Key quotes from Ted Cruz ) Adefuye said he was surprised when Cruz did not deny the “offensive” remarks, ...