Wole Abu new Equinix West Africa MD | South Korea fines Meta $15m

Today’s Menu ☕️

• Wole Abu succeeds Funke Opeke as new West Africa MD of Equinix

• Global Tablet Market Sees 20% Growth in Q3 2024 Amid AI Integration and Product Refreshes

• South Korea Slaps Meta with $15.67 Million Fine for Privacy Violations Over Sensitive User Data

• Threads Hits 275 Million Monthly Users, Expands with New Features

• Japan Launches LignoSat, the World’s First Wooden Satellite in Space

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APPOINTMENTS

Wole Abu succeeds Funke Opeke as new West Africa MD of Equinix

Equinix, a leading global digital infrastructure company, has appointed Wole Abu as its new Managing Director for West Africa. With extensive experience in the Nigerian telecommunications industry, Abu will lead Equinix’s operations across Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. His role is aimed at driving the company’s expansion in the region and ensuring the integration of its services to support connectivity and digital growth.

Abu steps into this leadership role following the tenure of Funke Opeke, the founder and CEO of MainOne, who will remain with Equinix as a strategic advisor until 2026. MainOne, a West African connectivity and data services company, was acquired by Equinix in 2022, marking Equinix’s initial expansion into the African market. The addition of Abu to the team emphasizes Equinix’s commitment to developing its digital footprint across the continent.……continue reading

 GADGETS & DEVICES

Global Tablet Market Sees 20% Growth in Q3 2024 Amid AI Integration and Product Refreshes

The tablet market is showing signs of robust growth, with worldwide shipments reaching 39.6 million units in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q24), a 20.4% increase over last year, according to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) latest report. This rise in shipments follows a weak 2023 market, making year-over-year growth appear especially positive. A combination of refreshed device offerings and preparation for holiday season promotions has spurred new consumer interest in tablets, providing a welcome boost to the industry.

In Q3, Apple’s tablet shipments increased modestly by 1.4% to 12.6 million units, driven mainly by the new iPad Air, though the high-end iPad Pro series struggled due to high prices in emerging markets. Samsung achieved strong growth of 18.3%, shipping 7.1 million units, thanks to premium Galaxy Tab models with AI features and sales of affordable Galaxy A9 tablets. Amazon saw a significant jump, shipping 4.6 million units—a 111.3% increase—mainly due to Prime Day promotions and an updated Fire HD 8 with AI features. Huawei maintained fourth place with 3.2 million units, growing 44.1% with its budget-friendly MatePad SE 11, while Lenovo, despite falling to fifth, increased shipments by 14.7% to 3 million units, aided by strong commercial sector growth in China and Western Europe..........continue reading

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📱 SOCIAL MEDIA

South Korea Slaps Meta with $15.67 Million Fine for Privacy Violations Over Sensitive User Data

South Korea has imposed a 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) fine on Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, for unauthorized data collection practices. The country’s data protection authority, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), found that Meta collected sensitive data about nearly a million South Korean Facebook users and shared it with advertisers without explicit consent.

According to the PIPC, Meta gathered data on sensitive aspects of users’ lives, including religious beliefs, political views, and sexual orientation, from roughly 980,000 South Korean Facebook accounts. The commission emphasized that Meta’s collection and use of this information lacked proper legal consent from the users, a critical requirement under South Korean privacy regulations.

This data was then reportedly made accessible to approximately 4,000 advertisers who used it to create targeted advertising. Advertisers could thus identify users based on categories like religion, political alignment, or gender identity—a serious violation in the eyes of South Korean regulators....…….continue reading

📱SOCIAL MEDIA

Threads Hits 275 Million Monthly Users, Expands with New Features

Meta’s social networking platform, Threads, has recently hit a major milestone by reaching 275 million monthly active users, a notable achievement in its rivalry with X (formerly Twitter). This progress was shared on Sunday by Adam Mosseri, the Head of Threads and Instagram, who expressed his gratitude to users for their support and acknowledged that there is still work to be done to improve the platform.

Threads was launched by Meta in July 2023 as a direct competitor to X. The app’s launch was strategically timed after X saw a wave of user exits following Elon Musk’s takeover, which led to a change in the platform’s culture and policies. With a seamless sign-up process, particularly for existing Instagram users, Threads managed to attract over 100 million users within the first week. However, as the initial excitement faded, the platform experienced a dip in user engagement as some early adopters migrated to other social networks or returned to familiar platforms.…….continue reading

🛰️ SATELLITE

Japan Launches LignoSat, the World’s First Wooden Satellite in Space

In a groundbreaking step for sustainable space technology, Japanese researchers from Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry have launched the world’s first wooden satellite, named LignoSat (named after the Latin word for wood, “lignum”), into orbit. This innovative satellite, about the size of a palm, was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) on a recent SpaceX mission and is set to orbit approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) above Earth.

Built from honoki, a durable Japanese magnolia wood, LignoSat aims to showcase the viability of timber as a sustainable material for future space exploration and habitation, with plans to explore its potential in environments as challenging as the Moon and Mars.

The concept for LignoSat stems from the research team’s ambition to create environmentally friendly and renewable materials for space missions.…….continue reading

OTHER STORIES

• NETSCOUT report: Ghana Leads West Africa in Cyber Threat Landscape with Record DDoS Attacks….read more

• Olayinka David-West succeeds Chris Ogbechie as new Dean of Lagos Business School……read more

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