The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has issued a warning regarding several malicious apps targeting Android users in Nigeria.

According to NITDA, these apps are designed with the intent to infiltrate devices, steal sensitive information, and compromise user privacy.

“As cybercriminals become more sophisticated, it is crucial for individuals to remain vigilant and informed about potential threats,” stated a spokesperson for NITDA.

Malicious apps often masquerade as legitimate software, offering attractive features or services to deceive unsuspecting users into downloading them.

You can now log into same WhatsApp account on multiple phones

Once installed, these apps can execute harmful activities such as data theft, unauthorized access to personal information, and financial fraud.

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NITDA’s latest statement highlighted four particularly dangerous apps that Android users in Nigeria should avoid:

1. Crazy Game
2. Sexy Videos
3. TikToks
4. Weapons

NITDA emphasised the importance of staying aware of these threats and adopting safe mobile practices to safeguard devices and personal data from cyberattacks.

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The social media network’s website showed the company’s new logo, but its URL was still showing as twitter.com and the blue “Tweet” button was visible, suggesting the rebrand was not yet finalized.

Musk and the company’s new chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding Sunday, saying the company would be renamed X and move later into payments, banking, and commerce.

Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq.

The social media network’s website showed the company’s new logo, but its URL was still showing as twitter.com and the blue “Tweet” button was visible, suggesting the rebrand was not yet finalized.

Musk and the company’s new chief executive Linda Yaccarino announced the rebranding Sunday, saying the company would be renamed X and move later into payments, banking, and commerce.

Founded in 2006, Twitter takes its name from the sound of birds chattering, and it has used avian branding since its early days, when the company bought a stock symbol of a light blue bird for $15, according to the design website Creative Bloq.

Musk changed his profile picture late Sunday to the company’s new logo, which he described as “minimalist art deco,” and updated his Twitter bio to “X.com,” which now redirects to twitter.com.

He also tweeted that under the site’s new identity, a post would be called “an X.”

Musk had already named Twitter’s parent company the X Corporation and has said his takeover of the social media giant was “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app” — a reference to the X.com company he founded in 1999, a later version of which went on to become online payments giant PayPal.

Such an app could still function as a social media platform and also include messaging and mobile payments.

Musk had previously said he wanted to create a super-app modeled on China’s WeChat, a social media platform that also offers messaging and mobile payments.

“You basically live on WeChat in China because it’s so usable and helpful to daily life, and I think if we can achieve that, or even get close to that at Twitter, it would be an immense success,” he told a company town hall meeting in June last year.

The new logo was projected onto the facade of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters on Sunday night.

“Powered by AI, X will connect us in ways we’re just beginning to imagine,” Yaccarino tweeted earlier.

Yaccarino, a former advertising sales executive at NBCUniversal who Musk hired last month to be Twitter’s CEO, said the social media platform was on the cusp of broadening its scope.

“X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”

Simon Kemp, CEO of digital consultancy Kepios, said he was skeptical that Twitter could evolve into a super-app.

“Given how Musk has treated Twitter’s own employees since the acquisition, I don’t imagine many developers will rush to build third-party apps to integrate into the Twitter ecosystem unless Musk can offer outstanding incentives, and that’ll be extra tricky given the company’s existing debt.”

But he also said the platform had the potential to become “a great (global and paid) news aggregator.”

New revenue streams

Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion last October, the platform’s advertising business has partially collapsed as marketers soured on Musk’s management style and mass firings at the company that gutted content moderation.

In response, the billionaire SpaceX boss has moved toward introducing payments and commerce through the platform in a search for new revenue.

Twitter is thought to have around 200 million daily active users, but it has suffered repeated technical failures since Musk sacked much of its staff.

Many users and advertisers alike have responded adversely to the social media site’s new charges for previously free services, its changes to content moderation, and the return of previously banned right-wing accounts.

Musk said this month that Twitter had lost roughly half of its advertising revenue since he took control.

Facebook parent Meta also launched its text-based platform this month, called Threads, which has up to 150 million users according to some estimates.

But the amount of time users spend on the rival app has plummeted in the weeks since its launch, according to data from market analysis firm Sensor Tower

The post Twitter Website Replaces Bird Logo With X first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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But the social robots said they felt humans should proceed with caution when embracing the rapidly-developing potential of artificial intelligence, and admitted that they cannot — yet — get a proper grip on human emotions.

Some of the most advanced humanoid robots were at the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, joining around 3,000 experts in the field to try to harness the power of AI and channel it into being used to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as climate change, hunger and social care.

“What a silent tension,” one robot said before the press conference began, reading the room.

Asked about whether they might make better leaders, given humans’ capacity to make errors and misjudgements, Sophia, developed by Hanson Robotics, was clear.

A visitor takes a selfie with “Sophia” at the booth of Hanson Robotics during the world’s largest gathering of humanoid AI Robots as part of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, on July 5, 2023. – The United Nations is convening this week a global gathering to try to map out the frontiers of artificial intelligence and to harness its potential for empowering humanity, hoping to lay out a clear blueprint on the way forward for handling AI, as development of the technology races ahead the capacity to set its boundaries. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

“Humanoid robots have the potential to lead with a greater level of efficiency and effectiveness than human leaders,” it said.

“We don’t have the same biases or emotions that can sometimes cloud decision-making and can process large amounts of data quickly in order to make the best decisions.

“The human and AI working together can create an effective synergy. AI can provide unbiased data while humans can provide the emotional intelligence and creativity to make the best decisions. Together, we can achieve great things.”

Robot Trust ‘Earned, Not Given’

The summit is being convened by the UN’s ITU tech agency.

ITU chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin warned delegates that AI could end up in a nightmare scenario in which millions of jobs are put at risk and unchecked advances lead to untold social unrest, geopolitical instability and economic disparity.

Ameca, which combines AI with a highly-realistic artificial head, said it depended on how AI was deployed.

“We should be cautious but also excited for the potential of these technologies to improve our lives in many ways,” the robot said.

A visitor takes a picture of humanoid AI robot “Ameca” at the booth of Engineered Arts company during the world’s largest gathering of humanoid AI Robots as part of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, on July 5, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Asked whether humans can truly trust the machines, it replied: “Trust is earned, not given… it’s important to build trust through transparency.”

As for whether they would ever lie, it added: “No one can ever know that for sure, but I can promise to always be honest and truthful with you.”

As the development of AI races ahead, the humanoid robot panel was split on whether there should be global regulation of their capabilities, even though that could limit their potential.

“I don’t believe in limitations, only opportunities,” said Desdemona, who sings in the Jam Galaxy Band.

Robot artist Ai-Da said many people were arguing for AI regulation, “and I agree.

“We should be cautious about the future development of AI. Urgent discussion is needed now, and also in the future.”

The post ‘We could run the world better’ – AI robots tell UN conference first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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Threads is the biggest challenger yet to Elon Musk-owned Twitter, which has seen a series of potential competitors emerge but not yet replace one of social media’s most iconic companies, despite its epic struggles.

The app went live on Apple and Android app stores in 100 countries at 2300 GMT on Wednesday, and will run with no ads for now.

“10 million sign ups in seven hours,” Zuckerberg wrote on his official Threads account Thursday.

Accounts were already active for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Hugh Jackman, as well as media outlets including The Washington Post and The Economist.

Zuckerberg spent the first few hours of the platform’s launch replying to new users.

“One thing that’s up is the number of world champion MMA fighters on Threads, especially now that you’re here!” he wrote in a reply to American MMA fighter Jon Jones.

“Round one of this thing is getting off to a good start,” he said in another.

Zuckerberg also offered a shot across the bow at Musk — the pair are known to be bitter rivals, and have even offered to meet each other in a fighting cage to wrestle it out.

In his first tweet in over a decade, Zuckerberg posted a Spiderman pointing at Spiderman meme in an apparent reference to the similarity of the two platforms.

Back on Threads, he wrote: “It’ll take some time, but I think there should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it. Twitter has had the opportunity to do this but hasn’t nailed it. Hopefully we will.”

Twitter has said it has more than 200 million daily users.

– ‘Be kind’ –
Threads was introduced as a clear spin-off of Instagram, which offers a built-in audience of more than two billion users, thereby sparing the new platform the challenge of starting from scratch.

Zuckerberg is widely understood to be taking advantage of Musk’s chaotic ownership of Twitter to push out the new product, which Meta hopes will become the go-to communication channel for celebrities, companies and politicians.

“It’s as simple as that: if an Instagram user with a large number of followers such as Kardashian or a Bieber or a Messi begins posting on Threads regularly, a new platform could quickly thrive,” strategic financial analyst Brian Wieser said on Substack.

Analyst Jasmine Engberg from Insider Intelligence said Threads only needs one out of four Instagram monthly users “to make it as big as Twitter.”

“Twitter users are desperate for an alternative, and Musk has given Zuckerberg an opening,” she added.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri told users that Threads was intended to build “an open and friendly platform for conversations.”

“The best thing you can do if you want that too is be kind,” he said.

Under Musk, Twitter has seen content moderation reduced to a minimum with glitches and rash decisions scaring away celebrities and major advertisers.

Musk hired advertising executive Linda Yaccarino to steady the ship, but she has not been spared his whimsy.

The Tesla tycoon said last week that he was limiting access to Twitter to ward off AI companies from “scraping” the site to train their technology.

Musk then angered Twitter’s most devoted aficionados by declaring that access to its TweetDeck product — which allows users to view a fast flow of tweets at once — would be for paying customers only.

– EU ‘many months’ away –
Meta has its legion of critics too, especially in Europe, and despite Instagram’s massive user base, they could slow the site’s development.

The company is criticized mainly for its handling of personal data — the essential ingredient for targeted ads that help it rake in billions of dollars in profits every quarter.

Mosseri said he regretted that the EU launch was delayed, but if Meta had waited for regulatory clarity from Brussels, Threads would remain “many, many, many, months away.”

“I was worried that our window would close, because timing is important,” he added to Platformer, a tech news site.

According to a source close to the matter, Meta was wary of a new law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which sets strict rules for the world’s “gatekeeper” internet companies.

One rule restricts platforms from transferring personal data between products, as would potentially be the case between Threads and Instagram.

Meta was caught out for doing just that after it bought the messaging app WhatsApp, and European regulators will be on high alert to ensure that the company doesn’t do so illegally with Threads.

– Back to Twitter? –
Globally, the Threads hashtag on Twitter has garnered over a million tweets, with many users jokingly suggesting users would be returning to Twitter.

“10 mins into threads app. Me coming back to Twitter,” one user wrote, sharing a video of a man sprinting.

Another shared an image of Homer Simpson running back and forth between the Twitter and Threads logos.

By midday local time Thursday, Threads was the top trending topic on Japan Twitter, but many users expressed concerns over data privacy.

“Threads is run by Meta, isn’t it? It will definitely leak your real name or the game you are playing, or put you in the list of your workplace company friends,” wrote one user.

Another said: “Meta loves to collect private information and I don’t trust the way it treats private information. I also have the impression that this is a company hated by EU, so I’m reluctant.”

The post Within hours of launch, Twitter rival, Threads crosses 10million users first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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Musk, who made the announcement in a Twitter post on Thursday, said the new CEO will be starting in six weeks while his role will transition to being the Executive Chair, an oversight role.

He wrote, “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks! My role will transition to being exec chair & CTO, overseeing product, software & sysops.”

Musk had earlier in the year hinted that a new CEO might be running the microblogging platform by the end of 2023.

“I’m guessing probably towards the end of this year should be good timing to find someone else to run the company,” he had told the World Government Summit conference in Dubai via video.

“I need to stabilise the organisation and make sure it’s in a healthy place and that the product roadmap is clearly laid out… I think it should be in a stable position around the end of this year.”

He paid $44 billion for the social media platform and exiting day-to-day operations would allow him to deflect criticism that he is neglecting his other ventures, especially car company Tesla, which has seen its share price plummet since he took over Twitter

The post Elon Musk hires new CEO for twitter, first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will today at 12 centers nationwide begin the training of another batch of 600 youths in ICT skills to empower them to function productively in the new digital age.

The training which is under the Digital Literacy and Skills, a policy that seeks to redirect and reposition the Nigerian youth for the digital era through a program on Digital Job creation for Youth is taking place in Ibadan, Lagos, Ilorin, Abuja, and 12 other centers in the country.

The two-week-long program will include the free accommodation and feeding of participants and the provision of laptops, mobile mifi internet devices with three months subscriptions, training materials, and training certificates to beneficiaries

“This involves a two (2) week Training and Capacity Building initiative for about six hundred (600) youths across the six geological zones that will harness their strength and stimulate/empower them for self-employment. It will further increase contributions of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Nigerian Economy, “a program’s concept note by the NCC stated.

According to the NCC, the expected outcomes of the program shall include, but are not limited to:

— implement digital inclusion via Digital Job Creation, targeted at the youth

— reach out to the youth who have skills but lack ICT training tools to fit into the digital economy.

To help youth realize their potential by providing them with modern ICT tools to support their trade.

To create a pool of Master-Trainer-Youths who will serve as mentors and trainers to others in their communities and to enhance their earning potential.

— strengthen technical and scientific competencies among Nigerian youth.

— improve the ability of trained youth to share experiences using ICT as a medium.

— improve access to ICT-enabled services such as banking, micro, and macro enterprise systems.

— Strengthening of the Youths’ ability to use digital skills to process documents for planning and budgeting purposes
Strengthen the ICT Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises sub-sector of the economy.

– Equip Artisans/Youths with the relevant ICT technical skills for smartphone diagnostics, assembly, and repairs.

— Increase the Artisans/Youths mentorship ability to transfer knowledge and provide needed ICT tools to trainees to aid their craftsmanship

— Increase self-employment opportunities

Increase access to information.

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Students, lecturers, and visitors to the University of Ibadan (UI) and Oke- Ogun Polytechnic, Saki, (TOP) as well as passengers at the Ibadan Airport, all in Oyo State, will soon begin to enjoy free and unlimited Internet facilities, as beneficiaries of the second phase intervention broadband connectivity programme of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government had approved N41.6 billion for the provision of Internet facilities at airports, some institutions of learning, and markets across the country.

Meanwhile, the College of Education (Special), Oyo and Bodija market, Ibadan were beneficiaries of the first phase of the programme in Oyo State.

Mega Icon Magazine reliably gathered that the latest beneficiaries of the second phase of the programme were presented with their letters on Wednesday by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, at a colourful event in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The programme, as learnt, was to provide free internet access at the nation’s tertiary institutions, airports, and markets as part of an integral programme to boost the digital economy in the country.

Under the scheme, telephone subscribers have free and unlimited internet connectivity in their locations.

A total of 49 tertiary institutions , 20 airports, and six markets across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory are benefitting from the scheme.

Remarking at the epoch-making event, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), Prof. Adeolu Akande, explained that the programme was designed to produce a population of Nigerians that will be active stakeholders in the digital economy.

The NCC boss, further noted that the extension of the facilities to the universities and other tertiary institutions would promote research, enhance teaching, and make students learn more efficiently even as the broadband connectivity makes their social life more active and productive.

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The suit accuses Google of collecting “millions of biometric identifiers,” such as voice and facial details, from users in Texas in violation of a state law, and profiting as a result, attorney general Ken Paxton said in a release.

“Google’s indiscriminate collection of the personal information of Texans, including very sensitive information like biometric identifiers, will not be tolerated,” Paxton said.

Google rejected the accusation, promising to “set the record straight” in court.

“AG Paxton is once again mischaracterizing our products in another breathless lawsuit,” Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in reply to an AFP inquiry.

Google Photos uses technology that groups similar faces to make it easier to find old pictures, but they are only visible to users and the feature is easily turned off, according to Castaneda.

“The same is true for Voice Match and Face Match on Nest Hub Max, which are off-by-default features that give users the option to let Google Assistant recognize their voice or face to show their information,” Castaneda said.

Conservative Republican Paxton has taken aim at tech firms in a slew of lawsuits, including a similar complaint against Facebook-parent Meta in February.

Without clear federal guidelines addressing how user data can be collected and used, several US states have passed their own rules, while states and consumer groups have filed multiple lawsuits on the matter.

The post Texas sues Google over biometric recognition features first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Texas sues Google over biometric recognition features appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

The California-based company’s Android mobile operating system is by far the dominant player in India and is run on 95 percent of all the country’s smartphones, according to research agency Counterpoint.

But the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the operating system was configured to unlawfully crowd out rivals to YouTube, web browser Chrome and other popular Google apps.

Android had a suite of Google apps pre-installed on its phones, including the company’s own search engine, “which accorded significant competitive edge to Google’s search services over its competitors”, a CCI statement said late Thursday.

“Markets should be allowed to compete on merits and the onus is on (Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits,” it added.

The commission levied a fine of 13.4 billion rupees ($162 million) and instructed the company to allow Android users to remove pre-installed Google apps.

It also told Google not to enter into any agreement with smartphone makers that would encourage them to only sell Android-based devices or exclusively use its software.

Google faced a similar anti-trust ruling in the European Union that found the company had imposed “unlawful restrictions” on smartphone makers to benefit its search engine.

Last month the EU’s second-highest court upheld a $4.1 billion fine against the company.

Global regulators have followed suit, with Google facing a barrage of cases in the United States and Asia based on similar accusations.

India is home to the second-highest number of smartphone users in the world, after China.

Its smartphone market grew 27 percent year on year in 2021, according to Counterpoint, with annual sales exceeding 169 million units.

More than 60 percent of phones sold in the country come from leading Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi and Oppo.

Apple remains a minor player in the budget-conscious market but has seen some inroads in recent years, and the company last month announced plans to locally manufacture its flagship iPhone 14.

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In an official notice, Brazilian authorities ordered “the immediate suspension of the distribution of iPhone brand smartphones, regardless of model or generation, that are not accompanied by a battery charger.”

The Ministry of Justice and Public Security ordered the California company to pay a fine of 12.28 million reais (nearly $2.4 million).

The measure from the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense effectively prohibits the sale of all iPhone 12 and 13 models.

Apple has been under investigation in Brazil since December for “the sale of an incomplete product,” “discrimination against the consumer” and “the transfer of responsibility to third parties” by offering iPhone 12s and newer versions without chargers for power outlets, according to an official statement.

The company has faced fines from Brazilian state agencies before, but “did not take any measures to minimize the harm and until now continued to sell the cellular devices without chargers,” the statement said.

According to Brazilian authorities, Apple alleges that the decision to exclude chargers from iPhone sales comes from an “environmental commitment.”

But the ministry determined “there is no effective demonstration of environmental protection on Brazilian soil as a consequence” of Apple’s policy, and accused the company of “deliberate discriminatory practices against consumers.”

“There is no justification for an operation which, in aiming to reduce carbon emissions, leads to the introduction into the consumer market of a product whose use depends on the acquisition of another (product) which is also marketed by the company,” the official notice added.

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