Botswana is in the process of meeting the 2013 SADC and 2015 world deadlines for the television broadcasting digital migrations, as the Vice President Dr. Ponatshego Kedikilwe last week introduced the beginning of digital broadcasting migration in Botswana.

Dr. Kedikilwe said the inauguration of terrestrial television in Botswana included the founding of a joint task force between Japan and Botswana as they facilitate the transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.

 “Government is very much alive to the fact that technological transformation of this magnitude will not come without significant initial cost and potentially on-going development costs over time,” he said.

The Vice President held that the government was ready to facilitate public private partnerships for the implementation of digital television and related industries in the areas of manufacturing, content generation and human resource development.

Now, the Vice President stated that the government has invested an excess of P160 million (USD18.7million) to aid in the expansion of radio and television transmission network alone.

Minister for Presidential and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi said that the country had

The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi, said Botswana selected the Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting Terrestrial (ISDB-T) standard, developed in Japan after directing thorough tests and trials to determine the most appropriate and beneficial mode for Botswana.

“Botswana remained conscious of the need to derive maximum technological, economic and social benefits for our population, with any of the various digital broadcasting standards,” he stressed.

The Japanese vice minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, Tachibana Keiichiro said his country and Botswana have, through mutual agreement, committed to the Joint Task Force for cooperation in digital broadcasting hence they will assist Botswana with human resources to transfer technology to Botswana.

Botswana’s Minister of Transport and Communications Mr Nonofo Molefhi said in SADC’s some member states proposed the referral of migration dates, something, which he said, signified that the investment was not a small task as it required collaboration, education and partnerships

US president, Barak Obama, has used his power of veto over the US ITC to avoid an import ban on some older Apple iPhones and iPads.

The ban had been ordered by the US ITC after finding out that the Apple products had trespassed on the copyrights of Samsung.

The sanction could have applied to older iPhone 4 and iPad 2 3G models that run on networks operated by AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as two regional networks in Texas and Alaska.

Micheal Froman, White house official, outlined the decision in a letter to overrule the US ITC’s decision. The main argument the main argument is that the copyrights cited by Samsung in the dispute are also considered to be “standards essential” and are supposed to be licensed on fair terms.

Although Samsung won the legal argument, the White House can reject that decision if it feels it would cause determinate damage to the US economy or consumers.

“We are disappointed that the U.S. trade representative has decided to set aside the exclusion order issued by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The ITC’s decision correctly recognized that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a license,” said Samsung, responding to the decision.

Apple was pleased and said that Samsung was wrong to abuse that patent system in that way. However, Samsung can still pursue other legal remedies against Apple, other than seeking an import ban.

The last time a US ITC decision was overturned in this way was back in 1987.

Google has made it official that it is working on a new website that will allow users to locate their lost Android Smartphone.

They intend to make the Android Device Manager (ADM) accessible late this month. The ADM will either track a mobile phone’s location on a mapping service or cause the phone to ring loudly if you lost it in your own home.

The service will be available on devices running Android 2.2 or above and in order to use it, users also will need to be signed into their Google Account.

There will also be an Android app to allow users to easily find and manage their devices including the ability to remotely wipe handset data if the phone is stolen.

Apple and Windows Phone based devices have had a similar “location” facility for lost and stolen phones, and that has often lead to news articles about thieves being arrested after the iPhone was tracked to their home.

Researchers from Rice University in the United States have come up with two prototype solar sterilizers that will enable medical institution in remote areas sterilize medical equipment.

The new devices consist of a vessel containing water and gold nanoparticles that is placed in sunshine collected using a solar dish. The nanoparticles absorb the sunlight and this heat produces steam.

The usual method of sterilizing medical equipment includes steam, which consumes power and water. Some of the medical facilities in rural Africa are not connected to the national power grid and this might not be favorable.

“Although steam-based sterilization is the primary method of choice for the processing of medical waste in the developed world, the large energy requirement for operation is the fundamental limitation for its adoption in developing countries, with limited or nonexistent access to sources of electricity sufficient to power such systems,” the study says.

The temperatures of the two prototypes are between 115 and 132 degrees Celsius for the time period sufficient to sterilize the contents of a 14.2 liter volume. This is in accordance with the US Food and Drug Administration sterilization guidelines.

“Some consideration should be given to a method of ensuring the items to be sterilised stay at or above the required temperature for the required time without having to watch the process,” Tony Collins, managing director of UK-based autoclave manufacturer Priorclave said.

The use of the gold nanoparticles have raised question of the possible price of the items and if poor communities can afford the technology. The prototypes have not yet been field tested and as soon as they are, it will be clear what value they would add to rural medical institutions.

Refugee body, UNHCR has adopted a new barcode technology to aid it in distributing food in their camps, cutting distribution time from 10 days to 4 days.

This new barcode technology will be embedded in a card given to all the families in the camp and they can have it scanned as they receive their food rations.

“Previously, staff had to refer to a printed list of all families living in the camp, a lengthy process and one which inevitably led to mistakes, at the Yida settlement in northern South Sudan, which is home to more than 70,000 refugees,” the body said.

The technology helps generate valuable data on how many people are receiving the rations. Other data captured include their gender and their biometrics.

“If a card is determined to be invalid, its owner has the opportunity to argue his or her case at a desk set up to arbitrate disputes within the distribution centre,” UNHCR said.

“The simple technology that we are using allows us to make the monthly distribution of rations easier for the refugees and for UNHCR and our partners. It saves time and manpower and allows us to reduce fraud resulting from lost or stolen ration cards,” Tunzaw Oo, an Associate Registration Officer with the UN refugee agency.

Samaritan Purse another aid organization is also using the same barcode technology to distribute food and get information on malnutrition in camps.

The UNHCR team in Yida is also examining the possibility of installing wireless internet technology in the camp that would link two distributions sites and allow data to be entered and accessed from different locations.