If you’re smack in the middle of your favorite song but you have to leave the house suddenly, LG’s new Music Flow system has you covered. The Music Flow sound bar, network bridge and wireless speakers connect to an app that seamlessly keeps playing as you leave the house.

The new Music Flow Speakers (H3, H5, and H7), HS6 Sound Bar and R1 Network Bridge all will connect wirelessly with the help of the dedicated smartphone app.

“LG Music Flow takes the fast-growing concept of wireless multi-room audio systems to a new level with its smart convenience and superior sound quality,” says the electronics manufacturer.

“Our advanced system can create a personal soundtrack that not only follows the listener from room to room, but also when the user enters the home. LG engineers have set a whole new standard by introducing features and functions to the wireless audio system category that have never been available before on competing units.”

Auto Music Play is one of the many compelling features of the new LG Music Flow. Users can listen to music outdoors on a smartphone and automatically switch to Music Flow when arriving home. And with HomeChat integration, users can remotely ask LG Music Flow on the way home for song and playlist recommendations suitable for dinner guests arriving later that evening.

The wireless sound ecosystem is controlled by the Music Flow Player app for Apple or Android which acts as the command centre and stream streams music from services such as Spotify, Deezer, and Napster, Internet radio stations, or from any gadgets connected to your home Wi-Fi network.

LG Music Flow employs mesh network technology and dual band Wi-Fi to ensure uninterrupted, crystal-clear HD music playback unlike competing systems that rely on a single access point which causes music interruptions and pauses whenever the signal level drops. Expanding LG Music Flow with additional speakers is an absolute breeze.

To guarantee optimal sound performance, LG developed and implemented a proprietary Automatic Loudness Compensation Algorithm in the Music Flow. This advanced software technology ensures audio strength and clarity across all frequencies.

In addition, each speaker features an advanced nano-fiber pulp and foam paper diaphragm that further improves the quality of the sound. Unique to the HS6 Sound Bar model, LG’s Stereo Field Extension (SFX) Algorithm creates a larger sweet spot and amplifies the surround sound effect.

LG Music Flow is the first system in its category to feature 24 bit/192kHz Hi-Fi playback across multiple inter-connectable devices that reproduces studio-like quality sound, far superior to a CD or digital MP3 music. Now, consumers can hear a level of realism that hasn’t been possible before in a wireless multi-room audio system for the home.

Easy Taxi and Dettol have set up a training session for the Easy Taxi drivers during their monthly meeting to inform them on the preventive measures and symptoms of the deadly Ebola virus.

“Considering the immense importance of maintaining a clean hygiene, Red Care is happy to be a part of equipping and enlightening the drivers with adequate information on the virus to recruit them as agents of change to spread the word about the importance of personal hygiene. This, we hope, will help improve the public knowledge and contain the spread of the virus.” – Dr. Babajide Oyeduntan, Head of Corporate Services, Red Care LTD

Easy Taxi, Nigeria’s premier taxi service, which allows users to hail a cab from the touch of a button, continues to live up to expectations by consistently taking measures to ensure it doesn’t compromise on its services especially when it comes to the safety and convenience of its drivers and riders.

“Dettol is partnering with Easy Taxi in order to reach as many Nigerians as possible with our Ebola Awareness Campaign. This is one out of many platforms we will be using to educate Nigerians on how to avoid this deadly virus which has claimed valuable lives over the course of a few months.

“Other platforms will include going to religious gatherings, motor parks, markets, corporate organisations, hospitals, schools and neighborhoods. This campaign is very important to us because we care about our people and their hygiene,” states Wole Elusakin RB Marketing and Activation Lead, West Africa.

Marketingpilgrim.com estimates that US online retail spend will reach just under $300 billion this year alone, meaning that it would be interesting to see how the South African online retail environment fairs against global statistics.

Statistics gathered from over 116,000 respondents during the 2014 South African eCommerce Awards survey show that 73% of respondents spend their hard earned money on Books, DVD’s, Games and Music when shopping online and 49% of these consumers tend to visit the same site for repeat purchases. 31% of respondents make more than 10 purchases a year with 49% of these consumers spending between R250 – R500 per basket.

It is evident that South Africa’s online purchasing is growing exponentially and at this year’s eCommerce Conference, to be held on the 4th September 2014 at Gallagher Convention Centre, we can expect to hear the results of online shopping trends and online consumer purchasing behaviours, as well as gain significant insight into the types of products being purchased, how much our local market is spending online, and an understanding of how industry leaders expect these figures to move over the next year and beyond.

Aside from announcing the results of uAfrica.com’s research survey, conducted, during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of this year, Luke Mckend who is currently the Country Director for Google South Africa will be discussing ‘Africa as a mobile first continent.’  Among other industry leaders is one of the International Key Note Speakers, Brennan Loh, Head of Business Development at Shopify. Hailing from Ottawa, Canada, Loh manages Shopify’s strategic channel partners as well as the company’s network of global resellers and will be discussing The Future of Online Retail’ – Shopify explores new technologies in retail from an International perspective.

“The purpose of the eCommerce conference is to help SME’s understand the dynamic of the online retail environments, inform and educate the delegates about the current ‘buzz’ word, omnichannel retail and enable these business owners to effectively manage their businesses online,” said Andy Higgins, Managing Director of uAfrica.com, hosts of the annual eCommerce Conference.

“We also want to be able to provide these business owners with tools to help improve online purchase processes, inventory management applications and how to make technology work for them, as well as help with business growth and sustainability suggestions based on our survey findings. The 2014 eCommerce Award winners will also be announced at the conference,’ concluded Higgins.

PAYTOO Mobile Wallet has enhanced its services, this time round providing bill payment functionality on a nationwide coverage.

This new bill payment feature provides fast, secured and convenient online bill payment solutions, according to the company. Customers have access to an easier way to pay their bills and will be able to manage their entire bill payment process online, from anywhere and at anytime.

The bill payment function with over 10,000 local and national billers is now available with the PAYTOO Mobile Wallet and offers anyone the possibility to pay a bill from his or her cell phone. The PAYTOO system is now fully completed offering services from direct deposit to bill payment, and in between, a full range of services to include top ups, virtual cards, gift cards, prepaid cards and more.

“More than 60 million of unbanked Americans need to pay their bills and PAYTOO offers a unique full mobile and affordable solution with the most complete catalogue of billers available on the market” said Javier Garcia Jimenez, Marketing Manager of PAYTOO.

PAYTOO Mobile Wallet™ confirms its position in the market and its goal to be the best alternative for the thousands of people left out by the banking system.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that we need more than $430 million to end the Ebola menace. The plan sets a goal of reversing the trend in new cases within two months, and stopping all transmission in six to nine months. It requires funding by governments, development banks, the private sector and in-kind contributions, according to the document obtained by Bloomberg News.

“There is reason to be concerned about whether the proposed resources would be adequate,” said Barry Bloom, a public health professor at Harvard University who also questioned whether the funds would be made available face enough, and whether the organization’s latest plan would ensure the expertise from WHO that is needed.

WHO criticized The European Commission and aid groups including Doctors Without Borders have criticized the WHO for a lack of leadership in coordinating the fight against the outbreak.

“It’s not a question of incompetence or complacency,” according to Morrison, who said the WHO should be able to raise the money needed. It’s the fact we’re catching up with the unknown, and its way ahead of us.

Treatment centers More than half the cost will be needed for the treatment, isolation and referral centers that are bearing the brunt of the epidemic, according to the WHO plan. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are among the world’s poorest countries, and weak health systems combined with a lack of experienced health-care workers has contributed to the epidemic, the WHO has said.

The WHO this month declared Ebola in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern. A separate outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed as many as 13 people, the government in that country said on Monday.

In West Africa, more than 240 health care workers have been infected and 120 have died, the agency said in a statement yesterday. Among them is Abraham Borbor, the deputy chief medical officer of Liberia’s John F. Kennedy Medical Center, who died despite being treated with Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc.’s experimental ZMapp medicine, the nation’s information minister said.

Experimental drug Borbor was one of three Liberian health-care workers being treated with ZMapp, the same drug that was used on two American aid workers who were evacuated to the US after being infected in Liberia.

Clearly, a massively scaled and coordinated international response is needed to support affected and at-risk countries. The document has been shared with the WHO’s partners for comment and will be published once their feedback has been received, Chaib said.

The final document will include a country- by-country plan for dealing with the outbreak, she said.

Google Nigeria has launched a first of a kind online advertising it calls called the YouTube Masthead to provide advertisers and brand owners in the country with an unparalleled opportunity to compete in the global market sphere.

The YouTube Masthead will allow advertisers to run their advertisements on the YouTube homepage through customized mastheads for the whole day. This platform also gives them the opportunity to explore the YouTube homepage with classy video plug-and-play format that helps brands interact with the consumers.

The homepage aims at building awareness, influencing perceptions and to rev-up the mind and market share of the brand, while remaining consistent with the overall YouTube experience.

“Online is now an essential part of the marketing mix and more advertisers than ever are utilizing the benefits and alongside traditional media. Since YouTube was launched in Nigeria in 2011, there have been lots of interests from brands wanting to brand and ‘takeover’ Google properties,” Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, country manager, Google Nigeria says.

The launch of Youtube Masthead, which is essentially the full takeover of the Youtube homepage, now presents advertisers a terrific opportunity to engage with YouTube users when they arrive on the YouTube homepage (www.youtube.com.ng)”. It is a highly effective online advertising platform for reaching massive audiences with an affordable budget”.

The new YouTube Masthead format is already gaining ground with top Nigerian brands like Glo, Airtel, UBA, Rexona, Star, Gulder and Samsung having already run campaigns to drive traffic, attract subscribers and engage Nigeria’s growing YouTube user population.

Advertisers in Nigeria will now reach consumers in their different destinations, amassing massive flow of referral traffic through YouTube and increase brand related searches on Google.

Airtel Money Uganda has been voted the Best Digital Financial Service of the year at the Digital Impact Awards Africa. Airtel Money has nationwide agent network which allows as many people to access the service as possible. It’s also simple and customers transact with one single code *185# to send and receive money across networks at the lowest rates and enjoy more services on Airtel Money.

Held on Thursday 21st August at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, the award ceremony was organized by Cyberplc, HiPipo and Global Networks Limited in partnership with Nita-Uganda. The 1^st Digital Impact Awards aim to promote innovations and best practices that will deliver maximum digital dividends.

The extensive proficiency of Airtel’s partners in their respective fields has allowed the company to collaborate with some of the best and most respected businesses to bring consumers in the mobile services space a secure environment. Airtel Money customers can experience newer and more innovative services and ways to send money to their loved ones.

The platform provides instant services when using your Airtel Money to transfer money at your convenience. The services include;

1. Send money across networks at the most affordable rates as low as 450/=
2. Top up airtime, for both self and other Airtel customers and get bonuses
3. Pay bills (UMEME, NWSC, Multiplex, URA & all pay TVs – DStv/GoTv, TVNext, StarTimes, ZukuTv, MoTv) instantly and more conveniently.
4. Withdraw money the easiest & most convenient way, either at an agent point or ATM (Equity Bank, GTB, Interswitch). The agent spread is now wider for your reach.
5. Mobile Banking – access your bank account now with Equity Bank.

All this comes with a new friend, guide and confidant that will help you with all your money transfer solutions and that is MR. MONEY.

It has only been four years since Paypal entered its first deal with South Africa’s First National Bank (FNB). The online payment platform now has more than 1 million accounts in the country.

Paypal has provided a simple and secure way to shop and pay on many websites globally, it has 152-million active accounts in 203 markets around the world.

“Online commerce creates a world of opportunities for buyers and sellers, but entering card details on an overseas website or accepting a payment from someone overseas can be concerning,” says Malvina Goldfeld of PayPal. “What PayPal represents is trust, which is why we process over 9-million payments every day, including 2,4-million international payments.”

The partnership between FNB and Papal has seen customers withdraw money for a Paypal account to any eligible bank account as well as topping up the account form any FNB bank account.

Erna Vakis, general manager complementary online services at FNB, said: “One-million accounts is an extremely significant milestone for both PayPal and FNB.”

Ryan Bacher, MD and founder of NetFlorist, commented that e-commerce forces individuals to think globally.

Bacher said: “With a high-quality, reputable brand, your potential customers are not only those in your home country. Many South Africans living overseas use our website to send flowers to family back home for example.

 “As a globally recognized and accepted brand, the PayPal payment option makes people feel more secure when making their final payment.”