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Apple Rolls Out Four-Model iPhone 12

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iPhone 12 release

By Adedapo Adesanya

Apple announced its four-model iPhone 12 line up on Tuesday, October 13, bringing back the iPhone’s design since 2017’s iPhone X, which introduced face unlocking and better screen technology.

The newly designed iPhone 12 models feature expansive edge-to-edge Super Retina XDR displays for a brighter, more immersive viewing experience, and a new Ceramic Shield front cover, providing the biggest jump in durability ever on iPhone.

In addition to more models, the phone came with 5G wireless support. 5G on iPhone boasts improved speeds for faster downloads and uploads, higher quality video streaming, more responsive gaming, real-time interactivity in apps, FaceTime in high definition, and more.

They also came with the Apple-designed A14 Bionic, the fastest chip in a smartphone coupled with an advanced dual-camera system. This has the ability to deliver meaningful new computational photography features and the highest quality video in a smartphone.

The new iPhone 12 models also introduce MagSafe, offering high-powered wireless charging and an all-new ecosystem of accessories that easily attach to the iPhone. These chargers do not use cord but instead, use magnetic pins to connect the charging cable with the device.

The new models also feature Smart Data mode, which extends battery life by intelligently assessing 5G needs and balancing data usage, speed, and power in real-time.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini will be available in five beautiful aluminium surfaces, including blue, green, black, white, and red. The iPhone 12 comes in 6.1-inch while the iPhone 12 mini comes in a 5.4-inch.  This makes the iPhone 12 mini is the smallest, thinnest, and lightest 5G smartphone in the world.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini have water resistance up to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes and are protected against everyday spills, including coffee and soda.

iPhone 12 features the first camera to shoot HDR video with Dolby Vision and is the first and only device in the world to enable an end-to-end Dolby Vision experience which allows customers to easily capture, edit, and share cinema-grade videos.

Both models also now feature improved cinematic video stabilization, even more, true-to-life selfie videos with Dolby Vision, and Night mode Time-Lapse, offering longer exposure times for sharper videos, better light trails, and smoother exposure in low-light scenarios when used with a tripod.

In terms of cost, the phones have a starting price of $799 (N302,800) and $699 (N264,900) respectively

Pre-orders for iPhone 12 begin Friday, October 16, with availability beginning Friday, October 23. iPhone 12 mini will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, November 6, and in stores beginning Friday, November 13.

iPhone 12 will be available in India, South Korea, and more than a dozen other countries and regions beginning Friday, October 30.

iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max

iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max will be available in four stainless steel finishes, including graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue.

With impressively larger, edge-to-edge displays with reduced borders in familiar sizes, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max features a Super Retina XDR display with systemwide colour management for industry-leading colour accuracy.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max offers the largest display ever on an iPhone and the highest resolution featuring nearly 3.5 million pixels for a remarkable, true-to-life viewing experience. These OLED displays bring HDR video content to life, reaching 1200 nits peak brightness.

Just like the iPhone 12 and its mini equivalent, the two models come with the ability to withstand water submersion up to 6 meters for up to 30 minutes.

The iPhone 12 Pro features the new seven-element lens Wide camera with an ƒ/1.6 aperture, the fastest ever on an iPhone while the iPhone 12 Pro Max takes the pro camera experience even further. The new ƒ/1.6 aperture Wide camera boasts a 47 per cent larger sensor with better improvement and experience in low-light conditions.

The 12 Pro models offer the highest quality video in a smartphone and are the first cameras and only devices in the world to enable an end-to-end experience for HDR video with Dolby Vision, up to 60 frames per second (fps), and even better video stabilization for cinema-grade productions.

In addition to these, the HomePod Mini smart speaker was launched and a stealth release of the $50 Beats Flex wireless headphones.

Adedapo Adesanya is a journalist, polymath, and connoisseur of everything art. When he is not writing, he has his nose buried in one of the many books or articles he has bookmarked or simply listening to good music with a bottle of beer or wine. He supports the greatest club in the world, Manchester United F.C.

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Nigerian Tech Firms Raise $100m in Q1 2025 Amid Funding Squeeze

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By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian tech firms attracted just $100 million in funding in the first quarter of 2025, raising worries about investment crunch into Africa.

This is part of a wider slowdown in funding on the continent as funding into the African tech ecosystem dropped 5 per cent to $460 million in the first quarter of 2025, according to data by Africa: The Big Deal.

The decline shows the consistent drop in venture capital funding on the continent, which fell from $486 million raised in the same period of 2024,

The data insight firm, which tracks funding rounds of $100,000 and above, revealed that nearly $300 million was raised by start-ups in January, and fell to $119 million in February.

March saw one of the lowest monthly totals since late 2020, with just $50 million in funding announced.

The Big Deal noted that despite a steady number of start-ups securing funding, the lack of deals exceeding $10 million significantly impacted overall investment figures.

“Q1 2025 is the second-lowest quarter in terms of start-up funding since late 2020,” the insight company noted.

“However, things are looking more positive if we focus on the number of start-ups that announced at least $1 million in funding during the quarter, with 52 such deals aligning with the 2023-2024 average,” a post seen by Business Post showed.

Nigeria alongside Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt – referred to as the Big Four – got 83 per cent of funding during the period under review.

Nigeria attracted roughly over $100 million in funding (24 per cent), same as Kenya (24 per cent) and followed closely by South Africa with $100 million (22 per cent).

Egypt secured $61 million (14 per cent), while Togo emerged as a surprise entry in the top five, buoyed by Gozem’s $30 million Series B funding round.

Fintech remained the dominant sector, accounting for nearly half (46 per cent) of total investment, the report disclosed with deals including LemFi’s $53 million raise and Naked’s $38 million.

The energy sector followed with an 18 per cent share of the total funding, while logistics and transportation startups secured 10 per cent.

It raised eye brows over the disparity in gender based funding with just over 2 per cent ($10 million) of Q1 funding went to female CEOs.

The largest such deal being a $6.2 million grant awarded to South African biotech firm, African Biologics.

Excluding grant funding, female-led start-ups accounted for a mere 0.7 per cent of all investments  while in contrast, Big Deal added that 79 per cent of total funding went to either solo male founders (11 per cent) or all-male founding teams (67 per cent).

It revealed that diverse founding teams attracted 20 per cent of the investment, this remains a modest improvement compared to previous quarters.

“A mere 1% was invested in solo female founders or female-only teams,” the report said.

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Equinix Boosts Nigeria’s Digital Economy With Data Centre Expansion

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 By Adedapo Adesanya

Digital infrastructure company, Equinix Incorporated, has officially opened its latest data center expansion in Lagos as part of efforts to advancing Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy.

Called LG2.3, the facility will support Nigeria’s growing digital transformation efforts, providing state-of-the-art colocation and secure interconnection solutions which will empower businesses across the region.

Nigeria is targeting 200MW data capacity but it so far generates less than 70 MW and with more data center springing up in the country, this will bring further the target to fruition.

Equinix, which is one of these firms, said it is steadfast in its mission to enable secure, scalable, and sustainable digital growth for economies across the world.

Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Bruce Owen, President of EMEA at Equinix, said Nigeria is a crucial market for Equinix, adding that it symbolises Equinix’s continued investment in sustainable initiatives across the globe and highlighting the company’s broader goal of reducing its carbon footprint while supporting greener practices across its operations worldwide.

“Today’s opening is a clear demonstration of our continued commitments to invest and grow digital infrastructure that will benefit the many thousands of businesses in Nigeria and on the continent as a whole. I am deeply encouraged by the enthusiastic partnerships and innovations emerging from this dynamic region, which continue to inspire our commitment to Nigeria’s digital and sustainable future.”

On his part, Mr Wole Abu, Managing Director of Equinix West Africa, highlighted the critical role of data centers in driving economic growth.

“Data centers continue to play a pivotal role in driving economic development in Nigeria, serving as critical infrastructure that supports digital transformation and economic growth. As governments and enterprises increasingly acknowledge their significance, global demand for data center capacity is poised to rise.

“While Africa’s demand for data solutions is still evolving compared to more mature markets, the continent is demonstrating strong potential for digital adoption and innovation. To meet this growing need, Equinix is actively advancing three major data center projects in Nigeria, with future expansion plans for Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and South Africa.”

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OpenAI Raises $40bn to Boost AI Research

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OpenAI

By Adedapo Adesanya

Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, OpenAI, on Monday announced that it closed one of the largest private funding rounds in history to boost AI research.

According to a blog post on the company’s website, OpenAI raised $40 billion in a round that values the company at $300 billion.

Japan’s SoftBank led the round, with other participants including Microsoft, Coatue, Altimeter, and Thrive, all of which are earlier backers in the outfit.

OpenAI said it plans to use the fresh capital to “push the frontiers of AI research even further” and scale its compute infrastructure, according to the blog post.

“[This new capital] enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further, scale our compute infrastructure, and deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week,” OpenAI wrote in the blog post.

“We’re excited to be working in partnership with SoftBank Group — few companies understand how to scale transformative technology like they do.”

About $18 billion of the funding is expected to be used for OpenAI’s commitment to Stargate.

Recall that the joint venture between SoftBank, OpenAI and Oracle was announced by President Donald Trump in January.

The initial funding will be $10 billion, followed by the remaining $30 billion by the end of 2025, the person said. But the round comes with a caveat.

SoftBank said in an updated disclosure that its total investment could be slashed to as low as $20 billion if OpenAI doesn’t restructure into a for-profit entity by December 31.

This come amid pressure on OpenAI to pull off the for-profit conversion, a plan that will need the blessing of Microsoft and the California Attorney General, and has been challenged in court by Mr Elon Musk, who was one of the co-founders of OpenAI in 2015, when it was started as a non-profit research lab.

The company’s current and unusual hybrid structure includes a capped-profit limited partnership created in 2019. The original nonprofit is the controlling shareholder and would be spun out as an independent entity if the company can restructure.

OpenAI’s venture backers have received convertible notes that would turn into equity.

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