LYTUMANIAC WORLD

Facebook on Monday began testing a live audio streaming service that will let people essentially broadcast radio-style on the leading online social network. Partners working with Facebook to test “Live Audio” included BBC World Service, book publisher HarperCollins, British talk radio station LBC, and authors Adam Grant and Brit Bennett. The new feature comes as an alternative to a Facebook tool that lets people stream live video at the social network. “We know that sometimes publishers want to tell a story on Facebook with words and not video,” Facebook product specialist Shirley Ip and software engineer Bhavana Radhakrishnan said in a blog post. An audio-streaming option promised to be useful in areas where telecommunication networks have trouble handling the larger data demands of video streaming, according to the post. Listeners can discover live audio content in the Facebook News Feed, ask questions and leave reactions in real time during broadcasts. Facebook said it would be...

On Thursday, the company announced its 130 million monthly users will now be able to shoot and share 15-second videos, dressed up with one of 13 special filters. The new video feature was made available to all iOS and Android Instagram users around the world Thursday as a free update to the existing Instagram app. The basic look of the app is the same, but a small movie icon has been added that takes you into video mode. The changes were announced by Instagram co-founder and CEO Kevin Systrom during a press event at the headquarters of Facebook, which bought Instagram last year. "It's everything we know and love about Instagram, but it moves," Systrom said. The video-sharing feature was widely expected and puts Instagram in direct competition with Vine, the popular Twitter-owned app that lets users share looping six-second video clips. Vine has skyrocketed in popularity in the six months since it launched, attracting more than 13 million users. Many o...

Ondo - The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun says the victory of the Labour Party (LP) in the Oct. 20 Ondo State Governorship Election was a reflection of the peoples’ will. Mr Diran Odeyemi, Director of Publicity, Media and Strategy of the party in Osun, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Sunday. Odeyemi, while congratulating Gov. Olusegun Mimiko on his re-election in Osun, noted that his victory showed that the people still wanted him in power. “Democracy has worked this time around, and what it means is that the era of election rigging or manipulation of results is gone forever with this election in Nigeria,” he said. According to him, ``it is very unusual for the opposition to congratulate the winner of an election and for the winner too to be magnanimous in victory as contained in Mimiko’s reaction to the election’’. He observed that the election went smoothly not because of politics or an inducement of the electorate before they c...

The Lagos State Government has turned the house of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti, into a museum to “promote cultural heritage and mark the 74th birthday” of the legendary musician. Inside the museum located at 8, Gbemisola Street, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, to be and managed by Total Consult, are Fela’s trademark items like dresses, shoes and household materials. The dresses are about 3,000. Others include covers of the albums of the late musician. Images on the album covers bear a variety of styles and typefaces which echo and comment on the works and politics of the artiste. According to the state Commissioner for Tourism and Inter-Government Relations, Mr. Disun Holloway, the Kalakuta Republic Museum is to bring back the old social life and culture to Lagos. He noted that it was impossible to overstate the importance of Fela to Lagos and the global musical village. He said, “It is only appropriate to have chosen a day as this to declare this monument ...

Accompanied by rampant speculation that is rarely accurate, the Swedish Academy prepared on Thursday to award the 2012   Nobel Prize   in Literature, the cultural high point of a week of accolades to scientists, writers and peacemakers. Since 1901, 104 Nobel literature prizes have been awarded, the most recent to Tomas Transtromer, a Swedish poet, whose more than 15 collections of poetry, the academy said last year, offered “condensed, translucent images” through which “he gives us fresh access to reality.” The panel selecting the winner prides itself on its inscrutability and, according to the Nobel Web site, “the nominations and the opinions written by the members of the Nobel Committee in Literature each year are kept secret for 50 years.” The selection of a European writer for the 2011 literature prize — the eighth in a decade — complaints revived that the award is too Eurocentric. The last American writer to win a Nobel was Toni Morrison in 1993. Philip Roth has been ...

 South Africa-based foods company Tiger Brands, who recently completed a 63.3 percent stake acquisition of the $150 million-valued Dangote Flour Mills Plc (DFM), may be up for more stakes as reports indicate plans to buy off minority shareholders in the company. According to Nigerian newspaper  THISDAY , disclosed that a reliable stock market source said: “We see a tender offer coming but we cannot say the exact time. However, it is very certain that Tiger Brands would want to settle the minority shareholders and be in total control of DFM.” Dangote Group, a conglomerate owned by Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had last week concluded the sale of 63.3 percent of its flour mills stake to Tiger Brands, retaining only 10 percent and leaving a 26.7 percent holding shared amongst diversified minority shareholders. However, Aliko Dangote would remain as chairman of the DFM. The aggressive expansion  strategy of the South African food company, which...

Vodacom launched South Africa’s first commercial LTE service in Johannesburg today, in a surprise announcement by CEO Shameel Joosub, winning the race for 4G against rival MTN. Joosub surprised attendees at the 2012 MyBroadband Conference this morning, announcing that Vodacom’s Long-Term Evolution network is switched on and commercially available. In a further sensational touch, Vodacom’s Chief Technology Officer Andries Delport, and Jannie van Zyl – who rejoined Vodacom in 2010 –  went on to make the first commercial LTE call in South Africa using two Samsung Galaxy S3 phones in front on onlookers. Jossub announced that the next generation service is already live in 70 sites – for now, only in Johannesburg – but promised that the company would have 150 sites live by the end of October, with up to 500 sites available for commercial use by the end of the year. Vodacom has launched its commercial 4G network using re-farmed 1 ,800Mhz spectrum, however the CEO note...

I will not fail says Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan promised Nigerians on Monday that he would not fail as President, but challenged the citizens to renew their hope and faith in the possibilities that lie ahead. “Let me assure all Nigerians that we shall not fail,” Jonathan told Nigerians in a dawn broadcast to mark the nation’s 52nd Independence Anniversary. The President added, “I am confident that Nigeria would continue to be a source of pride to its citizens, to Africa and the black race and to humanity. We have remained a strong nation. I bring to you today, the message of renewed hope and faith in the many possibilities that lie ahead.” The anniversary was celebrated within the Presidential Villa amid tight security all around the Federal Capital Patience absent The President’s wife, Patience, was expectedly absent from the event witnessed by top government functionaries and friends of the administration....

Nigeria, in a strong move to increase the contribution of the aviation sector to its GDP, has approved the sum of 106 billion naira ($707 million), through the Federal Executive Council (FEC), for the construction of five new, world-class international airports. According to  BusinessDay , the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah disclosed the development during a media briefing in Abuja. Upon assuming office, the minister had penned the construction of five new international terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu as the second phase in the ministry’s development strategy for the aviation sector which had been struggling with debts, lack of qualified personnel, below industry standard operations, among others. In September, Nigeria’s national carrier, Air Nigeria sacked a substantial number of its employees, leaving only a staff of 50 to try to resuscitate its shut down operations within a year, after management was mounted with overbearing debt...

Cape Town — Researchers say they have identified a possible single-dose malaria cure molecule, with the potential to cure millions of people and, it is hoped, to prevent person-to-person transmission. The molecule, MMV390048, was discovered during collaborative research by the Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3-D) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, and Geneva-based Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV). Tests indicate that the molecule is highly potent: after being administered a single dose, mice infected with malaria parasites were completely cured, and the molecule is also active against wide-ranging drug-resistant malaria strains. MMV390048 is due to enter the clinical trials stage late in 2013. Kelly Chibale, H3-D's director, said he was very excited that MMV390048 has been selected for further development. "Our team is hopeful that the compound will emerge from rigorous testing as an extremely effective medicine for malaria," he said....

The controversy over Rick Ross’ music video shot in the slums of Lagos will not end anytime soon maybe until another event overtakes it but for now, it is on the front burner. MI Abaga in his blog post, “God forbid it!” wasn’t discerning enough as it has caused divided opinions rather than taking a definite stand on the issue. But this time, Michael Stephens, popularly known as Ruggedman, has taken a very clear stand that is easy to comprehend. His objectiveness and rhetoric is worth commending as most of us miss the point over that “Hold Me Back Video”. Enough of the talking, read his views below: I will start by saying that some people in the international community already have a bad image about Nigeria. This is due to the dubious actions of some bad Nigerians they have encountered, both government officials and normal Nigerians. So I don’t see how one music video shot in the Nigerian slums (which we know we have) will tarnish the image of Nigeria. When Nigerians...

Pioneers in laser eye surgery, hearing-aid devices, fuel cells, hepatitis B treatment and wireless communication honoured in Copenhagen The European Patent Office today announced the winners of the European Inventor Award 2012, which honours outstanding inventors for their contribution to social, economic and technological progress. At the ceremony at the Royal Danish Playhouse in Copenhagen, the Danish Crown Prince and Princess and some 350 other guests, among them Danish Minister Of Economy Ole Sohn, the UK Secretary for Intellectual Property, Baroness Judith Wilcox, Gytis Andulionis, Vice Minister of Justice of Lithuania, and Bence Rédváry, State Secretary of Hungary's Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, as well as other political and economic decision-makers, scientists, researchers and intellectual property specialists watched as the trophies were handed out to the winners in each of the five categories: Lifetime Achievement: Josef Bille , Heidelberg Uni...

DStv Mobile has announced the launch of iDrifta and Walka 7 adding to its range of mobile devices delivering TV content on the go. The foremost Mobile TV company in Africa says the service builds on the ongoing success of its mobile TV devices like Drifta, Drifta USB and Walka. General Manager of DStv Mobile Nigeria, Mayo Okunola says that, “the iDrifta is a plug and play mobile DVB-H receiver specifically designed for Apple mobile devices. It is portable and lightweight, and will allow users with Apple devices to enjoy all of the great entertainment they’ve come to expect from DStv Mobile.” According to the company which announced that the device will debut at a retail price of N9, 500, the iDrifta device is compatible with the iPod 4 th Generation, iPhone 4/4S and iPad 1/2/3 and is simple and intuitive to use. “After plugging it into your iOS device, the iDrifta device redirects the user directly to the DStv Mobile application on the apple store and the user o...

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. is now ranked as the world’s best university, pushing Britain’s historic academic centre into second place. MIT was third on the list last year. Oxford maintained its position at number five in the table compiled by QS World University Rankings. University College London climbed from number seven last year to number four in the new rankings, placing it above Oxford University. Imperial College London is ranked sixth, meaning that for the first time four of the top six universities in the world are British. Britain has a total of 18 universities in the top 100 – one fewer than in 2011. The rest of the top ten are all in the U.S. Harvard University, which held the top spot for six years between 2004 and 2009, is ranked third in the list. The QS World University Rankings are compiled using six indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international facu...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it resolved to discontinue printing the naira in polymer notes so as to take away the monopoly of printing the currency from the Australian firm - Securency International Pty Limited. Tunde Lemo, the apex bank’s Deputy Governor, Operations, said that as a result of the monopoly, regulator was always forced to pay whatever amount the firm charges; adding that there are also a lot of “environmental issues” surrounding the polymer notes. Under the proposed new currency structure, expected to take effect in January 2013, the existing notes of N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1, 000 are to be redesigned with added security features. The N5, N10, and N20 notes will be replaced as coins, while a N5000 note will be introduced. “Securency is the only producer of polymer currency in the world and so the CBN has been resorting to single sorting for banknote,” said Lemo. “This, we think, is not good for the country. Even though the plan is t...

Its been an awesome year for everyone, Music Acts, Deejay's, Record Labels, Mangers and media oulets just to mention a few. The year had waxed on with beautiful songs and Music videos that has woahed everyone... This time I bring to you, the ever blazing DJ Archyra with the 14-Gidi Bangers Mixtape (july & August) Edition. you really dont wanna miss out on this... Be sure to download and share with friends and loved ones!!! Download Mixtape