Live stream: Watch as the New Year rings in around the world

Watch live video of New Year's Eve celebrations from around the globe!

      

 

 

Putin's holiday message to Trump: Russia 'open to dialogue ... on most extensive agenda'

Putin said relations between the U.S.and Russia are the key to "ensuring strategic stability and international security."

      

 

 

Man surrenders in California police killing

A suspected drunk driver accused of fatally shooting the California police officer who pulled him over was captured Friday as he tried to flee back to Mexico, where he lived before illegally crossing into the U.S., authorities said. (Dec. 28)

      

 

 

Terminally ill toddler, whose Yemeni mother was initially denied a visa, dies in a Calif. hospital

After an international outcry, the mother was allowed to travel from Egypt to be with her dying son at California hospital.

      

 

 

2010, Cameroon's technology year in review

2010 has been a remarkable year. It has been a year of revolutions, evolutions and innovations in the technology world. As usual, Cameroon, like sub Saharan Africa has been very much at the receiving end of technology, and less of providers in their own rights. Here are just a few of the technology landmarks that Cameroon blows 2010 out with:

Nation of Facebook

Many Cameroonians got subscribed and are hooked up to Facebook. Cameroonians use facebook mainly for sharing pictures and searching old friends. 2010 saw a slight improvement of the Internet connection speed in Cameroon. This also helped to get more people hooked to the social network site.

Optic Fiber

Maybe the most visible revolution in 2010 was the roll out of the optic fiber. Beginning in January in Kye-Osi in South Cameroon, the roll out followed six routes:

Yaounde-Mbalmayo- Ebolowa-Kye-Ossi with a crossover to Libreville-Sangmelima passing through Djoum;

Yaounde-Ayos-Bertoua then Belabo-Bertoua;

Bertoua- Meiganga-Ngaoundere-Garoua-Maroua-Kousseri;

Bafoussam-Bamenda; Douala-Nkongsamba-Bafoussam;

Douala-Buea with a crossover to Tiko and Limbe, according to Nkoto Emane, the director general of Camtel, the Cameroonian state operator.

News of the roll out was music to the ears of anxious Cameroonian consumers. They hoped for two things: faster connections on demand and cheaper rates nationwide. While the connections have become faster as the year nears ends, the rates are still to get lower.

Registration of mobile phone subscribers

Maybe however, the move that affected Cameroon the most was the ministerial decision from the minister of post and telecommunications requiring that everyone registers their sim cards. The ministry argued that identification, which consisted in marching phone numbers to names and national identity card numbers was necessary, given a history of phone related crime in the country.

A few weeks after the end of the mandatory identification campaign, the ministery followed through with the threat: suspension of defaulters’ lines. Millions of mobile phone users had their subscriptions cancelled. They are now out of the network. There is however, still a corridor of hope should they comply with government requirements.

Laptop sales

More laptop sales in some shops during the year than desktop computers. Many people are getting mobile, and they believe it is better for them to get notebooks, net books and laptops. However, a surge in the numbers of organizations and companies buying desktop computers to use on their networks have ensured that the sale of desktop computers does not die out. Also, families who understand the use of family computers have held on to desktop computers. 2010 as a consequence saw a drop not only in the price of average laptops, but an even greater drop in the price of desktop computers due to slowing demand. In the mix, the CRT or cathode ray tube monitor virtually lost its role, and became the most unpopular item of the computer system. Computer owners prefer the flat screen monitor which reigned supreme thanks to its esthetic presentation and also the low consumption rate as far as electricity is concerned.

Digital pictures

The year of the digital camera. From branded products to cheaper imitations. Everyone now thinks it is important to own a digital camera. Taking pictures at events moved a step further. No longer do the guests rely on the pictures phase of the agenda to begin taking photo shots. As soon as the event gets underway these days, people get their cameras out and start shooting away. Curiously, this has not seen any drop in the jobs for conventional photographers.

Gilbert Kedia

Democracy of Information Technology

Cameroon, like several other African countries, has over the past decade experienced an IT boom. The boom is more visible in terms of the sheer number of cybercafés in the urban areas. Less noticeable is the regular dis-enclavement of the rural areas by mobile phone providers who are literally lighting up the landscape with GSM transmitters, bringing whole communities closer to each other.
On hand to benefit from this new dawn, businesses in Cameroon, much like elsewhere in the Developing World, are beginning to flourish and witness the same momentum that European business entities witnessed in the early 1980s. The illiterate masses now have their own turn to embrace the trappings of modernity. A petty trader now makes a single phone call, and knows what to expect the next time he orders a consignment of products to flood the market with.
In the case of Europe, the landline boom was directly proportional to the boom of the local economies.
Here in Africa, it is very much the same effects, but with different consequences. In addition to booming the economy, mobile phone use has also helped to place countries on maps and level the playing field a little. "The world is a global village" was just an adage, and remained so for a long time in this part of the world, but now, something is beginning to click.
The world stirred in 2004, when the presidential elections in Ukraine sparked off an Orange Revolution. Pictures crowds descending into the streets were sent all over the world through mobile phones, emails and other media reached the ends of the earth as they happened. Traditional mass media were sidelined as the real news sources were young citizens wielding phones and transmitting low quality pictures in real time over gsm networks. This is largely the reason why in December 2006, Time magazine named "You", as its man of the year. The role played by the commoner in effecting change and decision making was becoming more apparent.
This momentum is not lost upon Africa. In 2008, street protests against the rising price of fuel and food made its rounds of African countries. The same peaceful demonstrations were seen in several capitals of the continent. Pictures were sent through emails to friends in other towns, villages and countries.
Internet accessibility has also had one effect: job creation. The dot com bubble may have burst over a decade ago, but Africa is beginning to experience its own slight bound too! In so many areas, owning a computer is equal to creating wealth. Internet based businesses are beginning to flourish. It may be important to point out one mea culpa here. Flourishing Internet activity has come along with scamming, and the once completely honest African youth has become an object of negative attention online. This notwithstanding, the general picture is upbeat.
In fact, it takes comparison to understand the achievements attained so far. Only a decade ago, passing a message from one town to the other was an ordeal. With little or no land line lay, and very bad roads, one had to go through a lot of difficulty to keep information flowing. The picture was so bleak that it even affected the provision of basic services to the people. When the mobile phone was born in the late 1990s, it coincided with the popular use of the Internet. This was Africa's true miracle, and the fruits have begun to be reaped.