Category Archives: Press Releases

Trees For Schools On Mandela Day

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This year marks ten years since the passing of former president Nelson Mandela, and one retailer plans to plant trees to honour the iconic statesman’s visionary life. Through a campaign dubbed “It’s in your hands, let’s plant our schools green,” the Cotton On Group aims to plant trees in schools supported by the Cotton On Foundation in South Africa. Symbolizing the visionary leader’s lasting contribution to South African society, the intention is to benefit these areas for many years to come. 

Through its chain of stores that include Cotton On, Factorie and Typo, shoppers are encouraged to support the initiative by purchasing Cotton On Foundation products such as tote bags, breath mints, wipes and sanitizers that are available both online and at the till points in these stores.

The full proceeds of the sale of these items, from 3 to 23 July 2023, will be channelled to planting trees at the schools that the Cotton On Foundation supports in KwaZulu-Natal, namely Ethekwini Primary and Dr JL Dube High School, which it is currently rebuilding. Shoppers are also welcome to donate to the project.

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Free Internet for over 300 Schools in South Africa, thanks to Cool Ideas

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Digital connectivity is no longer a luxury, but rather a necessity as access to information has become an essential part of modern-day life. UNICEF recently reported that connecting schools has the potential to boost GDP by up to 20 percent in the world’s least connected nations.

Sadly, many schools across South Africa struggle with the costs and infrastructure required to provide this for teachers and learners. Now, one Internet Service Provider (ISP) is stepping up to help.

Over the past eight years, ISP Cool Ideas has been expanding its fibre and LTE networks across the country, to expedite access to digital information, through high-speed connectivity. While doing so, through their Cool Schools initiative, they have collaborated with schools across eight provinces to date, to ensure that as the network grows, so does learner access to information, with the result that education can benefit.

The project started in 2015, when the first school, Parkhurst Primary in Johannesburg, was connected on a trial basis, and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, new schools have been added every month with the result that Cool Ideas currently supplies over 300 schools with fibre access throughout the year. Additionally, the organisation has collaborated with fibre providers such as Vumatel, Evotel, Octotel and Frogfoot to ensure further support.

The Cool Schools Initiative aims to bridge the digital divide in South Africa by providing internet connectivity to underprivileged schools and schools in Cool Ideas coverage areas. Through this remarkable upliftment project, a free internet connection with speeds of up to 1 000Mbps (1Gbps) is provided to qualifying schools, enabling learners to access educational resources online. This way, the leaders of tomorrow are given the resources need to support their growth. Learn more about Cool Schools here.

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5 Incredible Things You Can Do On A Google TV

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Although streaming video through your TV is nothing new, it’s always been a bit of a chore. You have to connect to your home network, find the right app for what you wanted to watch, and then actually click through menus until you found what you were looking for. It was never really an enjoyable experience — until now! 

TCL’s new Google TV range brings all your favourite streaming apps into one easy-to-use interface accessible from anywhere in the room with a simple voice command. With built-in Google Assistant support and integrated Chromecast functionality, this ultra-affordable smart TV is the perfect upgrade for anyone wanting more out of their entertainment system.

What’s special about Google TV is that it allows users to access their favourite content from streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, and more by mixing all the content from each streaming service together and putting everything into one interface for a streamlined experience – no matter the platform.

As one of the leading television brands bringing Google TV technology to South African consumers, TCL understands the importance of keeping ahead of the curve. When it comes to innovation, the development team ensures that the brand remains keeping up with the times – and the incorporation of Google TV is a perfect example of this.

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“Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” on Disney+

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Featuring stories from creators hailing from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, “Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire” promises to take viewers on an unforgettable ride into Africa’s future, presenting visions of the continent as never before seen. 

The action-packed animated anthology draws on the continent’s rich and diverse histories and cultures to present 10 sci-fi and fantasy stories featuring bold and brave new worlds of advanced technology, aliens, spirits, and monsters. 

The 10 films are: “Stardust” (Ahmed Teilab, Egypt), “Mkhuzi: The Spirit Racer” (Simangaliso “Panda” Sibaya and Malcolm Wopé, South Africa), “Hatima” (Terence Maluleke and Isaac Mogajane, South Africa), “Enkai” (Ng’endo Mukii, Kenya), “Moremi” (Shofela Coker, Nigeria), “Surf Sangoma” (Nthato Mokgata and Catherine Green, South Africa), “Mukudzei” (Pious Nyenyewa and Tafadzwa Hove, Zimbabwe), “First Totem Problems” (Tshepo Moche, South Africa), “Herderboy” (Raymond Malinga, Uganda) and “You Give Me Heart” (Lesego Vorster, South Africa).

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Sandton City spearheads the integration of AI in “Future Icons” campaign

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True to its promise to stay at the forefront of the African retail landscape, Sandton City has taken another leap forward. In 2022, the centre launched its “City of Icons” campaign, profiling iconic fashion staples such as the little black dress, denim, trench coat, hoodie and suit, with shoes, sunglasses, handbags, and lipstick, all must-haves for any fashion forward shopper. Now, the esteemed shopping centre has taken the campaign to another level, inviting shoppers to imagine what the city of icons will look like, in the future, featuring these iconic items, tech-nified.

Driven by a futuristic vision, tech savvy shoppers will be delighted to see artificial intelligence (AI) generated iterations of these items, and others, crafted in the same approach, that propel the imagination on a futuristic journey. Generated using a Midjourney Bot on Discord, a generative artificial intelligence program, the campaign aims to help visitors to the centre envisage incorporating these essential items into their future fashion routines and to imagine future possibilities, where technology and icons integrate.

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