Last week saw the launch of Google's much-anticipated social media platform, Google+. Uptake during its testing phase has been so high (probably mostly due to curiosity) that the online giant has had to limit user participation by restricting the number of invites sent out. After playing around with Google+ for a short while, I can tell you that the user interface is currently very basic and pretty simple to navigate. Will the new platform be any competition for Facebook? Probably not, as Mark Zuckerburg's baby today sits pretty on ±750 million active users; Twitter, on the other hand, could be under threat.

For a "tentative analysis" on how Google+ may affect journalists, read Danny O'Brien's "Google+ for journalists at risk".

Congratulations to Ugandan journalist Jackee Budesta Batanda who has been awarded the 2011-2012 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow for her reporting on the attacks of women as "revenge crimes" and the targeted murders of albinos in Uganda.

Another noteworthy African achievement of late includes the design and engineering of Africa's first Android-based tablet computer - straight out of Congo-Brazzaville!

Here's to Africa's successes in 2011, and those who help put us on the map!

Cheers, Sindy Peters (@sindylp): Africa editor

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