It seems that Keriako Tobiko’s office has been hacked. The website http://odpp.go.ke/ seems to have been hacked by some Latino hackers out on an adventure. I doubt if there is any serious damage since most of what are loaded on the Kenyan government websites are nothing more than skeletons of informations.
Nothing much only that it is embarassing to the office of the public prosecutor.
According to a recent research conducted by InMobi, Kenyan mobile advertising impressions grew by 12% in the first quarter of 2012. The report shows that more than 2.6 Billion impressions were recorded on the InMobi network in the period.
The InMobi trends are modest compared to the 29% realised by Buzz city in the same period. Buzz city served more than 819,968,166 banner ads in the same period.
Nokia remains a dominant force in Kenya with 58% of impressions on the InMobi network coming from this brand of handsets. The closest competitors are Samsung (20%) and Alcatel (11%). After Symbian, Android is the fastest growing Operating System, but despite this, it still only accounts for 2.8% of all mobile devices on the InMobi network.
See the infographic below
After KBC through Signet announced that Nairobi is now well covered by the DVB-T2 signals, PanAfrican network trading as StarTimes Media has launched the second DVB-T2 signal. You know that the Kenyan pay TV market is very exploitative with South African owned Multichoice network charging as much as $100 for no unique offering but football and cartoons.
Zuku entered the market in 2011 and is gaining the East African market. So last week, StartTimes launched its Kenyan operations. The digital TV provider which used to operate in 9 African countries made Kenya its 10th market. The company claims to have invested over $75 in the Kenyan market to launch the service where it is looking to aggressively sell its offerings.
With around 70 active channels and looking to acquire more, StarTimes will give Zuku, DSTV and others competition since it uses the conventional aerial with only a set-top box which goes for Ksh 3,000 required for set up. It is however limited in coverage since its deployment is no different from terrestrial TV while DSTV and Zuku provide satellite TV services.
StarTimes boquets consist of Basic plus, Classic, Classic Plus, Unique, Unique Plus and India, with a price range from between Kes. 499 and 2499. The cheapest package, Basic, offers up to 40 channels as the starter package including the local TV channels.
StarTimes DVB-T2 signal is currently available in Nairobi. The provider looks to cover Kisumu and Mombasa from early July with more than 10 cities to be covered by the end of the year.
Apple seems to have availed the latest iPad to Kenyans. Both Personal Systems and Elite Digital (Apple product resellers in Nairobi) have sent out alerts today indicating that they have the new iPad in stock.
The device is almost 100 USD expensive than if bought in USA with the cheapest version going for $585 against $499 in USA.
The device will retail as follows
New iPad Wi-Fi Only
16GB – $585
32GB – $700
64GB – $820
New iPad with 3G and Wi-Fi
16GB – $750
32GB – $850
64GB – $999
Contacts for Apple resellers in Nairobi and Mombasa
Elite Digital Solutions – Apple Premium Reseller
Sarit Centre, Westlands, Nairobi
T +254 (20) 374 5550 sarit@elitedigital.co.ke
Elite Digital Solutions – Corporate/Support Centre
3D, Peponi Plaza, (next to Westgate Mall), Nairobi
T +254 (20) 375 3500 – 6 info@elitedigital.co.ke
Elite Digital Mombasa
Ratna Square , Mombasa
T +254 (20) 804 6262 – 5 mombasa@elitedigital.co.ke
Personal Systems Yaya Center
Argwings Kodhek Road, Hurlingham, Nairobi
T +254 (73) 733 3470 personalsystems@me.com
Personal Systems Village Market
Limuru Road, Gigiri, Nairobi
T +254 (20) 712 0230 personalsystems@me.com
Personal Systems Junction Mall
Ngong Road, Nairobi
T +254 (20) 260 0092 personalsystems@me.com
Personal Systems Galleria Mall
Langata Road, Nairobi
T +254 (70) 299 9121 personalsystems@me.com
Personal Systems Chevron Plaza
Limuru Road, Parklands, Nairobi
T +254 (20) 375 0212 personalsystems@me.com
This post by Tom Makau first appeared on his blog. This post is shared through his permission.
I was recently at a forum that was discussing the development of telecommunications in Kenya (Watch the forum by clicking here (part 1), and here (part 2)). During the discussion, one participant alluded to the fact that without local content, the development of Internet will impaired. Everyone in the forum was in agreement. However, during the discussion, there was some slight confusion on what the definition of local content is.
Majority were of the opinion that local content should be defined by its contextual origin. The other (perhaps me alone) were of the opinion that local content should be defined by its hosting location.
Local by context
This school of thought believes local content is web content that has its contextual origin in the region it is utilized or served from. They assert that over 99% of users in Africa or Kenya are net receivers of information from foreign sources in the US and EU. With African traffic consisting of less than 2% of the entire Internet traffic, it would be expected that majority of the consumers in Africa will be consuming foreign content. Believers of this line of thought advocate for the production of local content (often in local language) to spur local usage. This content includes information and videos on cultural practices, traditions, business practices and infotainment. A good example of this kind of local content is the now famous Kulahappyvideos on YouTube.
Advocates of this definition of local content believe that the creation of local content will create jobs, preserve culture and spur the use of Internet in the daily lives of the local people as content on the Internet will now be relevant to their lives.
Local by location of hosting server
In this definition, local content means content hosted in data centers that are local to the country. Proponents of this definition believe that Africa’s (or Kenya’s) solution to dependence on submarine back-haul lies in localizing the hosting.
Unlike their counterparts in Europe or the US, Internet users in Africa have to cross the ocean for nearly 100% of the content they access, even indigenous local news websites are hosted in the US or Europe as opposed to being locally hosted. A user visiting www.nation.co.ke which is a local news daily, has to traverse the oceans to European data centers to access it. If on the other hand this website was hosted say in a data center on Kimathi street in Nairobi, a user seated in the CBD accessing it does not even leave the city, Internet access becomes a local loop connection. The advantages this brings include:
Which of the two definitions is better?
The answer depends on who you ask. I am of the opinion that both definitions are critical to the development, penetration and usage of Internet in the continent. As to which of the two carries more weight, again it also depends on who you ask. Considering that majority of the Internet content is in the English language, I think that local content by context carries more weight for non-English speaking countries. China for example has a developed Internet system thanks to the many Chinese equivalents of popular English websites such as Facebook, popular IM and chat rooms such as QQ-Chat and even an e-commerce equivalent of eBay known as alibaba.com. However, in English-speaking countries such as Kenya, this form of localization of content will not have the same effect on Internet usage. A recent report by ISOC, UNESCO and the OECD supports my argument. This report titled “The relationship between local content, Internet development and access prices” shows that in non-English speaking countries, localization by context did more to enhance penetration and usage. However, in English-speaking countries, localization by data center/hosting location did more to spur usage due to decreased access fees. (read the full report here)
In light of the above, I would like to hear your views on the issue of local content, please leave comments below.
You remember how back in the day (or even of late in rural Kenya), everyone who completed his High school education in Kenya went to do computer packages. That was the craze, just about when computers in Kenya became a thing for all common mortals.
That is the status of the Blogging pandemic in Kenya. Just about anyone in College or just fresh from college has a blog where they are passionately blogging away about anything. You only need to visit some of the busy HR offices to realize the seriousness of this craze. Every new job applicant believes this is the silver lining for their CV.
So it’s been around 6 months, a year or an year and a half since you set up your blog. You have been religiously consistent, whipping out fresh articles daily, weekly or perhaps bi-weekly. Sticking to your plan.
Remember that Social Media strategy you made coz you wanted to rock the world on your way to becoming the Kenyan Blog Star? That Solid game plan, perhaps you even got some nomination at the recent BAKE awards.
Things were looking up, or so you thought!
But sooner than later it’s dawned on you that it’s not as solid as you thought. Things aren’t moving as fast as you intended not enough eyeballs or even clicks coming your way.
Week after week guys no longer even seem to look forward to your Facebook posts; needless to say that the “Likes” aren’t what they used to be. The twitter side of things isn’t looking that twitty either, the mentions & re-tweets seem to have dissolved to the thin air & now you’re wondering whether it was all worth it …..
The plan you had as step 2, where you’d monetize your blog by charging a fortune to companies to advertise or link it to Google Ads is now just a distant thought.
Simply, You are Stuck! You might as well just wind up the windows on blogging, wave your fantasy dreams goodbye & just call it a day.
This is where you love being Kenyan, because you just won’t go down without putting up a fight will you?
The 1 major reason Kenyan Bloggers are failing is because; Everyone will tell you to blog about something you’re passionate about.
Except they never tell you that what we’re passionate about isn’t only what matters. It’s what our audience is passionate about.
Until you accept & acknowledge you have been doing this wrong, there is no lifeline for you.
Here are 3 Key things you need to do to turn your blog around & Save your dreams.
Watch out for our next post on this Series for the First Solution!
DotConnectAfrica (DCA) has announced that it is set to establish an Internet registry system infrastructure to be located in Nairobi, Kenya.
DCA, non-profit organization based in Kenya and with offices in Mauritius, has been leading the DotAfrica effort for the past four years in Africa under the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. The organization is set to sponsor, establish and operate the “.africa” top level internet domain or TLD registry with global recognition and regional significance dedicated to the needs of pan-African and African community.
According to DCA’s chief executive Ms Sophia Bekele, the setting-up a world-class registry system infrastructure that is physically located in Africa will be an important ‘criticality’ to the unconditional success of the DotAfrica generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) project.
“To this end, DCA has reached a landmark agreement with CentralNIC London U.K., a world-class registry services provider, to set-up a registry services system in Africa, and has also signed important agreements with two Kenya-based firms – Safaricom and FINCOM Technologies – for the co-location of mission critical computer hardware and network technical infrastructure that would support the registry functions of DotAfrica gTLD,” said Ms Bekele.
Safaricom Limited is a leading integrated communications service provider in Kenya. The beneficial access offered by the Data Centre operations of Safaricom would enable the DCA Registry to provide a fully-redundant Internet registry system that features off-site fail-over and escrow so as to satisfy the most exacting high availability requirements of a 21st century gTLD. This would provide DCA with full control of the critical resources required to run and administer the DotAfrica gTLD registry on a sustainable basis for the benefit of its prospective customers especially within the Africa region.
Mr Robert Collymore, Safaricom chief executive, commended DCA’s decision to base the registry system in Kenya and was pleased at the selection of his company to host the registry infrastructure because of its adequate technical capacity to provide the large Internet bandwidth and availability of top-class co-location facilities required by DCA and further expressed happiness with the association of Safaricom with this very high-profile Pan-African initiative.
Fincom, on the other hand, will provide computer and network technical support and local facilitation or representation services to DCA.
Mr Barry Ryan, a Director at DCA and CEO of Fintech Group Africa, which owns Fincom, noted that Kenya offers a suitable location when compared to other African countries as it boasts one of the best ICT, telecommunications and internet connectivity infrastructures in Africa, adding that Kenya has four (4) efficient, carrier-grade optic fibre links connecting the country to high-speed global networks.
As part of the deal, CentralNIC is to provide DCA with registry software, consulting and training services and work closely with DCA to ensure that the Kenya-based registry established will satisfy all the stringent technical and operational requirements of the ICANN new gTLD programme.
Moreover, CentralNIC’s authoritative DNS technology already includes AnyCast instances in 40 locations around the globe – including Nairobi, Kenya; Lagos, Nigeria; and Johannesburg, South Africa – with the geographic diversity ensuring 100 per cent availability at all times for “.africa” domain names.
CentralNic CEO Ben Crawford said, “This visionary initiative by DCA will also make full use of CentralNic’s deep experience doing business in the English-speaking, Arabic and Francophone worlds, ensuring that in DCA’s even-handed and responsible care, the ‘.africa’ TLD will serve all of Africa and the global African diaspora.”
On why Kenya was chosen to host the DCA registry operations, Ms Bekele explained that her organization selected Kenya for reasons of its region-wide market access in East Africa, and its efficient transport and direct communications links to countries in Central, South, West and North Africa, and the nearby Arab Gulf. In her words:
“From the geographical point of view, no country compares to Kenya in terms of accessibility to the five (5) sub-regions of Africa, and its membership of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) also provides further distinctive advantages in terms of market access and coverage,” she said, adding that Nairobi is a world-class city which hosts the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the diplomatic offices of other important regional and inter-governmental bodies.
DCA believes that setting-up a world-class registry located in Africa with the help of its international partners offers superb benefits and invaluable advantages to the continent especially in the area of technology transfer to Africa and the acquisition as well as availability of key human resource skills in Africa to run the registry.
Mr Sammy Buruchara, Chair of DCA Global Strategic Advisory Leadership Group, also CEO of NairobiNet, believes that locating the world-class registry in Africa would eventually bring down the cost of domain name registrations thereby increasing affordability as significant cost-savings are passed on to prospective users and registrants.
“Setting up the registry also offers DCA Registry significant economies of scale that would translate into overall strategic competiveness, enhanced marketing services and delivery, and overall customer satisfaction,” said Buruchara.
DCA has submitted its application to ICANN for the mandate to operate the “.africa” gTLD registry that would serve Africa, and other global stakeholders. DCA has already received very important endorsements in support of its “.africa” initiative and remains confident of success in the ICANN new gTLDs application round that commenced in January 2012.
Nokia has confirmed the availability of its much touted 41 megapixel 808 PureView phone in Kenya. The PureView technology is marketed by the dying former mobile giant as “the highest level smartphone imaging experience, bringing together high-performance sensors and exclusive Carl Zeiss optics.”
It is however very hard to see more uptake of the devices locally considering the strong competition from Samsung, Huawei, HTC and Sony in the same cadre.
It is telling considering that the much touted “superior phone” is retailing at Ksh 52,900 way below Samsung Galaxy S3 which goes for Ksh 59,999 and HTC One X also expected to launch at above Ksh 55,000. Even iPhone 4s is still strong in the market through Orange Kenya outlets where it retails from Ksh 54,000 for the 16GB version.
You must however give it to Nokia management in Kenya this time who have seen the market as important to launch the phone locally way much ahead of most markets. Previous management saw the market as not so important that they couldn’t even dare bring some of the very high-end devices to the market, preferring instead to launch the so-called Mulika Mwizis.
It is however funny that no single operator was able to be enticed by Nokia to take up the phone it as Samsung is doing with Safaricom on Galaxy S3 and others.
The Nokia 808 Pureview is available at Midcom outlets in Nairobi and Mombasa
Sources at Safaricom, Airtel and Orange indicate that the operators see very low uptake of the device. One source at Safaricom said, “Nokia will be very lucky to sell 400 units of this phone.”
Samsung Galaxy S3 sale in Kenya is just hovering close to 1,500 pieces sold through Safaricom while the black market might have delivered around 500 units. It will be interesting to see the uptake of the Nokia 808 PureView locally.
IMG: gsmarena
Uganda is reportedly looking to build its terrestrial cable link through Tanzania. According to reports appearing on CEO magazine, the country is trying to fight losses which they incur as they suffer frequent cuts on the Mombasa – Kampala cable route.
Quoting Peter Kahiigi, the Director Technical Services at NITA-U, the reports indicate that the National Information Technology Authority Uganda (NITA-U) is already working on the alternative routes to Kampala.
Map of Tanzania’s National Information & Communication Technology Broadband Backbone (NICTBB)
Speaking at the annual International Conference on Computing and Research, Mr Kahiigi is quoted as saying:
“An alternative route through Tanzania has been planned by NITA-U and the government, and we expect to start work at least by November 2012.”
Kahiigi say that Uganda feel held at ransom by cable cuts on the Nairobi – Mombasa route as well as the frequent cuts around Nakuru. Most of the cuts have been blamed on road construction work as well as vandals. Uganda also experience major outage in March when one of the cables was offline for more than 3 weeks.
Details of the new route have not been properly explained but work on the route is expected to start in September. Uganda becomes the second country after Rwanda to voice major displeasure at the frequent cable cuts in Kenya as they are land-locked countries.
At the Uganda Internet Governance Forum on Tuesday, the Executive Director of NITA proposed that Uganda should look to implement an Internet blacklist to guard against child pornography, copyright infringing sites, and terrorist content.
BlackBerry will be holding a BlackBerry 10 Mini Jam developer meet-up on Friday 17th August at the Ole Sereni Hotel from 10am- 5.30pm.
Through the event, the smartphone maker which is losing influence globally is aiming to provide Kenyan developers with an opportunity to learn more about the capabilities of BlackBerry 10. The full-day event will provide insights about the BlackBerry 10 experience, architecture and tools to enable Kenyan developers become partners who create apps for the new BlackBerry platform.
Registration for the BlackBerry 10 Mini Jam is open with limited spaces left. There is no registration fee to attend.
For more information and to register, please visit www.bb10kenya.com
Apple announced the new 15.4″ MacBook Pro with Retina display at its developer conference, WWDC, in June. Great news is that the machine is now available in Kenya courtesy of the Apple premium resellers.
The MacBook pro packs a Retina display with a 2880 x 1800 resolution (or 220ppi), and is just 0.71-inch thin and weighs only 2.02Kg. The machine’s high resolution is not the only plus but it also promises a higher contrast ratios, better viewing angles and reduced glare compared to other displays among its peers.
Some other specs are;
The bad news is that the machine is going to cost you $600 (Ksh 48,000) more in Kenya as it goes for &2,778 (Ksh 231,000) as opposed to the US pricing which starts at $2,199 (Ksh 183,000).
Check the machine out at Elite Computers.
Toshiba has now appointed a Country Manager for its operations in Kenya. Erick Njuguna has been tapped to lead the Kenyan operations of the digital and computing solutions provider.
Through an announcement this week, Toshiba revealed that Njuguna’s primary mission will be to “accelerate the sales growth and market share in Kenya in support of the country’s growing status as a hub of African ICT innovation and leadership.”
Njuguna’s responsibilities will include driving and managing relationships with key corporate clients, distributors and resellers; as well as overseeing sales and marketing for the Toshiba brand and its range of products in Kenya.
Commenting on the development, Njuguna said;
“Toshiba’s release of the first laptop in 1985 made computing truly personal and today we are distributing a range of high quality, durable notebooks that support the growth of information technology in the Kenyan workplace and home. Our products have always been well-received in Kenya and I aim to build on this perception by making Toshiba the preferred brand of choice for technology savvy Kenyans.”
Headquartered in Nairobi, Njuguna will also support Toshiba’s business across the rest of the East African region, particularly in its main markets of Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Prior to joining Toshiba, Njuguna was at Madison Insurance as a sales manager for nationwide branches and previously at Airtel.
Airtel Kenya and Postal Corporation Kenya Limited have today announced a countrywide partnership that will see Airtel Money Customers access Airtel Money services in all 465 Posta outlets countrywide.
Commenting on the development, AIrtel Kenya CEO Shivan Bhargava said;
“This partnership with Posta marks yet another great stride in deepening the availability and accessibility of Airtel Money to our customers throughout Kenya. With the 465 Posta branches spread across the country offers Airtel Money customers a guaranteed access to deposit and withdraw money, making it easier for them send and receive cash to and from anyone in Kenya.”
Mr. Bhargava added that the company will also put emphasis on the education of its customers on the benefits of using Airtel Money mobile commerce solutions emphasizing that the product that uses the Kiswahili tagline ‘pesa mkononi’ laterally translated to mean “money in your hands” will continue to offer locally relevant and simplified M-Commerce solutions with more partners like Posta thereby enhancing the daily lives of our customers in our true Kenyan spirit.
Airtel Money currently has more than 6,000 agents countrywide and the number is expected to grow to 8,000 by the end of the year. The vast dealer network has now been complimented by corporate agents to enhance availability and reliability of the services countrywide. These include Uchumi Supermarkets, Pep Intermedius (Nakumatt), Tuskys, Muramati Sacco, Housing Finance, Cooperative Bank and Faulu Bank.
Customers can also withdraw money from their Airtel Money accounts at any Pesa Point and Family bank ATMs countrywide without needing an ATM card giving Airtel Money a strong countrywide presence to the benefit of its customers.
Airtel Kenya has donated over 200 phones to the police officers in the Rift Valley Province. The phones are bundled with golden numbers (a special number with digits that are easy to recall from memory in times of need and emergencies). The partnership will cover all police stations, police posts and patrol bases in the Rift Valley Province.
Airtel Kenya managing director Mr. Shivan Bhargava said
“Airtel’s association with the police in the Coast and Rift Valley provinces is a way of creating positive impact in our communities and ensuring that security is enhanced through a fast, reliable and affordable means of. We are delighted to offer our support through this valuable partnership with the Kenya Police and are looking forward to extending this partnership to other police units across the country.’
Speaking whilst receiving the phones, Rift Valley PPO Mr. John Mbijjiwe said,
“We are grateful to Airtel for providing an efficient means of communication and touching the entire community in this area to enhance the sense of security amongst our people and the police to maintain law and order in the region. The connectivity amongst the stations will ensure timely and efficient communication between the police officers and the police stations and also between the police and the community at large.”
The Rift Valley province is the largest province in Kenya covering an area of 173,854 square kilometers with an estimated population of 10million in 2.1million households. This accounts for more than a quarter of the total population of Kenya (source: Central Bureau of Statistics, Kenya)
Kenya has been elected to chair the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) Council for 2012-13.
The elections took place during the 52nd CTO Council Meeting on 25th October 2012 in Mauritius. Also elected were Nigeria as the First Vice Chairperson and Trinidad and Tobago as the Second Vice Chairperson. Telkom South Africa and the Telecommunications Regulatory Board of Cameroon were elected to the CTO’s Executive Committee representing the Industry Partners and the Development Partners of the CTO, respectively.
Before the election, Kenya was the 1st Vice Chair of the CTO during the 2011 – 2012 period.
The Council is the oversight body of the CTO mandated to provide strategic leadership to the organization as well as provide guidance to the CEO and the management team on a number of issues including implementation of the strategic plan, business plan and operational budget. The Chairperson also chairs the Governing Council meetings.
Addressing Council members soon after the elections, Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Information and Communications, Hon. George Khaniri, thanked the Council members for demonstrating confidence in Kenya by entrusting her with such a responsibility. The Minister pledged the Government’s support in all activities of CTO.
The Council meeting was preceded by the 10th Annual CTO Forum, which was opened by His Excellency Hon. Rajkeswur Purryag, GCSK, GOSK, President of the Republic of Mauritius. The Forum brought together policy makers, regulators and industry representatives from both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries, to explore how mobile broadband can be utilized more effectively, efficiently and securely for development.
Kenya is a member of CTO and CCK is the official Government representative to the CTO.
The CTO is a Commonwealth organization engaged in multilateral collaboration in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). It uses its experience and expertise to support members in integrating ICTs to deliver effective development interventions that enrich, empower, and emancipate people within the Commonwealth and beyond.
Motorola Solutions has announced the launch of its Enterprise Mobility business in Kenya.
Motorola Solutions will offer its portfolio of next generation enterprise mobility solutions including: ruggedized mobile computers and enterprise class smart-phones; advanced mobile scanning and imaging solutions and a robust line of barcode scanners and RFID readers.
Strategy Consultant, Motorola Solutions Enterprise Mobility Africa, Carlos Ferraz, said the strategic business move was informed by the need to support growing needs of Kenya’s developing business sector.
He explained, “Motorola Solutions is a leading provider of communication technologies and solutions. For many years we have been supplying our public safety products to the African market. Our enterprise mobility solutions have proved successful around the world and we are excited to introduce them to Kenya today, continuing our long relationship with this country and the region.”
Ferraz noted that Kenya has proved to be a market leader in the adoption of Information and Communications Technology in business, and the entry of Motorola Solutions will be a useful step in the attainment of the country’s economic blueprint Vision 2030.
The listed company also announced a major investment in local channel development and marketing of the company’s next generation solutions. It has partnered with well entrenched distributer Westcon Africa, Motorola Solutions to provide Kenya’s fast growing economy with real enterprise solutions driving business forward and while providing their customer with better and faster services.
“Empowering our local partners is important for Motorola Solutions in Africa. Our investment and partnership with Westcon Africa will help us reach out to many businesses in Kenya and the east African region. Motorola’s enterprise mobility solutions support the transition to a new way of doing business: faster, more agile and available on the go”, noted Max Stone, Regional Sales Manager, Motorola Solutions Enterprise SSA.
Westcon Africa and other partners will offer products and back end support to the customers in Kenya and the region.
John Spreadborough, General Manager, Convergence Westcon Africa said, “We are proud to strategically partner with Motorola Solutions to support the growing needs of businesses across East Africa. As the largest distributor of IT products and solutions in the region, Westcon Africa will spearhead the launching of Motorola innovative products and drive businesses into the mobile era. ”
Motorola Solutions has been active in the African market for the past 45 years, leading the public safety market by providing its mission critical solutions for governments and organizations. In the past years Kenya has been a key country for the company with significant projects and installations for the Kenya Power Company, Kenya Airways, Kenya Ports Authority, multi-national organizations and others.
Sony has finally decided to give the East and Central Africa market a strong focus. The electronics giant is making Kenya the headquarter of its East and Central Africa as well as some Indian Ocean islands’ operations. The company launched a refreshed series of laptops at an event last night in Nairobi.
The new laptops which are from the VAIO S and VAIO E Series are the company’s indication that they are going to be a major player in the local computer market. The two series of laptops can serve both the home and office user as well as provide consumers with top range performance in a stylish yet functional package.
The new line-up of laptops from SONY magically fuses speed with superior designs, presenting to the end user a to sturdy but light machine which a business, student or an individual user would just love.
Microsoft was launching Windows 8 last night in Nairobi. Both series of the launched VAIO machines will come with 64-bit version of the OS and the 3rd generation Intel® processors. The laptops uniquely feature Extended Battery and slot-in optical drive for extra storage.
Shibuya Akira, Senior Manager, VAIO Marketing, Sony Middle East and Africa said;
“At a time when more people are choosing to use laptops over PCs whether in the workplace, home or school, the new VAIO models strive to meet rising consumer expectations in an increasingly competitive market.
Not only do consumers want laptops that work; they want laptops that are designed with them in mind, which is why in addition to being powerful, fast, portable and sleek, our laptops also come with features that enhance the Sony VAIO experience.”
VAIO S SERIES
The new VAIO S Series comes with powerful computing performance and a full range of features together with a light body. The VAIO S Series is available in 13.3″ LCD in black and white colour variants. You can also double up the battery life just by using the optional Extended Battery, which is ideal for business as well as on-campus use where you may not be able to find power sources while on the go. The shape of Extended Battery is also full-flat which allows the S Series to remain slim thus allowing you to easily carry it out even with the Extended Battery attached. It is easy to insert and remove from the bag thanks to the slim profile.
Overall, this VAIO S Series is the full featured mobile PC with powerful performance.
VAIO S Series provides all the latest technologies needed for full mobile computing. Overall high performance is assured with 3rd generation Intel® Processors. Moreover Dynamic Hybrid Graphics System with NVIDIA OPTIMUS Technology switches seamlessly between SPEED mode for faster performance and STAMINA mode for an even longer battery life.
In addition to that, the S Series comes with the slot-in optical drive, which not only achieves the beauty of the full flat design but also increases the rigidity of the frame. This strengthens the body while eliminating the risk of the loading tray becoming bent.
This PC is crafted to be carried in comfort. The hexa-shell edge design increases the PC’s mobility by providing the essential lightness and rigidity to the body, while also adding a unique character to the appearance. The large palm rest is moulded from a single piece of thin aluminium that provides essential strength while also reducing weight and ensuring a slim profile. This provides solid support for users who spend long hours at their PCs.
VAIO E SERIES
VAIO E Series are targeted at everyone who’s looking for smarter, easier everyday computing. They are equipped with 3rd generation Intel® processors along with the wide range of LCD screen sizes (14”, 15.5”) and 3 colour variations (black, pink & white).
New VAIO E Series offer various display sizes for better and satisfactory use to meet everyone’s lifestyle. VAIO E Series highlights the unique and distinctive ‘wrap design’.
To further increase the usability, new VAIO E Series equips with comfortably-spaced isolation keyboard with backlight for error-free late-night typing.
Latest technologies with powerful features that help enrich the VAIO experience.
The new VAIO line up gives you effortlessly clear, sparkling sound with “xLOUD” and “Clear Phase” technologies, which boost volume levels without distortion for impressive-sounding movies and games. Video chats are clearer and crisper with the built-in HD web camera. Friends and family will enjoy seeing you with sharper details, higher contrast and rich colours: even in low light where other web cameras struggle with grainy, fuzzy images.
The generously-sized multi-gesture touchpad offers a large clickable surface for intuitive, ‘button-free’ control. There’s plenty of space to navigate pages, edit photos and more with fingertip scroll, flick, pinch/zoom and pivot movements.
Gesture Control lets you interact with your computer using intuitive hand movements. Just hold your hand up in front of the web camera and swipe left or right to flick though web pages or your photo gallery. Pull your hand down to pause music playback or a slideshow, or adjust music volume up or down with ‘rotate’ movements.
Don’t worry if your phone’s running out of battery while you’re on the move: VAIO makes a handy ‘any time’ charger if there’s no AC socket nearby. Just plug in your phone via USB even when the computer is switched off or in sleep mode.
Organising and editing photos, home movies is easier than ever with the new software PlayMemories Home. With PlayMemories Home, you can import pictures and videos from any camera or camcorder and relive long lost moments instantly.
In addition, the ‘WEB’ button allows speedy access to the web browsing without booting up the operation system. There is also a dedicated ‘ASSIST’ button. It gives one-touch access to VAIO Care which simplifies basic maintenance and troubleshooting tasks to keep your VAIO in good condition.
Apple has announced the impending availability of its iconic iPhone 5 in more countries and Kenya is included. The phone which will be exclusively available through Orange Kenya is one of Apple’s best. It is lighter than the iPhone 4S and feels more premium unlike the Samsung Galaxy S3 which feels cheap and fades like an entry level smartphone.
Apart from Kenya, the iPhone 5 will be available in more than 50 additional countries by the end of December 2012.
The iPhone 5 was unveiled to the US shoppers in September. The phone is currently available in more than 40 countries around the world. Apple is looking to push the sale of the phone during Christmas holidays and also keep its promise to get it on sale in 100 countries by the end of the year.
Apart from Orange, Safaricom is expected to sell the device to its high end clients through its corporate sales channel. It is not clear how much Safaricom would sell the phone but expect it to be more pricier than the Orange version. The iPhones sold through Safaricom would be a great buy since they will be sim-unlocked unlike the Orange Kenya version.
Here is the schedule or iPhone 5 rollout as announced by Apple;
Friday, Dec. 7: South Korea
Friday, Dec. 14: Albania, Antigua, Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela
Friday, Dec. 21: Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.
It is the season of political campaigns in Kenya. The media in the country is far from neutral. The loyality is between the main contenders Uhuru Kenyaatta or Raila Odinga. Daily Nation which is largely owned by the moneyed elite who support Uhuru’s candidature did a blunder today of photoshopping the image of Uhuru Kenyatta’s running mate, William Ruto, on to a photo of a crowd at yesterday’s CORD rally.
The embarrassing image has awaken debate on social media on the neutrality of the Kenyan media. Nation Media has totally refused to apologise saying that the images are different. The image is above and you can make your own judgement. The image in Daily Nation’s explanation is not the said image. It looks like one meant to cause more confusion.
Mohammed Ali Resigns from NTV Over Claims of Political & Business Interference
A new payment processing solution called Paygate has been launched. Through the system, users in Kenya and Tanzania can now use M-Pesa for online shopping for goods and services.
According to Robin Philip, Marketing Director for PayGate, “There is very little e-commerce activity in many African countries. But that’s not because people don’t want to be able to buy online – they just haven’t been given the right payment options.”
Though other factors like lack of awareness and trust on virtual shopping affect the use of the same, Paygat believe that it is the lack of proper payment solutions which is affecting the adoption.
“Imagine a customer who wants to buy computer equipment or vouchers online,” says Philip. “If the merchant has enabled M-Pesa, the customer can choose that as a payment option when they go to check out. We give them the merchant’s M-Pesa account information, they make the payment using their phone, we process it and tell the merchant so they can complete the transaction.”
Tanzanian airline FastJet is among the first clients of Paygate. They now offer M-Pesa payments for online bookings.
By Kegurio Macharia
A strange consensus has emerged that something called “social media” is dangerous. That traditional media houses advance and disseminate this idea is unsurprising. Social media has been instrumental in exposing traditional media’s complicity with power and silence over the deeply and meaningfully political, a silence made glaringly evident when juxtaposed against the evidence adduced through social media. Thus, I am not surprised that various media houses have published articles and posted video clips critiquing social media and solicited interviews that denounce “social media” for inciting passions.
Yet the passion with which “social media” has been attacked by politicians and by the government should give us pause. On the one hand, such attacks demonstrate a claim advanced by media theorists: media has social effects. Social media is not simply what Jodi Dean describes as “communicative capitalism,” the constant circulation and re-circulation of affect that does not lead to any social effects. However, I raise Dean’s argument because it asks us to pause before attributing a sense of aggrandized agency to social media. It is not clear what precise effects, if any, the distribution of affect on social media has. My “like” on Facebook or “favorite” on twitter need not demonstrate any commitment to any particular social or political or cultural act. Indeed, it seems absolutely silly to criminalize the circulation of affect.
This point cannot be made strongly enough: the attacks on social media by the government are not simply attempts to censor expression and speech, both of which are protected by the constitution; they are attempts to criminalize the circulation of affect.
We also need to think back to 2008, when, as with the most recent election, traditional media outlets abrogated their duty to present the truth of what was happening. We should remember that this group and projects such as Ushahidi arose because the traditional media failed to report what was happening. We should remember that social media was central to documenting what was happening and to telling the truth. We should remember that social media has played an important role in holding the government accountable: in documenting abuses, circulating petitions, and offering a voice to the voiceless.
Muzzling social media benefits traditional media outlets and the government, both of which would prefer not to have citizen oversight.
One might reasonably object that “social media” is not being policed, that, in fact, what is being monitored and policed is “hate speech,” and that this is a worthy project. We need to examine how this policing of social media is happening.
As the elections proceeded, the traditional media reported on patriotically minded techies who were monitoring social media to detect and deflect “hate speech.” An article in The Star indicated that 4 unnamed people were going to be arrested for their hate speech on social media. More recently, the Daily Nation reports that 14 people will be charged for using social media to spread hate speech (http://www.nation.co.ke/News/
Those of us on twitter have noticed that since The Star announced 4 unnamed people will be charged, the political tenor of #kot has shifted in quite dramatic ways. It is no longer as political, no longer as engaged. Fear has crept in. This is what happens when power fosters paranoia. We should not forget that such paranoia has a long history in Kenya.
Bracketing, for the moment, the reasonable claim that the “vitriol” displayed on social media demonstrates the failure of national reconciliation, we need to ask what happens when social media is silenced through implicit and explicit threats of government retaliation. We also need to ask what it means when Mr. Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Communication, informs us, “sites such as Facebook and Twitter will not be switched off by the government” (http://www.the-star.co.ke/
Social media has become a robust space for public expression, helping Kenyans with access to technology to engage with social and political processes from which they are still excluded by what Timothy Mitchell describes as the “rule of experts.” It should not escape our notice that to be heard in Kenya at the moment, one requires an advanced degree or some affiliation with a publicly recognized body. It should trouble us when those with access to traditional forms of media adopt the notion that social media should be monitored, policed, and muzzled.
Let me restate: we cannot and should not criminalize the circulation of affect, no matter how distasteful that affect. We should be very wary when traditional media and the government agree that social media should be policed and silenced. And we should worry even more when announcements published in traditional media sources that unidentified figures on social media are being sought compel Kenyans on social media to disengage from politics.
Orange Kenya has reduced its off-net mobile calling and SMS rates starting at midnight tonight.
The new tarrif offer, dubbed Tujuane, reduces the off-net calling rates to KSh 3 per minute down from KSh 4 per minute. Orange mobile customers will also enjoy a 50 percent reduction on on-net and off-net SMS rates, down to KSh 1 from KSh 2. The cost of Orange-to-Orange calls remains consistent at KSh. 2 per minute and this includes calls from Orange Mobile to the company’s fixed line network.
Customers that are currently subscribed to bundled offerings on Orange will still the benefits of the new Tujuane tariffs. When not subscribed to a bundle offer, they will automatically roll onto this new pricing plan.
Tujuane, which is valid till May 31, 2013, is available 24-hours at no subscription fee making it attractive to entry level users who, typically, have less disposable income.
As additional value, Tujuane comes with free access to Facebook Zero as well as to Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia.
Kenyan government spokesman is angered by the existence of Facebook pages impersonating the First family and state house. Through Facebook postings, Muthui Kariuki, is asking Kenyans to ignore the many Facebook pages which have been created for the children of Uhuru Kenyatta.
In another Facebook post, the government spokesman added;
Facebook currently has hundreds of pages and accounts impersonating all manner of people. I would like to caution Kenyans that they do not share their personal details with any organization purporting to offer jobs unless they can provide a fixed address, land-line number and proper registration details. One such page ‘K24 Peace’ has been using the Presidential Standard and tweeked covers copied from the statehouse page. I ask Kenyans to be careful.
The Kenyan government is in a dilemma how to handle the many Facebook pages opened to impersonate various state organs and personnel.
State House has made great entry onto social media scene since when Uhuru was sworn in as President. The Presidency is now using Facebook and Twitter to share news and happenings with Kenyans.
Howzit MSN, one of Africa’s largest portals with 3.3 million unique browsers per month, is set to launch dedicated versions of its site for Nigeria and Kenya.
Howzit MSN, operated by Kagiso Media in partnership with Microsoft, is the South African version of the popular Microsoft MSN portal. The site plans to expand into East and West Africa to bring users in those markets local news that is tailored to their needs.
The Kenyan and Nigerian MSN portals will be first, with the official launch happening on 1 July.
Initially, these portals will offer dedicated news, entertainment, sports and lifestyle channels as well as property and careers content.
Further channels will be added to the mix as the new portals evolve. The content will be produced and curated by MSN’s African editorial team, led by Kate Hodges, African Editor in Cape Town.
MSN Africa will be placing a heavy emphasis on mobile access to the news and will create mobile versions of the sites that can be accessed from feature phones as well as smartphones. This will allow it to serve continent across multi screens meeting the demand for many people who are getting online for the first time through their phones.
Says Marcus Stephens, GM of Howzit MSN: “There is a growing hunger for localised content across Africa as undersea cables, mobile broadband and falling Internet access costs bring more people online. We aim to address this need with the same formula of locally relevant, easy to digest content that we offer our audience in South Africa.”
“We want to be as local in content, look and feel as possible. The many readers we already have in Nigeria and Kenya are sure to be delighted when they go online on 1 July and are greeted by fully local content rather than the American version of the site they are used to seeing. This is just the start for our business in Africa – we aim to bring more content to this market and to launch in other countries over the next few months.”
Ministry of ICT Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiangi
After the much publicised President Uhuru’s directive in June that all ICT authorities (bodies) in the country be merged into a single entity, now Kenya ICT Board, Directorate of eGovernment and Government Information Technology Services (GITS) are collectively going to be under the newly created Kenya ICT Authority, under the Ministry of ICT.
The many ICT bodies were disintegrated with various heads of departments pulling in different directions. Office of the former President, Mwai Kibaki, refused to let go of the eGovernment department while the Treasury had the Government Information Technology Services (GITS) under it. All these together with the Kenya ICT Board now fall under the Ministry of ICT.
The merger is such a welcome move in the ICT industry. The new body will create policies to be passed by parliament later to be implemented throughout the various government arms but with the supervision of the same Kenya ICT Authority.
The new arrangement proposed through a publication by Research ICT Africa will end the current scenario where the Kenya ICT Board and the OP based eGovernment Directorate would duplicate functions. The latter was a channel for major infrastructure contracts in the former administration while Kenya ICT Board was reduced to only playing a marketer of ICT functions. The ICT Board also had a tag-war with the Communications Secretariat on some functions including the development of a clear BPO policy in the country.
The proposal will also see the replacement of the current CCK with a more robust Communications Authority of Kenya. All these proposals are contained in the yet to be enacted The Kenya Information and Communication Amendment Act 2013.
Microsoft is set to launch its Kenyan portal tomorrow morning. The software firm is set to launch the MSN Kenya portal which is already LIVE and has news and information relevant to the Kenyan audience. Similar portal has already been launched in South Africa and Nigeria.
Howzit MSN Moves into Kenya and Nigeria with Localised Content
Howzit MSN is so big in South Africa clearly rivaling the likes of Yahoo, AOL and Google as well as Naspers’ News24. Microsoft is looking to deliver localised digital content to the African audience through the web and mobile. Microsoft will initially not produce original content for MSN Kenya portal but it will syndicate content from leading regional dailies.
The portal will feature dedicated sports, news, lifestyle and entertainment pages. MSN is also looking to engage with advertisers through the portal. It hopes to deliver targeted adverts through its portal as it is doing with the already popular Howzit MSN SA.
The laptop and iPad thieves walking around Nairobi’s hotels and offices stealing the same is just worrying. They are not so many. They are just so daring. You will find them at conferences where they pretend to be participants or journalists covering the events. They will spot dignitaries who are careless with their valuables and then snatch when nobody is looking.
The same is happening in many offices where some thieves enter as genuine clients and while nobody is attentive enough, they grab a mobile phone, laptop, iPad or any electronic left around then they disappear before you realise it. Electronics are so easy to sell in Nairobi’s backstreet so it is the most desirable product of the thieves.
But what the thieves have not realised is how much their activity is now recorded. Most offices and hotels have 24/7 CCTV meaning that every action, good or bad, is on tape.
One common office rat is the guy in the video below. He was a week ago caught on video stealing from an office in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area.
Laptop thief scouring the EA Data Handlers offices
Previously at an office in Upper Hill
This time he was in Westlands area scouring the offices of EA Data Handlers for valuables. The CEO of the company, George Njoroge, is offering Ksh 500,000 for information which will lead to his arrest and prosecution.
Send your leads to gknjoroge@eadatahandlers.co.ke
Disgraced CEO of former Kenya Data Networks and now Liquid Telecoms Kenya has been sacked. Though diplomatically, Shahab is being replaced by Liquid Telecom Group’s Director of Network Strategy, Mr Ben Roberts.
Shahab who was brought in by the Altech Group oversaw the near death of KDN and is not credited with anything positive at the ailing former data giant. Shahab launched a very unpopular reform which saw talented Kenyans replaced by racist but incompetent South Africans. Whenever staff demanded that he be replaced by Altech, Shahab arrogantly told the staff that Altech will never replace him.
Shahab who formerly headed CISCO in the region is neither missed at KDN nor at CISCO East Africa offices which he headed. It is a quiet celebration at former KDN as Shahab goes. Shahab is an Iranian who converted citizenship to German. Shahab will be taking a soft landing as Group Head of Customer Account and Management Service. The Liquid Group’s statement announcing the exit of Shahab documents not a single success of the disgraced former CEO.
Uganda’s parliament has bought iPads to all its 375 MPs at a cost of Ksh 32 million ($370,000), saying that the tablets will make the lawmakers more efficient by allowing them to access official documents while travelling.The total number of iPads delivered to the parliament is 384.
The MPs who voted themselves more salaries (now earns Ksh 700,000) like their Kenyan counterparts are also set to receive Ksh 3.5 million ($41,000) in car loans. They can as well afford iPads but they decided to put the bill on the already heavily burdened tax payers.
Parliamentary commissioner Emmanuel Dombo claim that the money used for the purchase had been generated by reducing budget for stationery. Many Ugandans criticised the purchase while complaining that they are already paying too much for the upkeep of their MPs.
Meanwhile, Kenyan parliament is also planning to spend Ksh 17 million to equip its 349 MPs with the mobile devices. Kenyan MPs will be bought the devices through the Parliamentary Service Commission so as “to read the house rules on the go.”
StarTimes has revealed that it will allow access to at least six Free To Air channels upon the expiry of subscriber’s monthly subscription. But the catch is that the access will only be for two weeks. I smell something very wrong. Free channels must be free whether the decoder is for Pay or not. There is no reason free channels should be disconnected for non-payment of a subscription fee.
Why should free channels be charged? StarTimes, through a statement, claim that they will allow a two-week access to KBC, Citizen Tv, KTN, NTV, K24, GBS and STV-Guide upon the expiry of subscribers’ monthly subscription.
But StarTimes subscribers using the Free to Air set-top box will access about 20 local channels. The FTA set-top box (decoder) also has a dual feature enabling them to subscribe to the pay television channels at will while continuing to access the local channels for good upon the expiry of their monthly subscription.
StarTimes Pay Television and Free To Air decoders are currently retailing at Ksh 2,999 and 4,999 respectively both of which are enabled with one month Unique Bouquet subscription which normally retails at Ksh1,999.
