Author: Kaluka wanjala

Google hosted its second Google for Nigeria event where it made a number of big announcements aimed at helping more people in Nigeria, and across Africa, benefit from the opportunities the web has to offer. In a bid to make the internet more easily accessible to people in Nigeria, Google is launching Google Station for Nigeria: a program to provide high quality, high-speed Wi-Fi hotspots in partnership with 21st Century, one of the largest fibre network providers in Nigeria. “Google Station will be rolling out in 200 locations in five cities across Nigeria by the end of 2019, bringing Wi-Fi…

Whether you love or hate the “Notch” that seems to be on most smartphone these days, it is just not going away. For those who may not be aware, the Notch is the cut out at the top of front panel on smartphones with very thin bezels. This cut out is to accommodate the front facing camera, sensors and the earpiece as manufacturers have to find a place to have these but do not want their devices to have the very thick bezels we are used to seeing. We have seen manufacturers such as OPPO and Huawei introduce smartphones with…

Telkom Kenya has today officially unveiled its new data centre in Nairobi that will help it tap into the growing data storage needs of local and reginal businesses. The Ksh 150 Million data centre is located in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area and will help the company improve its network quality, colocation and hosting services, internet connectivity and local loop connectivity. The modernized open access facility at Milimani Exchange along Bishop Road, Upper Hill, Nairobi, is part of Telkom’s network infrastructure expansion programme and is capable of hosting all Telco’s infrastructure both local and international clients at the site. According to…

If you have ever wanted to make a group video chat on WhatsApp, I have some good news for you. The Facebook-owned messaging service has just been updated to include support for group video chats. The company announced that it was working on this feature back in May this year and it is finally ready to roll it to the masses. WhatsApp group video chats support up to 4 people which I believe is the sweet spot without it being crowded. To start a group video chat, you will have to start a one-on-one voice or video call first. After…

In March this year, Google officially announced that YouTube for iOS had a dark mode that some users activate if they wish to do so. This option is now coming to YouTube for Android according to 9to5Google. The publication reports that dark mode is already rolling out to some Android users. The key word here is “some” and I have updated my app but do not have the option to activate dark mode so do not panic if you are on the same boat. If it is available on your end, YouTube for Android will automatically switch to the dark…

Earlier this year at CES (Consumer Electronics Show), LG took that stage and introduced ThinQ AI, its official dive into AI. The company also introduced a number of ThinQ branded products from smart TVs to smartphones and even vacuum cleaners. The company says that its main aim is to bring real-world benefits that will improve the lives of its customers. The company also said that the best way to do this is to connect the various products customers interact with and the LG ThinQ can just do that. In 2018, we have seen different industry leaders dive into AI with…

Spotify has a good year so far as it has just reported that its user base now stands at 180 million. This is 40 million new users from the same time last year when reported that the music streaming platform had 140 million users. Competition has been tough with the many players on the market so these numbers are not so bad for Spotify. Out of the 180 million people actively using Spotify, 83 million of them are paying subscribers, up from 60 million reported in August last year. This may not be that huge of a jump but shows…

In June 2018, Microsoft 4Afrika hosted international experts in Nairobi, Kenya for a targeted, productive popup lab and series of events focused on the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. This team worked with 90+ Kenyan developers and eight African organisations – including start-ups and established business, such as Safaricom, M-KOPA, Davis & Shirtliff, Farmers Choice, Virtual City and SmartBig Things – to impart practical IOT and AI skills, and speed up development timelines on connected devices and services. “It’s been a fantastic opportunity to bring these experts to Africa and see the impact that transpired between…

Yesterday, HFC, the banking subsidiary of HF Group, unveiled its digital financial service platform it is referring to as HF Whizz. This is a first for the company and we will be looking at the app to see what it has to offer and if it is an app you should be using. In this day and age, we spend most of our days on our phones and it makes sense for companies to come up with products and services that take advantage of that. As a smartphone user or someone who may be interested in such an app, you…

Earlier today, HFC, the banking subsidiary of HF Group, officially unveiled its digital financial service platform it is referring to as HF Whizz. According to the company, this app aims to deliver the simplest and fastest digital banking experience. This is one of the ways the company hopes to differentiate this app from other products offered by other players. Speaking at the unveiling of the new platform, HFC Managing Director Sam Waweru said that the bank’s digital banking platform is part of its business strategy to diversify and grow its retail business while it addresses consumer demand for banking on…