Author: Kaluka wanjala

Google is not very open with the exact numbers when it comes to the total Pixel smartphones it sells. The best the company has said is that shipments doubled in 2017 compared to 2016. Even though Google is being secretive, IDC, a top market research company, says that over 3.9 million Google Pixel phones were shipped in 2017. Francisco Jeronimo who is IDC’s Research Director released the actual number that are at par with Google’s own report that revealed the company doubled shipments in 2017. This is a big number but is still tiny compared to other established brands such…

Music streaming is not that big of a business in Kenya (or most developing countries) as it is in the west. Over here, if not through radio, most people illegally get access to new music and they may not even be aware of that. This hurts the artistes who may not make money off their music. For Safaricom, this may just be the perfect opportunity to launch the new music streaming app it calls SONGA. The app was officially unveiled yesterday and is currently available on Android. In addition to music streaming, the app will also let artistes sell their…

Samsung Electronics has moved to cement its market leadership as the number one brand in the smartphone market share globally by launching an e-warranty campaign driving its two year warranty on mobile handsets. The Samsung E-Warranty Campaign gives consumers the chance to verify the device’s warranty period, which is two years, the longest warranty period offered in the market. Patricia King’ori, Head of Marketing and Citizenship at Samsung Electronics East Africa said consumers will be required to send a text message to 22585 with the device’s IMEI number, and will receive a message giving the status of the mobile device.…

Late last week, Android Oreo update started seeding to some Galaxy S8 users in Germany. This was the first phase and as I said last week, I expect more users to get the update in the coming weeks. Samsung has finally expanded availability of this particular update to three more countries that include Poland, India and France. These are not that many countries but it’s a good start and hopefully we will be seeing it to more S8 users in more countries before the end of the month. The update is about 487MB in size and is available for both…

Samsung has started pushing out Android 8.0 Oreo update to some Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ users. The update is rolling out to the devices whose version is SM-G955XXU1CRAP and has been spotted by users in Germany. At the moment, the update is rolling out to those who had signed up for the beta program and may take sometime to reach those who are not part of this program. At the same time, I expect the update to roll out to users in other countries within the next couple of weeks and you should expect a notification very soon. How…

The United States International University – Africa, in collaboration with Microsoft’s 4Afrika Initiative, has today launched Kenya’s first AppFactory at the Incubation and Innovation Center (I2C) in Nairobi. The I2C AppFactory shall address the competency gap between ICT graduates and employment, by equipping students with high-level skills in designing, developing, implementing and managing modern software solutions. The initiative will provide an experiential way of learning, encouraging students to develop new skills, attitudes and ways of thinking. In addition, it will provide access to first-grade jobs through the Microsoft Partner Network, increasing the employability of USIU-Africa students and unemployed graduates from…

Microsoft is planning to do away with Windows 10 S and have it replaced with “S Mode” for all Windows 10 versions. Windows 10 S was the company’s flagship product targeting users in the education sector, it was announced in May last year but it looks like the company wants a more streamlined product going forward. At the moment, Windows 10 S is a unique edition of Windows 10. It is a preconfigured version of Windows 10 Pro that locks out some of the features you would normally enjoy on the full version. Those who get Windows 10 S have…

The most recent version of Android, Android Oreo was released sometime in 2017 to be the successor to Android Nougat that we have had since 2016. The interesting thing is that, Android Nougat has never been the most used version of Android until now. Google has just released the latest Android distribution numbers that show Android Nougat being at the top with 28.5% market share. This is still a very low number but is a good start in my opinion. For an OS that has been around for over a year, in an ideal world we would be looking at…

Recently, the Telegram app mysteriously disappeared from the Apple App Store and no one was sure why. Well, we now have an explanation as to why this happened. VentureBeat is reporting that the app was axed from the App Store mainly due to child pornography. Apple was alerted to the child pornography content that was being shared through the application by some users. This was confirmed by Apple as the company said that it pulled down the app from the Store and would not allow it back up unless the problem was fixed. App Store chief Phil Schiller in an…

HMD Global officially brought back Nokia smartphones towards the end of 2016 with the launch of the Nokia 6 in China. This was the device that the company used to test the waters in China before making it available to users in other countries. The Nokia 6 was not the only Nokia device we saw from HMD, we also got to see the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 in early 2017. These devices were made available to the global audience from day one and they really helped the company’s overall sales. The Nokia 5 and 6 are mid range devices…