Author: Kaluka wanjala

Last year, Facebook unveiled the Messenger Lite app for Android targeting users who find the main Messenger app heavy and data hungry. This is one of the many ‘Lite’ apps we have been seeing recently as developers try and target users in emerging and developing markets where internet costs may be high and the use of smartphones with low specs is common. For the 12 months Facebook Messenger Lite has been on the market, it has been downloaded over 100 million times from the Google Play Store. This is impressive for any applications but shows you the number of people…

Good news Nokia 6 owners, you now have a chance to beta test Android Oreo before it is publicly available to all users. Nokia 5 owners are already part of the Beta Labs program and those who chose to take part are currently testing Android Oreo on their devices. With Nokia 5 already part of it, HMD has announced that Nokia 6 is now joining Beta Labs. To be part of the program, users will have to sign up for Beta Labs here. If you join the beta program, you will be part of the group that tests the pre-released…

Not so long ago, Google announced that YouTube Go, the light version of the YouTube app for Android, is out of beta. This app was originally launched in September 2016 but in beta and was only available in India. In February this year, the app was available unofficially through the play store and still in beta mode. Fast forward to August this year and YouTube Go was launched in Indonesia as part of Google’s plan to take the app to more users in developing countries. At this time, the app was still in beta until November when it came out…

Put your data to work These days, organizations collect more data than a human brain could possibly process in a lifetime. (Or even several.) So we’re using artificial intelligence and machine learning to gather and analyze data from everywhere. All with the goal of helping you make smarter decisions. We already see this trend in action. Hospitals can track if doctors and nurses wash their hands at the right times. Banks can find and fix issues with their mobile apps before users have to call in. Museums can see which attractions people visit most frequently. The list goes on. In…

OPPO has been on the headlines so much the last few weeks. The company’s latest device, the F5, launched in the country recently and this is why we have been talking about the brand so much. After the F5, the company unveiled the F5 Youth, a variant with a smaller RAM and available for Ksh 5,000 less than the standard F5. Well, if you thought OPPO is done for the year then you are wrong. The company has just announced that the third variant of its latest device is now available in the country. This latest one is the OPPO…

Redington Kenya Ltd has finally introduced the Apple iPhone x in the Kenyan market. “This amazing device has an all-screen display that precisely follows the curve of the device with no border allowance. The entire face of the phone is a screen, and now here we have iPhone X,” said Sajan Thomas, Regional Business Head East Africa for Redington during the unveiling of the device. Apple iPhone X comes in silver and space grey colors, all-glass front and back featuring the most durable glass ever in a Smartphone with a highly polished, surgical-grade stainless steel band seamlessly wraps around and…

A few weeks ago, Safaricom announced that it had plans to add M-Shwari loan and saving services to the mySafaricom app. This was during the M-Shwari 5th anniversary celebration where it was announced that there are between 250,000 and 300,000 M-Shwari loan applications per day and about 70,000 of those get approved. Even though M-Shwari applications are so many, the option to use the service on the mySafaricom app has been missing. This has been the case even though users could still access some basic M-Pesa services through the same app. I prefer using the app as it is much…

Nairobi City County has launched its Digital Business Roadmap that will drive better Citizen experiences when engaging the county; better the County’s workforce environment and technology experience; drive operational efficiency in transport, Health, Education, and Agriculture; and reduce overall risk as a result of Cyber Threats. The County confirmed today that it has deployed the First Phase of the foundation technology solutions covered in the Digital Business Roadmap. Cisco is fast-tracking the Nairobi City County’s commitment to achieve affordable, accessible and sustainable quality service delivered and accelerated by digital transformation. Speaking at the launch event, Cisco’s General Manager for East…

Twitter wants us to create as many threads as we possibly can on its platform. The company has made some changes to its platform to make this possible. With the latest changes, users will be able to tap a button while writing their tweet and link a second tweet to the first one and so forth. When you are done adding the different tweets to your thread, you can click on the ‘Tweet all’ button and they will all be posted once. Twitter users have been able to add threads before this but the only option was to post the…

Back in September, Apple officially unveiled its latest smartphones, the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X. The iPhone X was the star of the show because of its unique design. The front of the iPhone X is all screen with very thin bezels and this is very different from the iPhone 8 that has very large bezels. If you have been waiting to the iPhone X, it will be unveiled by Elite Digital in Kenya this Friday (December 15). The company is currently accepting pre-orders and those interested can now do so through this Google form. Elite…