Author: Kaluka wanjala

Less than a week after leaving Xiaomi, Hugo Barra is heading to Facebook to be the new head of Oculus VR. At Xiaomi, he was the Global VP since 2013 but he unexpectedly announced that he was leaving the post a few days ago. With this announcement, we were left wondering where he would go but now we know that he is going to Facebook. Before joining Xiaomi, Barra previously worked at Google where he was a VP and product spokesperson. He was one of the most notable people in Google’s Android team and we saw him in many Google…

Microsoft, the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, parent company of pan-African banking group Ecobank today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to complement African governments’ efforts to modernise and raise the standards of the continent’s major cities through state of the art digital solutions. The MOU will see the modernisation of sectors that will have the most immediate and significant impact for African countries. These sectors will include bursary disbursements and school fee collections in the education sector; market shop and small vendor municipality collections, vehicle and driving licensing as well…

When it comes to social networking site, video is a big deal. These days, it is not just about the videos but rather live videos are the in-thing on social media. Facebook and YouTube have that option and apps such as Periscope have their entire business built around that. Instagram has also tried with Live Stories, its live broadcast option, with a few users in the US. The company did this last year and it looks like the tests went well as the feature is rolling out to all users around the world. The company says that users will be…

WhatsApp has just updated its official app for iOS to include a feature that users will appreciate. This update brings WhatsApp version 2.17.1 and now allows users to queue messages offline when they do not have a good network connection and automatically send the messages when they have a good connection. We have seen this feature on other apps such as Gmail and even WhatsApp for Android and now those using WhatsApp on iOS have it. When you try sending a message when offline, it will be queued and sent the next time you connect to the internet. Just so…

We have been hearing about HTC’s smartwatch since 2013. This was back when manufacturers had just started embracing the wearables and we knew HTC did not want to be left behind. Even though we have been hearing about the HTC smartwatch since 2013, we have still not seen that device out in the market. The company has been delaying its production for reasons unknown to us. It looks like the HTC smartwatch is still a thing as we have some new photos showcasing the device. The device has been codenamed the HTC Halfbeak, not sure if this will be its…

LG has been silent about this device but this has not stopped people from leaking the first photos of the device. The official photos of the G6 were obtained by The Verge and show how different the device is from its predecessor. We were expecting LG to change things completely with the G6 as the G5 wasn’t that mind-blowing from the design point of view and the sales recorded. The first photos of the LG G6 and show the front and left side of the phone. The phone appears very different when compared to the G5 with very thin bezels.…

Google has been trying to get as many people as possible to use Chromebooks for a while. The company has been looking for new ways to ensure the user experience is improved and this involves providing them with services they are comfortable using. The latest change involves the inclusion of Google Play Store. We have heard about the merger between Android and Chrome OS and it looks like that is finally happening. This was announced back in May of 2016 and since then we have seen a stable version of the OS released to some units including the Asus Chromebook…

Oppo is one of the fastest rising smartphone manufacturers out of China. The company has just announced that it has sold over 20 million units under its R9 series. The series was introduced sometime last year and is one of the many devices the company has been actively pushing since then. Right now, there are four different devices under this series. These include the R9, R9 Plus, R9s, and R9s Plus. The R9 and R9 Plus were launched during Q1 of 2016 while the R9s and R9s Plus were launched in Q4 of 2016. The 20 million number includes all…

If you have been a fan of Xiaomi, then you know that Hugo Barra has been its Global Vice President for close to four years. He previously worked at Google and this is one of the reasons why people were closely watching to see what he does at Xiaomi. Why would someone who worked at Google go to work for a Chinese smartphone manufacturer that was just starting up. Barra has worked for Xiaomi the past three and a half years and he has finally decided to leave the company. He announced this through Facebook saying that he has plans…

ShowMax has partnered with SEACOM, a major pan-African data service provider and the first company to launch broadband submarine cables along Africa’s eastern and southern coastlines. The agreement provides for SEACOM to host ShowMax caching servers in Nairobi, allowing for peering to take place with local internet service providers (ISPs). Explaining what this means for subscribers, ShowMax Head of Distribution Mike Raath said: “The net effect of placing caching servers in Nairobi is that customers can pull video content from much closer to home, which means faster response time and less buffering. This move also lays the groundwork for further…