Author: Francis Muli

Spotify has introduced a new way for users to mix and match their music with friends on the platform. The new Friends Mix Playlist aims to help users move out of their comfort zone by listening to tracks that their friends listen to. Friends Mix is designed to be like receiving a massive mixtape full of recommendations from all of your friends, in contrast to Blend, one of its other personalized playlist kinds that combines some of your recent favorites with some from a friend. Read: Kenya’s Creative Industry Records Sh252 Million in Losses Annually; Partners Against Piracy The audio-streaming app…

The Central Bank of Kenya has stalled Safaricom’s plan to roll out an interest-free Lipa na M-pesa loan dubbed Faraja. The Faraja loan product is owned by Kenya-based financial technology firm, EDOMx Ltd, with Safaricom and Equity Bank listed as its partners. According to the Business Daily, CBK asked the parties to stop release of Faraja loans just hours before its unveiling. The Lipa na M-pesa loan is meant to help subscribers access credit to purchase products. Parties privy to the matter said that CBK called the parties hours before the launch on July 6th, saying the loan product was…

You can now react directly to WhatsApp messages with additional emojis. Meta has rolled out extra emoji reactions for messages on the app. The company had announced that it was working on the feature two weeks ago, before finally rolling it out to all users on Wednesday. In March this year, WhatsApp rolled out the ability for users to react to a message using an emoji by holding it down. At first, the messaging app allowed users to react using six emoji; the like, love/heart, praying hands, surprise, sad with a tear and laughing emoji. Read: WhatsApp to Allow Users Mute…

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has addressed claims that the app is becoming more Tiktok-like, saying the current changes are actually on test mode. Through a video shared on social media, Mosseri said the changes happened after a majority of users showed a preference for videos. Several Instagram celebrities including the Kardashian sisters recently criticized the evolvement of the app, saying it had become more like TikTok. Users are advocating that Meta “make Instagram Instagram again” to allow them share photos and view content from their actual friends on the feed. In the video, Mosseri said that they are aware of…

The education sector is one of the worst hit in cases of cyber crime globally. According to a 2022 report on the state of ransomware by Sophos, public, private, international schools, colleges and universities have faced an increase in cyber attacks. The report shows an increase in the attacks with 60 percent of the institutions hit in 2021 compared to 44 percent in 2020. The increase has been attributed to a lack of strong cyber security defences and the availability of high volumes of personal data online, translating to high costs for restoration of data. Read: Vodacom Partners With Cloudflare To…

Police are investigating the death of a 40 year old man in Makadara, Nairobi. The man died in a fire incident in his house on Tuesday. According to police and witnesses, the victim was asleep when the fire broke out. The flames burnt down up to seven structures in the  California area, leaving six other families homeless. Police said no injury was reported but property worth an unknown value was destroyed in the fire. The cause of the fire is yet to be established. Read: Moses Kuria Under Fire For Showing Kiambu Residents the ‘Middle Finger’ The cause of the fire…

Police in Nairobi have launched investigations into the mysterious death of a senior assistant director of Public Prosecutions after his lifeless body was found decomposing in his house. 47 year old Fredrick Ashimosi Shitiambasi’s body was found in his house by neighbours. According to police, the late Shitiambasi who was attached to the Prosecution Training Institute had been unwell and on sick leave. His neighbours raised alarm after a foul smell started emanating from the house. They then alerted the police who broke down the door to access the house. Shitiambasi’s body was discovered motionless on the bed. Read: Stand-off In…

Mobile phone devices are set to increase in cost by at least 35 percent after the government increased levies. Dealers are wary of the emergence of a black market as they will apply a new 25 percent import duty and 10 percent excise tax. According to Samsung Director Mobile Experience Charles Kimari, the Kenya Revenue Authority has increased the number of levies on phone imports by up to 41 percent including import duty, value-added taxes and a raft of port clearance charges. “The price increase will definitely affect demand, but will also encourage parallel imports for gadgets that are not…

Airtel Kenya has secured 60 megahertz (MHz) additional spectrum for the enhancement of its 4G network across the country. The telco spent Sh4.7 billion to purchase the additional spectrum from the Communications Authority of Kenya. The spectrum is in the 2600MHz band and is on a 15 year lease beginning this month. The additional spectrum will help Airtel expand its 4G network capacity for both mobile data and fixed wireless home broadband markets. The spectrum will also help the Telco in its 5G rollout plans. Read: Airtel Denies Claims That it is Planning to Exit the Kenyan Market “The investment reflects…

Kenyan boy-band, Sauti Sol are over the moon after international pop sensation Madonna shared a video of her children dancing to the group’s song ‘Melanin’. The icon shared a video of the kids dancing with the caption indicating that they were cooking breakfast. Madonna’s son David Banda and daughter Estere, both in dresses show off their moves while gyrating to Sauti Sol’s song ‘Melanin’ before Banda takes a video of everyone in the kitchen, including the singer. Read: Sauti Sol’s Bien Complains After Alleged Frustration by German Embassy Officials View this post on Instagram A post shared by Madonna…

Instagram is becoming more like TikTok. The photo and video sharing app is now converting all videos uploaded on the app into Reels. Any video that is shorter than 90 seconds posted by a public account automatically appears as a Reel and will be broadcast to a wider audience using Reels’ suggestion algorithm. Other users on the app will also be able to remix it and add their own content tools if they find it interesting. The feature has elicited a number of reactions among users. “Instagram is trying so hard to compete with TikTok that they’re trying to become…

Netflix recently announced that it was working on an ad-inclusive plan which will be offered at a lower price. The company partnered with tech giant Microsoft to run the ads on some of its subscription plans. Although the streaming company did not offer details on the package, Netflix confirmed during its Q2 2022 earnings call that the ad-supported plan would not feature the list of content in their catalogue. During an Interview, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said that although the ad-supported plan will contain many of the movies in the streaming company’s catalogue, some will remain exclusive to customers who…

MultiChoice Kenya has moved to court to sue Jamii Telecom for Contempt of Court after the latter failed to comply with orders from the High Court. Last month, the High Court ordered internet providers to block 141 sports pirating websites. The internet service providers were given 48 hours to comply with the orders and even after Jamii Telecom got an additional 24 hours to block the websites, the company failed to comply with the orders. While Safaricom complied with the orders, Jamii Telecom filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal seeking a stay against the High Court ruling. The…

The Unicode consortium has listed a set of 31 new emojis set to be released this year. Among the new emojis are a shaking head, new heart colours and a mean goose among others. The new emojis will be taken through a final round of approval in September before they are released. The list is considerably small compared to last year’s 112 emojis which included pregnant people, low battery sign and a crutch. The company said that the small list this year was intentional. “The Unicode emoji subcommittee want to take more time to consider what will go on the…

A group of women in the US are suing ride-hailing taxi app Uber over a wide range complaints. The 550 women filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in a US court over cases of kidnapping, sexual assaults, sexual battery, rape, stalking, and harassment by Uber drivers. The complaint filed by Slater Slater Schulman firm states that the assaults transpired across several US states. At least 150 other potential cases are also being looked into. Uber declined to comment on the issue, despite their hard stance against assault. “Sexual assault is a horrific crime and we take every single report seriously,” Uber…

Meta has announced that its Ray Ban smart glasses will now support WhatsApp messages and calls. The Ray Ban stories will now allow users to read incoming messages and make calls by a simple command. Users will also be able to send end-to-end encrypted messages through the smart-glasses by issuing a voice command. The functionalities are already available on Facebook, allowing users to make calls, read and receive messages which are read out to them. Ray Ban stories’ users on Facebook issue voice commands such as “Hey Facebook, send a message to (contact or group)” or  “Hey Facebook, call (contact)”…