Author: Francis Muli

Travelers heading to the western region are set to enjoy affordable trips this Christmas season after the Kenya Railways Corporation launched its services for the Nairobi-Kisumu route. The service which has been on a two-decade hiatus will cost as little as Sh600 for customers. First-class passengers will part with Sh2,000 for the trip inclusive of luxurious services such as refreshments, WiFi, charging ports, and spacious closets for their luggage. Economy class passengers will be charged Sh600 for the 11-hour trip, while those heading to Nakuru will part with Sh300. Passengers accustomed to paying high fares during the Christmas period can…

Yellow Pages have announced the launch of a new service, Yellow Connect, specifically designed to help SMEs grow the visibility of their businesses both online and offline. The service will help businesses reach more customers with prices starting from as low as Sh. 2,500. While making the announcement, Yellow Pages CEO, Pedro Gomes, noted that small businesses may lack the manpower and capital to dedicate to large-scale marketing efforts, and this is the gap that Yellow Connect aims to fill. “In my opinion, SMEs face two major challenges; the first is the lack of manpower in the organizations, and the…

WhatsApp has released a new feature allowing users to preview their voice messages before sending them. According to WhatsApp’s Parent company, Meta, the feature has been rolling out within the last weeks and is now available to all users on Android, iOS, web and Desktop. According to the messaging app, users will be able to preview a voice message after they press stop to finish recording. The play icon is then used to preview the message after which one can choose to delete or send it. “They’re not mistakes, they’re rehearsals. Now you can preview your voice messages before you…

One-to-one calls on Microsoft Teams will now have End-to-end encryption, the company has announced. The feature which has been on test since October is being rolled out to all Teams users today. The feature is opt-in meaning IT admins can activate and disable it depending on user preference. The end-user will also be expected to turn it on from the Teams settings for it to work. “As a reminder, by default end-to-end encryption will not be available to all users within the tenant. Once IT has configured the policy and enabled it for selected users, those selected users will still…

Twitter is rolling out automatic captioning for videos posted on the platform. The company announced Tuesday that the feature will be available globally for iOS, Android, and desktop users in most languages. “Where are video captions when you need them? They’re here now automatically on videos uploaded starting today.” Twitter announced on the platform. “Android & iOS: auto-captions will show on muted Tweet videos; keep them on when unmuted via your device’s accessibility settings Web: use the “CC” button to turn on/off,” the company explained. Read: Instagram Enables Twitter Card Preview for Content Posted on Twitter According to a Twitter…

In the last 24 hours, 331 people have tested positive for Covid-19 from a sample size of 2,872 tested. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 256,815 and the positivity rate to 11.5 percent. The cumulative tests conducted so far are 2,894,765. On a positive note, 253 people have recovered from the disease. Out of these 237 people are from the home-based care and isolation program while 16 are from various health facilities. The total number of recoveries is now 248,804. Read: YouTube to Remove Videos Spreading Misinformation on Covid-19 Vaccines 161 Covid-19 patients are currently admitted in…

Bolt is rolling out a new feature that will give both drivers and riders more flexibility. Drivers will be able to set their own prices while passengers will be able to select their preferred driver. The move is aimed at empowering drivers on the platform, by allowing them to take control of the costs of their services. Bolt’s Regional Manager for East Africa Kenneth Micah said the feature will allow drivers to set their prices per kilometre based on their preferences and local environment. Read: Bolt Launches Food Delivery Service in Kenya “The moves are expected to lead to a…

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) is enforcing additional safety measures on the company’s portal to curb the illegal release of impounded vehicles. According to the authority, Sacco/company administrators will now be required to submit a phone number where an SMS code will be sent to enable access to the website. NTSA sent a letter to Public Service Vehicles officials on December 10 saying this will be the third layer of security on the portal. “A third level security measure has been implemented to increase the portal security. This will require the portal administrators to prove an SMS code…

WhatsApp has rolled out a new privacy measure that will hide the “last seen” status from people you have not communicated with on the app before. Before the new update, the messaging app applied the preferred status for “everyone” by default. The new update means that only people who are added to your contacts list will be able to view your “last seen” status. “To improve the privacy and security of our users, we’re making it harder for people you don’t know and haven’t chatted with from seeing your last seen and online presence on WhatsApp.” The company replied to…

Since automating their services, the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) now allows users to select, change or confirm their preferred hospitals remotely. By using a mobile phone, one can simply dial the USSD code *155# to access the services. The other options are to access the NHIF website or download the NHIF mobile app for self-care. Below are the steps for each method – Dial *155# from your phone – Select your preferred language – You will receive an OTP (One-time Pin), enter it and send. – A Pop-up screen will appear with the options to choose or change the…

Website owners and publishers are familiar with the web-ranking tool, Alexa which helps to gauge online traffic and performance. Amazon has announced that it will be shutting down the service effective May 2022. The company already stopped renewing client subscriptions as of December 8. “Twenty-five years ago, we founded Alexa Internet. After two decades of helping you find, reach, and convert your digital audience, we’ve made the difficult decision to retire Alexa.com on May 1, 2022. Thank you for making us your go-to resource for content research, competitive analysis, keyword research, and so much more,” a statement from the company…

Microsoft is attempting to tackle the issue of pirated software with a 50 percent discount on Office suite purchases. According to reports doing rounds online, a new message offering a 50 percent discount for genuine Microsoft 365 subscription is appearing on the office ribbon bar on Pirated Office apps. The notice purportedly directs users to Microsoft’s own website, which includes a warning that “pirated software exposes your computer to security hazards.” Those who pirate Office software are also at danger of infections, malware, identity theft, data theft, and missing out on critical upgrades, according to Microsoft. Read: Microsoft Launches Teams Essentials…

Instagram will start rolling out a version of its feed that shows users’ posts in chronological order. The company’s CEO Adam Mosseri said while appearing to the senate on Wednesday. The company’s communications department also announced the same on social media. “We want people to have meaningful control over their experience. We’ve been experimenting with Favorites, a way for you to decide whose posts you want to see higher up, and we’re working on another option to see posts from people you follow in chronological order” Read: Instagram Combines IGTV and Newsfeed Videos to New Format Dubbed Instagram Videos Instagram…

Tech giant, Google has released the top trending searches for the year 2021. We kicked off the year with several trending topics such as the swearing-in of US President Joe Biden, followed by the loss of Tanzania’s President John Pombe  Magufuli and the subsequent re-election of Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. The EPL Table topped the country’s trending searches followed by the Uganda elections and the Kiambaa By-elections on the third position. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) came fourth while Kazi Mtaani Application took fifth position. Kenyans also had a number of questions and how to find love was…

A woman is facing theft charges for failing to reverse money sent to her M-Pesa erroneously. Nancy Chonge Chepkemoi reportedly received Sh73,000 mistakenly sent to her from Vincent Maina Wambutu. She was charged with stealing the money contrary to section 268 (1) as read with section 275 of the penal code. Section 35 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act states, “If you fail to reverse an M-Pesa payment that was made erroneously, you risk a two-year jail term, Sh200,000 fine or both.” Wambutu says he was transferring the money from his bank account to his M-Pesa but entered a…