Author: Cyrus

AITEC Africa Broadcast and Film Africa Conference has kicked off in Nairobi. The event is a very unique undertaking judging from the kind of exhibitions and presentations you get from it. The event features speakers from Europe, USA, Africa and Asia talking about social media, mobile media and TV broadacast. With the impending changeover from analogue to digital in Africa and beyond, this event is impressing with representatives from the media, satellite services providers and equipment manufacturers exhibitioning or speaking in the 15 sessions running for the 2 days. The conference hosts 60 Kenyan and…

We met with the group behind the Tinga Tinga tales at the ongoing AITEC Africa’s Broadcast and Film Conference. We engaged them in a chat and we heard of their successes and tribulations in the industry. The funny bit was what challenges they were facing. They had to pay Citizen TV to show their animations. Safaricom stepped in and covered the media cost. They are willing to do much including 3D animation but it is expensive for them. These are the people who should be getting government recognition and not some lazy drunkards lounging at iHub. Watch the Video but…

Telkom Kenya, Orange, has launched a new promotion meant to reward its customers. The newly launched promotion ‘Usinyamaze Revamped’ will see Orange Mobile customers make calls at KSh. 1.00 per minute to other Orange subscribers , from 5.00pm to 10.00am every day. The current move is psyched by the latest CCK quarterly report which showed that the network gained 85% of its current subscribers in the last quarter of 2010. There is an already existing tariff called Usinyamaze Tariff which allows Orange customers to make calls from 10.00am to 5.00pm for free, everyday, when calling within Orange Mobile, Orange Wireless (CDMA),…

Huawei yesterday presented its new Hybrid Digital Television Solution in Sandton Johannesburg.  Huawei’s solution is a one video solution that covers all market and the entire spectrum of Digital TV platforms. Apart from the quality HD or 3D picture, Digital TV services allows for two way interactivity enhancing services like education, shopping, communications, VoD service, polling and connection to Social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Personal Content services, such as Picasa, Flickr, YouTube. “Africa’s current plan is to move from analog to digital TV service (i.e. DVB-T or DTT/DTH service). Huawei can deliver this solution to meet the…

AITEC Africa Broadcast and Film Africa conference is going on in Nairobi. We had the chance to check what is the DSTV Mobile Drifta dongle is like. We have been promised alot about the launch but the company says that they are still conducting tests. They also have issues with signals indoors. It was interesting to finally get a feel of the dongle though. Check out the Video below [vimeo width=”620″ height=”450″]http://www.vimeo.com/26059722[/vimeo]

A Cameroonian mobile app developer and blogger has created an anti-corruption Android app. The app will help in reporting demands of Tchoko as bribe is called in Cameroon. The application has been entered for the Google’s Android Developer Challenge. The application is in French and will need just a few work to translate to English. The application is named No Bak Chich. You can check the application here and tell us in the comment what you think about the idea.

This one looks lovely. Great memories of the Internet Explorer here. {epicponyz}

Airtel has launched a new TV commercial looking to break our many barriers and unites us in passion. The ad which will be on TVs around Africa features two kids with different languages and backgrounds starring at each other and speaking different languages while separated by artificial borders. Later the kids unite to play soccer together ignoring all the challenges. The series of ads are themed “Breaking Barriers” and will run throughout the continent. Airtel says that the ad “tackle stereotypes and searches for unity in normal quality of lives and relationships” “Breaking Barriers is more than just a television…

Reuters is quoting two sources in Nokia reporting that the Finnish giant has slashed the retail rates of its N8, C7 and E6 smartphones. Nokia has seen its smartphone market share drop drastically and this might have forced the executives to think of pricing as a strategy. This might not help much because Nokia leaders have not woken up to reality and their focus even in Kenya has been on those who will never deliver to them numbers. Reuters is though quoting a Nokia spokesperson terming the price cuts as “business as usual”. Within one year, Nokia smartphone market share…

Since late 90s, Kenyans have experienced a lot with the net. From the days of the AfricaOnline e-touch centres to the days when 90% of the country’s cyber cafe had to offer free coffee or tea to entice clients. Africa Online e-touch centres went down and now the cyber cafes which have remained non innovative have closed or are in the process of closing. There were what was bringing Kenyans online in the formative years. Mostly it was Yahoo and Hotmail and few instances for researchers and news junkies. A great number were porn addicts and also we had those…

If you have a smartphone, you will realise that the Safaricom app which you get on your sim card is a bit of a primitive one. It is the same one you have been having since 2007. And it is mostly an icon using the USSD to call for realtime service. The same can still be used in an iOS or Android app. The full-blown smartphone app will be such a great leap and we are not sure if it will be one app with many Safaricom services integrated on it or specifically for M-Pesa. Credible sources within Safaricom though…

It is more than a year since when we had the first leaks of iPhone 4. Some emerged through blogs and others being left in restaurants. A prototype has surfaced on eBay. Bids have been going up so fast now standing at $999,999. The pictures from the gallery makes it look authentic though some differences with the retail version are evident. The iPhone 4 prototype is way much similar to the one Gizmodo received last year. It is not one of those retail units and even the volume button has no “+” and “-” engraved on it. The face of the phone…

Safaricom’s M-Pesa users are reported to have moved more than Ksh 727.8 Billion (approximately $8 Billion) in 2010 according to Central Bank of Kenya statistics. This amount was move in the more than 305 Million transactions conducted in the service. The statistics are contained in the just released 2010 annual bank supervision report. The reports puts daily movement of cash to more than Ksh 2.3 Billion. Revenue from M-Pesa in 2010 stood at Ksh 11,78 Billion up from Ksh 7.56 Billion in 2009. The report reads; Some of the notable mobile money solutions launched during the year include; M-Kesho, Mobicash, Orange…

It seems like most of the KDN clients in Nairobi are experiencing downtime. Many users of M-Pesa, ATMs, Cyber cafe and corporate clients who have no backup connections have not had internet since 4pm on Sunday. David Kariuki of KDN says “We are experiencing some network loss in Industrial Area which may affect the areas you mentioned. Our techies are working on it though. Should be up within the hour.” Five hours later, the connection seems to still be down. KDN is a major data carrier for local ISPs, Banks and other corporates serving a greater percentage of the Kenyan…

According to apps tracking website, WindowsPhoneAppList, it seems Windows Phone Marketplace has passed the 25,000 apps mark. It still pales in comparison with Android marketplace with more than 200,000 apps and Apple app store with more than 500,000 apps. It is such a great leap though considering that in May there were 18,000 apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Games are the top selling apps in the Windows apps store with Angry Bird leading and others follows.