Author: Elly Okutoyi

Kenyans will now be able purchase airtime from any mobile service provider in the country in a single payment platform, after a local company launched an online service to make this possible. The service was launched by AJA Limited, and all a subscriber has to do is visit their electronic top up portal, type in the number to be topped up and choose the payment method before their order is processed and their numbers topped up. Joel Kepaou, AJA’s Technical Lead said that the service is aimed at making easier for customers to purchase airtime without necessarily being limited by the…

Over 100,000 Euros is up for grabs for Africa’s top innovators who participated Siemens Stiftung’s “empowering people award”, with the award ceremony slated to take place in Nairobi Kenya come October 30, 2013. Run by the Siemens Stiftung Foundation, the award aims to “to identify simple and appropriate technological solutions and to make them visible and accessible to everyone, to enable the sustainable improvement in the supply of basic needs in developing countries.” This year’s competition was officially launched in June last year, where over 800 qualified inventions from 90 countries were submitted by January 2013. The Top, first and…

Technology has played an integral role in shaping the medical field over the years. From providing information about every disease or injury to providing access to volumes of medical literature to doctors and cutting edge surgery equipment far more accurate than any human doctor, the impact that technology and innovation has had in the medical field cannot be over emphasized. While most medical procedures and information are widely available online for people, certain processes are still limited to the more ‘traditional’ procedures. Blood donation is one such process. Though scientific knowledge of blood and hematology has increased exponentially since the…

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Note 3 in the South African market, the third version of the original Galaxy Note that was launched back in 2011. Speaking at the launch event held in Cape Town South Africa, Craige Fleischer, Director of Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics SA said: “The undeniable success of the GALAXY Note strengthened our conviction that consumers want higher quality features for smart devices and they want those new features to make their lives better.” Some of the features on Note 3 include a 5.7 inch full HD Super AMOLED display, 8.3mm thick and weighing a mere…

biNu, a startup that transforms feature phones into smartphone-like devices, has received an innovation award from United Nations for bringing better quality life to people across the globe. The innovation, dubbed ‘MY World Innovation Award’, was granted to the startup in what the UN terms as “biNu’s work towards creating the next set of Millennium Development Goals for the UN.” biNu is said to have played an important role in a survey conducted by the UN towards formulating the goals, in which the startup’s technology was used to collect over 100,000 responses and 7,000 individual photos for the study. “biNu…

Twitter has announced the launch of Twitter Alerts, a new feature aimed at helping its users get important information from credible organizations during emergencies, natural disasters or moments when other communications services are not accessible. This could not come at a better time after Kenya witnessed one of the worst terror attacks since 1998, something that saw social media filled with all forms of rumors and incorrect information sending more panic to the population. Well, this could be a thing of the past with Twitter Alerts, as users will now be able to sign up to receive notifications directly onto…

A new report released by technology research company, Juniper Research, has predicted the number of people accessing adult content via mobile and tablet devices will hit half a billion people by 2017, representing a 30 percent increase from the current figures. In the report dubbed “Mobile Adult Content: Monetization, Technologies & Legislation 2013 – 2018”, Juniper research said that this increase is fueled by the increased penetration of smartphones and tablets, devices that are faster and more personal, as compared to desktops that were hitherto the main access points. Adult content providers are also said to be shifting from producing…

Troubled Canadian Smartphone maker, BlackBerry®, is set to be acquired by Fairfax Financial for $4.7 billion a deal that will see the company go private. BlackBerry® Limited announced in an official statement that it had “signed a letter of intent agreement under which a consortium to be led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited has offered to acquire the company subject to due diligence”. If the deal goes through, Fairfax, currently the largest shareholder in the phone maker company with 10 percent shareholding, will offer a buying price of $9 per share to the shareholders. This is however subject to BlackBerry®…

Mobile money has once again proven useful in mobilizing funds when disaster strikes in Kenya, with Safaricom’s M-Pesa aiding in collecting over Kshs32 Million barely 24 hours after launch. In a funds collection drive dubbed #WeAreOne, Safaricom once again launched a PayBill number through which funds are being collected towards helping the victims of the Saturday attack at Westage shopping mall, that saw over 69 people killed and over 175 others injured. “Let us come together to support victims and families of the #Westgate Mall Tragedy by donating on M-PESA PayBill 848484,” Safaricom posted yesterday on its official Facebook Page.…

A new report released by Juniper Research has projected that mobile money users in the world will stand at nearly 400 million people by 2018, up from the current 150 million users. In a report dubbed “Mobile Money Transfer & Remittances: Domestic & International Markets 2013-2018”, mobile money growth is expected to grow rapidly due to the fact that many operators are recognizing its power and are going ahead to launch them in their local countries of operation. Operators are also coming together to launch group-wide mobile money services to serve their customers across country borders, something that is now…

Safaricom has officially announced the launch of the AppStar Challenge 2013 in partnership with Vodafone, a competition that will see the overall winner walk away with Kshs1 million ($12,000). AppStar Challenge is an annual developer contest conducted by Vodafone across several countries in Africa & Asia where local developers get a chance to showcase their innovations on a larger stage. Any developer with the skills to develop a good app that can run on Android, J2ME, Windows Phone 8 and iOS is free to participate to compete. The competition will be held in two phases, with the participants first battling…

Nigeria is set to experience a 15 percent growth in its app market in the next few years, thanks to declining mobile phone prices in the country something that is now enabling more people to afford low cost Smartphones. Commenting on the growth of the App market in the country, James Rutherford of Nokia Nigeria said: “The sub-$100 smartphone is steadily becoming a reality globally. Low-end smartphones are increasingly available and these types of mobile phones will likely grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15 percent over the coming years.” The news on the impending app market…

@iLabAfrica has announced the launch of a digital security academy Kenya, in a bid to support capacity development that will see data and information protection in the East African country enhanced and help in the fight against the rising cases of CyberCrime. Strathmore University, where iLabAfrica is hosted, partnered with SoftLock, a leading information security services provider in Egypt that will see Kenyans in the ICT sector trained on the intricacies of data and information protection. Announcing the new academy, iLabAfrica’s Director Joseph Sevilla who said: “The academy’s curriculum targets high-level officers in enterprises, including chief information officers, information security…

Kenya has now been termed as a country with one of the highest taxes in the telecommunications sector, with Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore revealing that Kshs28 in every Kshs100 spent by a customer goes to the government as tax. Speaking yesterday at the telco’s Annual General Meeting, Collymore said that this tax burden could worsen if all the county governments continue asking for tax for laying of telecommunications infrastructure in their areas. “We have seen one county like Laikipia, who have attempted to charge fees for someone putting fibre cable on the ground.” Said Collymore, “ICT has the ability to…

Just two days after it emerged that the Nigerian Government had ordered 53 Gold-Plated iPhones, the country’s presidency has come out to deny the allegations terming them as “part of attempts by political opponents to discredit the Jonathan administration”. This was said through a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati. The statement reads: “We consider the reports in a section of the media claiming that the Nigerian government had ordered customized gold iPhones from a Dubai-based company to mark the country’s 53rd independence anniversary in October as not only false and misleading,…

Scientists have used a new satellite imaging technology that has enabled them to discover fresh underground water in the Northern part of Kenya that could sustain the country’s water needs for over 70 years. According to ITV News, the scientists used a system that combined Satellite, Radar and Geological imaging technologies to discover a massive aquifer, an underground water-bearing material that can produce enough water 10 times more than all of Kenya’s water sources. The aquifer was discovered 300 meters below the surface in Lokitipi area, in Turkana, in a Japan-funded project run by both UNESCO and the Kenyan government. “We…

Developers from across the world have officially been invited to take part in the first ever Google Cloud Developer Challenge for a chance to win up to $20,000 by building locally relevant web applications that solve real world problems. This competition will give a chance to the developers to create innovative solutions built on the Google App Engine using Google API’s like Google+, Youtube and Maps API’s. Applicants are invited to create an application in one of the following categories: Enterprise/Small Business Solutions , Education, Not for Profit Social / Personal Productivity/Games / Fun A winner will be selected for each…

Kenya’s ICT Cabinet Secretary, Fred Matiang’i, has urged telecom companies to lower cross-border call and data rates, saying that the current high charges are hampering the East Africa integration and business opportunities. Kenya has one of the highest roaming charges, something that forces many people travelling outside the country to either switch off their phones or acquire temporary local SIM cards. “It is a critical area that needs market-based solutions and not policy or regulatory intervention. If we impose a fee, it may affect the market by making it unpredictable for investors,” said Matiang’i while speaking at a forum on…

Vehicle manufacturer Nissan Motor Company Limited has created a smartwatch that will enable drivers to monitor vehicle performance, as well as their own concentration levels, heart rate, temperature and other biometrics. Dubbed the Nissan Nismo, the smartwatch connects to the vehicle on-board computer using a smartphone app as a Bluetooth Smart device, allowing it to access the vehicle’s performance data including average speeds and fuel consumption. For now, the smartwatch can only be used by drivers of the Nissan Nismo cars, Nissan’s motorsport and performance division involved in supercars and race cars. Nissan is however looking to create an ultimate…

Several sub-Saharan countries have come together to agree on common ways through which they can create an additional 3.2 million jobs by 2020, through accelerated roll out of mobile broadband. This was through a joint meeting of several government heads including ministers from Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, where they agreed on ways to promote development through digital economies. In the meeting, the Ministers agreed to create a Joint Task Force strengthening regional cooperation to support investment in mobile. Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Nonofo E. Molefhi, Minister of Transport and Communication for Botswana said:  “The provision…

Since the implementation of the electronic revenue collection system dubbed Max-Malipo, Tanzania has seen an increase in the compliance levels among tax payers by 27 percent, helping the country fight tax evasion problem it has been grappling with for many decades. This was revealed by Tanzania’s Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr William Mgimwa, who added that the system has now been implemented countrywide, accessible through mobile phones, banks and service centers spread across the country. “The innovative system ascertained by Information Technology (IT) entrepreneurs has reduced congestion at office payment desks, addresses tax evasion, curbs cheating and increases…

Microsoft has revealed that Africa is its second largest investment after China, saying that the continent has continued to attract the software giant’s top leadership attention over the years. This was said by Microsoft South Africa’s Managing Director Mteto Nyati in an interview with ITNewsAfrica, while explaining the reason behind Microsoft’s huge investments in projects such as the Microsoft 4Africa initiative and BizSpark. “What we have seen here is that there are many different leaders of Microsoft within Africa. So the leaders came together to better understand Africa,” Nyati told ITNewsAfrica. “Africa is the second biggest investment that Microsoft has made, after China…

Africa has emerged the continent with the highest Mobile Learning growth rate in the world, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.9 percent,  according to a report dubbed “The 2012-2017 Africa Mobile Learning Market” published by Ambient Insight. The market analysis shows that revenues will grow more than five times to reach $530.1 million by 2017, up from the $102.4 million reached in 2012, with consumers driving the current market closely followed by academic buyers. “Seven of the fourteen countries analysed in this region have growth rates above the 38.9% aggregate rate,” reads part of the report.…

County governments have been accused of slowing down the spread of internet in their areas due to the high fees they are imposing on broadband service providers seeking to widen their coverage networks. This was said by Kenya’s ICT secretary Fred Matiang’i while speaking at the Kenya County ICT Summit that took place in Laikipia County, adding that he has initiated talks with county leaders to persuade them to support the ICT industry. “Moving the fibre cable across the country has been a matter of concern. As national government we ask ourselves: what policy sacrifices do we have to make to…

Africa’s technology startup launchpad, DEMO Africa, has finally announced the list of top 40 startups out of the 300 applications received from over 24 African countries. South Africa has a total of 12 startups in the final 40, followed by Kenya with nine statups. Egypt, Nigeria, and Tanzania have five, four and two startups respectively. Other countries represented include Ghana, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Uganda and Morocco each with one startup in the final list. Speaking at a press conference, Harry Hare, DEMO Africa executive producer said: “The entries this year certainly kept up with the DEMO Africa spirit to produce innovative…

Stakeholders in ICT industry convened yesterday in Nairobi Kenya for the 3rd IT Leaders East Africa Summit, marking the second day of the Kenya IT week currently running at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The leaders came together to discuss pertinent issues facing the East African ICT sector, with experts from different organization giving keynote presentations on various topical issues in the industry. Interactive panel discussions were also held, with one of the key topics discussed being the National ICT Masterplan, its implementation progress, and how to achieve the goals set in the document. Those present for the panel discussion included;…

The Kenyan President has revealed that the procurement process for the primary school laptop project has officially started, marking the first significant step towards realizing the promise his government made to the Kenyan people. Speaking in Mombasa, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the procurement process will be rigorous, cost-effective and accountable, while at the same time urging primary school managers to update their capacity to implement a technology-based curriculum as the government rolls out the laptop programme. “My administration has embarked on the initiative to supply children commencing primary school with laptops,” said President Kenyatta. He added that the laptop…

The 2nd annual East Africa Outsourcing Summit officially took place in Nairobi Kenya today, with several Business Processing Outsourcing (BPO) experts from across the East Africa region in attendance. The summit comes at a time when it is reported that the global BPO industry is expected to reach $304 Billion by the end of 2013. However, the East African region is yet to fully tap into its potential of being one of the leading BPO centers in the world, with many hurdles yet to be overcome. Addressing the attendants at the summit, Tejbal S Bedi, Chairman of the Kenya IT…

DEMO Africa, the continent’s first launch pad for technology startups, has received a sponsorship deal worth $20,000 from Software and chip development giant, Intel, as a boost for this year’s conference to be held in Nairobi come October. Expressing his gratitude for the support, DEMO Africa Executive Producer Harry Hare said: “I would like to take this chance to thank Intel for supporting DEMO Africa, which is that one chance where a hand-selected class of new products are introduced to the world for the very first time to global press, investors, strategic partners and buyers.” Presenting the sponsorship deal was Agatha…

A new report released by Juniper research has shown that app-enabled smart watches will experience an explosive growth by 2018, something that will see the global shipments rise to over 36 million units from the current 1 million units. In the report dubbed “Next Generation Smart Watches: Market Prospects 2013-2018”, the tech research firm projected that this growth will be prompted by a new generation of multi-functional smart watches that will allow users to track fitness and sports activities, payments and ticketing among other functionalities. Samsung and Apple are also expected to spur the adoption of these new gadgets once…