Author: Feritter Owich

Close to a year ago, we heard Microsoft making plans of turning its services and products into Progressive Web Apps, but it soon seemed like a far cry, until now. Microsoft has disclosed its plans and is apparently converting both Outlook.com and Outlook for the Webmail services into Progressive Web Apps, so-called PWA apps. It will allow any Outlook user to install the web app on Windows, macOS, Chrome OS, or any platform that supports PWAs. Progressive Web Apps are nothing but a sound combination of traditional browser and mobile app experience. These are web-based applications, created with the purpose to help users…

If you haven’t logged into your Twitter account for the past six months and don’t want someone to grab your username, you might want to sign in soon. This is because Twitter is notifying users that it’ll start removing inactive accounts and this purge will begin after December 11th. Twitter’s current inactive account policy states that inactivity is based on logging in, not tweeting, so if you have logged into your account recently but haven’t tweeted since 2017, your account will be fine. The company’s policy recommends logging into your account every six months or so to reduce the risk of your account getting…

Pinterest Shop will let buyers shop from small businesses that make and sell unique products. Pinterest has introduced a new dashboard, Pinterest Shop to celebrate Small Business Saturday this week (Nov. 30) and also because the holiday shopping season is approaching. This will enable it to show the products and profiles of small businesses in Etsy-style. Pinterest is one platform that really comes in handy when you are in need of inspiration, unlike other platforms where some content will need to compete with personal photos. I would say that it’s a visual discovery engine and not a social network, so there’s…

Facebook on Monday introduced “Viewpoints” in the US, an Android and iOS App that pays members of the social network for taking part in surveys. Facebook has a terrible history of collecting heaps of user data and doing a frightful job of keeping it safe. But if you are for some reason comfortable with giving Facebook even more data, Viewpoints app is a way to help you do it. Facebook Viewpoints is a survey app that awards points for participation in which when you get enough points, Facebook will give you some money to get spend on airtime or data.…

Huawei officially launched the HUAWEI Y9s this month, a mid-range smartphone in the Kenyan market that will be retailing at Ksh. 31,999. The company has also introduced the Huawei Band 4 that will be retailing at Ksh. 4,699 and Band 4e that will be retailing at Ksh. 3,199 as it aims at positioning itself in the fast-growing accessories market. To meet consumers’ diverse demands, the HUAWEI Y9s comes with impressive features including a pop-up camera and a 6.59-inch FullView Display, giving the user truly borderless viewing experience. Crafted with flagship-level quality, HUAWEI Y9s uses stylish colours and unique textures to…

Nokia has confirmed exclusive partnership with Flipkart for the distribution. The smart TVs market is already crowded but that doesn’t stop newer brands from joining in. A report by Digit reveals that Nokia will be launching a smart TV that runs on Android and the sound system will be powered by JBL Audio. Nokia will be the fifth smartphone maker to enter the smart TVs market after Honor, Motorola, OnePlus, and Huawei. One of India’s largest online marketplace, Flipkart, has partnered with Nokia to launch the Nokia-branded Smart TVs in the Indian market. Audio output remains a headache for most smart TV…

Uber has lost its licence to operate in London for the second time in two years as it faces the prospect of a ban from the capital, all for failing to stop unlicensed and uninsured drivers picking up passengers. Transport for London (TfL) said it had identified ‘several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk’. One was that authorities found more than 14,000 trips taken with more than 40 drivers who had faked their identity on the Uber app, thus leading to the ride-hailing company having its licence renewal denied today. This means that Uber faces a fight to…

The lower house of the Russian Parliament has passed new legislation for electronics that run apps to have pre-installed Russian software, as per a report by BBC. This new law will be applicable in the country from July 2020 and might lead to a ban on not only Apple iPhones but also other products with foreign software. According to the bill, electronics such as smartphones, computers, and smart TVs must be sold with locally-made Russian software pre-installed. This means apart from the first-party software, the devices should have Russian alternatives pre-installed in order to qualify for their sale to avoid being banned in the…

The US trade ban against Huawei forced the manufacturer to ditch Google apps on new phone models, and at the same time affected the brand’s computer business. Huawei couldn’t pre-load Windows and other Microsoft software on its Matebook laptops and hybrid devices. But some good news has emerged, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that Microsoft’s request for a trade license to continue its business ties with Huawei has been approved by the US Commerce Department. The spokesperson clarified that the software giant is now able to export mass-market software to Huawei. “On November 20, the U.S. Department of Commerce granted Microsoft’s request for a license…

Ordinarily, when buying a product on the Apple Store or any other online store, you’ll have the option of reading through customer reviews that were written by people who have already purchased and used the product that you’re considering. However, Apple has removed all customer reviews and ratings from its online store. AppleInsider reports that the change occurred around November 17th. Apple is one company that is highly admired for having one of the best after-sales customer support for a tech company, but this latest news from the Cupertino giant might make potential customers assume otherwise. Apparently, the entire buyer review section…

The app was quietly released last week and is only available in Canada Now that memes are the soul of social media, Facebook doesn’t want you to miss out on the creativity just in case that is a streak you want to tap into. According to The Information, Whale App which essentially is a meme creator is the work of an internal testing group/division at Facebook called New Product Experimentation (NPE). The Facebook NPE team was first announced in July this year, with the sole purpose of making experimental consumer apps, in possibly an attempt to find the next big idea. “NPE…

This morning, Samsung unveiled the highly anticipated Galaxy Fold in Kenya, the new foldable device creating a new mobile category. This foldable device was launched early this year but even before pre-orders could be fulfilled, the devices started breaking in the hands of testers. This issues went to the extent of the company retracting their initial launch, and after acing durability tests, we finally saw a relaunch in September, this time with better protection and foolproofing. Even though Samsung made several enhancements to make the Galaxy Fold more durable since it delayed the device’s launch back in April, the company strongly suggests that you use…

Chinese short-form video creation app TikTok has taken the Indian internet by storm in the last 12 months. The country accounts for nearly half of TikTok downloads in 2019. TikTok is a popular video-based social media platform developed by Bytedance who are Chinese developers. The app is one of the most popular social media platforms throughout the globe which enables its users to create short comedy, lip-sync, and talent videos. According to the latest reports, a Mobile intelligence firm, Sensor Tower, revealed that the social media app, TikTok, has passed more than 1.5 billion downloads across the iOS App Store and Google…

Nokia 6.2 is the first 6 series smartphone to premiere a triple camera and PureDisplay technology HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, announced the availability of Nokia 6.2 in the Kenyan market. Although, the device, which was unveiled over 2 months ago in Berlin, Germany, during IFA 2019, follows its sibling the Nokia 7.2 into the local market. Nokia 6.2 is the first 6 series smartphone to premiere a triple camera and PureDisplay technology. It comes in Ceramic Black and will be available from Ksh.26,500. Nokia 6.2 brings always-on HDR to a new smartphone segment, featuring PureDisplay technology powered by…

Google has added a new feature to the Google Photos web interface, a new timeline editor for movies. Various of Google’s recent products place their focus on mobile, but the same cannot be said for its features on desktop.  Android Police noted that while the Chrome browser maker has introduced a slew of enhancements to the Google Photos app on Android and iOS, it has left the Photos web interface without something like an editor that can be used for many things. Google, however, realized that and added some editing capabilities to the Photos web client to enable it to do…

Surprisingly, Apple has one more event in store before the year ends, and this time it’s for apps. Members of the press received surprise invitations from Apple this morning to attend a first-of-its-kind event to honour 2019’s top apps and games on December 2 in New York City. Normally, Apple gives out awards for the best apps of the year, but this is the first time the company will be hosting a ceremony to hand them out, sounds more like the Oscars of apps! The event also falls one day before Apple announced its best apps of the year in 2018. From…

Apple has pulled down 181 vaping-related apps from the App Store worldwide. On Friday, Apple said that it’s banning vaping-related apps from its App Store due to concerns that the use of e-cigarettes can damage the lungs or even kill people. “Recently, experts ranging from the CDC to the American Heart Association have attributed a variety of lung injuries and fatalities to e-cigarette and vaping products, going so far as to call the spread of these devices a public health crisis an a youth epidemic,” Apple said in response to an AFP query prompted by an Axios report. “We agree,…

Alongside the Huawei Y9s, Huawei also introduced the Huawei Band 4 in Kenya that will be retailing at Ksh. 4,699 and Band 4e that will be retailing at Ksh. 3,199 as it aims at positioning itself in the fast-growing accessories market. Huawei Band 4 delivers easier, smarter and more convenient experience thanks to its fashionable ID design, improved comfort, extended battery life and optimized smart functions. Optimized and upgraded health tracking makes it a good choice for global consumers in daily health management. Band 4 series is designed for sports, fitness, and fashion lovers, and will bring users an enjoyable…

Huawei officially launched the HUAWEI Y9s, a mid-range smartphone in the Kenyan market that will be retailing at Ksh. 31,999. The company has also introduced Band 4 that will be retailing at Ksh. 4,699 and Band 4e that will be retailing at Ksh. 3,199 as it aims at positioning itself in the fast-growing accessories market. To meet consumers’ diverse demands, the HUAWEI Y9s launches with impressive features including a pop-up camera and a 6.59-inch FullView Display, giving the user truly borderless viewing experience. Crafted with flagship-level quality, HUAWEI Y9s uses stylish colours and unique textures to present a truly attractive…

Early this morning in Asia, Politico ran the news that the United States Department of Commerce is expected to extend a limited, temporary waiver for blacklisted firm Huawei. Politico’s story also mentioned that the department is less likely to respect any last-minute directives from the White House and that the fate of broader export licenses providing relief for the major US chipmakers remains unclear. Back in August, for the second time, the United States granted Huawei another 90-day Temporary General License that allowed it to service existing networks and equipment and providing software updates and patches to its handsets. Unfortunately,…

The rebirth of the Motorola Razr has been rumoured for several months now and the Lenovo-owned company is embracing diversity in the world of foldables, with the return of one of its most iconic smartphone models. As much as Motorola has kept the Razr name alive in some form or another well into the Android era, nothing so far has been able to recapture the magic of the once-mighty brand. However, from the looks of things, the new Motorola Razr (2019) is a lovely bit of symmetry. The android smartphone was announced on 13th November in Los Angeles, and It’s a flip…

The update isn’t widely available yet, but EMUI 10 roadmap confirms update heading to 30+ Huawei models. Huawei has finally started rolling out stable versions of its EMUI 10 operating system (based on Android 10) for the P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro in Europe. At IFA 2019, Huawei confirmed the road map for the EMUI 10 update in a session on the new OTA. It appears that the company has plans to seed the OTA to over 30 devices by Q2 2020. The full update is supposed to first start with the Huawei P30 Pro in Western markets, as…

The Walt Disney Company officially launched Disney+, its much-anticipated streaming service on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in the United States. Earlier this year, Disney released an enormous lineup of “basically everything” that the service offers in a prolific Twitter thread and hours-long Youtube teaser, the service highlighted over 600 titles that subscribers will have unlimited access to stream and download. If you are looking to relive your childhood then Disney+ will have you feeling some type of way! Here’s everything you need to know about the streaming service. What is Disney+? Disney Plus is the new streaming service that houses countless of the content…

Google initially cracked down on invasive ads in its Chrome browser, and it now wants to tackle the scourge of slow-loading websites by slapping them with a speed warning badge of shame. Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers out there and for good reason, mainly because it is constantly adding new tweaks and updates to streamline users’ web browsing experience. Two years ago, it was the https or SSL certificate issue that filtered many websites out of presence on Google’s platform. What happened is that Google browser started flagging websites without HTTPS encryption as unsafe and many websites were…

Doing it for the ‘Gram is about to change. Not entirely, but at least, when you do it, it won’t be to show off how many likes you can garner with your new designer shoes or the table full of drinks on a night out with friends. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram announced at WIRED25 that the social media network will start hiding post likes in the US on some users posts this week. The U.S. is one of Instagram’s largest markets with more than 106 million users, according to data analyst EMarketer. Although, Instagram has previously tested this feature…

The Samsung Galaxy Fold was Samsung’s first attempt at the next major smartphone form-factor but it was riddled with issues. This foldable device was launched early this year but even before pre-orders could be fulfilled, the devices started breaking in the hands of testers. This issues went to the extent of the company retracting their initial launch, and after acing durability tests, we finally saw a relaunch in September, this time with better protection and foolproofing. Even though Samsung made several enhancements to make the Galaxy Fold more durable since it delayed the device’s launch back in April, the company strongly…

Global technology company Vivo has stamped its mark in the Kenyan market by launching its regional offices in the Kenyan capital and also unveiled the new V17 Pro smartphone in the Kenyan Market. Vivo is committed to the Kenyan market and looks forward to making the most of its innovation and ingenuity to deliver user experiences that Kenyan consumers love. The company is actively investing in offline retail stores as a touch-point in Kenya to enable customers to have first-hand experience with Vivo smartphones. Vivo aims to create a positive socio-economic impact through its existence in the market. It, therefore,…

Driving for Uber, Little Cab, or Bolt (Formerly Taxify) is a great opportunity to make some extra cash or even provide a significant income for those who do it on a full-time basis. When it comes to the investment required, driving for this ride-hailing apps is an extremely cheap option, too, especially when you consider how much you can easily make at the end of the day. Assuming you already have a vehicle with all the necessary documentation and licenses, all you need is the right smartphone. Fortunately, these platforms approve of a number of different smartphone models from popular…

Whatsapp is reportedly banning some of its regular users from the private messaging platform for being a part of groups with suspicious or illegal names and subjects. WABetaInfo shared that it has been receiving a lot of reports from users that have been banned from WhatsApp. The first occurrence of this WhatsApp ban was reported by Reddit user Mowe11 who said that he was banned after his university group’s name was changed to ‘Child’s Pornography’. Whereafter each member of this said group was banned from WhatsApp without any prior notice. When these users contacted WhatsApp, they received automatic responses saying that they’ve…

Samsung Galaxy S11 is set to come out early next year and it looks to be a radical upgrade on the S10 range thanks to a groundbreaking camera, upgraded design, major performance increases, next-gen memory, a supersized fingerprint sensor and AI-focused image processing. Samsung is also working on revolutionary new battery tech which may or may not make it in. Samsung Galaxy S11 release date and price The Samsung Galaxy S10 product launch was held a few days before this year’s Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, and it was unveiled February 20. The phone then went on sale on March 8. We also saw the Samsung Galaxy…