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iOS 13 is now running on more than 50% of iPhones

Feritter Owich
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iOS 13 is now running on more than 50% of iPhones

Launched on September 19th, iOS 13 has continued Apple’s impressive installation rate of a new version of the iPhone’s operating system. In just 26 days since its release, the mobile OS is now installed on half of all iPhones, and on 55% of iPhones launched in the last year according to Apple.

Apple’s advantage over Google lies in its formula of making both the hardware and the software. The company does not shy away from comparing Android and iOS’ latest version user chart.

iOS 13 has been a buggy affair with Apple pushing multiple update releases every few days with multiple fixes. But it’s evident that the bugs did not stop iPhone users from updating their phones to the latest version of the software.

According to Apple, the data obtained from the App Store shows that 41% of iPhones are running iOS 12 and the remaining 9% are running a version of iOS older than iOS 12. Apple also reported that 33% of the iPads are running the newly released iPadOS which is slower compared to the iPhone’s grand rise to 50%.

On the other hand, Google has not updated its Android dashboard since May 2019, something which the company usually does with a new release, meaning numbers for Android 10 are not yet available.

Although, none of us would expect Android 10 to be anywhere close to iOS 13’s 50% mark. May’s numbers pegged Android 9 at 10.4%, which was about nine months after its public launch.

As much as this might not be a fair comparison due to the differing business models, it still highlights Apple’s success in keeping control of its own smaller system so it can distribute the updates directly to the iPhone user base.

Google recently announced that all the devices releasing in 2020 should be running Android 10. But what most of us did not know is that, once Google updates Android it has to roll out to each manufacturer, then each manufacturer has to apply its own customisations and user interface changes, roll them out internally to all their SKU’s, then check each carrier variant, then start a regional roll out alongside a carrier rollout. (Quite the process!)

However, something that counters that is Android’s monthly updates that include bug fixes and security patches for its devices. This updates keep devices secure and bug-free, though this doesn’t include the major updates to the OS itself.

Considering that there are far fewer variants of the iPhone, and everyone is addressing the same UI, Apple has a much easier time. And with a direct relationship to each owner, the roll-out has much less digital lag in the supply chain.

Netflix Announces New Original Holiday Movies & Specials for Binge-Watchers

Feritter Owich
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Netflix Announces New Original Holiday Movies & Specials for Binge-Watchers

Nearly 30 new movies and shows will premiere on the streaming platform starting November 1st.

Food aside, one of the best things about the holidays is curling up on your couch with a blanket and watching Christmas movies! Well, Netflix is already getting into holiday mode as it recently announced a new list of holiday-themed titles coming to the streaming service. This definitely gives Christmastime lovers plenty of content to cuddle up and keep you entertained with on their lazy days.

Aptly titled “It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Netflix,” the streaming service will premier 29 new movies and shows starting November 1st, giving you all the festive content you’ll need to get into the holiday spirit.

You can see Netflix’s full holiday lineup below to mentally prepare for all of your binge-watching:

Available November 1:
  • Holiday in the Wild: A recently separated Kate Conrad (Kristin Davis) embarks on a solo safari through Africa. When she meets a local pilot (Rob Low) she decides to extend her trip through Christmas and begins to fall in love with nature — and possibly a new man.
  • Christmas Break-In
  • Christmas Survival
  • Elliot the Littlest Reindeer
  • Holly Star
  • Santa Girl
  • The Christmas
  • Christmas in the Heartland
Available November 4:
  • A Holiday Engagement
  • Christmas Crush
  • Dear Santa
Available November 8:
  • Let It Snow: Based on John Green’s best-selling book, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, a group of high school seniors lives change forever when a snowstorm hits and causes friendships and romances to collide — not to mention, there’s a stranded pop star, an epic party and a stolen keg.
  • The Great British Baking Show: Holidays: Season 2: Santa shaped cookies? Mint biscuits? The popular baking competition show is back with a holiday spin.
Let It Snow
Available November 15:
  • Klaus: Starring, J.K. Simmons, Jason Schwartzman, Rashida Jones, Joan Cusack, the animated Netflix film follows a rejected postal academy student who is stationed on a frozen island above the Arctic Circle. When he slowly but surely starts making friends with some of the locals, Christmas cheer begins to spread around an otherwise drab town.
Available November 21:
  • The Knight Before Christmas: The Netflix film follows an English knight (Josh Whitehouse) who is transported from the medieval era to the present day by a process. As he works to seek out his true quest and fulfil his destiny, he finds himself falling for a caring high school Science teacher (Vanessa Hudgens) who is disillusioned by love.
Available November 22:
  • Nailed It! Holiday!: Season 2: Bakers are put to the test when they are tasked with recreating some of the holiday season’s most complicated desserts.
Available November 26:
  • Super Monsters Save Christmas
  • True: Winter Wishes
Available November 28:
  • Merry Happy Whatever: The Quinn family Christmas is disrupted when youngest daughter Emmy (Bridgit Mendler) arrives home from L.A. with a new, musician boyfriend (Brent Morin). Patriarch Don (Dennis Quaid) does everything he can to maintain his Christmas cheer while dealing with the new boyfriend.
Available November 29:
  • Sugar Rush Christmas: Judges Hunter March, Candace Nelson and Adriano Zumbo will be joined by guest judges Tiffani Thiessen, Liza Koshy, Donal Skehan, Jeanine Mason, Amirah Kassem and Olympic Gold Medalist Meryl Davis come together to taste three rounds of treats over three rounds in the baking competition show.
Available December 1:
  • A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish
Available December 2:
  • Team Kaylie: Part 2 (Holiday Episode)
Available December 5:
  • A Christmas Prince: The Royal Baby: The latest instalment in the franchise follows the beloved Queen Amber (Rose McIver) and King Richard (Ben Lamb) as they prepare to take some time off from ruling Aldovia to get ready for the birth of their first child.
Available December 6:
  • Spirit Riding Free: The Spirit of Christmas: Lucky and her friends go into the city to find a Christmas gift — but their journey back is disrupted by an unexpected avalanche.
  • Magic For Humans: Season 2 (Holiday Episode)
Available December 9:
  • A Family Reunion Christmas
Available December 24:
  • Lost in Space: Season 2
Available December 30:
  • Alexa & Katie: Season 3 (Holiday Episode)

Revamp your Company with Short-Term Financing

Karani Nyamu
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I’m sure we’ve all heard the same horror stories about the dangers of short-term financing. High interest rates, short repayment periods, and sky-high hidden fees are supposed to go hand-in-hand with nearly every type of loan.

But, not all lenders are created equally. The specific needs and goals of your business will have a heavy hand in determining your financing options. 

However, short-term financing can be a useful tool for anyone who needs cash quickly to cover business expenses, pay for renovations, or improve internal operations. Additionally, you can get online title loans for your emergencies.

Keep reading to learn how you can use fast financing to further your enterprise. 

Save Time – and Money

Standard lenders, like banks and credit unions, can take weeks to review an application for a loan. That’s time you could be spending on your pending project or upcoming goal. 

Short-term loans are a great way to pay for:

  • Site expansion
  • Building renovations
  • Advertising
  • Events
  • Maintenance and repairs

Short-term financing, such as auto title loans, take less time to process from start to finish. Even if you are able to find a better interest rate with more traditional lenders, you could save automatically just by reducing your wait time.

Choosing a quicker loan method could help you to complete objectives in less time, which can save you money on staffing and resource costs. 

Maintain a Tighter Budget

Unless you plan on repaying your corporate debt immediately, you need to consider how much interest you’ll accrue. 

Typically, you collect interest for as long as you hold a balance. This means that short-term options are best for companies that create a clear repayment timeline. 

To stay ahead of interest payments, make sure to calculate the total interest amount in your repayment plan. This is also important to consider when comparing different loan servicers. 

Short-term financing is easier to keep track of, since you’ll generally be expected to pay back the debt in less time than with personal or bank loans. 

Get Started on Pending Projects

Sometimes, it’s best to tackle upcoming projects as soon as possible. Short-term financing gives you the ability to get a head start on achieving your business goals. 

Whether you want to implement new technology or throw a client event, having the ability to procure funds quickly gives you a steep advantage over other lending methods. 

Staying a step ahead will improve your ability to plan for the future. You’ll also be more prepared for dynamic changes in workflow or production demand. 

Expand Your Marketing Efforts

Many companies are only a few thousand dollars away from increasing their earning potential, improving client relations, and expanding their brand’s reach. A killer marketing campaign could give your company the boost it needs.

Short-term financing will provide you with the amount you need quickly, and without the headache. 

Using your car as collateral is another way to simplify the process, since you won’t have to jump through all the hoops that traditional banks require. You can also qualify for lower interest rates, depending on your credit and income history. 

In many cases, you’re just a few thousand dollars away from taking the next step in the trajectory of your enterprise. Keep your business modern and competitive by considering short-term financing for your next project. Get the money you need right away, and reduce the impact a new line of credit will have on your company’s budget.

Machine Learning in Economics

Fredrick Gitaka
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Artificial Intelligence uses algorithms and statistics to analyze the company’s data and act based on the results. Thanks to the machine learning technology application run by AI can learn itself and become more and more effective.

It opens a lot of opportunities in the field of economics. Nowadays we do not need only economists but computer scientists first. Implementing machine learning into economics is the Future.

How exactly can we benefit from AI?

AI is present in our everyday lives – we encounter it for example while using Netflix, Google or Facebook. AI analyzes our behavior and interprets it by algorithms. Due to that, it can predict what we seek or what we would want to see next, even if we do not know it ourselves. It is something that anyone with a highly analytic mind could do but AI does it with extreme precision and accuracy. Over time AI thanks to machine learning technology can easily perform better results than any living human could ever achieve.

Artificial Intelligence can analyze any amount and kind of data we could provide it with. That is why it is used in such different fields at the same time – from science purposes to improving the marketing technics.

Financial services run by AI

The main goal of implementing AI in our business is always to make a profit. AI contributes to increasing income by changing many aspects of the company. It does not only speed up repetitive, predictable tasks but improves overall productivity and efficiency of the company’s system.

It can detect fraud and that way increases safety what also results in more money staying in our pocket. AI is exceptionally good at processing information on credit risk and solvency. It is also broadly used in analyzing the stock market. AI helps reduce the costs of human labor and saves hours of work. It acts instantly, we can observe it “thinking” processes in real-time. All of those tasks result in increased income at the end of the day.

What type of machine learning application should we choose?

We can implement Artificial Intelligence in any part of our company’s system that needs improvement. To do that we should search for Machine Learning Consulting (https://addepto.com/) company. After contacting them, a data scientist will help us decide what form of machine learning artificial intelligence is most suited for us and will increase our company’s well-being.

What is and what could be 

Artificial Intelligence can be implemented in any field of human interest, not only business. We can benefit from machine learning AI on many levels, for example, we can improve our health system, which exceeds simply the financial gain.

What is more, due to Artificial Intelligence we could improve the wealth of the entire community and economy of the whole country by increasing the productivity and efficiency of the market. What is stopping us? We have the technology, so what is the problem? We should seek it in the quantity, not the quality. The key to welfare is to promote and spread those new technologies. 

5 Easy Ways to Lower Bounce Rate and Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment

Merijn te Booij
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5 Easy Ways to Lower Bounce Rate and Prevent Shopping Cart Abandonment

If you’re an online business owner, you know how difficult it can be to get interested buyers to visit your website. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; you’ve got no shortage of competition. Once you begin to get that traffic, though, it can be heartbreaking to see how few of those visits actually result in sales. According to Alexa, the average conversion rate for all e-commerce sites is just 2.9 percent. That means you’ll average around three sales for every 100 visits your website receives. Are you discouraged yet? 

Before you become too unhappy about your site’s conversion rate, remember that an average is just a baseline by which to judge your own site’s success. The best e-commerce sites aren’t converting at a rate of 2.9 percent; they’re converting at much higher rates than that. The poor-performing sites, meanwhile, are dragging the average down. So, no matter what your site’s current conversion rate is, you have room to improve. 

One of the best ways to improve the conversion rate of your e-commerce site is by reducing bounces – those dreaded visits in which a person views just one page before leaving the site. In this article, we’re going to describe a few simple and incredibly actionable steps that you can take to prevent those bounces and keep people from leaving your site before checking out.

Publish Your Own Coupon Codes

Does your site’s checkout flow have a field in which customers can enter coupon codes? Of course it does. Over and over, research has shown that e-commerce buyers expect merchants to offer coupons because they know that if they don’t use coupons when buying products online, they’re probably paying too much. The problem, though, is that your coupon code field is almost definitely costing you sales. 

Think about your behavior as a consumer. You’re shopping at an e-commerce website for the first time. You’re checking out, and you see the coupon code field. What’s the first thing that you do? You open a new browser tab and google “(business name) coupon code.” You end up on a coupon code aggregator’s website, and either you find a bunch of coupon codes that don’t work, or you find a deal that’s even better and abandon your purchase. 

Don’t let that coupon code field rob you of potential sales – publish your own coupon codes. Prominent vape shop E-Cigarette Empire, for example, has devoted an entire section of its site to vape juice. People can find the deals they want without ever leaving the site. That’s a much better solution than sending your traffic to a coupon code aggregator’s website.

Improve Your Recommendations and Product Discovery

If you have a large product selection – and your site doesn’t have the ability to automatically recommend related products – you need to add that feature right away. Amazon, for example, uses intelligent product recommendations to great effect by automatically suggesting products that customers with similar interests have viewed. Amazon uses machine learning, so its recommendations never stop improving. Many modern content management systems for small e-commerce sites have similar features.

If your product selection isn’t large enough to justify automatic product recommendations, you can still help with product discovery by creating a curated experience for your customers. When you shop at a small online fashion boutique, you’ll often see a link at the top with a title like “Summer Look Book.” When you click the link, you’ll see models posing in various outfits. You’ll also see links that will take you directly to the products shown. Building a curated collection of products is a great way to keep people on your site and browsing, and it works in virtually any industry.

Use Your Own Product Photos

One of the best ways to prevent people from clicking their “Back” buttons after visiting your site is to make sure that your site doesn’t look the same as every other site on the search results pages. Are you using manufacturer-provided stock photos on your product pages? Hire a photographer and replace those stock photos with your own pictures. High-quality original photography gives your site a sense of identity and encourages new visitors to stick around and browse.

Use an Exit Intent Popup

One of the most effective ways to reduce cart abandonment is by installing a plugin that displays a popup when the user intends to exit the page. When the user moves the mouse cursor to the top of the window, a popup appears and offers the customer an incentive to remain on the site. Usually, that incentive is a single-use coupon code. Be careful with exit intent popups because some people actually look for sites that use those popups. They use the coupon codes, and they never come back. Don’t provide a coupon code until you’ve captured the visitor’s email address for later marketing attempts.

Remove Surprise Shipping Fees

One of the things that online shoppers hate is going through the entire checkout process just to find out how much shipping will cost. That’s especially problematic on websites that force you to enter your full address before they’ll even calculate the shipping charges. Nothing is worse than getting to the end of the checkout process only to find that a $10 item is actually going to cost $21 after shipping charges and taxes are applied.

Once again, Amazon leads the way when it comes to shipping charges in the world of e-commerce. Almost since the beginning, Amazon has offered free shipping on all orders over a certain dollar amount ($25 at the time of writing). When you state your shipping policies up front, you give prospective customers the assurance that they aren’t going to see any nasty surprises when they check out. If you ship all orders for free, advertise that fact prominently on every page of your site. If you don’t ship all orders for free, then make sure that customers know the minimum order that they need to place to qualify for free shipping. 

Tshimologong Precinct opens applications for its Techaccel Programme

Fredrick Gitaka
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The Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, together with one of South Africa’s tech giants, are calling on growth-stage startups to participate in this year’s TechAccel programme, a high-impact accelerator designed specifically for growing tech companies.

The programme was created to enable the development of growth-stage tech startups, using a bootcamp format that will run over five weeks, from 3rd February to 6th March 2020. The incubator programme will also focus on helping startups improve their skills and overall business efficiency so that each can focus on the most important aspects of growing its venture.

To enter, tech startups can submit their details online at http://tshimologong.co.za/techaccel-programme/ from 7th October until the application closing date on 15th November 2019.

The TechAccel Programme will culminate in an investment proposal and pitch. The winning participants earn an investment of up to R500k in required products and services. To win the prize, the tech startups need to demonstrate how the investment will be used to accelerate the business.

The competition is open to technology companies, which are defined as entities whose main focus of business is on the development and manufacturing of technology, or providing technology as a service, as opposed to tech-enabled companies which primarily deliver a service using technology.

Lesley Williams, CEO of Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct says, “Not only does the TechAccel Programme provide business development support; it also produces tangible results by enabling promising startups to become larger, more successful and more sustainable. The programme unlocks real opportunities for startups to accelerate their growth and we look forward to working with the next group of exceptional tech businesses.”

In addition, interested participants need to ensure that the business has a minimum of one-year trading as a CIPC registered business. The growth-stage tech startup should be Black South African owned and managed. Turnover needs to be between R120k to R50 million per annum and the owner must be actively involved in the business.

PEG Africa raises $4m from CDC Group to expand in Senegal

Fredrick Gitaka
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PEG Africa, a West Africa-based pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar company has received $4M debt capital from CDC Group to finance its growth in Senegal.

PEG Africa is currently serving over 400,000 daily users in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, and has recently expanded into solar water irrigation and bigger solar power systems.

The firm says it has been profitable in Senegal in its first 12 months and is allocating US$4 million from a debt facility led by UK’s CDC Group to expand operations in the country.

“Senegal has been growing far quicker than expected, and has reached profitably within its first year,” said PEG Africa chief executive officer (CEO) Hugh Whalan.

“With the continued backing of CDC Group, we expect our growth in Senegal to continue. Importantly, we believe that we will be able to apply our learnings and expansion playbook to yield superior results as we grow into future markets.”

The company has raised almost US$30 million in funding over the last year, including a US$25 million Series C round announced in January anchored by a US$15 million multi-currency facility led by CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, and also backed by SunFunder and ResponsAbility. The same facility led by CDC Group has now provided $4M debt capital to PEG to finance its growth in Senegal.

PEG already has thousands of customers in Senegal, and the latest round of investment will be used to double down on the growth it has seen in the country.

“CDC is pleased to back PEG Africa to help fuel their expansion in Senegal. We’re proud of our partnership with PEG, which is bringing the phenomenal impact of pay-as-you-go solar to new and underserved markets in West Africa with a focus on financial sustainability and innovation,” said Geoffrey Manley, Director, Head of Energy Access & Efficiency at CDC Group.

This funding announcement comes on the heels of the US$5 million debt funding from ElectriFI last month. Whalan said the fact the company was increasingly raising debt as opposed to equity investment, and its ability to secure multiple facilities from well regarded lenders like CDC Group, was a testament to the increasing strength and financial sustainability of its business.

Huawei’s Q3 results show smartphone sales growth despite the US ban

Feritter Owich
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Huawei’s Q3 results show smartphone sales growth despite the US ban

Huawei Technologies’ Q3 earnings results are out and they show that the company’s revenue jumped 24% in 2019’s first nine months, defying Trump administration sanctions to sustain growth in its pivotal smartphone business.

Huawei was all but banned by the United States in May from doing business with American companies, significantly disrupting its ability to source key parts. Though the company was granted a reprieve until November, meaning it will lose access to some technology next month. So far the company has mainly sold smartphones that were launched before the ban.

Despite all this, the world’s biggest maker of telecom network equipment and the No. 2 manufacturer of smartphones’ combined revenues for the Q1-Q3 period, reported a revenue of $86.1 billion which is up 24.4 % from the same period last year.

When it comes to global smartphone shipments, this jumped up by 26% in the first three quarters to over 185 million units, helping safeguard Huawei’s position as the world’s second-largest name in mobile devices.

However, Huawei did not explicitly provide data for smartphone shipments in Q3 2019 alone but an estimate suggests the Q3 shipments should come in at around 67 million units. This would represent a 13.5% increase compared to Q2 2019 when the company managed to ship 59 million units. Without a doubt, this is an improvement over flat sales in Q1 and Q2 2019 period. It is also the first time Huawei is seeing growing smartphone shipments since it was put on the US Entity List.

Huawei may be the world’s leading producer of the equipment that powers cellphone networks, but American officials have long been concerned that the company’s products could be used in intelligence-gathering by the Chinese government, an accusation that Huawei has repeatedly denied.

Fortunately or not, Washington’s warnings have so far failed to block Huawei’s drive to remain a powerhouse supplier as telecom carriers around the world upgrade their networks to the next generation of wireless technology, or 5G.

Apart from Huawei’s Q3 results, Wednesday’s report also details the company’s expanding 5G network with more than 60 commercial contracts with carriers across the world, up from 50 a few months ago. Additionally, more than 700 cities and 220 Fortune 500 companies have partnered with Huawei for its Horizon Digital Platform.

The company, which is now trying to reduce its reliance on foreign technology, said last month that it has started making 5G base stations without U.S. components.

Huawei is also developing its own mobile operating system as the curbs cut its access to Google’s Android operating system, though analysts are sceptical that Huawei’s Harmony OS is yet a viable alternative.

Google’s App-Store ban, shuts out Payday Loan Apps

Feritter Owich
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Google’s App-Store ban, shuts out Payday Loan Apps

Google has announced that it has banned Play Store apps with ‘deceptive or harmful’ personal loans where the annual percentage rate was 36% or higher, such as many payday loans. This is in the company’s aim to fight predatory loans better.

A payday loan is a small short-term loan that is being used especially in emergency situations. In an unstable economy, such as the one in America, most people have to find various sources for money and payday loans are one of the simplest alternatives since they provide the funds they need right away.

However, the fact that are short term does cause a bit of a vicious cycle and most people end up paying back more than they borrow. That is why these loans have started to be considered quite harmful and officials are trying to work on legislation for them.

There are many websites that allow you to get an instant payday loan. The reason why they are so popular is the fact that everyone can get one, not just people with perfect credit scores. Persons who have bad credit also have a hard time trying to find lenders, so payday loans are the answer to their prayers.

In August this year, Google’s new expanded financial policy came into force, and a spokesman said that this expanded financial policy, was meant to “protect users” against “exploitative” terms, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

“Our Google Play developer policies are designed to protect users and keep them safe, we expanded our financial-services policy to protect people from deceptive and exploitative personal-loan terms.”

For the time being, the new rules only apply to the US in order to conform with the recently-passed Truth in Lending Act. Thus ensuring that apps for personal loans have to display their maximum APR – including both platforms that offer loans directly and those that connect consumers with third-party lenders.

Apple doesn’t have a similar ban, but told the WSJ that it routinely reviews its App Store rules to “address new or emerging issues.”

As expected, the affected lenders are not pleased with the tech giant’s move because it essentially forces them to either offer lower rates or bow out entirely. Online Lenders Alliance CEO Mary Jackson repeatedly maintained that the companies’ practices were allowed, arguing that the ban hurts “legitimate operators” as well as customers looking for “legal loans”, the report added.

This particular move follows similar action from Google back in 2016, when it banned adverts for payday loans in its search browser, having said that such was, “core to people’s livelihood and well being.”

Here in Kenya, several loan apps have an APR above the new Google requirements, while requiring repayments before 30-days of borrowing. Most of these apps don’t indicate the cost of the loan, neither do they show borrowers how much interest is being charged.

The apps, therefore, may have to either comply with Google’s new expanded financial policy or pull down their apps from the app store, and operate like betting firms that use STK files instead of Google’s app store before the policy crosses boarders. They can also turn to other app stores like Samsung, Huawei, KaiOS, among others.

The increase of the repayment period is also a welcome relief to Kenyan borrowers. The 60 days will allow them to repay their loans and ethically borrow and use their funds than the norm. The new grace period will also mean few borrowers are listed on the Credit Reference Bureau for defaulting on their loans.

Moving away from traditional restaurant billing systems – The case for cloud POS

Partner Content
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A restaurant POS (Point Of Sale) software is not only a machine used to facilitate your cash transactions and keep records of your data. It is now an indispensable part of your holistic restaurant management system. The modern day POS integrates with important functions such your Inventory Management, Customer Relationship Management system, Loyalty Programs and much more. Cloud POS is streets ahead of its legacy counterpart. With cloud POS systems, there is more automation, more efficiency, and quicker operations.

Traditional POS systems and the shift 

How restaurant management took place years back was really different from what it is now. Bulky restaurant POS/billing machines were used to punch in customer orders. Data that was then punched in used to get stored on local servers. Their function was largely limited to only order punching and printing of kitchen tickets and customer/restaurant receipts. With high fixed costs, these systems came with a big risk of data loss and security issues. With changing restaurant trends and fast pace of the modern world, these legacy systems were continuously proving to be significantly less efficient due to the large number of manual interventions involved.

Cut to the present, cloud POS systems have really simplified restaurant management and operations process. 

In the next section, we will be taking you through the key benefits of a Cloud POS system and how it has changed the way restaurants go about their day to day operations.

Benefits of using the modern day cloud POS system at your restaurant

There are a lot of advantages of using a cloud-based restaurant Point of Sales system. Here are some of the top reasons why you should be using a cloud POS. 

  1. Data is secure

Data storage and security are one of the main concerns for any restaurant. One big issue in a traditional POS software is the data is stored on local servers which aren’t reliable. In cloud POS systems, all data is stored on remote servers, making it safer than ever before. You would not have to worry about losing data in case of a system break-down as data can now be easily backed-up. 

2.Provides you real-time software updates

A cloud POS makes updates frequently. These constant updates keep the device always new. There won’t be any need to manually update your systems time and again. You would also be doing away with upgrade costs. Legacy POS systems got obsolete quickly with no concept of software updates of course. 

3. Complete Data accessibility 

With the help of cloud POS, you can have access to your restaurant’s data from any location. A cloud POS does not require you to be physically present at your restaurant. An active internet is the most important thing that you need. Orders, staff shifts, cash management, inventory tracking, etc., can be managed even from the remotest of locations. This comes in very handy when you are traveling and wish to remain updated on what happens at your restaurant.

4. A system that Works offline to

Cloud POS systems allow you the facility of working offline. Poor or no internet connection would then never disrupt your restaurant’s functioning. The data is synchronized automatically once you are re-connected to the internet. Take for instance a scenario in which you are managing your coffee house. Your internet connectivity goes. Your cloud cafe POS system would then be able to work without the internet and back up the data instantly when the power returns

5. Extremely cost-effective 

One major plus from a cost perspective is that cloud POS systems do not come with heavy up-front costs. The maintenance costs are low when compared with legacy systems. On the other side, cloud-based Point of Sale systems come with relatively easy to finance monthly subscription fee options. 

6. The single platform restaurant solution that you need

All restaurant operations can become largely simplified with the help of the cloud-based POS systems. They come integrated with must-have features like online ordering, table reservation, CRM solutions, Loyalty Programs and more. This helps in acquiring new customers and retaining the old ones. 

7. Accurate reports and analytics

A cloud POS system gives you visibility on your restaurant’s performance that includes sales, accounts, inventory, employee performance. A POS integrated with an Analytics system would be sending you simplified reports, straight to your inbox. Having an insight into these operations will let you identify where you are going wrong and how to improve.  

8. Mobility 

With a mobile cloud POS system, your servers can now take orders directly at the tables and the kitchen staff are instantly notified of all the incoming orders. This makes the customer service way quicker and efficient. Unlike traditional POS systems, these devices are easy to carry around and extremely straightforward to use.

Cloud POS as a way of increasing productivity

A modern-day restaurant has to deal with a ton of orders every day, both online and otherwise. This makes it necessary for restaurants to make use of cloud-based POS systems that automate the majority of operations, giving you ample time to focus more on your customers. Servers can directly punch in orders on their handheld POS systems at the tables and it then reaches the Kitchen Display Screens immediately. The flow of orders is really fluid and the food is prepared at a faster pace. This then enhances your overall productivity and the customer experience.

Choosing a POS software for your restaurant is an important step. Therefore it is imperative that you do a complete research while choosing one that works best for you.

Author Bio – Aditya leads the Organic growth team at LimeTray. He is an avid tech reader, and loves to play ping pong in his free time.

Here are the 10 finalists for the Africa Netpreneur Prize

James Kanja
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The Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative (ANPI) has identified the top 10 finalists for its grand finale event taking place in Accra, Ghana on 16 November 2019.

The finalists were chosen from nearly 10,000 applicants from 50 African countries. The finalists will pitch their business directly to Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba Group and the Jack Ma Foundation; Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Group; Ibukun Awosika, Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria and Founder/CEO of The Chair Centre Group; and Joe Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group.

The winners will receive a share of the $1 million USD grant prize pool.

“We launched the Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative to identify top entrepreneurs from across the continent, not only to reward them but to inspire a whole new generation of potential gamechangers for Africa. I have been inspired by the entrepreneurs I met in Africa, many of whom are dealing with the same challenges we faced when we started Alibaba years ago. I truly believe the potential of Africa’s business heroes is limitless,” said Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba Group and the Jack Ma Foundation.

The Jack Ma Foundation will host a full-day Africa Netpreneur Summit, an invitation-only conference where African and global entrepreneurs, investors, educators, and leaders will convene to discuss how best to enable entrepreneurship and the digital economy across the continent. Guest speakers at the conference will include Ban Ki-moon, Former UN Secretary General and Co-chair of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. The conference will be followed by the “Africa’s Business Heroes” event in the evening.

“Africa’s Business Heroes” will air on November 29. More details of how to tune in to the program will be released in the coming weeks. Highlights from the Africa Netpreneur Summit will also be shared via ANPI social media handles. Follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The diverse group of 10 finalists represent a range of industries and experience.

Meet the finalists:

Waleed Abd El Rahman, CEO, Mumm (Egypt)

Mumm is a virtual cafeteria for businesses, harnessing the power of shared economy through technology, cloud kitchens and an online marketplace for home-based entrepreneurial cooks. Waleed is a seasoned entrepreneur with 12+ years in food tech. He is also the former founding managing director of MIT Technology Review-Middle East and a member of the Advisory Committee of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community.   

Ayodeji Arikawe, co-founder, Thrive Agric (Nigeria)

Thrive Agric is an agricultural technology-enabled company that works with smallholder farmers to enable them with greater access to finance, as well as improve their income and harvest distribution. Today, Thrive Agric works with 22,000 farmers in Nigeria, but the company is aiming to build the largest network of farmers in Africa. They are on a mission to “build an Africa that feeds the world and Itself.” Ayodeji is an accomplished software engineer and serves as both co-founder and CTO for Thrive Agric.

Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder and CEO, LifeBank (Nigeria)

LifeBank is a medical distribution company that uses data and technology to help health workers discover critical medical products. The company has saved over 5,300 lives in Nigeria. Founder Temie has over 10 years of health-management experience with Department for International Development, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme and Lagos State. In 2014, BBC listed her as one of the 100 women changing the world. She was also recognized by Quartz and the World Economic Forum.

Mahmud Johnson, founder and CEO, J-Palm (Liberia)

J-Palm Liberia (JPL) was founded with the goal of making premium consumer goods while creating income-earning and employment opportunities through sustainable palm-oil production. When JPL was first founded, palm oil kernels had been going to waste in Liberia, but founder and CEO Mahmud Johnson found a way to innovate productive uses for this overlooked natural resource. Today, JPL has created a range of beauty and clean-energy products, built a robust network of partnerships across the country, and helped to create jobs for hundreds of Liberians. Mahmud holds a degree in economics from Dartmouth College and is a 2017 recipient of the Order of the Star of Africa conferred by the President of Liberia.

Kevine Kagirimpundu, co-founder and CEO, UZURI K&Y (Rwanda)

UZURI K&Y is an African-inspired ecofriendly shoe brand established in Rwanda. Kevine is the co-founder and CEO of UZURI K&Y, and she is passionate about ending global waste while also leveraging her creativity to create employment opportunities for her community. UZURI has made a direct impact on more than 750 people through employment and skills training. In addition to obtaining her degree in creative design, she has participated in numerous entrepreneurship programs to enhance her skills in business development. In 2017, she was recognized as the winner of the Made in Rwanda Enterprise of the Year.

Christelle Kwizera, founder, Water Access Rwanda (Rwanda)

Water Access Rwanda pioneered INUMA™️, a Safe Water Microgrid that reclaims broken boreholes and transforms them into state-of-the-art solar-powered water kiosks and pipelines. The water is sold for $1/1000 litre and creates off-farm jobs for youth. Currently, Water Access Rwanda employs 68 people, and allows 47,612 customers to access water daily across 86 stations. Christelle is a mechanical engineer and was named INCO’s woman entrepreneur of the year in 2019, among other high-profile awards.

Dr. Tosan J. Mogbeyiteren, founder, Black Swan (Nigeria)

WeMUNIZE by Black Swan Tech Ltd is helping to solve Nigeria’s public-health challenges by deploying an automated scheduling, GPS-enabled software-as-a-service that uses a combination of digital record keeping and community engagement to increase birth registration and early childhood immunizations. Black Swan is working with USAID Nigeria to expand WeMUNIZE coverage in northern Nigeria. Tosan is a public-health specialist with more than 13 years of experience in deploying technology to solve development challenges in Nigeria.

Chibuzo Opara, co-founder, DrugStoc (Nigeria)

DrugStoc is a cloud-based pharmaceutical IT and logistics platform focused on eliminating counterfeit drugs, expanding access to pharmaceutical products and improving transparency in pricing for healthcare providers and the product supply chain. Chibuzo is a health economist and medical doctor with over 12 years of experience in the health sector. He has worked with the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and the International Finance Corporation.

Dr. Omar Sakr, founder and CEO, Nawah-Scientific (Egypt)

Nawah-Scientific is the first private research center in the MENA region focused on natural and biomedical sciences that offers analytical and scientific services online and on-demand. Dr. Sakr has 13 years of pharmaceutical experience, has worked as an adjunct assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Zewail City of Science and Technology, and holds scientific and business awards for innovative product design.

Moulaye Taboure, co-founder and CEO, Afrikrea (Cote D’Ivoire)

Afrikrea.com is the leading “Made of Africa” fashion, art and handicraft online marketplace. The marketplace has processed more than $4 million in sales across 101 countries and supports merchants from all over the world. After growing up in Mali and working for companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Alstom, Moulaye now dedicates his time to building the global infrastructure for African culture.

About the Finale Judges

Jack Ma, Founder and Director, Alibaba Group; Founder of Jack Ma Foundation; United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate
Jack Ma founded Alibaba Group in 1999 and served as Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group from 1999 to September 2019. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group from 1999 to May 2013.

Jack currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum, President of the General Association of Zhejiang Entrepreneurs and Chairman of the China Entrepreneur Club. He has been appointed by the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres as Co-Chair of the UN High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation since 2018.

Jack graduated from Hangzhou Normal University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English education.

Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman, Econet Group

Strive Masiyiwais the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Econet Group. He serves on several international boards including Unilever and National Geographic, and the Global Advisory boards of Stanford University and the Council on Foreign Relations. A board member of the Rockefeller Foundation for 15 years, he also served as Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa until August this year (now Chair Emeritus). In September 2019, Masiyiwa was awarded the prestigious World Food Prize Medallion.

Strive is a Co-Founder of the Carbon War Room and the Global Business Coalition on Education, is Co-Chair of Pathways for Prosperity Commission and serves as Commissioner on the Global Commission on Adaptation. Strive also serves on the Advisory Board of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum and drives continent-wide digital transformation as the only private sector member of the SMART Africa Board.

Since 2013, Strive has devoted his time each week to mentoring the next generation of African entrepreneurs through his Facebook page, which has a followership of over four million young people from across the continent and the world. He and his wife, Tsitsi, co-founded the Higherlife Foundation and are signatories of the Giving Pledge.

Strive has been selected twice, in 2014 and 2017, to Fortune Magazine’s list of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” and has received honorary doctorates from Morehouse College, Yale University, Nelson Mandela University and Cardiff University.

Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited

Ibukun Awosika is the Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and most valuable banking brand. She is also the founder and CEO of The Chair Centre Group.

Ibukun chairs a number of corporate and not-for-profit boards amongst which are: Convention on Business Integrity, Digital Jewel Limited, House of Tara International and Afterschool Graduate Development Centre. She sits on the boards of Cadbury Nigeria Plc., International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge, Imperial Gate School and Peniel Apartments Limited.

Ibukun is a graduate of chemistry from University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria. She is also an alumna of the Chief Executive Programme of Lagos Business School, the Global Executive MBA of IESE Business School, Barcelona-Spain, and Global CEO Programme of Wharton, IESE and China European International Business School.

As a fellow of the African Leadership Initiative, Aspen Global Leadership Network, Institute of Directors and Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria, Ibukun, through her projects aspires to use her opportunities in life to help entrepreneurs to create jobs for the large unemployed youthful population. She is a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, served on the National Job Creation Committee, and sits on the International Advisory Board of IESE Business School, Barcelona-Spain and the Governing Council of Pan-Atlantic University.

Ibukun is a multiple award-winning entrepreneur and the first Nigerian recipient of the prestigious International Women Entrepreneurial Challenge Award as a nominee of the US Department of State in 2008.

Joe Tsai, Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba Group

Joe Tsai joined Alibaba Group in 1999 as a member of the founding team and has served on the Board of Directors since the company’s inception. He was Chief Financial Officer until 2013 and is currently Executive Vice Chairman. He serves on the Investment Committees of Alibaba Group and Ant Financial, and is a founding member of the Alibaba Partnership.

From 1995 to 1999, Joe was a private equity investor based in Hong Kong with Investor AB, the main investment vehicle of Sweden’s Wallenberg family. Prior to that, he was General Counsel of Rosecliff, Inc., a management buyout firm based in New York. From 1990 to 1993, Joe was an associate attorney in the tax group of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, a New York-based international law firm.

Joe is the governor of the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and chairman of Barclays Center. He is also the owner of the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the San Diego Seals, a professional indoor lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

Joe is qualified to practice law in the State of New York. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics and East Asian Studies from Yale College and a juris doctor degree from Yale Law School.

iPhone SE 2 | Successor to Apple‘s popular budget device

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iPhone SE 2 | Successor to Apple‘s popular budget device

Back in 2016, Apple released the iPhone SE and brought refreshed specs in the chassis of the 2-year-old (at the time) iPhone 5s. Since that release, we’ve been hearing of the Se’s successor, the iPhone SE 2 which is finally coming in Q1 2020.

This news comes from noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has previously reported on Apple’s plans for a ‘mid-cycle’ handset release in March that walks in the shadow of the iPhone SE promising high specs and a low price. The iPhone SE 2 is expected to feature the design of the iPhone 8, which means the larger curved style will be used, rather than the tightly paced and small-screened iPhone 4 design which graced the original iPhone SE.

That suggests Apple will be able to reuse parts from the iPhone 8 while upgrading some of the internal components, like the processor and camera.

iPhone SE 2

In a note to investors Sunday, Kuo shared that the second-gen iPhone SE is coming with the A13 Bionic chipset backed up by 3GB of RAM (matching the iPhone 11) and ship with either 64 GB or 128 GB of storage.

However, if you’ve noticed that’s 1 GB of RAM down from the iPhone 11’s 4 GB RAM, plus the handset misses out on the top tier of 256 GB of storage, which is something to attract you to the higher tiered iOS handsets.

Colour options will be Space Gray, Silver, and Red and it will start at a dollar under $400.

Kuo foresees the iPhone SE 2 to be quite popular given the low starting price of $399 and expects Apple to win over a lot of new users in the mid-range segment. The budget iPhone will also likely attract people who are still using the iPhone 6 and 6s, which he estimates are still being used by as many as 200 million people, even though those phones launched five years ago.

He said the new phone will be a “key growth driver” for Apple next year.

“iPhone 6 and 6s series are the best-selling iPhone series, and we estimate that around 170–200mn people are still using iPhone 6 and 6s series now. The iPhone 6 series users may have more urgent replacement demand for an upgraded model because iOS 13 doesn’t support iPhone 6 series.”

Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple analyst and phone leaker extraordinaire

As with the original SE at the time, the SE 2 appears to sport surprisingly powerful internals that basically matches the company’s flagships for performance. But considering that Apple instead seems to plan to cut costs with things like the display and cameras, the iPhone SE 2 could still be an excellent affordable option for iOS fans who don’t care too much about having the fanciest display, the loss of 3D Touch in the screen or triple cameras.

Apple focuses on diversity with over 200 new emoji for your iPhone

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Apple focuses on diversity with over 200 new emoji for your iPhone

Apple’s iOS 13 launched last month, bringing a bevvy of new features, that includes a system-wide Dark Mode, redesigned Reminders app, two-times faster app loads, and smaller app updates to save storage on your iPhone. But Apple is far from done because it has started preparing its iOS 13.2 updates, which will bring more than 200 new emoji to the smartphone operating system.

The new characters are part of the Emoji 12.0 standard from the Unicode Consortium. All these are decided by the industry at large, so that iPhone owners aren’t using a completely different set of emoji than those on Android, or vice versa.

The emoji keyboard on Apple‘s iOS 13.2 beta has been updated to include “diverse” emojis, with different family combinations, disability-themed images and a bigger variety of skin tones.

Meaning that people will now be able to pick faces with different skin tones, following criticism that the previous keyboard didn’t have enough diversity.

Emoji families will also now come with the option of two mums and two dads.

There are around 300 new emojis, which includes the new Apple Watch and more country flags.

Although most of the new emojis were announced a few months back, this final update is set to include 59 new characters. However, when gender and skin tone variations are considered, that number jumps to 230. One of the most notable additions is the variety of skin tones holding hands which is something that has been requested for a long time.

The developers that ensure emojis are rendered and read by software correctly, Unicode Consortium, had previously said that people all over the world “want to have emoji that reflect more human diversity, especially for skin tone”.

Though these diverse options aren’t displayed on the main keyboard. Just like before, users should hold down on their chosen emoji, where they will then see the option of five other skin tones.

Another notable emoji includes a yawning face. This is definitely a great alternative to the face with ‘zzz’s coming out of it for when you want to tell someone in no uncertain terms that they’re boring you to death.

A little pinching hand will also be included, however, it most certainly doesn’t look like a hand ready to pinch someone or something, it also looks a hell of a lot like the symbol for when you want to say something is small.

A sarcastic Twitter user went ahead and posted: “Damn, now girls can make fun of my small **** with this new pinching hand emoji.”

Apart from the inclusive couple options, many new accessibility-focused additions can also be found among the group, including ear with a hearing aid, mechanical arm/leg, a person in a wheelchair, guide dog and more.

Wildlife additions include a sloth, skunk and flamingo, all reasonably popular animals depending on where you come from. When it comes to food, you’ll now have garlic, waffle, falafel, butter and an ice cube to cook up a colourful message with.

There are also two new clothing emoji: the safety vest and one-piece swimsuit (an alternative to the existing bikini emoji). Other things included are an axe (for some unknown reason), a yo-yo and a sloth.

However, an official release date for iOS 13.2 hasn’t been announced yet, but you can view the full list of upcoming emojis on Emojipedia‘s website in the meantime. Some of the emojis may still change slightly in appearance before the public release of iOS 13.2.

How Instagram Is Limiting Exposure To Cyberbullies On Their App

Vanessa Waithera
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How Instagram Is Limiting Exposure To Cyberbullies On Their App
Instagram is limiting exposure to cyberbullies and it’s a good move.

Everyone at one point or another has been bullied on social media. Instagram is just the perfect place to be bullied as it is heavily reliant on photos. When you post a picture, most people are quick to comment and can easily troll you for no good reason. Instagram’s chief Adam Mosseri has always stated that they try to make Instagram as safe as possible for anyone on their platform. Most people on IG vary even in age so it is important to take safety very seriously. People should be able to express themselves and share their content without feeling scared of being trolled or ridiculed. Instagram has been testing out new changes such as hiding total likes which reduces the emphasis on social comparison and forces people to genuinely think about the content they actually put out.

The new feature that Instagram has rolled out will basically give you the chance to shut cyberbullies out completely. The new feature is called ‘restrict’ which will enable users to limit the exposure of certain users when the comment on their posts.

Instagram Restrict mode

Here’s what Instagram had to say:

You can restrict someone by swiping left on a comment, through the Privacy tab in Settings, or directly on the profile of the account you intend to restrict. Once Restrict is enabled, comments on your posts from a person you have restricted will only be visible to that person. You can choose to view their comment by tapping “See Comment;” approve the comment so everyone can see it; delete it; or ignore it. You won’t receive any notifications for comments from a restricted account.

This will be perfect for content creators as well as they usually have a large audience that consistently interact with their content.

If your account is open and you notice that there are particular people who constantly troll you, you can easily restrict their comments. It is very similar to the ‘hide comment’ option on Facebook but the ‘restrict’ option may actually be better as other people would not even know that someone commented. The only issue would possibly come when someone notices that they have been restricted and the same person can actually create another account and do the same thing.

The question still remains, will it provide a better user experience?

On the flip side others would still insist that if you don’t want to be trolled then you just need to be mindful of what you post. At the same time, if you’re trying to be an influencer you can not always have fans who are positive about your work. If you’re working on being insta famous then you can hire someone who responds to your fans comments, alternatively you ask a close friend to do it for you if you get a lot of engagement. Some Instagram influencers claim that they never open their comments in fear of reacting negatively. Do you think this is a helpful option for Instagram?

 

5 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Do On Twitter

Vanessa Waithera
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5 Things You Didn’t Know You Can Do On Twitter
Twitter is the hub of everything that is usually happening around you.

It is also the one place where the audience is mature and are more interested in political affairs as opposed to entertainment. Serious conversations begin on Twitter then move on to other platforms. It is the home of trending hashtags and the best place to start a movement. However, what more can you do on Twitter? Although you’re only allowed 140 characters, you can use your minutes on Twitter a bit more carefully and you will be surprised. Here are a few things you need to try as soon as possible.

1. Help me find a job

It’s easier to get noticed on Twitter than on other platforms. Everything literally depends on what you tweet. All you have to do is ensure you’re following companies of interest, follow leaders in your industry and potential employers. Retweet any interesting information that you think any potential employer would be interested in. How you describe yourself also matters, don’t forget to include links to your work or other online profiles like LinkedIn. You can also get job notifications on Twitter if you sign up for TweetBeep which delivers job postings to your email.

2. Get career advice

Ever wanted to connect with experts in your field of work? Well, Twitter has the right people for you. There’s a thing known as Twitter list, this is a list of people who are experts in your field they basically give you expert advice and answer your questions.

3. Get access to celebrities

It’s easier to get to celebrities or get their attention on Twitter. Twitter has made their platform so interactive that it’s easier to get a response from celebrities than on any other platform. Here are the 7 best Twitter automation tools & bots to get more followers.

4. Get all the information you need

There are people who use Twitter as their primary source of news and this is based on the fact that things easily trend on Twitter than on other social media platforms. With the right keywords you can easily get a hold of any type of news. Simply type a news topic into the search field (hashtag or no hashtag), and you’ll get up-to-the-minute headlines appearing before your eyes.

5. Join in trending conversations

Like we mentioned earlier, Twitter is the place to be part of active trending conversations. Most online revolutions have taken place on Twitter because of the ability to trend fast. This is also a great way to connect with other like minded people who have the same opinions as you. In case you didn’t know, there’s something called ‘Twitter chats’ where people connect in real time and discuss whatever is trending at the time. All you have to do is type a topic or a hashtag that you think is relevant and would connect you to a conversation that is happening about it.

If you’re interested in serious topics and business topics then Twitter would be the ideal place for you. Instagram is ideal for content creators while Facebook is ideal for memes and long written stories which can quickly trend as well.

OPPO Reno Ace | Charges fully in 30 minutes and it’s under $500

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OPPO Reno Ace | Charges fully in 30 minutes and it’s under $500

Oppo has launched the Oppo Reno Ace in China, the fastest charging phone on the planet. The Chinese brand says the Reno Ace which is the company’s latest flagship featuring top-of-the-line specifications like a 90Hz refresh rate display and Snapdragon 855+ processor, has a 4,000mAh battery that can be fully charged in just 30 minutes.

Reno Ace features a 6.5-inch Full HD+ curved AMOLED display and unlike previous Reno devices, the Reno Ace features a water-drop notch at the top for the front camera. It also appears that some of the headlining aspects of the OnePlus 7T have also made a way across to the Reno Ace, including the 90Hz AMOLED display (6.5″), UFS 3.0 storage, and stereo speakers.

The Reno Ace’s display supports HDR10+ and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut and there is an in-display fingerprint scanner for unlocking the smartphone.

On the rear of the device, Oppo Reno Ace serves up a 48MP primary camera (IMX586), 8MP ultra-wide lens (116-degree field of view), a 13MP telephoto shooter with 5x hybrid zoom, and a 2MP monochrome sensor.

For selfies, there is a 16MP front camera with an f/2.0 aperture. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, GPS/A-GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack. 

When it comes to the battery, the 4000 mAh capacity is not groundbreaking, but for a few generations now Oppo has been keen to push the boundaries of charging technology using a dual-cell design.

From its latest update, Oppo enables the Reno Ace to support 65 W fast charging with the supplied adapter, or in Oppo’s own words: ‘two hours of gaming on a five-minute charge’. Naturally, this sort of fast charging technology can play havoc with the battery capacity and cyclability, so it will be interesting to hear what Oppo has done to mitigate the issue in its latest battery technology update. The company also claims that the new proprietary charging technology would provide two hours worth of juice or zero to 27% of charge in five minutes.

At the heart of the smartphone is an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB internal memory. This is currently the premium SoC of choice for high-end smartphones and especially for devices aimed at gaming. For better gaming performance, Reno Ace also comes with Frame Boost 2.0 and Touch Boost 2.0.

According to various sources, three DRAM/storage configurations will be available: 8/128, 8/256, and 12/256.

But there’s also a pretty special-looking limited edition of the Reno Ace, one that pays tribute to the hugely popular franchise, Gundam. The Gundam Edition comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage and pays homage to the Gundam RX-78-2. Although only 30,000 units of the Gundam Edition will be produced, which marks the 40th anniversary of the famed Gundam series. It will be available from November 11th at a slightly higher price.

The Reno Ace also has dual speakers, active noise cancellation, dual-band 802.11ac support and the unit will ship with Android 10.

The Oppo Reno Ace will be available in Psychedelic Purple and Starry Blue and it’s pricing starts at $450 for the 8GB/128GB model, $478 for the 8GB/256GB variant, and $534 for the 12GB/256GB option. Currently, the Reno Ace is limited to China, although it will be coming to other markets in due course.

OPPO Reno Ace specifications

SoCQualcomm Snapdragon 855+ 
1x Kryo 485 (Cortex-A76) @ 2.96GHz
3x Kryo 485 (Cortex-A76) @ 2.42GHz
4x Kryo 485 (Cortex-A55) @ 1.80GHz

Adreno 640
DRAM8 GB or 12 GB LPDDR4X
Display6.5″ AMOLED
2400 x 1080 (20:9)
90 Hz + 135 Hz Touch
100% DCI-P3
Delta E < 3
SizeHeight; 161.0 mm
Width: 75.7 mm
Depth: 8.7 mm
Weight200 grams
Battery Capacity4000 mAh
Wireless Charging–
Rear Cameras
Main48MP 0.8 micron w/PDAF
f/1.7 26mm 1/2.0″ OIS
Telephoto13MP 1.0 micron w/PDAF
f/2.4 1/3.4″
Ultrawide8 MP 1.4 micron
f/2.2 13mm 1/3.2″
Extra2 MP Black/White 1.75 micron
f/2.4 1/5″
Front Camera16 MP, 1 micron
f/2.0, 1/3.1″
26mm
Storage128 / 256GB UFS 3.0
I/OUSB-C
3.5mmheadphone jack with ANC
Wireless (local)802.11ac Dual-Band Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 5.0 LE + NFC
IP Ratingnone
Other FeaturesDual Speakers
Under-Display Goodix Optical Fingerprint
Front: Gorilla Glass 6
Rear: Gorilla Glass 5
Dual-SIM2x nanoSIM

Instagram may soon let you send DM’s from your PC

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Instagram may soon let you send DM’s from your PC

Instagram is internally testing a web version of Instagram Direct messaging that lets people chat without the app

Instagram direct messages feature just like the many other messaging services provided by countless applications has become a huge part of the millennial way of life. While the feature has been exclusively available for smartphone users in the past, soon Instagram might bring it to desktop, although you still can’t even upload images from a PC.

This possibly new feature was spotted by reverse engineering expert and app developer, Jane Manchun Wong who is known for diving deep into code to find hidden upcoming features.

Jane Manchun Wong tweeted some screenshots of the DMs feature on desktop highlighting that Instagram Direct for the desktop web has a similar interface to Messenger, as the conversation threads show up on the sidebar towards the left, and the thread info sidebar on the right with a thread displayed in between. The thread info sidebar shows a list of members in conversation as seen in Wong’s screenshots.

Mark Zuckerberg had already announced his plans to allow you to communicate between Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp down the road, so it’s not surprising the apps would share a similar UI. What’s left now is wondering when IG will actually roll it out.

However back in February Wong had tweeted screenshots of the Direct Messages for desktop claiming that Instagram was working on the feature. But shortly after she uploaded the screenshots, access to the feature was blocked by Instagram.

Lately, Instagram has been releasing updates for desktop users as opposed to its previous approach that made them seem entirely focused on their smartphone platform. Instagram’s desktop platform gives users access to their feeds with the ability to like and comment, but as I said earlier, you still can’t upload images from a PC and can’t yet send direct messages.

It is also not possible to upload stories or react to stories on the desktop. I think that if Instagram is interested in giving users more features and better accessibility on desktop soon we should be able to upload posts too. I mean this would make it a proper photography platform. What do you think?

Nokia 8.1 users get a taste of Android 10

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Nokia 8.1 users get a taste of Android 10

HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, has today announced that the Nokia 8.1 will now begin receiving the latest Android operating system, Android 10. With Android 10 upgrade arriving on the Nokia 8.1 Plus, users will have access to the latest features from Google. This software update is proof to HMDs promise that the Nokia Smartphones keep getting better with time.

The home of Nokia phones had announced its Android 10 rollout plan a few weeks ago where it was revealed that the Nokia 8.1, Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 9 PureView will get upgraded to Android 10 in Q4 2019. Thus making the Nokia 8.1 the first smartphone in its segment to get the Android 10 update.

Android 10 is Google’s newest operating system that has so far been released for Pixel phones, the Essential Phone and some OnePlus phones.

The software update brings a host of impressive new features to the Nokia 8.1 users, including Dark theme, Gesture Navigation, Live Captions and more. The Nokia 8.1 will officially be operating on a new level.

Nokia 8.1 users will receive Android 10 via an OTA update and the rollout is expected to take place in a phased manner. Meaning it should reach all Nokia 8.1 units over the next few days.

Nokia 8.1, an addition to HMD’s value flagship range was launched late last year globally but launched locally early this year. It came running on stock Android 9 Pie and is available in Blue/Silver and Iron/Steel color combinations. The smartphone retails for an estimated price of Ksh 45,000 making it the most affordable phone to run on Android 10 right now.

Nokia 8.1 is available in Dual-SIM, from the open retail channels and Single-SIM from Safaricom stores.

Key features of Android 10

Modes – Android 10 comes with two new innovative features to help you get things done faster and easier. When it is time to concentrate on a task, Focus mode is there to pause the apps that you find distracting. The Dark theme swaps the interface colours for darker tones making it easier on your eyes when using your phone in low lighting.

Smart Reply – On-device machine learning means that your phone gets better the more you use it. The Smart Reply feature predicts what you will type next and even suggests responses directly in notifications. Smart Reply now also suggests relevant actions, like using Google Maps to locate an address that you receive in a message.

Security and Privacy – You can manage all of your privacy settings from one place. Web & App Activity, Location History and Ad Settings are all in the Privacy menu, which now lives at the very top of your phone’s Settings. Control exactly when your location is shared with apps: always, once, while app is in use, or never. You also get a reminder when apps are accessing your location, helping you always stay in control of the data accessed on your phone.

Gesture Navigation – Android 10 takes the system navigation introduced with Android 9 Pie and makes it even more intuitive. With smarter, more convenient gestures, you can navigate backwards and forwards, pull up the home screen, and swipe up to see open apps. Everything on your phone becomes easier to navigate.

HMD Global has been terrific when it comes to delivering software updates. Not only did it update its entire portfolio of Nokia smartphones to Android 9 Pie, but it did so in the shortest amount of time.

Nokia smartphones are always getting better. With 2 years of software upgrades and 3 years of monthly security updates, HMD Global is committed to delivering on this promise means that HMD Global rank highest for software updates and security.

After the Nokia 8.1, the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 9 PureView are expected to get the Android 10 update before the year ends.

Vanessa Waithera
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How do you increase engagement on social media?

You can’t just post anything you want to post and expect a reaction. You need to intentional and think about what you post. When you post something, what is the reaction you’re looking for? Do you want to get saves from your content, likes? or engagement? Take the time to create content that is captivating and easy to relate to. Here are ways you can increase your engagement on social media.

1. Use a lot of images

People are always more visual so you need to create images that resonate with your audience. When posting an image, remember the size and quality matters. Find out what kind of image works better on whatever platform. For example, on snapchat, there’s a high chance a filtered photo will do better because they have a variety of filters. On Instagram, colourful photos do better and the caption will always help you get more shares and awareness.

2. Be comical

We are not saying you become mean or become sarcastic at all times. If you can, associate your brand with a bit of humour that will be memorable every once in a while. This can also be done with how you respond to comments, have you seen how Safaricom does it? They basically have a witty way of responding to comments that are usually funny and will definitely be popular. This doesn’t mean you force a joke every day, just do it once in a while.

3. Ask for feedback

Asking for feedback gives your audience a chance to feel like they matter. They will most likely give you their honest review and will feel included when you ask for their opinion. Respond to people’s feedback as this will motivate people to write their honest review which then gives you engagement.

4. Use emojis

Using emojis will help your readers read your tone a bit better than they would without the emojis. It also breaks the monotony of words so you can make your text more colourful and easy to read.

5. Do a giveaway

A good giveaway will always get your engagement up. You can do a giveaway for your products, tell your followers that they would need to comment, like and also tag someone. You will not only get the engagement you will also get shares and popularity.

6. Use videos

You can use videos to get people to stay on your platform longer and also engage with your content. You can also have a Q&A for your products so that way you can get to know your client’s needs and what they would like from you.

7. Ask for the comment, like and share

Never be afraid to ask for that like, share or comment as it will always go a long way. This makes your audience feel like their input is important and like they can actually make a difference. Make sure that you never leave comments unanswered especially when you’re trying to grow your brand. Always find new ways to ask people to share your content in a nice and engaging way.

Issa Rae is the next celebrity voice of Google Assistant

Feritter Owich
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Issa Rae is the next celebrity voice of Google Assistant

Issa Rae is possibly the first woman to lend her voice to a smart speaker

Issa Rae who is an actress, writer, and producer will be the next celebrity to make a cameo on Google Assistant. Rae’s voice is available for a limited time in the U.S. starting today.

The Insecure show creator’s welcoming voice will be available on any device that has Google Assistant including Google Home, mobile for iOS, Android, and Smart TV. According to Google, you can activate Rae’s voice on your device by saying, “Hey Google, talk like Issa.”

Rae follows singer John Legend’s footsteps in this endeavour, who lent his voice in April.

She said that when the opportunity presented itself, it was an organic process. “I was in talks to do this last year and was just really intrigued, like, ‘What? They want my voice? Why?'” Rae told CNN. “Then, you know, I realized that I use Google Assistant frequently anyway and just thought about how cool it would be to do.”

The actress said she spent countless hours in a recording studio, spitting a bunch of phrases and words in efforts to synchronize the recording. Rae said it was a challenge, notwithstanding that she had to pronounce things she’s never said aloud before.

“I’m just so used to reading them. So you’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve never actually had to say this word out loud,'” she said. “It was unique. I’d never done anything like that before.”

Rae might have been a bit frazzled by the experience, but she said that Google was very supportive of her partnership. “I mean, you’re just always scared,” she said. “But, no, I was very much assured by the Google team that this was all in fun and several conversations were had to make me feel comfortable doing it.”

However, Rae’s voice will be different than what Google achieved with John Legend’s voice. With Legend, Google used DeepMind to simulate his voice and deliver natural-sounding responses to pretty much any question. In the case of Rae, she only recorded specific responses to general questions, so it’s not nearly as powerful.

Just as it is with the new Samuel L. Jackson voice skill for Amazon Alexa, users can ask for certain information from Rae, including the weather, news, jokes: just for fans of Rae and her work, motivational messages and answers to questions like, “When’s the first day of winter?”

Starting with “Hey Google,” users can ask:

  • “ … do I need an umbrella today?”
  • “ … tell me a secret.”
  • “ … what do you think of me?”
  • “ … give me a quote from Issa Rae.”
  • “ … sing a song.”
  •  “ … do you have any dating advice?”
  • Or “How do I look?” for “a confidence-boosting affirmation.”
https://youtu.be/YHRHHQ7Z3aY
Issa Rae, the new voice of Google Assistant

However, all other responses except for the Easter eggs below will remain in one of the original Assistant voices. Apart from those boring standard questions, you can also ask Google Assistant Issa about Insecure.

Easter eggs for Rae as Google Assistant include:

  • Are you single?
  • Do you have a TV show?
  • Give me some writing advice.
  • What do you think about Lawrence?
  • What is your best pickup line?
  • Are you awkward?
  • Do you know any yo momma jokes?
  • Compliment me.
  • Can you rap?
  • Can you beatbox?
  • Should I watch Insecure?
  • What was your major?
  • Are you a writer?
  • How do you pronounce your name?
  • What’s your full name?
  • What do you think of John Legend?
  • Do you love Daniel or Lawrence More?
  • Who is your best friend?
  • Do you ever talk to yourself in the mirror?

Google Assistant vice president of product Manuel Bronstein said cameo voices were one of the top requests Google received from users and Issa Rae is likely the first female celebrity to lend her voice to a digital assistant from Amazon or Google, which dominate the smart speaker market in the U.S. 

Google offers 12 voices for Google Assistant including Rae and Legend, which Google said represents a diverse mix when they were asked about Rae as the first female voice. Though, Google also said that the company doesn’t think of Google Assistant as having a particular gender, which is reflected in the name Google Assistant.

Apart from singer John Legend, Issa Rae’s predecessors include comedian Stephen Colbert on Google subsidiary Waze in 2015, actor Morgan Freeman in 2016, Dateline host Keith Morrison in 2017 and DJ Khaled in 2019.

Google randomly assigns a voice when users set up a Google Home device, so users have a 50/50 chance of getting either the “red” voice or the “orange” voice, according to Google. As much as the company doesn’t formally designate voices as being male or female, it said users can think of the “red” voice as traditionally female sounding and the “orange” voice as traditionally male-sounding.

Google will also be pushing the new feature on Instagram on Thursday with “exclusive sneak peeks into Issa’s life on set.”

Here are Doaula’s top startups that pitched at Seedstars Doaula

Fredrick Gitaka
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Seedstars World,has brought its pre-selection rounds to an end. With the support of the local host ActivSpaces, Seedstars World will be holding a dynamic pitch event on the 11th October 2019, to choose the country’s most promising startup. 

Besides representing Cameroon at the Seedstars Africa  Summit, the winner will win an all-inclusive trip to the Seedstars Africa Summit and the chance to win a spot at the Seedstars Global Summit in Switzerland where the winner will take home a 500K USD investment prize. 

The top startups to advance to the finals are: 

Startup NameOne Liner
Agrix TechThanks to their embedded AI, apps powered by Agrix Tech’s AI solution instantly equip smallholder farmers with crop diseases diagnosis skills
ASTA(Advanced and Suitable Technologies for AfricaOuiCare, Your medical universe in hand
CLINICPLANTWeb / mobile application for diagnosing crop / animal diseases from an image
ColorfolColorfol is a platform (Web and Mobile) for Streaming and promoting Cameroonian and African music.
Digital RenterHouse search, advert & management made easy with digital renter. Easily upload, search and have instant notifications on new postings.
INFIUSSInfiuss is a digital blood sourcing and delivery platform.
IshangooIshangoo is a digital microsaving box which help adults save with discipline b allowing them to put aside money the don’t want to spend.
KiffcodesFret Transport is a logistics management (or freight forwarding) software system — It’s simple, easy to use and accessible on any device.
Lyon Technologies“Maliwa” is a self-power smart digital water meterthat gives the customer his or her water consumption and bills at every point in time.
SCOLARYXSCOLARYX est une plateforme d’apprentissage en ligne, offrant des cours de haute qualité et un suivi personnalisé des apprenants.
VEhSEh Inc.Monitor and Control your Business from Anywhere; with an internet independent point of sale.

The startups will pitch in front of a jury that consists of Rebecca Enonchong, Founder, Appstech; Anthony Same, CEO & Founder, ST Digital;  Willy Delort HEUBO, Deputy General Manager, Financial Capital and Serge Ntamack, Director of Public Policy, Microsoft

6 Skills All Social Media Managers Need To Know

Vanessa Waithera
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6 Skills All Social Media Managers Need To Know

I used to think that being a social media manager was not a lot of work.

As a matter of fact many people still don’t understand what community managers do. If you tell your parents you’re managing an online community they will most likely judge you and wonder if they did the right thing when they took you to school. The reality is, it takes a lot of brain power and commitment to be a social media manager. You need to be intention, understand what you want and before managing a community you need to understand if you actually like the company you’re working for. But before even being a social media manager you need to have the following skills.

1. Copywriting

Copywriting is the next best thing for any social media manager, you need to be able to create good copy that will attract engagement and clicks. Copywriting comes in handy when you need to promote work for clients. Make sure your copy allows describes the problem, gives you audience the chance to imagine if the problem was not there and then give them the solution. You need to know how to play around with your words otherwise you won’t make it.

2. Know how to design

You need to be creative if you don’t have the ability to think outside the box and create captivating content then you don’t have an edge. Know how to design visually appealing content for your audience using graphic designing tools like canva. Remember most people are very visual so you need to have basic designing skills.

3. Know how to be a public speaker

Use all the features social media gives you. So use Facebook live, Instagram Live and other video features that will give you the chance to interact with your audience. If you can’t do it yourself, make a program with different shows or short programs for the sake of engagement. People relate to videos a lot more than words at times hence why Facebook is also pushing people to do more videos.

4. Customer service

If you work for a company you need to have good customer service skills. There will be people who will be interacting with your content and some people might be very rude but you still need to learn how to respond to your audience in a professional manner.

5. Understand your audience

You need to take the time to understand what works best for your audience and why. You need to be able to understand what brings in traffic, why does it bring in traffic and what more can you do to get a business to where it needs to be. Knowing how to interpret data is a very important skill for any social media  manager.

6. Always know what is trending

By knowing what is trending it means you need to understand and know what is happening on social media. What is currently trending? can you tie it in with the content you’re creating for your audience? A curious social media manager would immerse herself in the social media world and always stay up to date.

Safaricom Rebrands M-PESA, Offers Free YouTube Bundle To Support Kipchoge’s Challenge

Feritter Owich
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Safaricom Rebrands M-PESA, Offers Free YouTube Bundle To Support Kipchoge’s Challenge

Kipchoge To Also Extend His Partnership With Safaricom As He Becomes M-PESA Brand Ambassador

Safaricom has today announced a raft of measures to support Eliud Kipchoge in his challenge to become the first-ever athlete to run a full marathon in under 2 hours. This includes a partnership with Kipchoge that will see the world-renowned athlete become M-PESA’s brand ambassador, where he will champion the service’s capability of empowering Kenyans to send and receive money both in the country and across the world.

The company will also provide a free YouTube bundle on the day of Kipchoge’s race. From 8 AM to 4 PM, all Safaricom customers can stream the race live on their phones at no cost. The bundle will be accessed by dialing *159# upon which a customer will receive a free YouTube bundle, allowing them to stream the entire race at no cost.

“We are honored to renew our commitment with Eliud Kipchoge and to support him as he races against time. As part of our support, we will be empowering any Kenyan across the country to stream the challenge for free, wherever they are, with the advantage of our strong network and wide coverage. For every Kenyan, Kipchoge is a reflection of our resilience and determination as he has taken on challenge after challenge.”

Michael Joseph, CEO, Safaricom.

To rally Kenyans in their support for Kipchoge, Safaricom will enable all its customers to send free messages voicing their support for the athlete during the race by sending a text to 159. The messages will be displayed live on broadcast TV feeds during the race.

Safaricom has also dedicated its iconic M-PESA brand in support of Kipchoge’s superhuman endeavor. Over the next seven days, the company will rebrand M-PESA to “Eliud 1:59” to commemorate the challenge.

“The last few years have seen Kipchoge emerge not only as one of the greatest athletes ever but also as one of the most accomplished people ever. It is a privilege to partner with him on this historic occasion and as an icon, it is only befitting to offer our M-PESA brand in his recognition.”

Michael Joseph

Kipchoge’s partnership with Safaricom dates back to 2017 when the company launched its “Twaweza” brand campaign with the marathoner taking the role of brand ambassador.

Twitter admits that phone numbers gathered for account security were used to sell ads

Feritter Owich
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Twitter admits that phone numbers gathered for account security were used to sell ads

Twitter is supposed to use phone numbers for only the two-factor authentication, but it seems to have been unintentionally used for more than that. Yesterday, Twitter announced that it “unintentionally” used phone numbers and email addresses gathered for account safety and security (including two-factor authentication), for advertising purposes.

No personal data was shared with the company’s third-party partners, and the “issue that allowed this to occur” has been addressed, according to Twitter.

What Twitter didn’t know while this happened in their backyard is that advertisers on the platform can customize promos based on uploaded marketing lists, and Twitter may have matched people on those lists based on phone digits and email addresses that were supposed to be off-limits. “This was an error,” Twitter said.

“We cannot say with certainty how many people were impacted by this,” Twitter said in a blog post disclosing the security mishap. “We’re very sorry this happened and are taking steps to make sure we don’t make a mistake like this again.”

Although the social media site said that as of September 17th, phone numbers and email addresses are now only collected for security purposes.

Over the past year, Facebook has taken the heat of criticism over its privacy malpractices whereby we saw in July, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fining the social media giant $5 billion for breaking the law when it engaged in a similar practice as Twitter and a litany of other instances where it mishandled user data.

However, Twitter has also been entangled in its own controversies over how it handles the privacy of its users. Phone numbers provided to Twitter for the purpose of two-factor authentication were recently exposed as a hacking vulnerability as well.

Back in May 2018, the platform advised all 330 million of its users, to change their passwords after a bug was discovered that exposed them in plain text. Although Twitter said that at the time no information was breached or misused.

And, just last month, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account was compromised when a hacker or hackers were able to tweet racial slurs from his account by convincing their systems that they had his phone and were texting the tweets to his account. There’s been a long list of Twitter platform issues and yesterdays was actually the seventh such issue in the span of a year as ZDNet reports.

This isn’t likely to go over well with critics whether or not the social media platform intended to use phone numbers considering Facebook caught flak just over a year earlier for using phone numbers for ad targeting. Just like then, the effect is still the same because it was using sensitive account details for ad targeting without users’ knowledge or permission. Therefore regulators may be concerned enough to take a look, especially since they just finished hitting Facebook with fines for its own less-than-careful approach to user data.

Radical Steps in Getting Invoice Paid On Time

Milcah Lukhanyu
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Businesses run on money to keep functioning properly. When outstanding payments are cleared on time, they help in maintaining the workflow of the company. Reports suggest that the failure of many small businesses is due to a lack of payment management and timing. The following methods will help you overcome the problematic situation of getting delayed payments on invoices.

  • Payment agreement and advance deposit: It is crucial for small businesses to set up a clear and non-negotiable contract before starting a relationship with the client. This binds the company in meeting the necessary terms and avoids lawsuits. Also, request an advanced deposit before commencing work, it helps in jumpstarting the work promptly. Provide your bank details properly to avoid further lag.
  • Maintain payments on a short term basis: To maintain steady cash flow throughout, it is essential to set short term payment cycles, like in every 30 days or so varying on the details of work. Make sure to get idea from sample makers and set a physical date on the invoice in order to leave less room for confusion. Setting a physical date on the invoice leaves less room for confusion. Also, make sure the client agrees to the due date. It is most likely that the client may postpone or override the due date but it also helps in ensuring fast payments.
  • Add incentives and overdue fines: One of the most important ways to getting invoice paid on time is to provide incentives for on-time payments and incurring fines on the late ones. Incentives can regulate proper cash flow and also lead to maintaining a healthy relationship. Fines, on the other hand, discourage the clients from postponing as no one wants to pay extra on the said payments.
  • Digitalizing invoices and providing multiple methods of payment: Nowadays with new technological advancements, it is imperative to grow with the rising tide. Maintaining routine invoices manually can be hectic and time-consuming at the least. It could also lead to misinterpretation and mistakes. 

To avoid such dilemmas, it is necessary to digitize invoices to regulate steady workflow. Introducing free printable invoice templates help in faster transaction and regulation. It is also a more rapid form of payment eliminating the time required for paperwork. Digitizing helps in maintaining strict time and due dates, seamlessly tracking payments and also to sustain a proper format of the invoices. It adds in following up overdue invoices and manages records of defaulters leading in a systematic way in tackling the issue.

  • Analyzing and reviewing clients: To regulate proper work flow it is also compulsory to get properly acquainted with your clients. Observing their promptness and their delay on payments assists in the process of fishing out persistent defaulters. It is advisable to run a credit check on these clients to avoid such issues in the future. Hold off the work until the due date is cleared. Although this is a last resort, it is advisable to be professional and calm before using stringent methods as some clients inadvertently lack promptness.

To conclude, it is essential to cultivate a habit of proper invoicing as it leads to determine the payment schedule of the clients. Be precise, clear and articulate when sending out invoices to reduce the chance of disruption in payments.

Tycoon Ashish J.Thakkar opens Africa’s first smartphone factory in Rwanda

Feritter Owich
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0
Tycoon Ashish J.Thakkar opens Africa’s first smartphone factory in Rwanda

Mara Phones being the first-ever manufactured smartphones in Africa have been designed in partnership with Google as part of the Android One Program.

Mara Phones, a subsidiary company of the Mara Group has opened its first factory in Rwanda as the company hopes to pioneer a brand of African-made smartphones.

Ashish J. Thakkar, 38, is the founder of Mara Group, a Dubai-based, African-focused conglomerate with interests in the technology, financial services, manufacturing, real estate & agriculture industries.

His high tech smartphone manufacturing plant is located in Kigali’s Special Economic Zone, Rwanda and has employed over 200 people to manufacture high-tech smartphones for the local market and further afield.

Mara Phones factory in Kigali

Rwandan President Paul Kagame Monday officiated the launch of Mara Phones manufacturing plant, which will make smartphones in the country and has the capacity to manufacture more than 2 million smartphones in a year.

The Rwandan President commended the drive towards affordable smartphones while opening the ceremony, and underlined the need to boost the adoption of high-tech products in his country.

“The Mara Phone joins a growing list of high-quality products that are made in our country… It is another milestone on our journey to high-tech, ‘made-in-Rwanda’ industry.”

President Kagame

“The smartphone is no longer a luxury item, it is rapidly becoming a requirement of everyday life,” he said.

“That trend is bound to increase in the years to come as more and more services migrate to digital platforms. We want to enable many more Rwandans to use smartphones. The cost and quality is very important and the introduction of Mara Phones will put smartphone ownership within reach of more Rwandans.”

President Kagame was also quoted saying in a series of tweets that the introduction of Mara Phones will put smartphone ownership within the reach of more Rwandans.

CEO Ashish J. Thakkar also speaking at the launch said: “We realized a few years ago that to create a positive social impact on our continent and in emerging markets, we need to have high quality and affordable smartphones. That’s when we came up with Mara Phones.”

Thakkar commended his new factory as “historic” due to its position as the first smartphone manufacturing plant on the continent.

Feature phones which use USSD technology to access digital services characterize the bulk of the market, which is a general trend across the continent.

Currently, smartphone penetration in Rwanda stands at around 15% with the most basic TECNO and Samsung models sold at $40 and $70 respectively.

With two models of the Mara phones on sale for $159 and $229, the Android phones are hoping to compete with these Asian manufacturers, Tecno, and Samsung who currently dominate Africa’s markets. Although at a considerably higher price, critics are skeptical the Mara Phone will make a dent in the local market.

However thanks to partnerships with local banks and telecommunications firms, the Mara Group has created a financial model that allows users to pay for their phones over a period of two years.

Mara Phones

Fortunately, the Mara Group has a long history in Rwanda thanks to its 20% stake in the pan-African banking group Atlas Mara, which was co-founded in 2013 by Thakkar and the former CEO of Barclays Bob Diamond.

In 2015, the group acquired a majority share in the Banque Populaire du Rwanda. At the moment, Atlas Mara is scaling back its pan-African ambitions through a share swap with the rapidly expanding Kenyan lender, Equity Bank. The Nairobi-based commercial bank acquired 100% of Atlas Mara’s operations in Zambia, Mozambique, and Tanzania along with 62% of the Banque Populaire du Rwanda. 

At the closing plenary of the Africa Investment Forum, convened by the African Development Bank in Johannesburg, Thakkar, the young entrepreneur received an enthusiastic reception as he presented the prototype of a made-in-Africa phone for the first time.

The Mara Group’s CEO said that Africans and others will be able to buy a phone made in Africa – initially Rwanda and South Africa. The new #maraphone was among the highlights of the conference that drew over 1000 participants from development financial institutions across Africa and the world, along with businesses and high-level government officials, attending to conclude investments for African development.

At the conference in Johannesburg, Ashish Thakkar said that none of the 400 million smartphones being used across Africa are manufactured on the continent.”We are the consumers, but we’re not the value creators”, he said.

“In Africa, we don’t manufacture anything,” said Thakkar.

“We assemble in a few countries, but we don’t manufacture anything. We are the consumers but not the producers. When we first told people about Mara Phone they told us we were crazy and that it wasn’t possible. Our true belief in Africa, particularly Rwanda, is a dream come true. This is a historic moment which will help shift the narrative for Rwanda, Africa and the rest of the world.”

Mara Phones is set to launch its second factory in South Africa later this month on the 17th of October.

Tingg, Africa’s first payments super app unveiled in 8 countries by Cellulant

Sam Wakoba
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Tingg, Africa’s first payments super app unveiled in 8 countries by Cellulant

Tingg’s all-in-one payment model seeks to revolutionize the way consumers interact with payment services in the region

Cellulant, Africa’s leading financial technology company recently rebranded their Mula app to Tingg, and has today announced the launch of Tingg, an all-in-one, multi-functional consumer super app that will include a wide array of payment, commerce, and financial services into a single platform that will revolutionize the way customers interact with digital payment services in the continent.

In Kenya, Tingg has enhanced its third-party service offering from just utility payments for water, electricity, airtime, and PayTv through partnerships with; KFC and Simbisa Group, (Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, and Creamy Inn) to offer Tingg Food, and with Go Beba to offer gas delivery under Tingg Assisted Shopping. Consumers can access Tingg by dialing *369# or download the app to also create and manage investment groups (chamas) and fundraisers (Changa) for weddings, funerals, education harambees.

Tingg is Cellulant’s solution to the fragmentation in the African digital payments space, particularly in cross-border payments. As a platform that supports payments, financial services and commerce at a local level, Tingg seeks to eliminate boundaries across channels and geographies. This all-in-one app will offer an integrated and efficient user experience that is adapted to local contexts, thereby making it easier for customers and businesses to conveniently make and accept payments, as well as access digital financial services. 

“Recent statistics indicate that roughly 62 percent of sub-Saharan Africans are unbanked. However, even those of us who are able to open bank accounts often face challenges such as high transaction costs, fragmented markets, and inconvenient payment options. It is for this reason that we have built a digital commerce platform that tackles not only the access problem but also offers a variety of financial services and improved user experiences.” 

Ken Njoroge, co-CEO, Cellulant.

Cellulant’s digital payment infrastructure connects consumers and businesses to over 120 banks, 40 mobile network operators in one inclusive network allowing for interoperability that has eluded numerous players in the payments space. This sets Tingg on the path to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation by connecting consumers and businesses to a simple, fast and secure financial services experience.

“Currently, Africa moves more money on mobile phones than any other economy in the world and has a growing interest in digital financial solutions. Our team believes that this gives our region the unique opportunity to lead the way in developing robust financial platforms that can be customized to the needs in each country or locality while infusing cutting-edge technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, and Augmented Reality.”

Bolaji Akinboro, co-CEO, Cellulant.

Now available in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, and Botswana, Tingg becomes Cellulant’s new unifying brand identity that will deliver on the company’s promise of a robust single payments platform for Africa’s marketplace. 

“We are excited to unveil Tingg as a brand that embodies the excitement and promise of our continent. This name, which has been associated with one of our market-leading platforms in Nigeria, will bring all our platforms, including the iconic Mula app, under the umbrella of a single, authentically African identity,” Commented Divine Muragijimana, Chief of Brand at Cellulant.  

Through Tingg, consumers can access numerous services across different value chains in key sectors, namely: Agriculture & Retail (farm to fork), Transport & Logistics and e-Commerce.

How Sage wants to help organizations build & maintain a skilled workforce of the future

Sam Wakoba
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How Sage wants to help organizations build & maintain a skilled workforce of the future

As the world enters the fourth industrial revolution, employers are finding it hard to either find the right talent or retain it.

This is because automation, digital platforms, and other innovations have fundamentally changed the nature of work.

According to a report by IBM, the talent shortage in the digital age is a global phenomenon and the threat is that organizations are not effectively tackling the issue.

“Executives recognize the skills gap,” claims the report. “They know it’s both real and problematic. But most of their organizations don’t appear to be actively or effectively tackling the issue.”

Ironically, although executives recognize the significant threat the talent shortage poses, most of them have not proactively tackled the problem and most of them have not moved beyond traditional hiring and training strategies.

To help firms hire and train for the future, Sage organized a forum that saw several HR specialists meet and discuss the challenges and solutions to both HR as a department and as a function in the digital age.

Sage recognizes that companies need to introduce automation and continuously reskill the workforce to remain competitive. Speaking at the Sage HR Forum in Nairobi, HR professional, Wycliffe Osoro, told HR practitioners not to fear automation.

“AI will not wipe out jobs as we think, but it will create 130 million new jobs for human beings. The question is whether individuals and organizations are prepared for the new roles,” Osoro said.

“Only 5 percent of jobs can be fully automated. There are things systems and digital tools can do but people can do better. The ability to learn is one of the skills that is required of the employees of the future. Analytical skills and creativity are equally critical,” he added.

According to Osoro, the challenge of HR now is the need to recruit for attitude and the right mindset rather than just the hard skills as work dynamics had changed.

“The ability to learn is one of the skills of the future. Analytical and human skills-the ability to interact with others is important. Today’s employer and employee are more interested in soft skills than the hard skills,” he said.

As an organization, reskilling or retraining for the future should, therefore, be part of the company culture so that employees don’t feel left out in the digital economy. But training alone is not enough, firms need to have the right culture to attract and retain top talent in the digital age. An organization’s culture will cause talent to remain and leave an organization, as longevity is no longer a sign of performance by employees.

With automation, HR has also to deal with the challenge of mobility. Firms need to know how to deal with remote workers in the gig economy and should structure ad motivate them based on their productivity regardless of the presence or absence.

From a technical point of view, Sage’s regional director for East Africa, Nikki Summers, added that firms needed the right tools to make their HR effective in the gig economy where teams are decentralized and mostly mobile.

Summers said cloud computing is a key driver to any firm’s digital transformation.

“Cloud is a key driver for digital transformation from traditional paper-based processes. The advantage with the cloud is that you pay for what you use, therefore in terms of cost, you pick up the cost depending on your priorities or needs.”

“Cloud allows for 24/7 accessibility regardless of your location and time zone. In the last few years, there was little integration and little collaboration. Collaboration makes work easier. At Sage, we are going to allow  Open API so that as a customer, you can integrate with other systems and processes you require,” Summers added.

To manage employees of the future, Sage, a software as a service firm urged the organizations and HR firms represented at the forum to move to the cloud as it gives them the mobility they need to allow their staff to work from anywhere and anytime.

“The cloud gives you and your firm the mobility that you need and you don’t have to be at your desk all the time as long as you are meeting your obligations,” Summers urged presenting some of Sage HR solutions to the attendees and scheduling one-on-one sessions for those who needed more information.

With digitization, Sage aims to help firms to use available tools to free up their time for productivity. Sage is not just accounting software. It’s Sage Payroll packages process payments for over 28 million people worldwide. With technology, Sage aims to make HR an organizational strategy and not just a function and or department that can be replaced.

As a strategy, HR can help organizations shape their staff or themselves for the future. With the right recruitment and selection software, HR departments and entire organizations can save time, effort and resources on their HR processes.

Sage, for example, can allow firms to deploy its automated advertising, screening and onboarding software. The firm’s recruitment software can reach targeted talent through a wide range of job boards and social platforms, then quickly and accurately match candidates to the right job.

The system can then approve the applicants, screen them and process applications for interviews. Even more, Sage allows users to create their own branded job listings to improve their recruiting strategy. Firms can then keep their candidates informed and engaged with regular, branded communications and automated reminders and as well gather feedback from candidates and successful hires to continuously improve the hiring process. 

To address the skills gap, Sage, reminded firms that hiring alone will not be a sustainable solution to the talent crisis. But the firms need to manage skills, talent, and culture.

Apple officially kills iTunes with the newest Mac update

Feritter Owich
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Apple officially kills iTunes with the newest Mac update

Apple has made the decision to kill off iTunes, the iconic digital music database that revolutionized the music industry. This news comes with the release of Apple’s latest update for Macs and MacBooks, MacOS Catalina. Just like iOS 13, which was recently released for iPhones, it offers a lot of new features for most Macs made in 2012 or later.

MacOS Catalina brings a host of new features, including the option to use apps from the iPad as well as turn the tablet into an additional display for computers.

This new operating system can be installed from the App Store, which should show it on its home page ready for download.

But it is perhaps most notable for the removal of an app rather than the addition of one. When it comes to music, iTunes is nowhere to be found in the new update.

In 2003, just two years after the iPod’s debut, Apple launched its iTunes Music Store. With simple pricing at launch; 99 cents a single and $9.99 for most albums, many consumers were content to buy music legally rather than seek out sketchy sites for pirated downloads.

Although over time, the iTunes software expanded to include podcasts, e-books, audiobooks, movies, and TV shows. When it came to the iPhone, iTunes also made backups and synced voice memos. As the software got bloated to support additional functions, iTunes lost the ease and simplicity that gave it its charm.

As technology improved, with online cloud storage and wireless syncing, it no longer became necessary to connect iPhones to a computer — and iTunes — with a cable.

The functions undertaken by iTunes in the latest mac update have been split into three apps that allow users to view music separately. There is now a devoted Music app, as well as separate ones for Podcasts and TV.

It’s a smart move considering Apple users have complained for years about how bloated iTunes had become. It works well now that everything has been separated, you don’t have to dig around iTunes to find your movies or the music tab. You can just open the app for what you need.

The Mac’s new Music app, which gets the old iTunes icon, is the new home for music. This includes songs previously bought from the iTunes store or ripped from CDs, as well as Apple’s free online radio stations. It’s also the home for Apple’s $10-a-month music subscription. You can browse your library, find new music on Apple Music if you pay for it, or buy and download new tunes.

Another thing is that Apple Music subscribers will no longer see the iTunes music store unless they restore it in settings. Non-subscribers will see the store as a tab, along with plenty of ways to subscribe to Apple Music. (On iPhones, iTunes Store remains its own app for buying music and video.)

You can now play your favorite podcasts and find new ones on Podcasts. A cool discovery feature I like also lets you search for content inside podcasts. Meaning, if there’s a person or topic you’re interested in, you can find out if it’s been mentioned in any podcasts through search.

Apple TV, on the other hand, lets you watch and download movies you’ve purchased, browse through Apple TV Channels such as HBO and Showtime, and will soon even let you play shows from Apple TV+.

Although a question that arises with this news is that of what will happen to users’ personal libraries; What will happen is that any downloaded MP3 files on a user’s hard drive will automatically be organized in the new Music application.

Catalina’s new Music app comes with its own set of problems, a distinct problem is a fact that it seems to be wreaking havoc on DJs who previously relied on the system’s use of XML file support to share playlists between applications.

Just like the Verge reports, Apple has rescinded a previous announcement that Music wouldn’t still support XML files, advising users who rely on it not to update until the issue is fixed. XML file support is important because it allows DJs to organize tracks into playlists and share them seamlessly with DJing applications such as Rekordbox and Traktor; without it, any previous sorting is rendered moot.

A variety of features that arrived with the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS earlier this year also come with the Mac update. Photos app has been redesigned to highlight the best images, the new “Find My” app for locating both friends and devices has also arrived on the Mac, and the Apple Arcade gaming subscription service has come to the Mac’s App Store.

Apple unveiled a new tool called Catalyst on Catalina, intended to allow developers to bring their apps for the iPad onto the Mac. New apps such as Twitter have already announced that they will be releasing new apps using that tool, with more expected to come after the release.

MacOS Catalina also brings a major accessibility update, called Voice Control. That allows the entire system to be controlled just using the voice and can be found in the accessibility settings within System Preferences.

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