Ipsos says, in a research they carried out, that almost all Nairobians are aware of the digital migration but are not in a hurry to buy the set top boxes.

According to the survey, 99 percent of Nairobi residents are aware of the future of digital migration while on the national level 78 percent are aware.

The need to purchase set top boxes is low with 68 percent of Nairobi residents being found not to be feeling the urgency to purchase set top boxes.

The purchase of set top boxes in the last two months has slowed down, Margaret Ireri, managing director of Ipsos said, when there have been court cases pitching media owners and the government over the digital migration.

Even when the major TV stations switched off their screens for the whole day protesting the migration last year in December, Ipsos’ survey established that the blackout did not scare the Nairobi viewership.

“The switch off scare where selected TV stations put off their TV signal for a day appears to have had no impact on the purchase of a set top box. With the media houses in court, people in Nairobi are probably hoping that the digital migration will be postponed,” Ireri said.

Ireri added that should the migration go ahead, most members of the public would contend with blackouts for a while. Legal challenges have halted the migration from analogue to digital broadcasting.

After April 8^th 2014, computers currently running Windows XP will no longer receive critical security patches and updates, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to harmful viruses, spyware, and the growing risk of cyber-attacks that can steal or damage personal information and business data.

 “End of Service doesn’t mean XP will stop running, but over time security and performance will be severely affected,” says Rotimi Olumide, Windows Group Lead for West, East, Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands. “The latest International Data Corporation (IDC) data shows that businesses are prone to spend three times more on dealing with security issues in the next year if they don’t plan to migrate from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8.”

Chege Thumbi, the Director of Technology & Operations at NIC Bank says, “With Windows 8 we know that our systems are secure with the latest security hotfixes, giving us peace of mind, and everything operates more smoothly and efficiently. The startup time has been reduced from several minutes to seconds, and the range of business applications means we can continue to innovate and remain industry leaders

From consumers and smaller businesses, to large corporations, Windows 8 and Window 8.1 offer increased speed, reliability, security, a range of productivity-boosting apps, and lower-cost of ownership.

 “With Windows 8, we remain true to the Bank’s new strategy ‘Move to NOW ‘that underpins our commitment to deliver solutions to our “NOW “customer who is demanding services on the go,, anytime, anywhere ” says Chege.

Here are two ways to upgrade:

• Find a local technology partner: A partner can offer a tremendous amount of support to small businesses that need help deciding which device and software combination will best meet their needs. In many cases, a partner will also help businesses set up their new technologies and even train employees on the software tools. Visit Microsoft’s Get2Modern website for more details now.

• Do-it-yourself: Tech-savvy small businesses can also upgrade their current PCs if they are compatible with the newer operating system and productivity tools. To find out if current PCs will work with modern operating systems such as Windows 8.1, visit the Windows 8.1 website.

Users won’t be able to keep any files, settings, or programs when they upgrade from Windows XP, and it is recommended to first back up all files before migration. Microsoft has also partnered with Laplink to provide XP users with a free data migration tool called PCmover Express for Windows XP, which copies all the files and settings from a Windows XP PC to a new computer running Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1. Access it here: WindowsXP.com

Leader of Microsoft’s Office group, Thorsten Hübschen said that by the end of this year, people using Mac will have a new version of the apps suite.

The leader blamed the delay on the merger of the Mac business unit with the Microsoft business unit in 2010. After the unit was shut down, a planned version of Office Mac 2013 never materialized.

Hübschen did not give too much on the detail by assures the members of the public that development teams were working on the apps and that more should be known about the Mac version in the second quarter.

A Microsoft representative confirmed that development the Mac version of the app suite is under way.

The current version of Office for Mac was released in October 2010, some two years after the previous major release in 2008. While the release of the Mac version has historically lagged that of the more popular Office version by several months, it has been more than a year since Office 2013 for Windows was released in January 2013.

In Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia Toshiba Gulf FZE has become the Notebook of choice, this is according to the latest International Data Corporation’s (IDC) CY 2013 final results.

The brand holds the top position in East Africa with a high market share of 23 percent and a massive year over year growth of 118 percent in CY 2013. In addition, Toshiba has exhibited market dominance by achieving number one position in Jordan and Saudi Arabia respectively. Toshiba has a high market share of 30 per cent in Jordan, and 24 percent in KSA.

“Our continued efforts to develop and offer innovative products, services and programmes towards our customers and partners have driven us to strengthen our position in the market. We’ll continue to support our customers with value added services and a range of mobile computing solutions to further enhance customer satisfaction,” said Santosh Varghese, General Manager, Digital Products & Services, Toshiba Gulf.

Manish Kewalramani, Business Development Manager for East Africa and West Africa, Toshiba Gulf FZE said: “This significant growth reflects the investments Toshiba has made in the region with having a steady stock availability, a rebate program for partners, strategic promotions and smart marketing approach for high visibility.”

Last year, Toshiba introduced a wide range of platforms across its laptops, Tablets, All-in-One PC, and Ultrabook including its first convertible Ultrabooks – the Satellite U920t & the Portégé Z10t, which has helped address a complete range of customer requirements, from entry level, to experienced and professional users.

Kenya’s digital dream is slowly coming into reality as today Wananchi Group, East Africa’s Leading Internet and entertainment Provider, has launched fibre for schools in a ceremony held at the Moi Nairobi Girls School.

Wananchi Groups entered deal with The County Government of Nairobi to provide free internet for schools in Nairobi dubbed WazED.

Richard Bell, Non-Executive Chairman of the Wananchi Group said that the aim for this project is to deliver fibre to every school in Nairobi.

He said that they have begun a pilot project that aims to see 240 schools in the county fitted with fibre internet. After the piloting and the research, Wananchi will roll out the project across 2000 schools in Nairobi County, and then move to other counties.

Present during the launch, Jonathan Mueke, the deputy governor of Nairobi County said: “infrastructure in schools has been looked into and in the next two months there shall be a draft that will see it included in this year’s budget, nevertheless, the government is grateful that Wananchi has taken over the internet infrastructure responsibility as it has off-loaded some of the government responsibilities.”

The governor said that the biggest thing in this project is that to will open up opportunities to the less privileged schools in the county.  He also said that as soon Wananchi is done with the government will issue laptops to the 85 public secondary schools.

The pilot project, according to Bell, will cost a total of Ksh.145 million($168,0188) of which Ksh. 25 million($289,688) will be allocated to the connection and Ksh.120 million($1,390,500) for servicing.  The whole project, that is set to begin after the piloting, will cost Ksh.1.2 billion ($13,905,000).

Phone manufacturer, Tecno, says the 3G network services being rolled out by mobile service providers provide opportunity for users to employ more digital applications daily to save lives.

The firm has said mobile phone users need to maximize phone apps to manage information and small and medium scale enterprises and even save lives.

Tecno head of marketing, Gloria Anampiu, says the 3G networks creates opportunity  for feature phone users to move to the next segment of internet and smart phones.

Amanpiu who spoke during the Naiobi Digital Fair, where various companies and individual techies showcased latest ICT innovations, said Tecno will facilitate the growth of digital applications by providing the latest technology to mobile phone users at attractive prices.

“Tecno is well placed to be part of the growth process in the ICT sector by offering mobile gadgets loaded with advanced specifications,” she says.“Kenya has a wealth of talent in the apps development sector and the fact that the apps are being designed to provide solutions for day to day challenges makes it easier for them to sell the idea of embedding the apps on the phone at the factory,” says Amanpiu.

The Organisers of the expo, whose theme was Powering the Digital Future said the event will become an annual event and extend to other countries within East Africa.

Speaking during the closing ceremony, the organizer Eyeball CEO Mr Matin Muli said although there has been a high growth in applications development in the country, their benefits are yet to penetrate the economy due to lack of awareness and limited access among Kenyans.

He said poor consumer culture and inappropriateness of some of the innovations are barriers to their adoption, especially among the poor.

“Digital technologies can only impact the lives of individuals in the society if they offer appropriate solutions to problems and are easily available for use at affordable prices,” said Muli.