The Kenya revenue authority’s project to implement remote transmissions of Electronic Tax Registers data has begun and is aimed to be completed by December this year.

The project’s process will enable effective monitoring of ETRs to track usage, detachment and locality, among others.

The programme may also confine data for the purposes of executing a customer loyalty programme. KRA Commissioner General John Njiraini revealed that ITax roll out has been completed and all modules have been started and a formal launch expected in early august and mandatory electronic filing will be implemented by September 2013.

The commissioner also said that mobile payment platform is still being developed and is expected to begin by end of July 2013.

Njiraini also revealed that  PriceWaterCoopers has ranked Kenya at 164th place out of 185 countries in the world in 2013 On paying taxes, the position worsened from 153 (2011) to 154 (2012).

“Kenya must improve investment climate competitiveness through reform of tax processes,” he said

Samsung electronics east Africa has today launched the Samsung galaxy mega in Kenya and has also signed a six months deal with Kenya’s rugby top scorer Collins Injera which will see him drive the newly launched phone’s experience among his fans countrywide.

“Collins is well known for his achievements with the Kenya National Rugby Sevens team; hiss eye for the line, electric pace and clinical finishing ability on field has seen him deliver a mega performance,. We are looking forward to the partnership with him that will see us engage fans around the similarly powerful Samsung Galaxy Mega Smartphone,” said Samsung’s Electronics East Africa Chief Operating Officer, Robert Ngeru.

The galaxy mega combines the portability ad the convenience of a smart phone with the power, multitasking capabilities and extensive viewing experience of a tablet.

“For Smartphone enthusiasts who want a premium viewing experience coupled with multitasking capability, the Samsung Galaxy Mega Smartphone is idea. You will be able to create and edit documents and photos, play games, surf the web and social networking sites, stream videos and movies online, all on a 5.8 inch screen that also allows you to run two different apps alongside each other, ” added Ngeru    

The phone has a5.8-inch HD Super Clear LCD screen with landscaper mode support, it is thin and light and weighs 182g. The mega has a standard battery of Li-ion 2,600 and well as a 8 mega pixel rear-facing camera and 1.9 mega pixel front-facing camera with many features alongside the cameras.

Galaxy mega has outstanding features like group play which enables users to enjoy music, play games and share picture and documents without the need for a Wi-Fi app or cellular signal. It also has Samsung Link to easily stream photos, videos, and notes to your computers, tablet or TV.

Another captivating feature is that it has Samsung smart switch which enables users to transfer data from your old Samsung smart phone to the new one. It has an S- Translator that translates you text messages o the language the user prefers.

The Mega Smartphone has the adapt display which adopts the display color and brightness in accordance to the users surroundings.eg when reading a book it tones the rightness. It also has adapt sound which adjusts the phone levels according t your hearing levels.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega is currently available in the market and is retailing from between KSH37,000 – 42,000 ( approximately USD483)and comes with a 24 month standard warranty .

South Africa’s Dac Systems, a specialist services provider focused on turnkey implementations of leading edge industry solutions, has partnered with Combined Knowledge Ltd in a move expected to generate greater awareness of SharePoint and Nintex education within the South African market.

Combined Knowledge is an international developer and supplier of SharePoint education and support. The company has a firm track record of support for the rollout and adoption of this technology in business.

In 2009 Combined Knowledge was selected by Nintex to become Global Training Partner for their range of products and subsequently expanded their portfolio of SharePoint courses to include exclusive Nintex Education.

Dac Systems is a valued Nintex partner and Microsoft Certified Gold Partner in South Africa, representing an attractive and credible channel through which Combined Knowledge can increase levels of engagement with this region.

Through the partnership Dac Systems will offer the Combined Knowledge portfolio of Nintex and SharePoint courses to South African clients.

“Our key aim is not only to deliver the best training classes available but also to provide organisations with a complete education solution for SharePoint deployments. This is achieved by providing training to facilitate product installation and development through to ensuring successful user adoption with the addition of on-demand support for all users from one central source,” says Zoe Watson, Sales & Marketing Director, Combined Knowledge.

“As Nintex’s partners and clients are globally based, Combined Knowledge has invested in a robust online delivery environment that won’t be found anywhere else – delivering hands-on training to suit all time zones enabling anyone to easily join our classes wherever they are based,” she adds.

Watson explains that Combined Knowledge has an established and proud association with Dac Systems in the supply of education, and the companies share a passion in providing quality solutions to clients.

Aldo van Tonder, Solutions Executive at Dac Systems, says the company is confident the partnership will add measurable value to its market in providing access to exclusive, high quality education material via the online delivery system.

“We are very happy to be a part of this alliance. It means that our clients, operating in the domestic market, are guaranteed access to tuition of the highest quality and to material that will reinforce their knowledge of these technologies and this expanding marketplace,” he says.

Sounds weird but it it true, scientists from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have recharged a Samsung battery, using human urine giving hope to guys in off-grid regions as they can

Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos from UWE Bristol said that “no-one has harnessed power from urine to do this so it’s an exciting discovery. Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets.”

“One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine. By harnessing this power as urine passes through a cascade of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), we have managed to charge a Samsung mobile phone. The beauty of this fuel source is that we are not relying on the erratic nature of the wind or the sun; we are actually re-using waste to create energy.”

“So far the microbial fuel power stack that we have developed generates enough power to enable SMS messaging, web browsing and to make a brief phone call.”

The Microbial Fuel Cell is an energy converter, which turns organic matter directly into electricity, via the metabolism of live microorganisms. Essentially, the electricity is a by-product of the microbes’ natural life cycle, so the more they eat things like urine, the more energy they generate and for longer periods of time; so it’s beneficial to keep doing it.

The electricity output from MFCs is relatively small and so far they have only been able to store and accumulate these low levels of energy into capacitors or super-capacitors, for short charge/discharge cycles. This is the first time they have been able to directly charge the battery of a device such as a mobile phone though.

The project has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Gates Foundation and the Technology Strategy Board.

The scientists believe that the technology has the future potential to be installed into domestic bathrooms to harness the urine and produce sufficient electricity to power showers, lighting or razors as well as mobile phones.

Dr Ieropoulos concludes, “We are currently bidding for funding to work alongside partners in the US and S. Africa to develop a smart toilet.”

 MicroStrategy Inc, a worldwide provider of enterprise software platforms has announced the MicroStrategy Mobile App Universe and the MicroStrategy Mobile App Developer Academy in a move to aid customers in building compelling mobile apps.

The MicroStrategy Mobile App Universe will showcase numerous business app solutions available to customers, delivered directly by MicroStrategy Services or via its global technology partner network. An expansive ecosystem of MicroStrategy technology partners leverages the MicroStrategy Mobile App Platform™ to build compelling business apps based on rich domain expertise across many industries and functions.

MicroStrategy technology partner, a New Zealand-based Six Degrees highlighted the financial budgeting, planning, and forecasting mobile app in MicroStrategy’s Mobile App Universe.

“The MicroStrategy Mobile App Universe is a perfect place for us to showcase the game changing apps we are building with the MicroStrategy Mobile App Platform,” said Peter Hanley, Managing Director of Six Degrees. “The Six Degrees apps provide executives with the ability to bring their financial information to a meeting, to undertake ‘what if’ analyses during a business discussion, and to collaboratively amend forecasts—all from their mobile devices. This takes actionable insight to a whole new level.”

To view the MicroStrategy Mobile App Universe, visit: http://www.microstrategy.com/mobile/app-universe. MicroStrategy technology partners who wish to learn more about the MicroStrategy Mobile App Universe, including how to submit app solutions for inclusion, please contact: AppUniverse@microstrategy.com.

The MicroStrategy Mobile App Developer Academy is a collection of educational videos, grouped in classes with corresponding certifications delivered in an iPad app that records the user’s completed courses and classes. The materials are built by the best MicroStrategy Mobile app developers in the world and arm potential MicroStrategy developers with the skills to build amazing business apps using MicroStrategy Mobile™. The videos and corresponding certifications are delivered by a new app, built and deployed by the MicroStrategy Mobile App Platform.

“When fully leveraged, apps built on the MicroStrategy Mobile App Platform can be revolutionary for businesses,” said Paul Zolfaghari, President, MicroStrategy Incorporated. “We feel strongly that the MicroStrategy Mobile App Developer Academy will give mobile developers the training they need to build business apps that enhance the way people work.”

MicroStrategy remains committed to helping organizations build apps that reshape how people work. MicroStrategy defines “Revolutionary Mobile Apps” as apps that are consequential in their ability to increase the velocity of decision-making, durable because they are embedded with insight that withstands the test of time, and compelling in being equal parts powerful, beautiful, and captivating.

Hugh Owen, Vice President of Mobile at MicroStrategy, will present the Mobile keynote that elaborates on these initiatives at MicroStrategy World 2013 in Barcelona. To watch the MicroStrategy World 2013 mobile keynote streamed live, visit: www.microstrategy.com/microstrategyworld/europe/live.

To view a set of innovative companies who have built these revolutionary mobile apps powered by MicroStrategy Mobile, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clKiNpY76I0.

Panasonic Corporation, one of the largest electronic product company worldwide has launched the first panasonic Plaza in Kenya.

The move was aimed at serving its potential and existing customer’s in a highly professional and personalized setting.

Located in Westland’s area of Nairobi city, the showroom is labeled as the first fully equipped and comprehensive showroom by Panasonic . The show room will serve as an ideal one stop shop, a service center and a contact centre in one location.

The company show cased the different range of audio visual products and accessories, from home appliances, to digital cameras as well as a range of beauty products which will be made available to the Kenyan consumers.

The Managing Director Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa, Mr Masao Motoki.

Managing Director, Pole stars Mr Bhop Indar Singh together with the other dignitaries were present in the ribbon cutting event.

“Making inroads into Africa and establishing a strong presence by enhancing customer preferences and touch points are an integral part of our Africa expansion strategy. We are committed to becoming the number one consumer electronic brand in the African continent, and our first Panasonic Plaza in Nairobi, Kenya is a testimony to this. Our success in Kenya will highly influence our position in gaining customer confidence in the other potential African markets. We are positive that with our broad product category and high quality products, we be gaining a strong foothold gradually”, said Masao Motoki, Managing Director, Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa.

Panasonic’s main buisness partner is Pole Stars, who will also be providing the after sales service to the customer in kenya.

“In Pole Stars we have a partner who know and understand the demands of the local market. We are extremely happy to be working with Pole Stars and hope to strengthen and grow this very fruitful partnership,” Motoki added.

“Panasonic is a global brand and we are very proud to be their partner of choice in Kenya. The customers here will now be able to enjoy the latest technology while gaining access to products and services with greater convenience. With its extensive line-up and quality products, deemed to meet varied customer demands, this showroom will not only help Panasonic gain a strong foothold in the growing Kenyan market but also makes for a strategic brand association for us”, said, Bhop Indar Singh, Managing Director, Pole Stars Ltd.

Sing also said that his teamwill ensure that they will also create an awareness campaigne to educate the public about the products to help curb the production of counterfeit products.

He also added that plans to open other contact centres in major towns and other cities in kenya are underway.

Panasonic is planning to expand aggressively in Africa and this new Panasonic Plaza is a major milestone in its drive to gain major in-roads to the highly potential African market.

Thousands of Catholic faithfuls can now afford a smile every time they log onto Twitter, expecting not just to connect with friends and follow trending topics and news across the world but a sweet tweet of forgiveness from Pope Francis I (@Pontifex).

According to the the Vatican’s Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary publication, Pope Francis I will be giving “plenary indulgences” (the forgiveness of sins and a special act that is said to reduce time in purgatory). on social media, something that was done in person, fearfully.

The Guardian reports “the Vatican has married one of its oldest traditions to the world of social media by offering “indulgences” to followers of Pope Francis‘ tweets. Indulgences reduce the time Catholics believe they will have to spend in purgatory after they have confessed and been absolved of their sins.

Mobile solutions provider Mahindra Comviva, today partnered with Gondwana-City Productions (GCP), a content aggregator in Africa to strengthen Mahindra Comviva’s digital content portfolio, across video, voice and text in Africa.

Gonwana-City Productions will provide popular content from Francophone artists like Mamane, Digbeu Cravate, Adama Dahico, Yodé & Siro and many more local artists to add toMahindra Comviva’s over 250,000 tracks and  140 Content Providers in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Mahindra Comviva collaborates with over 70 content partners in Africa including local and international content providers/copyright bodies/ local artists and production houses in the region.

According to Atul Madan, Head of Digital Services, Mahindra Comviva, the partnership with Gondwana-City Productions is great as the firm works closely with a number of both local and international artists to source a huge selection of digital music and infotainment content which they find useful.

Madan said, “The combination of partnering with GCP together with our proven expertise in deploying and managing music services for operators across multiple growth markets, will further drive the success of managed music services and infotainment services in Africa.”

Catherine, Co-founder, Gondwana-City Productions said, “We bring a diverse range of content from Francophone region that will allow mobile operators to drive the quantity of users on their networks and meet the growing needs of subscribers across markets. Mahindra Comviva has a proven expertise of deploying and managing operator’s complete music and infotainment services portfolio across different geographies and we are very happy to be a part of Mahindra Comviva’s success story in Africa.”

Currently Mahindra Comviva owns music rights for over 170,000 unique music titles in African, Arabic and International categories, spanning multiple popular genres including Hip Hop, Pop, Inspirational, Classical, Hip Life, Humor, Football Chants, RNB, Gospel, Jazz, Rock, Devotional, Reggae and Retro in over 35 languages. Operators in Africa have seen more than fourfold increase in their music services penetration and subscriber base, multi fold increase in their music revenues, using Mahindra Comviva’s digital services.

Besides this, the company owns a huge collection of video, voice and text based applications like devotional, full track music, music on demand, karaoke, games, contest, sports, news, humor, health & fitness, career, lifestyle, agriculture and many more.

Mahindra Comviva manages an operator’s complete  music and infotainment  services portfolio  bringing together  content technology platform, discovery, analytics and recommendation tools, storefront management and business  and marketing expertise to drive growth and usage.

Recently Mahindra Comviva has been awarded the most innovative company by Global Telecoms Business Innovation Awards 2013 for Managed Music services to Airtel Africa for Hello Tunes.

The largest mobile telephone, fixed telephone and broadband subscription television services company in the US, AT&T, has assured its customers that beginning July 26^th they can get a new AT&T Smartphone or tablet every year with no down payment, no activation fee, no upgrade fee and no financing fees.

A created program called “AT&T Next”; customers purchase a Smartphone or tablet with no down payment and agree to pay monthly installments for the device. After 12 payments, they can trade it in and upgrade to a brand new device, once more with no down payment, alternatively they can keep using their device and have no more payments after 20 months.

“With AT&T Next, customers can get the newest smartphone or tablet every year with no down payment. That’s hard to beat, and it’s an incredible value for customers who want the latest and greatest every year,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Mobility.

The interest-free monthly device installments range from USD15 to USD50, depending on the device selected. For instance, a customer buying a Samsung Galaxy S4 would have no down payment and pay USD32 per month, in addition to the monthly wireless service plan they choose, with the option to trade in their device and upgrade after 12 payments or to keep using the device and pay off the installment plan in full after 20 months. There’s no penalty for paying off the installment plan early.

AT&T Next is available for new AT&T customers or existing customers who are upgrade eligible.

AT&T’s 4G LTE network now covers more than 225 million people in the US and 328 markets. AT&T’s 4G LTE deployment is expected to cover 300 million people by year-end 2014, with nearly 90 percent of the build completed by the end of this year.

National broadcaster, Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), is planning to accept bids for potential signal distributors in August. It moves ahead of the deadline to switch to digital from analogue.

The Nigerian state broadcaster says it will also begin tests to explore the stations readiness to meet the June 2015 deadline which was set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

NBC’s Director General, Emeka Mba, confirmed the development in Lagos. He said that 40 million households in the country have to purchase set-top boxes which will enable them to watch television when the digital switch kicks in.

The government of Nigeria says it has plans to subsidize the prices of the set-top boxes, the body added that this was done in many federal governments globally.

The Director General continued on to say that the digital switch could allow more room for spectrum expansion to boost the nation’s broadband and internet penetration levels. The digital broadcasting transition started in 2006 following an agreement by ITU member states.

China’s biggest internet search engine company, Baidu, has declared blandly in a statement that it has signed an agreement to buy the 91 Wireless Chinese app store, for a whole total of US$1.9 billion.

This timely proposal comes at a time that Baidu is seeking to branch out beyond its usual search business in order to compete against the likes of Alibaba and Tencent which are the rival internet giants in China.

Baidu had struggled to boost its presence in the mobile market and this App will make their presence be felt in the country.

The internet company said that it had signed a legally required memorandum of understanding to acquire control of a greater part of 91 Wireless from NetDragon Websoft, a Hong Kong-listed company that invests in online gaming and mobile Internet businesses in China.

The company would have to pay NetDragon USD1.09 billion for its 57.4 percent shares in 91 Wireless, and to also offer roughly USD800 million on similar terms to the owners of the remaining 42.6 percent share, who were not identified. The deal will be done by 14^th August.

91 Wireless was established in 2007 and currently operates two app stores in China, 91 Assistant and HiMarket, both of which run on Google’s Android operating system. It also develops its own apps.

Having more than 10 billion apps downloaded, 91 Wireless is China’s biggest 3rd party app distribution platform by both active users and accumulated downloads, according to iResearch.

NetDragon further said that a separate plan announced in December to seek a potential spinoff of the 91 Wireless businesses on Hong Kong’s secondary board would be rejected, pending finalization of the sale to Baidu.

This is Africa’s year in Microsoft Imagine cup, as two  African countries has scooped awards in this year’s global competition for students’ technologists, developers and entrepreneurs.

Yester night, Microsoft declared the winners of the 11th annual Microsoft Imagine Cup held in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. There were 87 teams of students who represented 71 countries that competed in the worldwide finals this week after winning local and online competitions in their respective countries.

In this year’s competition 12 teams from Africa took part in the finals with just two teams from Uganda and Egypt winning awards.

Uganda’s Team Code 8 from took home a prize in the Women’s Empowerment Award. This award, which was in partnership with UN Women, recognizes two student teams that created projects that best address issues impacting women globally.

Uganda’s Team Code 8 designed a Windows Phone Application called Matibabu, which detects malaria without pricking the body to get a blood sample.

Microsoft agrees that, this app works by connecting a custom piece of hardware (matiscope) to the windows phone. The user is then able to diagnose and know their malaria status in a ‘short’ time period: the results are sent to the user’s skydrive for medical record keeping and sharing with their personal doctors.

The Team MASked Ninjas from Egypt received an AFT Excellence Award. They showed off their Windows 8/Windows phone application called Videolator at the competition.

This app provides users with the most relevant video for an article, a piece of news or any surface that has text when you scan it using your Windows 8 or your Windows Phone device.

Awards at this year’s event have been given away in categories including innovation, games, world citizenship, Microsoft’s cloud service Windows Azure, and Windows phone and app challenges.

The innovation prize was scooped by Team Colinked of UK, games by Team Zeppelin Studio from Austria, World Citizenship by Team for a better world from Portugal, Microsoft’s cloud service Azure by Team Y-Nots from India, and Windows phone challenges by Team ySoft Studio from Singapore, Windows app by  Team TeamNameException form Italy among other prizes.