Google today teamed up with World Bank, UNOSAT, and RCMRD to bring together more than 100 Sudanese in the diaspora to map Southern Sudan, ahead of the country’s July 9th independence day .

The event is the second of a series of mapping sessions which have been organised to enable NGOs and the Sudanese diaspora community to create comprehensive maps of the region using Google Map Maker technology.

Speaking at the iHub during the event, Google.org Program Manager, Dr. France Lamy, said that the exercise would help put Southern Sudan on the world map faster, and opening it up to global opportunities. Read more »

According to Shop Mag, 28billion pounds are lost annually to counterfeit products.

According to Daily Finance, the worst affected industries are footwear with a value of 99.8million USD followed by Consumer Electronics coming in at 31.8million USD value.

Many of these electronics are Television sets, radios and sound systems and even the prestigious home theatres that are coveted by many who are out looking for a good appliance to use in their homes.

The other biggest culprit is mobile phones.

The Kenyan government has been losing KES3bilion every year due to evasion of tax by bringin in counterfeits to the country. Additionally, counterfeits cost giant phone maker and distributor Nokia-Kenya USD 361million in their last financial year. Read more »

Global handsets maker advises users not to respond to dubious messages.

World’s leading handsets maker, Nokia, has warned mobile phone users over the re-emergence of a scam suggesting that people have won money or mobile phones, which in reality, is an attempt to get private information from people who reply to the messages.

The hoaxers previously used to send to the dubious information to email addresses telling people they had won a Nokia device. This scam has now moved on and is being sent out to mobiles phones via SMS, with the message suggesting people have won a free Nokia, and just need to provide their bank details to claim the free phone.

“We have been receiving a number of reports recently that scam artists are sending out hoax SMS and emails, purportedly from Nokia, that offer some sort of money if one were to respond in a similar way that lotteries are run. We would like to clarify that, those messages are not coming from Nokia and that we do not do money lotteries. We are asking people to beware and know that this ‘lottery’ is a scam,” said Kenneth Oyolla, Nokia, General Manager, East and Southern Africa.

“Our advice is that if you do receive something dubious like this, DO NOT reply to these messages or pass them on. The thing to do is to delete the message without responding. You might also consider contacting the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) to report such hoax messages,” said Mr Oyolla.

Read more »

Well, I am a techie, and a connectivity junkie. I don’t need to tell you that this requires me to have access to my emails, my social networks, my blog and all within reach, even in the deadest of the night.

Searching for a good phone much like searching for a good woman, is normally a daunting task as we all have our strong point while looking. Some go for sleek design, light weight, camera functionality, durable body types and/or ability to live on the phone on the go.

Having said this, I recently met an auspiciously different kind of woman. Yes; she is sleek and yes; she is a killer on the body. Albeit a bit heavy, she caught my eye. Sliding up from different positions encouraging me to feel her cool glossy texture, she indeed made my evening.

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The regional finals for the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition, a competition aimed at getting students to bring out their best in terms of innovation and creativity as far as software design is concerned, were held yesterday, 9^th May, at Strathmore University. The team that clinched the top spot is Team QuestO from Uganda’s Makerere University.

Most teams comprised of students who are in university with many giving good presentations but the winning presentation was made by team QuestO who showcased a desktop, mobile and web based system, dubbed CRIMEX that focuses on crime pattern analysis in developing countries. Read more »

There has been a lot of discussion in the public domain about a new device called the Poken. It is a small device that is set to replace the need for business cards say in the next year or so by consolidating a user’s contacts in its small microchip and enabling on to transmit information on themselves in a fun and cool way.

1. Poken User meets other Poken User

2. User “’high four’s” his or her Poken with that of the other user. This is essentially holding them against each other (such that the       coils inside the token are more or less aligned).

3. The two Pokens flash green to signal that a bond was made. If red light appears, please try again as this means that the devices have not yet connected.

4. On a computer at home or anywhere, the User plugs in his or her token into the USB port. Read more »

At the beginning of the year, we highlighted a story in which Microsoft had launched their campaign for a competition dubbed the Microsoft Imagine Cup.

The annual event has participants from all over the world with all teams aiming to garner a chance to represent their country in the worldwide championship finals and ultimately take home the prize money. Last year’s prize was a whooping 25,000USD.

This year, Iraq is already way ahead of their game. The winning team, Team Hawk from the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, bedazzled the panel of judges by creating a system that can be used to register refugees and monitoring their welfare needs such as monitoring healthcare and education. This also includes facilitation of distribution of aid to the said refugees. The solution provides a mobile means for staff and users with minimal training to enter data relevant data to the welfare and educational needs of the refugees. The data is collected through the same mobile phone system or via any computing device use of mobile phones. Somebody say TABLET. WOOHOO! Read more »