Microsoft Corporation earlier this month (on 5^th February) introduced the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative. This is a new effort through which it, Microsoft, will actively engage in Africa’s economic development to improve its global competitiveness and by year 2016 have done the following:

1. Place tens of millions of smart devices in the hands of African youth
2. Bring 1 Million African SMEs online
3. Provide more skills to 100,000 members of Africa’s existing workforce
4. Help an additional 100,000 recent graduates develop skills for ‘employability’, 75% of which Microsoft will help place in jobs

“The world has recognized the promise of Africa, and Microsoft wants to invest in that promise. We want to empower African youth, entrepreneurs, developers and business and civic leaders to turn great ideas into a reality that can help their community, their country, the Continent, and beyond,” said Fernando de Sousa, General Manager of the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative. Read more »

Free Online Service Helps Small Businesses Centrally Manage and Protect BlackBerry Smartphones in the Cloud.

BlackBerry Management Center makes it easy to manage company- or employee-owned smartphones in the cloud, and helps to minimize risk from lost or stolen handsets to keep business moving forward. Small businesses can use the service to:

• ->Wirelessly back up BlackBerry smartphones automatically on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to aid in the recovery of lost business-related content stored on the handset
• ->Protect content on an employee’s lost or stolen BlackBerry smartphone by remotely locking it and, if necessary, wiping the contents, including the microSD card
• ->Locate a lost BlackBerry smartphone by remotely locking it, initiating a loud ring, and displaying a message on the Home screen
• ->Easily restore the settings and content on a new or replacement device
• ->Reset a password

Nokia has finally unveiled shipping dates for the release of its Symbian^3 Anna software update for current devices, including the Nokia N8, E7, C7, and C6 smartphones. While the software is pre-loaded on newer devices that have just begun to ship–like the Nokia X7 and Nokia E6–current flagships have to wait for Anna to hit. The N8, E7, C7, and C6 will officially ship with Anna pre-loaded out of the box in July, according to Nokia, and current owners who have bought devices without Anna will have to wait until the end of August for a software update to roll out. Read more »

In a recent turn of events, the Nokia team has released the builds associated with the Symbian Operating system to the public.

This probably confirms that Nokia are finally done with the aging operating system that was previously under the Symbian Foundation’s domain until it closed its doors late last year giving Nokia full administrative jurisdiction of the operating system. The Operating System is presently out in cyberspace free to anyone including the build tools and the precious SDKs as well.

Wow!

Such a move is probably in light of the recent partnership with Microsoft that stunned the world less than two months ago and caused a stir among developers and bloggers alike in the Social Media space #NokMsft. Read more »

In today’s smart-phone market, we are exposed a lot of Apps. Good Apps and some bad Apps as well. Some Apps claim to have ability to consolidate your data in its entirety into one easily accessible database, while others will even claim to do your laundry… or something thereabout.

Truth is, every 3^rd party vendor will promote their App to look like it can do a whole host of functions and most of the time, and they actually do deliver.

But beware of the cons.

With the current influx of user applications in the smart-phone market, knowing what is a genuine App and what is not is really a challenge. Don’t we all wish we could see an App’s authenticity before download-and-install?

Now there is a way. Mbugua Njihia of Symbiotic Media Consortium in a recent Mobile App discussion claims it is important to have Apps with a digital signage. As much as we want this, it is impossible. Read more »

As we go about our daily lives, we all get into certain situations where we find it dificult to pick  the best spot to spend some time, whether with family, friends or just by ourselves.

Often, we are confused about where to go, how much time will it take etc etc. If you have ever found yourself in such a situation, then you need to download AroundMe, a locally-developed Kenyan app on your Nokia phone.

From shopping to restaurants to hospitals to banks and even gas stations, wherever in Kenya, this app is your go-to directory for all the service you could ever need. The minute you log on, it triangulates your location and depending on where you want to go, it gives you a list of all the available locations. Read more »

YouTube and LG Electronics have partnered (is it just me or is this week riddles with mergers and potent partnerships) to give us the LG Optimus 3D. And as the name suggests, YES; it has got the much-coveted 3-D technology. It was launched at the ongoing Mobile World Congress running from 14^th to 17^th February in Barcelona.

This will make it easier for users to take 3D pictures and videos on this phone and upload them to the internet with relative ease. It does this with the help of a system mounted dual-camera for taking the right and left images as is normally the case with 3D cameras.

The LG Optimus is loaded with a 1GHz OMAP4 (Open Multimedia Application Platform Version 4) dual-core processor from Texas Instruments, a dual-channel memory to ensure users have enough power to work on 3D video on the handset. Users get the chance to share 3D videos and pictures via wireless and wired connectors, all and including High Definition Multimedia Interface. Read more »