It is yet another awesome end of the week. Various tech companies have made headlines, all for the right reasons. Well, mostly.
Below are the top ten tech trends for this week:
1. MallforAfrica enters the Kenyan market
MallforAfrica has finally opened shop to Kenyan customers. The online shopping platform specifically targets consumers who order products from UK and US retail stores.
The unveiling was attended by MallforAfrica Co-founder and CEO Tope Folayan, Kenyan Country Manager Naomi Konditi-kivuvani, company’s staff members, members of the press, and other invitees.
Konditi-kivuvani promised that MallforAfrica would revolutionize local online shopping experience.
2. Safaricom sets up Kenya’s first telecommunications lab
Safaricom has announced the completion of the first ever communications lab in Kenya. The giant telco says that it had to part with Ksh. 200 million for this project.
The lab is located at Safaricom HQ3 and will support research and development projects.
Safaricom says that the lab will serve as a training center for engineers, those working on new technologies, and the testing of novel ideas that have the potential to offer telecommunications solutions.
3. Airtel brings you amazing data plans yet again! Â
The local telcos price wars and quest to expand reach is far from over.
Already, Airtel has introduced us to UnlimiNet and Tubonge data plans, both of which are music to our ears. The telco has not stopped there; we now have the Amazing Data Bundles plan.
If you have not seen any ads, hashtags or press statements, it is because there were none. The new plan was made public in a very low key way.
The new rates start at Ksh. 5 for 8MB valid for 24 hours all the way to Ksh. 9,000 for 70GB valid for 90 days. This is definitely awesome.
To subscribe, dial *544# and select Amazing Data Bundles which is option 1.
4. Huawei P10 should be in your nearest store by now
It has been a long wait but you can finally buy your P10 locally. Earlier, those who wished to purchase the handset had the option to pre-order.
The handset comes months after Huawei introduced us to two mid-range phones, GR5 2017 and GR3 2017.
The handset will be retailing at Ksh. 65,000
5. Eatout Kenya secures $500,000 funding
Eatout, a local restaurant and reviews website has received Ksh. 500,000 from CraftSilicon.
The funding will be used to develop and launch Eatout’s new mobile payments app and to expand the services to neighboring markets.
The app will allow consumers to pay for their meals via mobile phones.
We all know that Lipa-na M-Pesa is the boss in this segment and that the recent launch of M-Pesa Tap 1 increases competition but Eatout is not afraid of sharks, it can swim.
Let’s see how things play out.
6. Xiaomi introduces us to Mi Max 2 and promises good things
The Chinese manufacturer has finally taken the veil off Mi Max 2.
The handset packs a neutral unibody, android Nougat 7.0 out of the box, a massive 5,300mAh battery, 12MP Sony IMX386 camera with a 5MP selfie camera, and 4GB RAM.
The handset will retail at between $250 and $290 for the 64GB RAM and 128GB RAM variants respectively.
7. You can now Snap as you Uber
Uber has integrated a special Snapchat filter on the app for its East Africa customers.
This comes after the transportation company partnered with Snapchat to bring you the awesome feature in your ride sharing app.
These filters will be available to existing Snapchat and Uber users. The better news is that they no longer have to toggle between apps to access Snapchat.
8. Sony expands its Xperia X series
Sony’s Xperia series has now welcomed two new members, XZ Premium and XA1 Ultra.
XZ Premium comes with a 4K HDR 5.5-inch display, a 19MP main camera with a 13MP front-facing camera, 3,230mAh battery, 4GB RAM, and IP65/68 dust and water resistance technology.
XA1 Ultra comes with 4GB RAM, an octa-core processor, 2,700mAh battery, a 23MP main camera with 16MP front-facing camera. Both cameras come with awesome features for impressive shots.
Those specs are out of this world! Hope they are as good as they appear on paper.
9. Good deeds alert starring Tecno Mobile!
Tecno has donated Ksh. 2 million to a school feeding program in Kajiado. This donation was made in partnership with ActionAid, a leading anti-poverty NGO in Kenya.
The donation was made to schools in Kajiado and it includes foodstuff, water tanks, sanitary towels, and sports attire.
Kudos to Tecno for setting the pace for good deeds!
10. Facebook post shed more light on the Manchester bombing
This week on Monday, news of the Manchester shooting that left 22 people dead spread. It was and still is a sad state of affairs that left us in a somber mood.
It now turns out that the suspect’s father had made a Facebook post praising militant extremist groups. He went ahead to show a photo of his youngest son holding a huge machine gun.
That’s it for this week. Let’s do this again next week.
