This week in tech: Samsung Galaxy S8 unveiled and more weekly tech news
Samsung Galaxy S8 is here, Unga prices are yet to go down, Sultan Joho has proclaimed that he is proud of his D- joholistically, and Baba dispels rumors that Kalonzo Musyoka has withdrawn his NASA membership.
All in one week. Then, there was the tech world, A lot happened. Good things mostly.
Below is the weekly roundup of tech news this week:
1.Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ officially unveiled
The much leaked and highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ were finally unveiled.
We can pretend all we want but we knew pretty much what to expect with S8 so big surprises. The specs are awesome.
Samsung Galaxy S8 comes with a 5.8-inch Super AMOLED display while S8+ comes with 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display.
Both handsets come with 64-bit Octa-core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.7GHz Quad), 4GB RAM, and 12MP primary camera.
The battery capacities differ as the Samsung Galaxy S8 comes with a 3,000mAh Li-Po battery while the Samsung Galaxy S8+ comes with a 3,500mAh Li-Po battery.
Now that’s how you make a comeback.
Nice comeback Samsung!
2. The 2017/2018 Budget Read
Kenya 2017/2018 2.63 trillion annual budget presented by the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.
The Ksh. 2.63 trillion annual budget was presented on Thursday the 30th March by the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.
What is in it for tech? ICT, Energy, and Infrastructure received 26.7% of the total discretionary expenditures.
Mr. Rotich also laid emphasis on the need to strengthen Kenya’s position as the global leader in mobile money technology.
You can view the entire budget speech on YouTube.
3. Airtel launches Tubonge
Airtel launched Tubonge, a voice data plan that gives customers Ksh. 100 minutes of talk time.
You also get to call other networks at Ksh. 2 per minute.
The product comes in three packages: Daily, Weekly, and Monthly offer. For the daily, you will pay Ksh. 10, Ksh. 50 per week and Ksh. 150 for the monthly plan.
4. Safaricom lowers Lipa na M-Pesa tariff charges
Safaricom brings good tidings as it has cut Lipa na M-Pesa tariff by half to increase the billable limit to the Ksh. 200.
This means that you can now transact free for any amounts of below Ksh. 200 up from Ksh. 100.
In addition, merchants will now pay Ksh. 200 for any transaction of over Ksh. 40,000.
5. Facebook and Surf Launch express Wi-Fi Kenya
Facebook has partnered with Surf to launch Express Wi-Fi in Kenya.
This is expected to be a low-cost internet solution that will allow subscribers to access affordable data.
The data service comes in daily, weekly, and monthly packages.
They cheapest is Ksh. 10 for 40MB for the daily plan and Ksh. 500 for 3GB for the monthly plan.
6. Good news inhabitants of the Twitterverse!
Twitter will no longer count Usernames as part of the 140 character limit in your replies.
This is good news for those who are yet to master the concept of summaries.
When replying to someone, the Username will appear at the top of the tweet.
7. Facebook stories is here!
It was received with a collective yawn since most have already experienced this feature elsewhere: on Instagram and Snapchat.
The bottom line is that it is a good idea.
8. Telegram adds a security AI-powered voice calls feature
Rumors of this have been flying right, left and center and we can finally confirm that they are true.
It only makes sense for Telegram to introduce this feature especially since WhatsApp and Facebook had added this feature.
Telegram has already started rolling out this feature.
9. Alternative Circle $1.1 fund
Alternative Circle, the brains behind Shika App, closes $1.1 Million seed round and is now planning product launch.
The Kenyan Fintech innovator signed a $1.1 million agreement with Creditinfo Group, a credit risk management company.
Alternative Circle says that the seed capital will be used to expand the company’s geographical footprint.
10. PesaLink subscription rates
Finally, PesaLink has signed a total of 2 million customers since it was launched earlier this year
The service is owned by Kenya Bankers Association (KBA), banker’s umbrella body.Already, 22 banks are already on board. Props to KBA for the progress.
Already, 22 banks are already on board. Props to KBA for the progress.
A lovely weekend.
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