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Jumia Uganda shares 2019 Mobile Report and Mobile Week

By
Boses Muhinda
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0

Africa’s biggest online shop, Jumia, has today launched the 2019 Mobile report and Mobile week.

Mr. Ron Kawamara, CEO Jumia Uganda, who presented the mobile report said, “Jumia Uganda prides itself in being at the forefront of not only offering Ugandans unprecedented services in the e-commerce space but also, presenting unique insights into key trends of mobile penetration in Uganda and the impact of the landscape to the digital industry.”

According to the report, he said, as the country’s digital economy continues to spur, the average Ugandan consumer is increasingly getting connected, with 42% of the population in Uganda now connected to the Internet (19 million). Mobile subscription penetration is at approximately 80%, with 25 million Ugandans owning a mobile device, a factor that has continued to shape and make the landscape competitive.

Mr Kawamara noted that smartphone penetration has steadily increased across the country, and so has the usage tremendously soared. In the larger African continent, smartphone adoption was recorded at 36% penetration rate, equating to about 255 million smartphone devices and with Jumia launching its “Mobile Week” from April 8th to 21st, 2019 to enable members of the public purchase smartphones and accessories at discounted prices.

He explained that the mobile phone remains the most popular item on the Jumia online store, both in terms of the number of items sold and in terms of the revenue it generates. Hence giving it its own tier-one campaign was an obvious choice. This Mobile week is expected to be the biggest yet. Visitors to the site www.jumia.ug and to the Jumia mobile app will have an opportunity to claim some of the biggest discounts on thousands of Mobile related items.

He also added that E-commerce businesses need to adapt to this type of mobile customer, who goes online using a low specification smartphone and does not have a lot of data. Jumia has developed progressive web apps to bridge the gap between conventional web pages and native mobile applications. The result is a lightweight, faster web application that drastically improve the user experience on mobile. For instance, not only will the customers get a faster loading e-shop, but will also get push notifications from it and even be able to browse the shop while offline.

Apply for the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge here

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

The 4th Annual MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge is the university’s premier Future of Work Prize. Presented by the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, the IIC awards over $1.6 million to entrepreneurs that are using technology to drive a more prosperous and inclusive economy for people at the middle and bottom of the pyramid.

Their global tournament identifies regional winners on each continent and then brings these winners to a Global Awards Gala in November at MIT where four $250,000 grand prizes are announced.  

If your company is skilled in the areas of Skills Development and Opportunity Matching, Income Growth and Job Creation, Technology Access and Financial Inclusion, it’s time to consider your company for an award in the IIC Africa region.

If selected, the company founder would be invited to the IIC Africa Celebration, where the other Africa Finalists will pitch in front of a live audience and Selection Panel who will determine which companies will continue on to the MIT Gala.

All applicants receive feedback from experts in the region; and beyond the prize money, Finalists and Winners will receive an international spotlight and gain access to the global entrepreneurial ecosystem at MIT.

Registration closes May 9. Learn more about past Winners and the types of organizations MIT is recognizing, rewarding, and promoting at MITinclusiveinnovation.com

Microsoft unveils its new Surface Book 2 model with Intel’s latest quad-core processor

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

Microsoft is quietly refreshing its Surface Book 2 base model today. The software giant is introducing Intel’s latest 8th Gen quad-core i5 processor for the 13-inch Surface Book 2 model, and keeping the existing dual-core 7th Gen model at a discounted price of $1,299. The refreshed quad-core model will be priced at $1,499, and includes an i5-8350U which bumps the processor’s maximum boost clock speed up to 3.6GHz.

The new mid-range Surface Book 2 will also include 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. The processor is the only significant change, but it should make a big difference for performance. We saw impressive jumps in performance from quad-core Surface Pro 6 models compared to the dual-core chips used in previous models. Microsoft has quietly launched this new model today, following rumors the company was planning to refresh the Surface Book 2.

Microsoft is also holding a Surface event on April 17th in New York City. The company is expected to detail pricing and availability for its Surface Hub 2 hardware, and associated accessories and office furniture from Steelcase. The Verge will be covering Microsoft’s Surface NYC event, so stay tuned for all the news.

Additional Info – The Verge

VIDEO! Google is offering to clean your smartphone

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

Apart from the arcade game Snake in its Google Maps app, Google has stepped up it’s April fools prank game and gone ahead to offer a cleaning app for your smartphone.

Only available on Android, Google is offering users a once in a life time opportunity to have an app that can actually clean the phone screen inside – out.

The new feature called Screen Cleaner claims to wipe out all the dirt and germs from your smartphone’s display. The company claims that the feature will eliminate dust, dirt, smudges, from your smartphone screen

The company has also released a video explaining about the new feature. Google has developed a smudge detector API which will identify the dirt and smudges on your phone’s screen. After detection, the dirt and whatnot are targeted via micromovements and removed.

The feature uses the phone’s vibrating motor and haptic controls to create macro vibrations which form a non-stick shield around the device to keep your smartphone clean and sparkling.

In order to use the feature make sure that you have the updated version of the app. Once you open the Files app, you will notice the Screen Cleaner option with the activate button. After clicking the activate button, the feature will get activated and the cleaning process commenced.



Very soon, you’ll be able to use the swipe actions in Gmail on iOS

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

With its latest update, Gmail’s iOS app finally lets you customize what happens when you swipe your emails. Five different actions are supported, including archiving or deleting emails, marking them as read or unread, snoozing, archiving, or moving them to a different folder. You can also assign different actions to left or right swipes.

The update brings the functionality of Gmail’s iOS app into line with its Android equivalent. Until recently, the iOS app only let you archive or delete emails by swiping, and swiping in either direction would do the same thing. The update comes as part of a broader redesign announced by Google back in January.

The functionality is available in the latest version of the Gmail app, which began its rollout yesterday, but could take as many as 15 days to be available to everyone, according to Google. Once downloaded, you can change what swiping does by heading into the Settings menu and selecting Swipe actions.

Spotify set to buy Parcast in a bid to become the Netflix of Radio

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

On Tuesday March 27, 2019, Swedish audio streaming platform, Spotify agreed to buy Parcast. In a bid to establish self as the Netflix for Radio, Spotify has over the past few months been acquiring different podcasts.

In February, Spotify agreed to buy both Gimlet Media, a podcast producer, and Anchor, a podcast services company.

Parcast, their latest acquisition, is a podcast that specializes in crime, and mystery with over 18 series on Serial Killers, assassinations, mythology, unsolved murders, cults, and conspiracy theories.

“The addition of Parcast to our growing roster of podcast content will advance our goal of becoming the world’s leading audio platform,” said Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content officer. “Crime and mystery podcasts are a top genre for our users and Parcast has had significant success creating hit series while building a loyal and growing fan base. We’re excited to welcome the Parcast team to Spotify and we look forward to supercharging their growth,” Dawn added.

MTN Uganda posts strong 2018 growth; a reflection of a vibrant economy

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

Uganda’s vibrant economic activity in the last year contributed to the strong performance of MTN Uganda in 2018. MTN Uganda’s revenue in 2018 grew by 8.6% due to increased voice calls, data usage and MTN Mobile Money.

Uganda’s economy is estimated to have grown by 5.3% in 2018 driven by growth in the services sector and the industrial sector.

In the service sector specifically, there was growth in jobs as MTN contributed to the increased number of Mobile Money agents when it implemented the electronic recharge of airtime and introduced the cashless payment service, MTN MoMoPay.   

“Our growth is closely linked with the economic activity in the country and that reflects in our performance in 2018. The overall growth in revenue was due to a 46.6% rise in active data users that led to data revenue growing and a rise in the active Mobile Money users. These two market segments have added value to the economy by creating more opportunities for agents and also boosted innovation,” said Rob Shuter the MTN Group CEO, while commenting on the MTN Uganda results.

Other segments that contributed to MTN’s revenue growth include a rise in subscribers from 10.8 million at the end of 2017 to 11.2 million at the end of 2018. As a result of the growing subscriber base, MTN has increased its footprint to create job opportunities by employing over 1,200 staff directly and over 500,000 indirectly through our mobile money and distribution network.

“MTN Group operates in 21 countries across Africa and the Middle East where we have significantly contributed to socio-economic transformation. We have encountered varying environments and experiences but have nonetheless been successful in most,” said Shuter.

In order to continue delivering on improved services, MTN Uganda continued to carry out capital investments with an expenditure of Shs222.4 billion. On average, MTN spends about Shs200bn (USD50m) annually in investments and cumulatively over the last 20 years, it has invested over Shs3.7trillion (USD1bn). MTN remains the biggest taxpayer in Uganda with a tax contribution of Shs3.9 trillion since 1998. MTN has also paid Shs94bn in spectrum fees and Shs121bn in support of the Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) to the Ugandan Communications Commission since inception. This has greatly supported the growth of the telecommunications sector.

Gadgets and Tech To Help Your Business Trip Be Successful

By
Brian Code
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0

Going on business trips is a lot better than it used to be, and technology plays a major part in having improved the experience. There are many gadgets and tech breakthroughs available to boost the success of business trips. It’s no surprise, considering tech does target businesspeople more often than consumers, probably because that’s who uses tech the most.

We’re not going to sit here and bore you with what tech means for a business trip. Instead, we want to help you discover some of the best gadgets and technology to use on your business trips in order to make them as successful as they can possibly be. You never know, you might learn of new options!

Fit Yourself with a Smart Backpack: The Power Might Surprise

From being able to charge your mobile devices by plugging them into your backpack to flaunting built-in speakers, these aren’t your run-of-the-mill. Of course, it very well could be soon considering the state of tech in the world today. Either way, these backpacks can add more convenient options for you when it comes to your business trip. It does pay to think outside the box.

Listen to Your Personal Preference & Tune the World Out

It’s no secret that there comes a time when it’s more productive to put on some headphones and jam out to your favorite music. Or even an audiobook that you’re trying to get through. Either way, headphones are a must for any business trip.

You’ll also find that this also improves online audio/video communications during the trip. As you won’t have to worry about your laptop’s internal speakers bothering anyone or being drowned out by other noises. It’s like the old saying goes, kill two birds with one stone, but with headphones!

Power Is Essential: Dead Batteries Are No Longer Welcome

Thankfully they figured this out, even though it’s one of the most recent breakthroughs over the past few years in the tech world. Mobile batteries make it possible to charge your phone(s) and other compatible devices without a power source. Just make sure it gets a full charge at home before you leave and remember to get the bigger size of battery if you need a long amount of charge time.

Stay Connected While Making the Trip & Maximize Workflow

Not everywhere will you have internet access, which is where a portable hotspot can come in to save your day. Stay connected regardless of where you’re at. As long as your hotspot has a data signal, you’ll have internet that you can use with any internet-enabled devices you take with you on your trip.

You Shouldn’t Have to Get Stuck Staying at Low-Tech Hotels

All too often, many people hinder their business trip success by choosing the wrong hotels when they’re traveling to Northwest San Antonio. This is exactly why you should be planning your lodging ahead of time.

If this post caught you in time before an upcoming trip to Texas, you’ll be glad to hear that there are hotels in the area that do offer lightning-fast wi-fi and a business center for those who don’t have a laptop with them. One of the favorites among business travelers seems to be none other than Hyatt Place San Antonio-Northwest/Medical Center. Hyatt’s focus on business travelers has made it popular with the business set – for great reason.

NBA and YouTube have launched a channel dedicated to fans in Sub-Saharan Africa

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

In a bid to bring content close to fans, and the growing development and love for watching games over the Internet, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and YouTube partnered to launch a channel dedicated to sub-Saharan Africa, the NBA Africa YouTube channel.

Launched on Wednesday, the channel will feature two live games each week in prime time, including the Playoffs, Conference Finals and The Finals.

The channel will feature original and archived programming, including a collaboration with Africa-based YouTube creators on original content, a customized weekly magazine show and NBA documentaries featuring current and former African players and legends. 

All this has been done not only to support the growing Sport in Africa but to also inspire and empower African youth.

The first two live game broadcasts on the new NBA Africa YouTube channel will take place on Sunday, March 24 and will feature the Charlotte Hornets hosting the Boston Celtics at 12:00am (CAT) followed by the L.A. Clippers visiting the New York Knicks at 6:00pm (CAT).

“The NBA Africa YouTube channel is yet another important milestone for the NBA in Africa and will allow more fans to access our games, live and on demand, across the continent,” said NBA Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, Amadou Gallo Fall.  “As we enter the home stretch of the NBA season and teams fight for playoff positioning, we look forward to bringing the excitement of the NBA to more fans in sub-Saharan Africa while celebrating the NBA’s rich history and bright future in Africa,” he added.

We believe that this is a great step in the direction of sports and inclusion of Africa on the International digital space.

Additional info from APO

You can now shop from Instagram without leaving the app

By
Davis Kawalya
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0

Times are changing, you can now shop/checkout an item from Instagram from select brands like Nike, H&M and Adidas without being referred to a website nor leaving the app.

The new ‘Checkout’ app was announced by Instagram on Tuesday. Unfortunately, this is still in trial phase and not yet open to all retailers but only to a select few.

“The vision is to ultimately have checkout be available to any of the business on Instagram,” says Layla Amjadi, product manager on Instagram Shopping. “The whole goal here is to finally fulfill one of the biggest asks we’ve heard since the inception of Instagram Shopping,” she added.

Amjadi also says that consumers will need to use a pin number to finish checking out as an extra step of security, and also the retailers will only have access to the name and address of the shoppers in order to fulfill the orders. It’s up to consumers if they want to include loyalty program information and e-mail addresses.

“We will only share information that is absolutely necessary to get the product delivered to you,” Amjadi says.

Here’s to the new shopping age. Let’s get rolling.

Additional Info from AdAge


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