After rolling out a new version of Gmail, Google added a snooze function has been carried over to the web and is now making its way to the Gmail app on Android.

Snooze for Gmail works just like it does with Inbox. Simply tap snooze (in the overflow menu) when viewing an email, and you can pick a time for the email to ping your inbox again. It’s a way to remind yourself to deal with the email in question. Gmail has the same UI as Inbox with suggested snooze durations as well as the option to set a custom snooze.

If you have snooze available on mobile, it won’t have its own icon in the top bar the way it did in Inbox. Instead, you can access snooze by tapping the overflow icon in the top right corner when viewing an email.

Once snooze is selected, you can choose when you’d like the email to pop up at the top of your inbox, with options like “later today,” “tomorrow,” and “this weekend.” You can also choose a custom time and date if you wish. When using the new Gmail on web, snooze now appears in a hover menu over each message along with other actions like archive, delete, and mark as read.

Source: Android Police, The Verge

Early last month, Uganda Communication Commission on March 6th, 2018 published a notice signed by Engineer Godfrey Mutabazi, the Executive Director UCC, that online data communication platforms required “authorisation” from the commission and tasked all of them to apply for authorization before the end of April.

UCC emphasized that any content, whether by way of audio, video, visual, sound, still or moving pictures or a combination was a form of communication service that is subject to the regulatory control of the Commission.

In that regard, UCC asked every electronic Media news provider to apply and obtain authorization from the commission. In a leaked email dated April 19th, 2017, It was learnt that of the many e-media news outlets, only 14 had applied for the licences with only Nile Post Uganda Ltd and China Haijiang Online Africa Ltd had been fully authorised while the other 12 had their applications being processed.

An excerpt of the letter stated;

This is to confirm that the following providers have applied for and the commision is considering their applications for authorisation to provide Online Data Communications Services in Uganda;

In the wake of last week, UCC sent out a communication to all Internet service providers (ISPs) directing them to suspend the provision of carriage services to any Online Data communication service provider online/Electronic Media News provider) that is not listed above and/or had not presented an authorization certificate or other express clearance from the Uganda Communications Commission.

Apparently, the letter brings to book that every company that shall not have a license shall be switched off by UCC with the help of Internet Service providers who are the telecoms in this case.  

When the Ugandan government proposed a social media tax come July 2018, one of the reasons highlighted was that it was to promote online platforms that have been developed by Ugandans. We could not agree more that Ugandan technological talent has to be showcased out there and in the spirit of promoting Ugandan creatives, we introduce the SOO (Sigma Omega Omega) app.

Developed by Candia Alex and Mawa Fred, the app is meant to help users find and offer products and services easily. It comes with bug fixes and maps to give location access to the trader. In its latest version, 1.0.8, the SoO app comes with a mini-google maps feature that provides a directory to the nearest church, embassy or even kafunda to a user.

The Sigma Omega Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. app was created to help build a closer-knit community among members: you can join conversations, share photos, learn about events, and find contact info for all members.

What gives SOO an edge over similar platforms like OLX and JUMIA UG, is the fact that in addition to products, a range of services such as legal, engineering and construction to mention but a few can be traded. The app gives the user the choice to trade as an individual or company and to reach a service provider by phone, email or even location. SOO is easy to use and navigate with all the important features on the same page yet not congested.

If you have services to offer, this is the app for you. Under the gigs tab is an array of services needed by other users where one can land themselves a juicy gig. The application process is not as complicated as Freelancer’s or Up-Work’s, I must add. Following the recent Facebook scandal, a lot of users are worried about data privacy which SoO guarantees.

A missing feature that would make the app better is an embedded pay system, like Freelancer, uses PayPal. With that, a user will not have to worry about bulky cash transactions or go through the bother of transferring funds between mobile money and bank accounts. The future is cashless, no?

SoO comes free of charge for the Android user, we are yet to receive an update on SoO for iOS or whether the app will come at a cost in the future. The app definitely has a future on the Ugandan tech scene but for now, I’d give it app a 5/10. If you are for Buy Uganda Build Uganda, I’d advise you to add this app to your collection.

For many, the first feature they would look out on a phone is a camera right after storage capacity. I’m speaking pixel size, camera aperture and image stabilization. Now since the Huawei P8, Huawei Technologies has not disappointed its users with its camera specs. The Huawei P9 was one of the first cameras ever made with a dual camera system. With every phone, comes a better camera and now, Huawei might as well redefine the history of phone photography with its latest invention.

Meet the Huawei P20 Pro, expected to be released this April with all the phone specs you would kill for. History is being made with the first ever triple camera on a phone coming with this batch. Huawei is no-doubt snatching the phone camera championships from Apple and Samsung’s hands with this one.

The Huawei P20 Pro features the world’s first Leica Triple Camera promising 3x optical zoom, phase detection, LED flash and laser autofocus. The primary triple camera system is a collection of a 40MP RGB, 20MP monochrome and 8MP telephoto lens offering an unparalleled advanced camera system with artistic vision. Imagine all your desired sharpness, color accuracy, focus and contrast in one phone! And that is just the primary camera. The secondary camera on its own is a 24MP lens guaranteeing stunning selfies by day or night.

More than ever, low-light performance for any smartphone camera is a desired feature and nothing was left to chance with the Huawei P20 Pro. The camera boasts of a Night-Mode feature where the camera shutter will open for up to six seconds to take clear and sharp multiple shots in low-light. Not forgetting the 5X Hybrid Zoom that the camera is set to achieve along with geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama and HDR features. Forget struggling to capture moving actions, with its AI image stabilization, the phone promises instant blur-free capturing of fleeting moments.

There is so much to anticipate about a phone with four cameras and we could go on and on, but this is the part where you agree that this could be the greatest phone camera 2018 will see. Intelligent phone photography just got redefined

Ever since the Uganda Communication Commissions called off the registration and replacement process of new and lost sim cards in the country about 2 months ago in an attempt to curb down violence and protect the public against misuse of identity in crime related scenarios, everyone has patiently waited when the process will loosen up so they can get back their sim cards and favourite numbers back on air.

Well, the good news is MTN Uganda being one of the leading telecom companies in the country has today announced the replacement of sim cards in selected few MTN service centers within the country. This comes after the officials from NIRA and UCC have provided the company with the necessary equipments to help verify the ownership of the sim card intimes of replacement and purchase.

To get your SIM Card replaced, you need to present an original national ID for Ugandans and a Passport for foreigners accompanied by a letter from Police stating the lost of your SIM card at any of the following center.

Kampala

Shoprite-Clocktower along Ben Kiwanuka street, Shoprite-Lugogo Mall, Forest Mall, Mukwano Mall, Kyaggwe Road and Kampala Road, Opposite Bank of Uganda.

Mbarara

Plot 5, High Street.

Fort Portal

Opposite Mpanga Market

Jinja

Casino building, Lubas Road.

Gulu

Plot 15, Nehru Road.

Arua

Oradea Complex, Adumi Road

Masindi

Plot 28, Port Road, Opposite Post Office

MTN Uganda’s much loved Gaga Wednesdays that was meant to end last week has been given yet another extension.

Following an exclusive article we published last week about the ending of the campaign, MTN has decided to extend the much loved offer, a close source intimated to this website.

The primary aim for its inception was to increase app downloads of the My MTN app that have since shot from 50,000 to over 100,000 downloads. Gaga Wednesdays was extended two times and this will be the third extension.

It has not yet been noted up to when the offer will be running but what is for sure is that Gaga Wednesdays is back and might be here for quite a while.

Gaga Wednesdays is a weekly data offer at slashed prices where MTN customers get to buy upto 4GBs of internet for as low as UGX 2500. ​To access the offer, download the MyMTN app from your app store. This offer is available every Wednesday and is valid for 24 hours ( from the time the offer is activated)

With a seemingly registered success in Uganda, SafeBoda, the Boda-Boda hailing app is now seeking to expand its business frontiers to Kenya to tap on the greater east African market. The orange camp of boda-boda services in seeking to enter the Kenyan Market and has already started advertising Jobs in Kenya.

In December last year, an article was published by Digest Africa about the possibility of their expansion to Kenya and they reported that “In a quick conversation with Maxime Dieudonne, SafeBoda’s co-founder and co-CEO, at Swarm, he declined to give a full interview about the expansion. However, he confirmed that it is true.”

In the wake of this week, it seems the speculations are coming to reality as SafeBoda, a community of motorcycle taxi (boda-boda) drivers, is finally entering the Kenyan Market. The ride-hailing startup, founded in 2015, has put out Job adverts on Fuzu, a Kenyan based job-seeking, recruitment and learning portal looking to hire.

SafeBoda has not yet issued any formal statement on the expansion but is believed to be doing underground recruitments as source intimate to this website that a lot is being done with penetrating the Kenyan Market. Their aim is to improve the industry for both drivers and passengers by increasing the number of safe trips taken per day and by making travel around cities convenient and stress-free.

MTN has announced a collaboration with Africa’s leading independent banking group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), enabling both companies to leverage each other’s assets that will ultimately offer more value to their respective customers across the continent. MTN’s large subscriber base, comprehensive distribution, innovative digital products and drive for mobile financial services are being linked with Ecobank’s trailblazing digital banking products to provide instant bank accounts and remittances through Africa’s largest bank by the network.

The two entities, with an extensive footprint on the continent, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop this partnership agreement, which will allow them to innovate and enhance access to affordable financial services via MTN Mobile Money and Ecobank Banking services.

This includes;

• Enabling Ecobank and MTN Mobile Money customers to transfer money between mobile money wallets and bank accounts.
• Leveraging of Ecobank and MTN’s assets to digitise international remittance, foster product innovation in the field of mobile saving and lending, and offer digital payment solutions to consumers, merchants and corporates.

Ade Ayeyemi, Group CEO of Ecobank said: “The changing landscape of digital banking and mobile telephony is creating unique opportunities in the way and manner customers are served. Africa will need to digitise financial services to rapidly scale up client acquisition and patronage. MTN and Ecobank are taking the big step today at this grand event to support this agenda”

Further, he reiterated that “Ecobank’s digital strategy has long been committed to ensuring transaction convenience for the market. We have made giant strides in our mission to ensure financial inclusion and today’s agreement with MTN will greatly accelerate the easy availability of banking services to the previously unbanked.”

Commenting on the collaboration, MTN Group President and CEO, Rob Shuter said: “Partnerships between banks and mobile money operators are fundamental in the mobile money ecosystem, hence our long-standing partnership with Ecobank in many of our markets aimed at driving financial inclusion. We are excited to be taking this partnership to the next level as this latest development will spearhead innovative initiatives which will deepen financial access on the continent.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ecobank.