Google announces Android 5.1 Lollipop

By

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Mar 10, 2015

Google has official announced an new lollipop update to Android 5.1 despite having appeared on some Android One devices prior to its launch. The new update brings features like high definition (HD) voice calls, native support for multiple SIM cards, device protection and they claim that stability has improved.

Android 5.1 comes with device protection that requires users to sign in with your Google password even if they restore restore factory settings when it is locked or stolen. This will however work on some devices especially those that will come with 5.1 pre-installed and a few such as the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9.

Dual SIM users can now select what SIM card they would like to use to place a call when dialing. This is important for Google’s Android One line up considering most of these devices are dual SIM.

The recent apps bug has been fixed and users can also select WiFi networks directly from the notification bar rather than having to open the WiFi app to select a WiFi network to connect to.

Currently Google has posted Android 5.1 factory images for the Nexus 5, Nexus 7 2012 (WiFi), and the Nexus 10 and an over the Air update should roll out shortly.

I will be updating my Android Lollipop experience to match this new Android 5.1 update shortly

This is the All new 12 inch MacBook

By

Boses Muhinda

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Mar 9, 2015

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Apple today announced an all new Macbook at its Apple Spring Live event. The New MacBook comes with a 12 inch retina displazy at a resolution of 2304×1440 with a 178 degree viewing angle at a 16:9 aspect ratio all packed in a first time ever all metal MacBook. Apple also claims the new LED technology uses about 30% less energy than any other battery

The new MacBook is incredibly thin and it comes with an edge to edge keyboard that is fitted with Apple’s all new butterfly mechanism technology that makes typing easier. The keyboard is also coupled with a single LED light under each key to create a clear and sharp display of keys. You will notice that the keys are actually bigger and Apple claims that they have increased the key size by 17%.

Apple was boastful about its new battery technology that used custom designed sheets so as to fit the MacBook with an evenly distributed battery in all areas of the uni-body because “they don’t want to ship air they want to ship a larger battery.” This battery will last up to 10 hours on iTunes Movie playback.

Apple also announced the Force Touch track pad which unlike any other track pad uses a haptic engine and force sensors to respond to track pad actions based on the amount of force used while touching the track pad. Apple demoed a hard press which brings a pop up of details about a particular word in a browser, or setting an appointment by hard pressing on an appointment. This new track pad also has an electronic haptic magnet that provides responses when you touch the track pad and the sensitivity can be adjusted through software.

The MacBook comes with no fan and Apple pushed its engineers to the limit to reduce component size by up to 40% and since the it has no moving parts this beauty will be silent. You’ll find the fifth-generation Intel Core M “Broadwell” processor — the first chip designed with 14-nanometer process technology. This new MacBook features 8GB of fast, power-efficient 1600MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory (RAM) together with either 256 GB or 512 GB of flash storage.

As rumored this Macbook comes with only one port for Power, VGA, USB, and HDMI using the new USB Type-C technology that comes with a reversible cable. This however means that you will need to spend extra dollars on accessories if you want to use the port for more than one purpose at the same time.

macbookkeyboard

This elegantly designed MacBook will come in 3 colors namely; Silver, Gold and Space grey and it will mine $1299 and $1599 out of your pocket for the 256 GB and 512 GB models respectively.

Here are the winners of the 2015 Social Media Awards 2015

By

Boses Muhinda

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Mar 7, 2015

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The wait for the Social Media Awards 2015 came to a glorious end at the properly organised red carpet event at Golf Course Hotel Kampala. The event was graced by artists like Ruyonga, DJ Crisio and international artist Tiwa Savage and winners took home several prizes from selfie sticks, mifi routers, and smartphones from Smart Telecom and Smile Telecom.

Here is a list of winners of the Social Media Awards 2015

Crisis Management Award – UMEME
Best civil service /public sector – KCCA
Best Social Justice 40/40
Besy Photography – Oscar Ntege
Best Entertainment website – Bigeye
Best Customer care service – NSWC
Best Innovation – Pearl Guide
Best YouTube Channel – Katoto
Most Influential Personality – Amama Mbabazi
Best Media Outlet – NTV
Best Campaign – MTN Egg hunt
Best Brand – Airtel Uganda

The event was sponsored by Jumia, Smart Telecom, Smile, African Woman, NTV, Centenary Bank, Airtel Uganda, Talent Africa, Seemless Events and Urban Television. The main event was organized by Bluflamingo.

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Egde revealed

By

Remmy Bisimbeko

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Mar 1, 2015

0

Samsung just announced the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The S6 boy has so far left jaws open with yet more mind blowing specs from the Samsung engineers. These guys never run out of mad tricks. This version comes whipped with an inbuilt wireless Charging. The available colors so far are Shimmering gold and white; that is for the S6 and Edge. The build quality is so on point there no way it will try going on a bending strike.

The User interface is said to be material based moving away from earlier versions that where inspired by nature and other less interesting inspirations. This has in some twist of events ruled out scrolling in its camera User interface and one touch auto reply using fingerprint-insane.

Justin Denison got up and gave an insight on the spec. A 64bit 14nm processor, DDR4 RAM a 5.1 QHD 577 ppi which is unbelievably 77% more pixels than its predecessor the S5.

It charges half the time an iPhone uses to charge and with a 10 minute charge, you can get up to a 4hours usage. The camera is always on stand-by and launches in just 0.9 seconds packed with 16 MegaPixels and front camera having a 5MegaPixel f1.9 lens… Quiet a selfie machine right there, let’s not forget the Real-time HDR. Being the king of gimmicks, you can take selfies by tapping the heart rate sensor.

The Samsung completely slammed the NFC for mobile payments. It won’t have any retailers supporting it. Samsung pay is going to use NFC, MST and bar code reader support meaning you can swipe your S6 just like you would swipe a ordinary credit card.

The Software experience has been improved and the finger print sensor uses a tap to unlock as opposed to quaky swipe to unlock on the S5.

Its an improved design and we only need time to prove announcements such as battery life.

Tech Specs

	Galaxy S6	Galaxy S6 edge
Network	LTE Cat.6 (300/50Mbps)
Display	5.1’’ Quad HD(2560×1440) 577ppi, Super AMOLED	5.1’’ Quad HD(2560×1440) 577ppi, Super AMOLED, Dual edge
AP	Quad 2.1GHz + Quad 1.5Ghz, Octacore application processor
OS	Android 5.0 (Lollipop)
Camera	16MP OIS(rear), 5MP (front)
Video	MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM, VP9
Audio	Audio Codec : MP3, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, Vorbis, FLAC, OPUS
	Audio Format: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
Camera Features	Quick Launch, Tracking AF, Auto Real-time HDR(Front & Rear) , F1.9, Low Light Video(Front & Rear), High Clear Zoom, IR Detect White Balance, Virtual Shot, Slow Motion, Fast Motion, Pro Mode, Selective Focus
Additional Features	Ultra Power Saving Mode
	Download Booster
	S Health 4.0
	Samsung Pay
	Smart Manager
	Microsoft Apps(OneDrive 115GB for 2 years, OneNote)
	Sound Alive+
	Themes
	Quick Connect
	Private Mode
	S Finder, S Voice
Google Mobile Services	Chrome, Drive, Photos, Gmail, Google, Google+, Google Settings, Hangouts, Maps, Play Books, Play Games, Play Newsstand, Play Movie & TV, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, YouTube
Connectivity	WiFi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), HT80 MIMO(2×2) 620Mbps, Dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Mobile hotspotBluetooth®: v4.1, A2DP, LE, apt-X, ANT+USB: USB 2.0NFCIR Remote
Sensor	Accelerometer, Light, Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass, Barometer, Fingerprint, Hall, HRM
Memory	RAM: 3GB, LPDDR4Internal Memory: 32/64/128GB, UFS 2.0
Wireless Charging	WPC1.1(4.6W Output) & PMA 1.0(4.2W) compatible
Dimension	143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8mm, 138g	142.1 x 70.1 x 7.0mm, 132g
Battery	2,550mAh	2,600mAh

Smart Telecom is now giving less data. Here are the changes!

By

Boses Muhinda

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Feb 25, 2015

1

Smart Telecom which has been the most generous telecom when it comes to giving data bundles are a ridiculous costs has made a few changes.

The prices didn’t go up but rather the quantity you get has gone down by a lot of megabytes. You will definitely need to adjust your browsing habits, less “nothing” and kitten videos.

Here are the changes to the Daily bundles are;
249shs – 25MB from 50MB
499shs – 120MB from 350 MB
999shs – 500MB from 1.5 GB

Here are the changes to the Weekly bundles are;
1999shs – 120MBs
4999shs – 1 GB

Here are the changes to the Monthly bundles are;
4999shs – 400MBs from 1GB
9999shs – 1 GB from 2GB

The new prices have been posted on Twitter account of Smart Telecom

Vodafone Uganda’s deals will give your internet steroids

By

Boses Muhinda

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Feb 16, 2015

1

Vodafone has decided to take on the telecom war in Uganda by introducing cheap unlimited internet bundles and bundling these bundles with a free MiFi, dongle or Indoor router for new users who register purchase unlimited data bundles.

The new unlimited data bundles begin at 149,900/- shilling for a 2 Mbps connection which comes with either an LTE dongle or Free MiFi and 199,000/- for a 6mbps bundle and a juicy 10mbps at 349,000/- which comes with a free Indoor CPE Router. This is among the first internet package that worth the money considering the speeds are really fast. Youtube videos don’t buffer and they usually automatically load at a 1080p quality on when will 3 devices are connected to the mifi router.

These deals are so attractive considering that no initial payments are required to buy the router then pay for the internet bundle like other telecoms are doing. You are basically paying for the unlimited bundle and walking out with a free dongle or router.

Another shocker is how the mifi comes with 2 sim cards that are one number and are connected to the same data package meaning you can decide to plug the sim into your phone and leave the mifi working at your home. This however saw a reduction in connections speeds since the speed cap had to be shared between several devices. The Vodafone website says you get a 2mbps package when you buy the mifi at 149,000/- but users are actually getting the 6 mbps bundle.

Vodafone also has unlimited data bundles that last a day, week and month unlike its competition, for example you can either pay UGX17,900 or UGX69,900 for the daily and weekly unlimited data plans.

vodafone internet deals — Here is a screenshot of Vodafone Uganda’s internet deals

Its not all sweets and candy

The unlimited Internet bundles have speed caps and Fair Usage Policy (FUP) caps meaning you are granted access at the purchased bundle speed for a particular amount of data that is subject to the particular bundle then your speeds are dropped to 256kbps once you exceed the FUP cap.

Product	Download Speed*	Validity	FUP Cap	Price (UGX)
Unlimited 2mbps/ 1day	2mbps	24 hours	1.5GB	17,900
Unlimited 2mbps/ 7days	2mbps	7 days	8GB	69,900
Unlimited 2mbps/30 days	2mbps	30 days	35GB	149,900
Unlimited 6mbps/30 days	6mbps	30 days	50GB	199,900
Unlimited 10mbps/30 days	10mbps	30 days	60GB	349,900

At the end of the day

You are taking home a fast internet connection which comes at a great value.

Image Source: Vodafone.co.ug

The new Raspberry Pi 2 has more RAM, faster performance and support for windows 10,

By

Boses Muhinda

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Feb 2, 2015

0

A new Raspberry Pi dubbed “Raspberry Pi 2” has been announced. The Raspberry Pi is low cost computer that has been meant for use in electronics projects, assisting experiments, and teaching kids how to code.

The new Raspberry Pi 2 comes with twice the amount of ram and improved performance (6 times faster) compared to its predecessor without a change in its price. The new Pi will cost $35. My geeky friends have even more reasons to celebrate since the new Raspberry Pi 2 comes with support for windows 10, something that developers haven’t been able to do properly without use of outdated windows versions.

The new Pi packs 1 GB of RAM, quad-core ARMv7 processor clocked at 900MHz which can be overclocked, 4 USB ports, an Ethernet and HDMI port.This leave us wondering about the possibilities of a $35 computer considering that windows is giving out a free Windows 10 license for the Raspberry Pi through Microsoft’s Windows Developer Program for IoT later this year.

What this means for Africa?

We are generally excited because we have something relatively cheap to use as we build and experiment on computer and electronic projects that developers have found difficult to execute due to financial implications. The Developer community can now focus on the code rather than optimization for performance. Bringing Windows 10 on board will have cheap computer solutions built for rural areas in Africa which will boost ICT

Via: The Verge

The Pirate Bay is back online as promised

By

Boses Muhinda

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Jan 31, 2015

0

The Pirate Bay has managed to comeback online after after its shut down by Swedish Police 7 weeks ago. A Phoenix has replaced the infamous pirate logo to celebrate the site’s rise from asses.

The Pirate Bay has proved to be quite resistant considering that police authorities were hunting down it’s founders and some of its founders had broken away from the torrent website.

Its is believed that the website runs on multiple virtual hosts from unknown hosts around the world which means that no single server room raid could take down the website.

Torrent users are definitely going to celebrate another ‘win’against the authorities since a Phoenix has risen.

Microsoft throws money into Cyanogen

By

Remmy Bisimbeko

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Jan 30, 2015

0

Yes, you read that right. The money bags at Microsoft have splashed a few million dollars into Cyanogen’s research. The motives of these guys is not yet clear but this is most definitely coming to bite the Google boys and their Stock Android in the b#tt.

Surely, there are many ways to get back to your competitor. These guys are being referred to as minority investors who are fueling Cyanogen with a whooping $70 million for the start. This company-Cyanogen Inc. is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars as put by investors. Currently, the boys over at Cyanogen have raised about $100 million through financing and trust me. That’s more than enough money to start a war in the already boiling heat amongst the big names in the Operating System business.

Windows Phones have notably been loosing out on the party between iOS and Android. So they figured out that Cyanogen would probably shake things up with an entirely different strategy…

Reports also suggest that Phones shipped with Cyanogen will most definitely come with Bing and other Microsoft services pre-installed ditching all Google’s apps and services-pretty smart huh?

Okay despite all that, Microsoft is known for being a spendthrift-flashing money in every direction. So, this will not be a guarantee that Cyanogen will grow to ultimate success over night.

Source: Android Police

OnePlus will tease it’s new Oxygen ROM on 12th February

By

Boses Muhinda

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Jan 30, 2015

0

OnePlus, the company behind the budget priced monster spec smartphone the OnePlus One has announce that it has been working on a new Rom dubbed “Oxygen OS”.

Oxygen OS whose name was chosen by one of its Forum users will is a move to roll out their own company built operating system after getting issues with Cyanogenmod in India.

OnePlus said more information will be available on 12th February and according to TechCrunch this will not be an official rollout but rather a tease and feature showcase that will result in a future rollout.

This move might result in a better experience for its users who stated in the comments that they care more about performance.

Google announces Android 5.1 Lollipop

This is the All new 12 inch MacBook

The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Egde revealed

Smart Telecom is now giving less data. Here are the changes!

Vodafone Uganda’s deals will give your internet steroids

The new Raspberry Pi 2 has more RAM, faster performance and support for windows 10,

The Pirate Bay is back online as promised

Microsoft throws money into Cyanogen

OnePlus will tease it’s new Oxygen ROM on 12th February

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