Well loyal users to Firefox might be surprised after the Firefox 34 update that changes the default search provider from Google to Yahoo. I mean some users have are used to googling using Google not Yahoo stuff (**uhmm it’s that bad!…. I mean most people google stuff and well some yahoo… no they search for stuff using Yahoo, Bing and those other search engines that Firefox 34 displays as you search.
Well if you happen not to be happy with the new changes, then you just have to follow a few steps;
Step 1: Go to your Search Bar which is next to your address bar and click the magnifying glass icon.
Step 2: A Dropdown will appear and click the “Change Search Settings” option and options box window will appear.
Step 3: Choose a new search engine, you can also choose to turn of search suggestions something I personally discourage.
Step 4: Click OK.
Now you can have that search engine you trust. I must appreciate Firefox for letting users select their preferred search engine for a single search, I mean you can have google as your default but still use the search bar to make a single search using amazon.com
I was pysched up when Google announced their new Android OS. I immediately downloaded the upgrade the moment it was available and my experience has been quite sweet.
The intro to the new Android version was quite amazing because it looked better, was more friendly and my two factor authentication for Google was quite simple this time. I was also given an option to restore from a previous device I had been using.
The first thing you notice are the detailed animations starting from the One-time Initializer into my phone to how the wallpaper, icons and help text was all properly animated.
Being a phone, the first thing I checked out was Dialer and Oh my I was amazed by what I was, the images were bigger and tapping the digits had smooth animations. The caller photo was changed from a slim photo at the top to a bigger image at the bottom and controls like mute at the top.
Everything is animated, starting from a simple folder and app launcher tap to the lockscreen and opening an app.
The lockscreen is beautifully transparent with Camera and Dialer shortcuts which smoothly enlarge to the full app when you tap them. And for those with nuclear launch codes and other things to hide on our phones, the lockscreen intergrated a rather cool pin and pattern lock that floats on top of a notification you tap when the screen is locked.
I really locked the smart lock feature that unlocks your phone using the front facing camera without showing you its doing it. All you will see is the padlock icon changing to an unlocked padlocked and swiping your phone up unlocks the phone.
Hail Google, for giving me the best notification bar, its really transparent and functional. Pulling the notification bar further brings up actual toggles not shortcuts to the app setting as was the case on the Nexus in older versions. Each toggle has a word below it which takes you to the app when you tap it.
Notification Bar
Multitasking is so beautiful that I even do it when am idle because it just looks beautiful. Its like a magically drawer where you files that look like screenshots of your apps.
Material Design is everywhere except in the STK toolkit prompts with ugly processing. The icons are flatter and colors brighter but I must say the white sucks.
I loved the battery saver mode that gave me a couple of extra hours of device usage. Battery saver mode limits background activity such as data usage. Meaning an app will only use app if that app is currently open.
When Too much Candy is bad
The biggest disappointment I got was the colour of the background on the app drawer which you can’t change. Seriously Google, white! What were they even thinking, when you use your phone at night, your eyeballs will want to explode. I miss my transparent background in the KitKat launcher.
Lollipop has so much transparency but I really don’t know why they gave the app drawer a white background. Everyone who used my Nexus complained about the white.
I hated the fact that battery saver mode changed the colour of my Navigation and Status bar to orange. Unfortunately I have got used to it because I want a full days’s usage on a single charge.
I had wifi connectivity issues when it wireless networks that required me to sign in. This was because Lollipop creates its one browser like page for you to sign in. Unfortunately this page does not usually load beyond the welcome redirect page for wifi and mobile network sign in.
Note: I used my chrome browser to login into the wifi but yoy might need to cram some ip addresses and ports for some networks.
Google needs to fix this as soon as possible.
The experience!
After having candy you either a good or bad after taste. My experience with Lollipop is wonderful and I consider it the best android update ever. It just gives you awesome animations while you do every simple task. Material design nailed it.
Fast-growing property portal Lamudi celebrated its first birthday on Friday 21st November, with a record high growth spurt and a re-launch of an upgraded version of its website.
Lamudi is a leading property website focusing on the emerging markets. The number of global listings totals to more than 670,000 properties to buy or rent, spreading across 28 countries around the world. The property portal has over 12,000 listings in Uganda alone with 88 percent growth between January and October this year.
Shakib Nsubuga, Country Manager of Lamudi Uganda, said, “We are delighted with the latest milestone- the biggest online real estate marketplace in Uganda. It indicates the trend that people are starting to embrace the online service. The newly designed website optimizes user experience with capabilities to host high quality images and more space for descriptions of the listings on the portal.”
More than half the property listings come from its Asian websites, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. In April, Lamudi received $7 million investment to expand its operations in Asia. The company is now the leading property portal in Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Lamudi was found on October 13, 2013 by Africa Internet Group (AIG) and German startup incubator Rocket Internet. The property platform was launched in 16 countries one year ago and has since grown to cover 28 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The Ghana operations were launched in October 2013.
Led by Global Co-Founders Paul Philipp Hermann, Kian Moini and Antonius Salis, Lamudi now employs more than 400 staff for the headquarter, based in Berlin, and local teams in each market.
Global Co-Founder and Managing Director, Paul Philipp Hermann, said, “Our goal from the very beginning has been to deliver a high-quality property portal in markets where searching for real estate online is a relatively new phenomenon. In all those markets we want to establish Lamudi as the market leader!”
Kian Moini, Global Co-Founder and Managing Director, adds: “House-hunters in these regions should not be overlooked; as the internet becomes more widespread, they are seeking out the same services that are already commonplace in more established markets. Lamudi is innovative because we tackle markets that other property portals have so far ignored. We expect Lamudi’s growth spurt to continue for the remainder of 2014, and beyond. It is for this reason that we believe our product has resonated so strongly with property-seekers around the world.”
Lamudi launched both Android and iOS apps during 2014, which have been downloaded close to a 100,000 times since June.
Loyalists to the telecom with the most sim cards (arguably MTN Uganda) have been missing out of lots of data and call bundles that the recently purchased Warid Telecom now Airtel, customers have been enjoying.
MTN decided the slowly push out new data and voice bundles that mimick those airtel customers are enjoying at low prices. Some promotions even have the same names as their competitors. These include MTN Voice, MTN social and MTN Night shift.
MTN Voice
Call this MTN Uganda’s version of pakalast, it enables users buy 15 minutes Daily or 150 minutes Weekly and 1000 minutes worth of MTN to MTN calls for 1,000/-, 7,000/- and 30,000/- respectively. The monthly bundle is still less than Airtel’s corporate package that has 1,400 minutes. You might call this a copy but some customers are a bit happy. Did they really have to take that long.
You can activate this bundle buy dailing *160*2# Select the Voice bundles choose your package.
MTN Social
This one killed anyone who is a fan of the Samsung and Apple court woes. MTN copy pasted the internet social media bundles from Airtel and launched them on their network. You can buy a bundle of unlimited access to either WhatsApp, Twitter or Facebook at 200/- for the service you desire. Or you can buy the whole bundle for 500/- to enjoy unlimited access to WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook for 500/- a day. (Does WTF name seems familiar? …. Yes you are not alone).
We however some image upload and download trouble when using WhatsApp. Sometimes the images are sent but sometimes it just refuses. We got to their Twitter which said they media was not supported.
[quote_box_center] @boses8 Y’ello, please be advised WTF Social bundle doesnot associate or work with external links or media else normal data charges apply.
I recommend this bundle for those who think their MBs are fed to crocodiles.
Dial *150*6# and choose your bundle.
MTN Shift
This data bundle is MTN’s version of Airtel’s Night Pack which is an after midnight internet pack with 1 GB of internet. This bundle will cost you 2,500/- and probably you sleep. The speeds were however quite impressive compared to Airtel’s night pack. Dial *150*1* # to activate.
Now before I forget, these guys have SMS packs and I don’t need to convince anyone that Airtel was the king if these bundles.
MTN is a little late considering these bundle were the very reason some of its loyal customers ran wake a few years back. But its these bundles will definitely keep those currently using the network to enjoy it more.
The long awaited over the air (OTA) updates for android Lollipop have begun rolling out to Nexus Devices.
The Nexus 5, Wifi Nexus 7s, and Nexus 10 are now able to update their Android versions from Kitkat to Lollipop.
The Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 are also receiving minor updates to fix bugs.
However the OTA update for the 3G/LTE variants of the Nexus 7 2012 and 2013 haven’t started rolling out.
Well if you happen to be impatient, you can download the Android Lollipop Factory image for your Nexus Device from the Nexus Factory Image website here. Remember to backup when you take this path.
Kampala city’s lack of effective policies in the past to manage its large-scale and rapid urbanization could hinder the city’s growth curve and create a housing shortage.
The city hosts over four million people during the day and about 2.5 million people at night, this number is bound to increase because of rural urban migration, plus the fact that Uganda’s population is majorly made up of youth who always seek job opportunities in the city as it is the capital city of the country.
ShakibNsubuga, Country Manager of Lamudi Uganda, said: “The existing listings on the portal are diversified and show the real estate picture in Uganda in general but Kampala in particular and yes there is a looming shortage of low cost middle class housing that might increase if not curbed.”
He added that credit has to be given to some real estate developers like Akright estate and some others that have taken it upon themselves to develop satellite cities in the areas neighboring the city to match the growing demand for housing in and around Kampala.
Stakeholders like National housing as the government developers need to plan for projects like condominiums in and around the city. To not only match the increasing demand for affordable low cost middle class housing but also use this opportunity to have organized residential settings in Kampala, while also improving the city’s growth trajectory opportunities.
[quote_box_center]
ABOUT LAMUDI
Launched in 2013, Lamudi is a global property portal focusing exclusively on emerging markets. The fast-growing platform is currently available in 28 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, with more than 600,000 real estate listings across its global network. The leading real estate marketplace offers sellers, buyers, landlords and renters a secure and easy-to-use platform to find or list properties online.
Andy Rubin who was the former boss of the Android division from 2005 when it was bought by Google, up to 2013 told his colleagues that he would be leaving the company.
Rubin joined Google when the it bought Android in 2005. In 2013, he left the Android division and went on to head the company’s robotic division .
According to the Wall Street Journal, Rubin is starting
a hardware incubator for startups.
In a statement, Google CEO Larry Page said, “I want to wish Andy all the best with what’s next. WithAndroid he created something truly remarkable—with a billion plus happy users. Thank you.”
Kaymu Uganda continues its commitment to online business sensitization through the ‘Kaymu Varsity’ program. Kaymu is establishing itself in the industry as a major player in the market; by launching its first series of workshops in Uganda, to help empower not only the sellers on its platform but all stakeholders, such as KACITA (Kampala City Traders Association), buyers, sellers and Government.
Kaymu Varsity aims to provide sellers in Uganda with the skills and tools necessary to start selling online with little up-front investment. With the internet penetration levels increasing in the country, Kaymu has taken upon itself the mantle to help the sellers maximize their revenues and bring their products closer to the targeted clients.
The program comprises six sessions which cover the basics of Kaymu, order processing, payment methods, logistics, social media strategy and the seller centre. As well as receiving in-depth information about the subjects covered, participants also have the opportunity to ask any questions they might have about the platform.
Mrs Marion Mbabazi Head of Seller Management Kaymu and Mr. Alvin katto Deputy Country Manager Kaymu
Since its launch in Uganda, the Kaymu community has benefited the sellers on the portal in many ways; it has improved the playing field for smaller sellers by opening up a wider market range for their products, and it has reduced their costs of operations (sellers can, for instance, stock their goods at home and sell online without having to incur costs like warehouse rent).
Kaymu also continues its commitment to innovation with the recent launch of its mobile app (available on Android and IOS), as the company seeks to capture Uganda’s growing smartphone market. Mobile marketing is redefining online shopping and Kaymu aims to be at the forefront of this innovation by providing the best shopping experience on-the-go. The Kaymu platform is designed to make online shopping easier and more convenient.
Today the internet makes 45 years since its invention on 29 October 1989. The first electronic message between two computers was sent on 29th October 1989.
Today many Internet lovers and societies are appreciating the importance of the Internet and some Internet societies have held community meetups and social media hashtags to discuss what they want the internet to be. Our own Internet Society of Uganda is holding a Twitter discussion.
You can share your love and wishes for the internet using hashtags like #InternetDay
Happy BirthDay Internet! May you live to be that thing I can’t live without! May you be free from surveillance!
Google Student Ambassadors organised an event to launch the Google Students club of Makerere.
During the event which was hosted at GBL lab at the College of Computing and Information Sciences.
Power Mukisa a Google Student Ambassador shared about various Google Apps and lighten up the mood by making all of us do the Wobble dance.
The info sessions were rather interactive and involved multiple Q & A sessions where the participants got Google branded goodies.
Google Goodies
The sessions emphasised digital marketing ie. Google Ads and Google Appscript.
Joshua Okello from Cipher256 (creators of WinSenga) had a brief session talking about IPA (Innovation Prize Africa) a competition which rewards startups with $150,000 in startup capital.
The founder of DoneDeal Uganda shared her experience with Google Apps like Adwords, Analytics, Gmail in her startup. She urged students to always use Google to learn.
Victoria Mbabazi the Makerere GSA shared about Google App Script and how to use App script to increase the power of Google Apps.
Nicholas Kamanzi told the participants about Google X and how he is searching for crazy moonshots in Uganda.
The participants were split into groups randomly basing on colours they had chosen to answer quizes and the winning team Blue took home a prize.
I was impressed by the new Google Student Ambassador team (Victoria Mbabazi & Power Mukisa) that shared and organised the event in a Googly way. It was such a jolly event.
