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Cyanogen gets $7M funding, aims at building a better version of Android!

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 18, 2013

Remember the company that makes the alternative rom for your android phone called, Cyanogen? Probably yes. The software company that started as a personal venture to create an alternative ROM for android phones has today announced that it has raised 7 million dollars from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures.

Cyanogen Mod has more than 8 million users, users who have endured the difficult and risky processes of changing their phone firmware. I must way installing Cyanogen Mod softwares on your android phones isn’t the easiest to install, however the benefits are worth the risk, because your phone gets additional features, some ROMs are said to be faster and better looking.

“the company’s free open-source replacement firmware, has more than 8 million users -CEO Kirt McMaster “

The money raised by Cyanogen has enabled them hire a team of 17 highly skilled developers, they have been working on a more user friendly installation process by creating and improving their one-click install app on windows, to cater for the non-techies.

They plan to re-brand next year and create their own operating system which is based on traditional android and the good part is the promise to keep their firmware free. The company did not discuss how they intend to make capital,

“It’s not just about building a user base. It’s about building great services you can’t get anywhere else – McMaster”

Cyanogen has a long journey to make installing custom firmware user friendly! We cannot be certain that Google Apps like Google Play, Gmail, Youtube that are not open-source and are owned by Google will get blocked or not, because they are not open source. Google hasn’t commented on these developments yet.

Source: The Verge

Microsoft Releases Internet Explorer 11 Release Preview for Windows 7

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 18, 2013

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Much as most people didn’t like Internet Explorer a lot, Microsoft made Internet explorer 11 which is definitely better than IE 10 or 8 that was on windows 7. Previously windows 11 was available on windows 8 and windows 8.1 preview and to developer of windows 7 a few months ago

And now Microsoft has shown us that the final Internet Explorer update to IE 11 is going to happen soon though the date for the release of the stable version hasn’t officially been announced.

Well expect faster speeds in the new version of windows IE 11, and according to Sunspider, Internet Explorer improved its average speed score by 7ms, from 144ms.

Internet Explorer also borrowed a leaf from other browsers to add several developer tools like DOM Explorer, Console that enable you edit the CSS of a website live. Other enhancements like Networking that create an always active connection by always refreshing from the server.

Do you feel like making a change to Internet Explorer or want something changed, feel free to contribute your feedback on Connect which is a platform for feedback on Microsoft services.

The iPhone 5S fingerprint ‘Touch ID’ scanner & Teenagers!

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 17, 2013

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Apple just rolled out a set of new ‘toys’ with the popular S version of its iPhone, much as the iPhone 5S had a few things we might question, and others we shall dearly love, its an amazing phone just the right teenager who can afford it now or perhaps later and for those whose parents are willing to get their teenager’s hands on the new iPhone 5S will change the trend of smartphone usage by teenagers.
Remember teens don’t want anyone else reading the fluttery in their inbox or whatsapp or see the huge ‘secrets’ on their phones.

Now Apple has given them the power of security, so the eye snooping parents will have to go through a bigger hustle while trying to get thier fingers and eyes through the phones of their adolescents.
Lets an example i cant leave my phone next to my parents no matter what even when its locked because of all the texts, notifications and other things on the phone. But now teens might actually leave their iPhones on the table to catch a movie or something because you just can’t unlock them, unless you force them to add you to the trusted 5 which i highly doubt.

Parents might try to pursue their teens to actually grant them access, a process most of us know doesn’t go on well. However friends might get onto the trusted contacts especially for girls who are more open to share just about anything with thier BFFs.

Teens are known to also be just a little careless during those moments when their fingers arent tapping the screens of thier phones, this has resulted in snatching of their precious possessions from them, some lose their phones to the jealous kids who don’t actually own iPhones, this will become difficult however it wont stop. Previously someone could see you unlock pin as you entered it into your phone by starring behind you and just in case he stole it, the phone could easily be unlocked and sold. Now the thieves have to think a little wiser. Just in case your teenage son or daughter loses their iPhone 5S, tracking is definitely going to be an easier task because no body else will be able to unlock it.

Worry less teenagers, because as you take selfies, or text dirty or show off you retro-theme iPhone 5S cover to your friends, haters and competition you won’t be worried about anyone going through your phone or getting stolen, unless your finger is cut off. However you will need a tonne of savings to get your hands on one of those silver, white or gold ‘babies’.

Let me know what you think off the fingerprint scanner on the iPhone 5S and teenagers in the comments, Login with the social networks below.

Google buys ‘Bump,’ the most awesome way to share data between phones!

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 17, 2013

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Google just bought a start up company called ‘Bump“, Bump is an app that enables one to share data from one phone to another by literally bumping the phones together. Bump users can share contacts, photos, photos, files, apps by letting the phones bump. Bump also lets users sync their phones even with their computers by bumping their phones with the space bar.

Just in case you are wondering, Bump doesn’t use NFC call it ‘Near Field Communication’ which might have seemed as the ovious technology used for the transfer, this has made bump accessible on almost any android and iOS phone. This has been a rather cool way to transfer data between phones on both Android and iOS.

What Bump actually uses is the app that’s running on your smartphone and a smart-matching algorithm running on Bump cloud servers. The matching algorithm basically gets all bumps from all phones with the app and pairs up the 2 phones with same bump hence sharing the data.

“Bump and Flock will continue to work as they always have for now; stay tuned for future updates. – David Lieb, CEO Bump”

Bump wasn’t the regular start up because it managed to reach a successful 60 million downloads in 2011, however it just didn’t generate enough revenue compared to the popularity of the app. Bump also built a photo sharing app known as Flock, Bump managed to make just under $20 million in its existence.

According to a blog post by Bump, both Bump and Flock will remain active for now.

IPhone 5C, it’s colorful with rich features!

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 11, 2013

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Apple unveiled two devices, the iPhone 5S and 5C, let’s focus on the 5C where Apple tells us the C stands for color. At the back of our minds, the word cheap keeps coming but later disappears when you see the price off contract. However we must commend Apple for giving the iPhone a retro touch with multiple colors a thing some of us thought was a “Lumia” thing. However if you love color bundled with a logo that resembles a ‘bitten apple’ this is definitely the phone for you.

By Color, Apple gave us a choice of 5 colors which include white, pink, green, yellow and Blue. Whether you fancy nature, the ocean, standing out or looking plain you are catered for by the well colored plastic covers on the iPhone 5C. Its Plastic which I believe makes it cheaper and just in case you fancy dressing up your 5S to shine like a model, the sun or peacock? Apple has introduced an accessory you will love.

The Cover is plastic with perforations at the back about 30 of them to show the color of your iPhone. The cover covers a lot more than the iPhone itself by covering the power and volume buttons however the circular holes at the back are a little too retro and your corporate friends will probably not have them.

Now let’s Jump to what’s most important, the looks, design and figures.

The iPhone 5S is about the same size as the iPhone 5 and 5 except that it’s a little thinker than the 5S, has rounded edges and is heavier. The edges on the sides of the 5C are more to circular than those on the iPhone 5. You will also notice that the metal ring around the side has been removed, making the back cover touch the screen. This might seem like an opinion but the 5C has a more feminine touch.

The screen is still 4 inches just like the screen resolution which are similar to the iPhone 5 & 5S which have retina display, a resolution of 1136-by-640-pixel at 326ppi, Fingerprint-resistant oleo phobic coating and similar brightness levels.

iphone5cwidth

Apple has packed an 8MP camera with an LED flash that comes with the ability to take panorama shots, and use photo filters. An HD Facetime camera with 1.2 MP was also added.

The 5C will carry an A6 chip as its processor which is the same chip in the iPhone 5. Along with features like LTE capability, Facetime video and audio calling to Facetime enabled devices over Wi-Fi and cellular which includes LTE.

Airplay mirroring to Apple TV (the old one not the one most of you expected), Siri, a lightning connector, ear pods, Assisted GPS and GLONASS, digital compass and a bundle of Apple’s pre-installed apps.

Forgive me for ending with the fact that the iPhone 5C comes with iOS 7, which boosts of features like control center, multitasking and more which will make the iPhone 5S a phone that you will love to use.

Besides Apple tells us that the 5C will run for 10hours when surfing on LTE, 8hours on 3G internet, up to 10 hours on video playback and 40hours listening to music and if you don’t plan to touch your phone, it will last up to 250 hours in standby.

The iPhone will go on sale for $549 and $649 off contract/unlocked for the 16GB and 32Gb models. However if you happen to live in the USA, you can get it for $99 or $199 on contract. This is when you believe the C in 5C doesn’t mean cheap.

Expect Ads in Instagram within the next year

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 9, 2013

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Remember Facebook bought Instagram last year, and since Facebook has become a multi-billion dollar empire though relevant advertising , it might have want to get returns on its investments in Instagram the same way it does on Facebook.

Instagram will have advertisements in the coming year, an idea that was confirmed by the Instagram Director of Business Operations Emily White who confrimed to the Wall Street Journal that they will be selling Ads within the next year.

Users have enjoyed an ad free interface on Instagram accompanied with the simplicity to share photos with friends and enjoy a feed clear of advertisement. However this didn’t mean some brands hadn’t tried using Instagram to promote their content through giving incentives, call them prizes to followers who posted photos with a brand photo on a particular hastag. However this hasn’t the most successful since users always prefer an ad free feel.
Bringing advertisements to Instagram could be a killer for the app because its users have enjoyed an ad free environment.

White told WSJ that they will take advertisements in Instagram with caution and guidance from Facebook .

Well we must say Facebook is full of ads and if Instagram takes the same path, not everyone will like it. Take an example of when Twitter and Facebook said they were going to show promoted posts and tweets, yeah not everyone liked it.

Xbox Music apps now on Android & iOS free

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 9, 2013

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Xbox Music which is has been a free music streaming service on windows 8 is now available on android and iOS. The apps are ad free and users get 6 month free then the get limitations.

The android and iOS apps are supposed to launch sometime today. And users will be able to access free unlimited streaming for the first 6 months, and then get limitations or upgrade to a Music pass subscription of either $10 a month or $100 a year.

This comes at a time where microsoft is also launching a free web streaming service on the Xbox Music website using a web player, a service that was only available to windows 8 users.

We haven’t confirmed as to whether the Xbox One version of xbox music will have free streaming for the first 6 months and a few sneak peek photos have shown a better interface compared to the xbox 360 version of the app.

Microsoft will be launching a radio feature for xbox music with xbox featured artists and a personalized music listening experience.

This is definitely some good competition Microsoft is giving to apps like Spotify.

How to tell whether your phone will get deactivated by UCC.

Boses Muhinda

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Sep 7, 2013

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UCC (Uganda Communications Commission) plans to cut off counterfeit phones, the kind of phones Ugandans have dubbed “china phones” since the SIM registration campaign is almost over and some telecoms like MTN Uganda have disconnected some unregistered numbers, UCC will probably move to its next stages which including digital migration and disconnecting counterfeit phones.

So it’s better to find out if the phone you are going to buy is counterfeit or not. This might help you in case you already bought the phone, so that you start looking for a new one. I will also fill you in how to avoid buying counterfeit phones.

UCC developed a tool on its website to help you find out whether your phone is actually counterfeit or Chinese as they popularly call them in Uganda, The tool uses IMEI which is means your serial number. Every IMEI has a manufacturer’s number in it so the make of your phone can be determined from your serial number so keep it safe.

The Tool requires you to enter your IMEI (serial number) which you can get by dialling *#06#. It uses algorithms to return results which should show you your phone model type. And just in case the phone type displayed is different from what your phone is, then you might be in trouble since your phone is counterfeit and may get disconnected by the UCC once their decision is passed. Before you panic when the results come when your phone type is displayed as the manufacturer’s name and a number such as Samsung GT-8190 instead of Galaxy S3 mini you are OK, because manufacturers have model numbers for their phone names, but you might have to check just in case the model number is the same. We found an alternative method that tells you your phone type, model and number as well as a picture for you to be sure.

In case the Tool by UCC displays an error in red saying “IMEI (22506##########) is not legitimate; hence your phone might be a counterfeit. Contact your vendor for assistance!” that means your phone is definitely counterfeit. Phones whose serial numbers were changed may also face the same problem and might get disconnected as well.

Now let’s show you the whole process in pictures

These are the details of your phone in case is counterfeit

Disclaimer: we did not code any of these tools, the tool can be found on the UCC website here, or This post isn’t endorsed by UCC and neither is the featured image official, We used phones that we bought in a genuine shop and a phone that we all could see was counterfeit, (a counterfeit galaxy s3 that had less specs than the original) keep your IMEI safe.

Breaking news! Twitter hacked!

Joel Mwanja

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Sep 5, 2013

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In what appears to be a bizarre of events, Twitter is down and all of its services are temporarily down. Something went wrong in the technical center but as the saying goes, seeing is believing, so we got a snapshot of the website. It might be a malicious attack on the innocent network but as we write, nobody can access Twitter, we shall bring you the details as they emerge…

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 gets unveiled

Joel Mwanja

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Sep 4, 2013

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Finally, Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Note 3, with a massive 5.7 inch screen and lots of other features packed in it. Well, I think it was worth the wait since Samsung wanted to make sure it does a better job, thanks to the inspiration from the Note 2. Well, as expected, the Note 3 is a monster of its own kind when it comes to processing speed and generally its performance.

According to CNET, the Note 3 packs with it a quad core processor, a whooping and jaw dropping 3 GigaBytes of RAM, a big and enormous 3200mAh battery and a 13 megapixel camera! Samsung has again included the Note’s venerable S-Pen stylus as well, saying “significant improvements” have been made this time around. An “Action Memo” feature lets you handwrite a person’s phone number and title on a virtual post-it note-style pad, which is then saved to your contacts, for instance. There’s also a digital scrapbooking feature that lets you circle parts of webpages for later viewing, complete with links back to the original sites.

Other features that are inspired by the Note 2 have not been forgotten, though Samsung insists that they have been improved. As usual, it comes with a 1080p screen, meaning, playing full HD videos is no problem and thanks to the larger screen size, the Note 3 is the ultimate media center on the move.

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