This blog was featured in an article on the growing influence of blogging in Kenya in yesterday’s edition of the Business Daily Newspaper. You can read the article, “Kenya has the third largest number of blogs in Africa” in full here>
Tag Archive for '2010'
Google is once again launching a new initiative that will engage technology entrepreneurs and developers to transform the web for Africa and the rest of the world. This is in-line Google’s key mandate of making the Internet relevant and useful for Africans, as well as developing offerings that are relevant for the African marketplace.
Going forward, it was announced last week that Google will be hosting developer and tech days across Africa with two exciting events, G-Uganda and G-Kenya, taking place early in September 2010. These web and mobile themed conferences will focus on Google’s developer and business technologies from Chrome Extensions, App Engine, to mobile and AdWords. Attendees will have the chance to explore Google’s open source technologies through a combination of tech talks, breakout sessions and codelabs run by engineers and business teams from across the globe.
G-Uganda will be held on September 1st – 2nd 2010 at Speke Conference Centre just outside of Kampala. Closely on its heels, G-Kenya is running September 6th – 8th 2010 at Strathmore University in Nairobi.
Each day of the conference will cater to a different audience, spanning professional developers, students and tech marketers. Take a look at the G-Uganda & G-Kenya to learn more about a G-day that might fit your appetite. You must pre-register as space is limited.
Below is the Marketing Plan presentation I gave yesterday Friday the 2nd July 2010 at the Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Stakeholder Forum. I have also provided a link below to some pictures I took at the well attended forum:
The Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC) is having its seventh Open Public Forum today Friday the 2nd of July 2010 at the Sarova Panafric Hotel from 8.00 am. KENIC’s mandate as the .KE registry is to the manage the Kenya’s country code top level domains (ccTLD).
The forum will be a focal point for bottom-up multi-stakeholder discussions of KENIC’s policies and developments over the past year. Thereafter, the same venue will host KENIC’s seventh Annual General Meeting (AGM) to which all stakeholders are invited to attend. Details of the AGM are available online at availed on the KENIC website here>
Yesterday the I attended the second Nairobi 140 Character Conference (#140conf) at the Nailab. I almost missed the event since the publicity was fairly limited around and I only found out about via a mailing list. Nevertheless, I was also invited by Soud Hyder who was part of the organizing team that put the event together (Thanks Soud!). It started off somewhat late but eventually was on a roll as the Nailab filled up with many of Kenya’s leading “Twitterati” (including yours truly!).
Going into more detail, The #140conf events provide a platform for the worldwide twitter community to: listen, connect, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time internet on business. The event yesterday was focused on exploring social causes on the web within a Kenyan context. Presentations we’re made by an interesting and diverse range of presenters including Marvin Tumbo, Juliana Rotich, and Paula Kahumbu.
Here is a link to the podcast of the panel session that was comprised of Juliana Rotich, Moses Kemibaro (me), Paula Kahumbu, Victor Ngeny and chaired by Aly Khan Satchu courtesy of Soud Hyder HERE>
Here is a link to photos that I took throughout the Nairobi #140conf HERE>
The African Peering and Interconnection Forum is being held in Nairobi on the 11th and the 12th of August 2010 at the Sarova Panafric Hotel. The landmark event has the theme of “Unlocking Africa’s Regional Interconnection”. The event addresses the current reality that despite growing regional Internet infrastructure and bandwidth, most of Africa’s cross-border traffic is (still) exchanged in Europe and North America.
A visible example of this unique scenario is that a trace route of a data packet from Nairobi in Kenya to Kigali in Rwanda. The packet would go from Nairobi through Europe and then back to Kigali. Therefore, there is a very real need to improve packet flow by keeping it local and regional. The event if free to register for and I plan to attend. You can register for the forum here>
For all the battering that Nokia has gotten lately for falling behind in mobile innovation and market trends one thing that makes me admire them so much is that they develop products and services for markets that other mobile brands rarely take interest in. In direct congruence to this habit Nokia unveiled its Mobile Bicycle Charger Kit at a press conference in Nairobi last week.
The goal behind Nokia’s Mobile Bicycle Charger Kit is to provide free and environmentally friendly electricity for mobile handsets. This is especially important for markets like Africa where electricity is largely expensive and not always readily available, especially in rural Africa. At the same time, considering that bicycles are generally a major form of transport it makes sense to turn a simple ride into electricity for your mobile handset.
The Kit consists of a charger and dynamo, as well as a holder to secure the phone to the bike. When the kit is installed, the dynamo – a small electrical generator – uses the movement of the wheels to charge the handset through the standard 2mm charging jack used in most Nokia mobile phones.
Alex Lambeek, vice president at Nokia said at the launch that “You must look at a number of things when it comes to power management – such as ensuring the phone’s operating system is as power-efficient as possible. Now, with our innovative bike charger, people get even more freedom to use their Nokia without worrying about battery life.”
He also added, “Bicycles are the most widespread means of transport in many markets around the world, so this is just one more benefit to be gained from an activity people are already doing. This is a great solution to a real challenge, whether people will use it due to limited access to electricity, or to be more environmentally responsible.” The kit will be available before the end of the year in selected retailers and Nokia online and branded retailers.”
I’ve been waiting for this to happen for some time! Finally, an Google Android handset is expected to be launched in Kenya in June 2010. This is the LG Optimus handset which is also known as the LG GT540. As far as I know, this is the first Android handset to be (officially) launched in Kenya so its a ground breaking moment.
The announcement was made this past week by a representative of LG in East Africa however, no announcement was made if the LG Optimus will “go to market” in conjunction with one of the mobile networks as has been the case with the Apple iPhone which is being sold on contract with Orange in Kenya.
It will be interesting to see how the LG Optimus fares in Kenya’s smartphone market. Its bound to spice things up considering that Andorid handsets are all the rage (globally) these days. What is yet to be seen is how much the LG Optimus will retail for? (possibly/probably cheaper than an Apple iPhone on the Orange mobile network).
For the time being, its safe to say that Nokia and Blackberry smartphones currently lead the market in Kenya. More information on the LP Optimus can be found on the official web site for the same here>. In addition, here is a nice video for the LG Optimus:
What do I mean when I say “the cloud” or “clouds”? Well, basically, the term “cloud” is derived from the term “cloud computing” which is basically Internet-based computing. Many of us already use cloud computing on a regular basis for accessing services like web-based email (e.g. Gmail or Yahoo Mail) and Business Applications (e.g. Google Apps). The term “cloud” is therefore normally used as a metaphor for the Internet.
The beauty about the cloud is that services are accessed directly via a web browser and there is hardly ever any need to install software on your computer or server(s). In addition, it means that an organization does not need to invest in its own servers and applications so that instead it may use free or subscription based cloud services – thereby saving lots of time and money in the process. Another upside for using the cloud is its highly scalable and low cost which makes it highly attractive for businesses of all sizes. Which brings me to the reason why I wrote this post – that we urgently need to build out the local cloud.
Just a couple weeks ago East Africa experienced a major Internet outage due to a fault on the Mediterranean section of the SEA-ME-WE 4 cable. This cable connects cables like SEACOM and TEAMS onwards to Europe which is why we we’re affected. This came as something of a surprise for many in the region as we have more or less enjoyed uninterrupted broadband for the better part of a year. It was shocking to experience speeds that we’re even slower than what we had a year ago before TEAMS and SEACOM went live. It was Internet as we knew it, circa 2000. It was like being on a dial-up Internet connection once again.
The outage required Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Telcos to re-route their bandwidth via expensive satellite connections so as to maintain some semblance of connectivity – this tended from very bad to quite slow depending on your choice of service provider. It is for this very reason why we urgently need to have local clouds that function even when international bandwidth and cloud are not available. This way, essential cloud-based services will continue to function locally.
The consequences, which we are already aware of is what happens when most of your business applications sit in the international cloud? What happens when you cannot get email or access your accounting service in the international cloud? The outcome is that you can’t work when this happens and the worst part is that you absolutely can’t do anything about it until international bandwidth and cloud are restored.
Given that its a well-known fact that undersea cables regularly do get cut or damaged, its likely that we will see more of the sort of outage we had two weeks ago. It also means that ISPs and Telcos will retain their costly satellite-based Internet connections for redundancy – just in case. Therefore, even if SEACOM and TEAMS have made broadband Internet a reality in East Africa we still really need reliable, high quality and world-class local cloud-based services.
The biggest caveat to setting up local cloud-based services are the massive financial investments required to set-up and operate data centers and applications. Data centers are also notorious for consuming large amounts of electricity (which is often unreliable in this part of the world) and require continuous technical monitoring and management on a 24 X 7 X 365 basis. There are companies in the region that have set-up data centers to co-locate customer servers and provide bandwidth to the Internet. However, pricing tends to be rather prohibitive for most businesses.
Going forward, in terms of local cloud-based services as well as the applications and services offered, this could be best addressed via a three way strategic partnership model. In the first instance Government would provide the required incentives for businesses to set-up local data centers and cloud-based services. In the second instance local private sector players would provide the needed investment to make the local cloud take off. In the third instance international cloud players such as Google and Microsoft could provide the best practices and co-invest in building local cloud-based services. Ultimately, the local cloud build out would ensure service continuity even when International bandwidth or cloud are “offline”.
The Nokia N8, Nokia’s latest smartphone was launched today. It intuitively connects to the people, places and services that matter most. With the Nokia N8, people can create compelling content, connect to their favorite social networks and enjoy on-demand Web TV programs and Ovi Store apps. Available in select markets during the third quarter of 2010, the estimated retail price of the Nokia N8 is €370, before applicable taxes or subsidies.
The Nokia N8 introduces a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, Xenon flash and a large sensor that rivals those found in compact digital cameras. Additionally, the Nokia N8 offers the ability to make HD-quality videos and edit them with an intuitive built-in editing suite. Doubling as a portable entertainment center, people can enjoy HD quality video with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound by plugging into their home theatre system. The Nokia N8 enables access to Web TV services that deliver programs, news and entertainment from channels like CNN, E! Entertainment, Paramount and National Geographic. Additional local Web TV content is also available from the Ovi Store.
Social networking is second nature to the Nokia N8. People can update their status, share location and photos, and view live feeds from Facebook and Twitter in a single app directly on the home screen. Calendar events from social networks can also be transferred to the device calendar. The Nokia N8 comes with free global Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation, guiding people to places and points of interest in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Symbian^3 in action
Powering the Nokia N8 is Symbian ^3, the latest edition of the world’s most used smartphone software, which introduces several major advances, including support for gestures such as multi touch, flick scrolling and pinch-zoom. The Nokia N8 also offers multiple, personalizable homescreens which can be loaded with apps and widgets. The new 2D and 3D graphics architecture in the platform takes full advantage of the Nokia N8’s hardware acceleration to deliver a faster and more responsive user interface. Symbian^3 also raises the bar in performance by delivering greater memory management allowing more applications to run in parallel for a faster multi-tasking experience.
Getting Qt for Developers.
The Nokia N8 is Nokia’s first device to be integrated with Qt, a software development environment that simplifies the development and makes it possible to build applications once and deploy across Symbian and other software platforms. Nokia has also made the powerful and simple to use Nokia Qt SDK available, in its initial beta, to enable developers to start realizing the potential of Qt.
About Nokia
At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.2 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device – from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers. Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi (www.ovi.com), including music, maps, apps, email and more. Nokia’s NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally.
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