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.
In another first this week, I had a chance to get up close and personal with Samsung’s Android Galaxy S (Model: GT-I9000) smartphone during the Samsung Africa Forum 2010 in Johannesburg (South Africa). The handset is simply stunning and marks Samsung’s first commericial foray using the wildly popular Android mobile operating system. I got a first hand look at the handset and tinkered around with it. There are so many things about it that make it a major milestone for Samsung in its wide arsenal of smartphones. It has a gorgeous Super AMOLED display and the intelligence as well as the userbility of the device come shining though with flying colors.
Having spoken to a good number of executives from Samsung regarding their plans for the Samsung S, I secured reliable information that they intend to launch it in Kenya sometime in September or October 2010. Earlier this week, also as reported on this blog, Huawei and Safaricom launched the first Android smartphone in Kenya which is expected to retail for around Kes. 30,000.00 when it hits the marketplace. The Galaxy S would therefore be the second Android handset to come to Kenya on this basis.
The Galaxy S which has not yet been launched anywhere in Africa yet already has over 100 mobile networks globally who have signed up to launch the much lauded device before the end of the year. In the US, the Galaxy S is already causing waves following its launch recently under the name “Captivate” with AT&T. Many mobile networks worldwide are planning to use the Galaxy S as a linchpin for smartphone market penetration owing to its formidable capabilities.
“The Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S will set a new standard for smartphones, and the excitement we’ve seen from operators and retailers for this device is testament to that,” said JK Shin, president and head of mobile communications business. “The Samsung Galaxy S is the perfect device for people in all corners of the world who want that extra edge; to be more effective, productive, better connected, and in tune with their smart life – both personal and professional – all in a very easy and simple way. We’re extremely confident that this device is going to be very successful in every market.”
As part of Samsung’s drive to democratize the smartphone market, the Galaxy S will be the flagship model of the smartphone range Samsung will introduce this year. It will also offer enhanced opportunities for developers and new revenue streams for operators. JK Shin continued, “Everyone is going to benefit from this revolutionary new device: from the consumer with the phone in their hand, to application developers and the many global operators who have signed up to support the Galaxy S. This truly is a phone for the whole ecosystem.”
Featuring Samsung’s dazzlingly bright 4-inch Super AMOLED screen and a 1 GHz application processor, the Android™-powered Samsung Galaxy S is designed to provide immersive, intelligent and integrated experiences, with the power to enrich people’s lives through best-in-class services and technologies. It will introduce people to the concept of the “Smart Life” – a smartphone experience that is simple, organize and integrated; one that enriches the lives of users.
The Galaxy S features Samsung’s super-fast TouchWiz 3.0 user-interface (UI), giving users instant access to their mobile lives. Smart Life is further enabled through intuitive, integrative features, including the Swype text input service, the rich augmented reality browser, Layar, and advanced Location Based Service (LBS) capabilities.
More than 50,000 applications from Android Market and Samsung Apps will allow users to extend the benefits and excitement of the smartphone experience even more. Users have access to Google mobile services, such as Google Search, Gmail, and Google Maps. Some of the key features of the Galaxy S are as follows:
eBook: Provides best-in-class reading experience on the phone. Customizable fonts, easy text search, and intuitive book list management offers convenient and customized reading experience.
HD Video: Super fast 1 GHz processor enhances HD video playing and recording features on dazzling Super AMOLD screen.
Daily Briefing: Offers instant access to weather, news, stocks, and the scheduler.
AllShare: Enables inter-device connectivity via DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) technology.
Augmented Reality: Shows users’ surroundings and displays information on camera-view. Tele-Atlas POI provides richer information than ever.
Swype: Provides fast and easy way to input text on screen while on-the-move.
Write and go: Jot down an idea first and later decide on a format such as SMS/ MMS, email, calendar or memo.
ThinkFree: Apps to view and edit Microsoft Office 2007 documents.
Smart Alarm: Wakes up with a natural alarm sound and automatically turned-on display light.
In addition, the specifications for the Galaxy S are as follows:
The leading Kenyan technology services concern AccessKenya Group (AccessKenya) yesterday announced 99.97 per cent network connectivity in its fibre optic network in the first six months of 2010. This demonstrates that network reliability is a key benefit of AccessKenya’s network infrastructure in Kenya.
“We are pleased to provide our customers with a highly reliable fibre network, which allows us to deliver outstandingly high broadband speeds and unrivaled network reliability to our fast growing corporate and residential customers” said Mr Jonathan Somen, AccessKenya’s Managing Director. Somen said with the rapid growth of AccessKenya’s fibre optic network, any new building connected to the would not affect the connectivity of existing customers, ensuring efficiency and reliability.
By building the network using ring topology, AccessKenya’s fibre optic network is built in the form of multiple rings which ensures that if one part of the network fails, traffic is rerouted to another part of the ring immediately thus eliminating connectivity disruptions for clients. In the instance when the fibre may be damaged, once repaired and normally within a few hours, the normal operating cycle is automatically restored.
“This is another significant advantage of our network that we believe puts our network ahead of others in the market today. The reliability of service will further cement our position as a leading provider of data services and IT services in Kenya,” said Mr Somen. AccessKenya’s network has been built using the latest technology that enables the delivery of reliable services to clients as well as new value added services for larger clients.
AccessKenya has already covered Nairobi with its fibre network and will soon be commencing construction of a fibre network in Mombasa. The Mombasa network will also be built on the same guidelines as the Nairobi network. The new fibre network will give AccessKenya the ability to offer reliable and significantly higher speeds to its 6800 customers from its 5000 megabits of international bandwidth from the TEAMS and SEACOM high speed undersea cables.
In addition to its fibre network, AccessKenya has significant wireless WIMAX and Motorola Canopy networks in Kenya that cover thousands of kilometers of coverage nationwide. AccessKenya’s fibre network is currently 150 kilometers of fibre covering 250 buildings in Nairobi and the firm has also partnered with TATA Communications to host its Tier 1 POP in Kenya.
Below is an 18 minute video that I had meant to upload a week ago but it proved to be a challenge at the time. Finally though, its up! Its a complete clip of the briefing made to Kenyan Media by Manoj Kholi of Bharti Airtel and Airtel Kenya of their plans for this market. Its also my second uploaded video from the event where Naushad Merali also spoke briefly and that video is also on this blog. Enjoy the same:
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:
Although English, French and Portuguese are the official languages used in most African countries, many Africans are in fact more comfortable and eloquent using their indigenous languages, particularly when communicating with friends or when they want to fully express their views. This could not be more evident than in Ethiopia or Tanzania, where Amharic and Swahili are used in every aspect of society — from studying in school, filling out government forms, to writing an SMS.
Google’s Gmail interface is like your modern-day postal clerk: it helps you organize and control your mail experience, just as interacting with the postal clerk does for regular mail, only a lot faster. Now think – isn’t it great when you can understand your postal clerk and express yourself more clearly to him/her? Well, starting this week, Gmail is available in Swahili and Amharic, adapting to over 100 million speakers located in East and Central Africa, and in the Diaspora.
Switching Gmail to Swahili or Amharic is easy. Once logged into Gmail:
Click on the “Settings” link on the top right of the page.
Toggle the display language drop down then select Kiswahili or Amharic from the list.
Hit save, and voila!
In addition to changing the display language, you can now read and write your email in Swahili or Amharic if you’re more comfortable in these languages. For example, while using the Amharic display, you can turn on transliteration to convert letters typed on a regular Roman keyboard to Ethiopic characters instantly. And to read all incoming messages in Swahili, simply turn on the Message Translation lab. All messages that aren’t in Swahili will get automatically translated by Google Translate.
No machine translation tool is perfect, but if you are a Swahili speaker who doesn’t understand a word of French, this feature can be quite handy when you need to get the gist of a message. Whether you are new to email or a veteran, these new language options will be useful and make the internet and email more accessible to a much wider group of people across East Africa.
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>
Starting yesterday, Nokia is increasing the opportunity and lowering barriers to entry by supporting individual developers, reducing investment costs and providing cross-platform app development for Symbian and Maemo devices with the Qt SDK 1.0.
Following the new Forum Nokia developer mantra of “Design, Develop and Distribute”, several developer-related announcements are being consolidated into one main message to show developers the improvements that have been made to the overall ecosystem.
There are five noteworthy announcements that will benefit developers working on Nokia platforms:
• Availability of Nokia Qt SDK 1.0
• Individuals can now register as Ovi Publishers
• Public beta of Nokia signing Symbian apps for free
• Availability of Nokia Smart Installer for Symbian
• Ovi Store intake for Qt apps
Availability of the Nokia Qt SDK 1.0
The Nokia Qt SDK 1.0 is available starting today (http://www.forum.nokia.com/Develop/Qt/), and it offers a true cross-platform development environment allowing developers to create applications for both Symbian and Maemo devices. Installation is easy, as it only requires one installation package that downloads all of the Qt and Symbian/Maemo components that developers need using the same Qt Creator 2.0 as standard Qt SDK’s for use on Windows, Linux and Mac (beta). The Nokia Qt SDK 1.0 includes the Qt 4.6 libraries plus additional API’s for mobile development. With a fast, new simulator along with on-device debugging and the ability to compile to both .sis (Symbian) or .deb (Maemo) packages, it provides developers with a great opportunity to start creating amazing apps right away.
Individuals can now register as Ovi Publishers
Individuals (i.e., people that are not part of a specific company or business) can now register as an Ovi publisher (https://publish.ovi.com/register/country_and_account_type) and easily distribute their apps worldwide through Ovi Store. Individuals will still have to pay the one-time 50 Euro registration fee, and they can submit apps that are written in Qt, Symbian, Java, Flash Lite or Web Runtime (WRT). Allowing individuals to publish their applications to Ovi Store is competitive to what Apple and Android allow today and helps to provide parity for Ovi Store.
Public beta of Nokia signing Symbian apps for free
The goal here is to lower the barrier to entry for developers by simplifying the tools and the process, as well as removing some of the cost associated with developing mobile apps for distribution in Ovi Store. For developers creating Symbian apps there are initial investment costs such as obtaining a Publisher ID and paying a third party to have their apps Symbian signed. Currently, this can take around four weeks, and impose expenses for the developer up to $215 (USD). With this public beta, we are exploring a developer workflow to reduce the time for developers to two weeks and bring the cost involved to $0 (USD). Eliminating the fee for signing Symbian apps makes our investment story for developing for Ovi Store competitive with Apple and Google.
Availability of Nokia Smart Installer for Symbian
Qt developers can use the new Nokia Qt SDK 1.0 to easily bundle the Nokia Smart Installer for Symbian SIS with their app SIS to reach millions of users with Nokia Symbian devices worldwide. When an end user downloads an app, the Nokia Smart Installer for Symbian will check for dependencies, and if any missing files or Qt libraries are detected the Nokia Smart Installer for Symbian will download them from Nokia servers.
Ovi Store intake for Qt apps
Finally, Qt developers can upload Qt Symbian apps targeting both the Nokia N97 mini and Nokia X6, as well as Qt Maemo apps for the Nokia N900 mobile computer. The Nokia N8 will be supported when it’s released later this year, and additional Nokia Symbian (5.0 and 3.1/3.2) devices will be supported in the future, allowing Qt developers to reach a growing market of Nokia users worldwide. Applications will be published to Ovi Store beginning next month.
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.
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>
This is a 2D-barcode containing the address of our mobile site.If your mobile has a barcode reader, simply snap this bar code with the camera and launch the site.
Many companies provide barcode readers that you can install on your mobile, and all of the following are compatible with this format:
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