Tech World

"We have completed the steps necessary to finalize Microsoft’s acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business. The transaction will be completed this Friday, April 25, when we’ll officially welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business as part of the Microsoft family,” Microsoft said in a statement. Microsoft also stated that the purchase would allow the company to speed up innovation. “The completion of this acquisition follows several months of planning and will mark a key step on the journey towards integration. This acquisition will help Microsoft accelerate innovation and market adoption for Windows Phones. In addition, we look forward to introducing the next billion customers to Microsoft services via Nokia mobile phones.” As with any multinational agreement of this size, scale and complexity, the two companies have made adjustments to the original deal throughout the close preparation process. “We’ve entered into numerous agreements to address ...

South Africa’s Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan Gordhan, Minister of Finance for South Africa, chaired the panel and said, “as Africans, we have to be very creative in deciding what kind of niche we want to explore.” He said that Africa must resist “short term-ism,” and focus on beneficial coordination over harmful competition. He acknowledged that “we have a lot of confidence in ourselves,” but posed the question, what can Africa do that is innovative and different in order to become competitive in the global marketplace? Yvonne Okwara, Presenter for KTN, moderated the session and began by asking Donald Kaberuka, President of African Development Bank (AfDB), if the technologies Africa has been importing were adopted with the local context in mind. Kaberuka suggested that industrialization is more than technology. He said the most important thing was a “winning mindset.” He was emphatic on that point, and shortly thereafter, Mariam Mahamat Nour, Minister...

She Leads Africa is launching a competition that seeks to empower women within the continent’s entrepreneurial tech scene. The platform seeks to connect promising individuals to mentors, business funding and new market opportunities. With a special focus on tech, the competition will take place during the month of September  2014, applications for the competition will be taken from across West Africa in order to identify the top ten talented female entrepreneurs who have founded or co-founded early stage startups. Lead organiser, Afua Osei, stated that: “The continent will not be able to reach its full potential without the full economic participation of women.” Finalists will be selected by professionals in consulting, venture capital, and the finance industry based on the strength of their idea, ability to scale, understanding of the market, and quality of the management team. Special consideration will be given to entrepreneurs in the technology sector. Fin...

Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution, says people need to be more careful about what information they share on the Internet. “This goes hand in hand with protecting your identity, and therefore your reputation.” He says just as technology enables people to check out possible companies where they see a job opportunity, it enables those companies who are looking to hire to check out prospective staff. “Your digital footprint tells a lot more than you might think. A few clicks of the mouse and your prospective employers could find out a lot more information about you than you may be comfortable with.” Moreover, he says to consider just in the past day how often you might have used the Internet. “Perhaps you’ve updated your Facebook status, checked your email, read the news, done some online banking, or even had a Skype call with a friend overseas. Even when you are no longer connected to the Internet, the ...

McAfee, part of Intel Security, has announced the latest version of McAfee Mobile Security that now enables consumers to instantly run free privacy and security scans. These scans allow users to identify apps that are over sharing personal information. It also scans for and removes malware and looks for other security threats. McAfee makes it simple for users to perform these scans as soon as the product is installed. McAfee Mobile Security also allows users to easily remove apps that pose significant risks. According to McAfee’s Consumer Mobile Security Report, 80% of mobile apps today collect location information about users, 82% know the device ID, and 57% track when people use their phones. Additionally, the apps that aggressively and often unnecessarily collect data leverage potentially dangerous ad libraries, and 35% of these apps contain malware. “The personal data some apps collect can be beneficial to enhancing your mobile experience, however many apps ...

KENYAN dancehall-ragga artiste Skeleton Man is nursing injuries sustained from a road accident in Nairobi last week. The singer, who is riding high with his latest single dubbed Uhuru Innocent, was in the company of three other close friends when the car they were travelling in collided with another vehicle at the Globe roundabout underpass. According to him, the four were heading to the CBD when another car rammed into them forcing their car to veer off the road, hitting a concrete pillar. "We were headed to town from Ngara after a reggae show at the Sarakasi Dome's Sawa Sawa Club when the accident occurred. It was so nasty that one of my friends, Paul Kanyiri aka Elephant Man, who sustained deep cuts on the head died some minutes later at Kenyatta National Hospital. The rest of us were treated for the injuries sustained and discharged, but it was really a sad night having lost one of my closest buddies. He was a great supporter of my work and it's hard t...

Cyber security was a key focus during the 5th Kenya Internet Governance Forum (KIGF) held last week at Strathmore University under the theme 'Connecting Counties for Enhanced Multi-stakeholder Internet Governance'. The key points raised at the forum - which brought together representatives from government, private sector, civil society, academia as well as the internet community - revolved around the emerging legal issues and challenges relating cyber security. According to the Kenya Cyber Security Strategy released in February 2014, criminal organizations and hack-tivists from all over the world are - and will continue - to exploit ICT vulnerabilities in Kenya as the country matures into an Information Society, adding that country faces an increasingly evolving cyber threat landscape. Currently, Kenya ranks fifth in terms of hacking globally. To deal with the threat of cyber insecurity and protect data, Kenya's ICT Ministry developed the National Cyber Se...

Details for the next project for the Oscar award winning Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o are out. Lupita has been confirmed to star in and produce an adaptation of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's acclaimed novel Americanah. The film will be made by Brad Pitt's company Plan B -- the same producers of the 12 Years a Slave, which won her an Oscar in February. Americanah centres on the life of two Nigerians, Ifemelu and Obinze, who fall in love but find themselves separated by immigration issues. In a statement, Lupita said it was an "honour to bring Adichie's brilliant book to the screen". "Page after page I was struck by Ifemelu and Obinze's stories, whose experiences as African immigrants are so specific and also so imminently relatable. It is a thrilling challenge to tell a truly international story so full of love, humour and heart," she said. Adichie's award-winning novels include Purple Hibiscus and Half of a ...

Facebook remains the largest social media network in Kenya with 3.8 million users, a new report released yesterday shows. The State of Social Media in Kenya by the Digital Rand says Linkedin comes second with more than 1 million users while Twitter is third with 650,000 users. The report says the growth of Twitter peaked between 2012 and 2013. The first Kenyan Twitter account was @kamuiri registered in March 28, 2007, followed by @kenyamoto and @Sonnimuriuki. The report says about four million Kenyans use social media in their day to day activities. "Kenyans on Twitter cumulatively command a following of 120,199,588 followers and cumulatively follow 49,539,705 users. The average Kenyan follows 89 users and has 214 followers," says the report. It says 19 per cent of Kenyans have not tweeted in 2014 while 65 per cent of all Twitter accounts are dormant. The report comes amid increased cases of hate speech propagated through the social media. The office of th...

Esther Arunga has apologised to her parents. The former KTN news anchor officially sent her apologies, seeking forgiveness from her parents following the estranged relationship between the two parties. Through a moving two thousand-word letter, Arunga reached out to her parents, who recently revealed that they have not been in communication with her for over three years, asking them to receive her and hubby, Quincy Timberlake, back. It read in part: "Over the debacle, I therefore take this opportunity to apologise, for my constant bickering with you my beloved dad and mother (when I wasn't trying my hardest to ignore you). I realise that you are not the annoying, sociopathic space aliens that I once thought. You are, in fact, quite wonderful wonderful people. Thanks to my husband who tirelessly inserted the positive thinking in to my senses of reason and thought that brought major meaningful senses. Now I reached a decision." "I do confess though that ...

DEPUTY Minority Chief Whip, Jakoyo Midiwo, alleged a consignment of police uniform was intercepted at Busia border on its way to Kenya. Speaking at Uhuru Park during the Saba Saba rally, Midiwo said that the police uniform had origins at Kampala and blamed Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda, for planning to send Ugandan police as reminiscent of 2007. Midiwo piled the pressure on Museveni describing him as a dictator who should desist from interfering with the Kenyan democracy by sending in his police officers. “A bus was this (Monday) morning was caught at Busia border carrying three bales of military uniforms, boots and berets,” said Midiwo. According to a report by New Dominion Philanthropy Metrics, the carnage in 2007 was horrific with 1 500 dead, 3 000 innocent women raped, and 300 000 people left internally displaced. Most of these atrocities happened in the first 14 days after the 2007 Kenyan general election. Meanwhile, leaders of the Coalition for Refo...

Kenyans can now access information on tax obligations through their mobile phones. The taxman and the Japan International Cooperation Agency have in place a short message service to enable taxpayers inquire and get instant feedback. Known as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), the service allows cellular telephones to communicate with a service provider's computers and will be available from all mobile phone firms. "Taxpayers will request information from KRA and get instant feedback through SMS," a statement said on Tuesday. Taxpayers will access data on domestic taxes, individual Personal Identification Number company Personal Identification Number, temporary car exportation status as well as tax station checker. Importers and exporters will access information on the various custom tax obligation including the bill of lading, clearing agents status and manifest amendment status among others. The service, which started on June 25, will al...