Today, the issue of the best handset tops everything else. You can find an unemployed person carrying an iPhone 13 or 14 and having no food or transport. COMMENT | ISAAC TEKO | Ever since the smart phone became a household item about a dozen years ago, I have bought …
Read More »African telcos target minors with new mobile money solutions
From house piggy banks to accounts in commercial banks and now on mobile, junior accounts are going digital as telcos tap a much younger population to grow what could be their next biggest customer base Harare, Zimbabwe | BIRD AGENCY | Until recently, young children have been saving small amounts …
Read More »Byabasaija orders prison warders not to use phones on duty
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In the wake of increasing attacks on security personnel, the Commissioner General of Uganda Prisons, Dr. Johnson Byabasaija, has ordered warders and wardresses not to use their mobile phones while on duty. “Staff must not report for duty with phones, for they distract attention and …
Read More »What do you do with gadgets when they die? Recycle them, of course
In Nigeria’s Rivers State, engineering company Egoras is successfully refurbishing e-waste into affordable appliances, creating a new market for recycled and upcycled products. Lagos, Nigeria | BIRD STORY AGENCY | It was the first day of the much-anticipated Egoras Trade Fair in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria. The company had announced it …
Read More »Switching off counterfeit phones not immediate: UCC
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Communication Commission-UCC has deferred the switching off of counterfeit phones on the Ugandan market, saying that it is not automatic, and will follow an assessment of the impact after the six months sensitization campaign which started on Tuesday. The sensitization campaign which will see …
Read More »What is the fuss about phones in school?
COMMENT | DEDAN TUMUSIIME | Recent reports that the Ministry of Education and Sports was considering allowing greater use of mobile phones in post-primary institutions will divide the country in two. Easier availability of mobile phones, especially among individual students in secondary schools, has one big single benefit. Greater and …
Read More »Inside Uganda’s mobile phone, laptop assembly plant
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | To get just one working mobile phone device fitted together from series of metallic and plastic components screwed takes many hands and heads working together for several hours if not minutes. At every stage of assembly, all Mobile phone components must be carefully tested …
Read More »Police recovers record 61 stolen phones in Nakawa crackdown
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | At least 61 phones have been recovered in a crackdown on suspected phone snatchers in Nakawa Division, Kampala. The operation was conducted by Kiwatule Police Station after a confession of a suspected phone snatcher that led police to his accomplices. The suspected criminal, identified …
Read More »NITA-U promises support as Jumia releases 2018 Uganda Mobile report
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A top official of the National Information Technology Authority – Uganda (NITA Uganda) has outlined a raft of measures in place to reduce the cost of internet, encourage greater use and make e-commerce attractive for all stakeholders. Interventions by government in the sector in …
Read More »TECH: World’s smallest mobile phone is smaller than a USB drive
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In an age when phablets and big screen smartphones are more popular than ever, one manufacturer is swimming against the tide by trying to make its mobile phones as tiny as possible. Their latest achievement, a phone that’s smaller than the average human thumb …
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