Last Week’s Tech Trends

30/03/2015 Sandi

As a new week begins let’s first go back to the stories that were big last week:

1. Motorola’s testing the Android Lollipop on its 2nd generation Moto X: With rollout dates not confirmed, Motorola is soak testing the new operating system on its new Moto X smartphone. There are lot of new features and bug fixes coming with the new update on that phone, all of which you can read about here.

2. Airtel Money migration and cross border remittances: Over the other weekend, Airtel moved its mobile money platform to a new one called ‘Mobiquity’ which according to Airtel will ‘provide more enhanced functionality and security for its customers’. The new platform also allows subscribers send and receive money from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. If you want to know about the remittance rates, read our interview with Airtel Public Relations Office Lisa Mulozi here.

3. Connect Zambia opened a Samsung Experience Store at EastPark Mall in Lusaka: if you’re touchy-feely with your gadgets, then the Samsung Experience Store is the one place you should go to get a feel of the latest Android devices from the tech giant. At the launch event tech enterprise Samsung’s Business Leader for Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Botswana James Chona said, “The Samsung Experience Store is the first store of its kind in Southern Africa. The magnitude of this achievement warrants that we disseminate this information and indeed commend those at the forefront of this venture. Despite the recent challenges that the country is facing, this development is a demonstration of Zambia’s emergence as a top investor destination and reflects the strides that the country is making towards development. It also reflects the new found energy that the Samsung team has developed. This is just the first in a series of projects that we are pursuing in what will not only be a busy but productive year for us”. Read more here.

4. Instagram launched a new photo collage app called Layout: One thing the tech world shows us is that there will always be more than one of each thing, just under different names, as the new app Layout shows. It has similar features with another photo collage and video editing app called Photo Grid. We would have prefered Instagram to have integrated the app within itself, not as a separate download, but we can’t always have what we want now can we? arising from the increased number of users posting collages to show a handful of moments in one picture, the app has come at the right time, only limited to iOS users unfortunately. Read about Layout here.

5. Wireless router data: not really a story but more factors to consider when buying a wireless router, we gave you the juice here. The need for internet access is on ever increasing high and it only makes sense to have the best gadgets to facilitate this. Follow the link to find out how to get the best.

6. Social media apps updates: Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter which are some of the biggest apps in Zambia, just added to their features. Whatsapp now has a call feature which you have to be invited to to get, Twitter now has video autoplay in its timeline, and Facebook has an ‘On This Day’ feature that helps you relive the past. Find out more about these here.

7. Entrepreneurial advice from Mawano Kambeu: is how we ended the week, with the DotCom Zambia co-founder giving some very interesting insight on the recent story of the ‘Jobless 6 Graduates’ (pictured below), and he offered his thoughts as an entrepreneur.