PlayStation 4.5?

We know PlayStation 4.5 is real - but why is Sony making it? - Eurogamer.net http://nzzl.us/BhWwuP4

Premium Sound For the G5

LG taps Bang & Olufsen to bring hi-fi audio features to the LG G5 http://nzzl.us/xl6xt64 via @nuzzel

Samsung Galaxy S7

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge leaked from every angle - VentureBeat http://nzzl.us/WWtterP via @nuzzel

Lumia 650

Microsoft Lumia 650: sophisticated, metal design and Windows 10 under $200 USD - Windows http://nzzl.us/jkRhwjZ via @nuzzel

Lumia on a Budget

With almost all the hype surrounding the launch of the flagship Lumia 950 and 950 XL,  Microsoft almost included this lovely little beauty as an afterthought.
In keeping in line with the budget 500 series, the new Lumia 550 is a direct upgrade on the Lumia 530 and Lumia 520 that came before it. However this year Microsoft decided to ramp things up a notch and baptised it with a 4.7 inch screen a la the Lumia 535.
In what is seen as a direct assault on the budget centric Motorola G series, the Lumia 550 launches at an attractive entry price package of around $140.
Inside it hums along on an Octa-core 1.1 GHz Cortex-A7 processor and 1GB of RAM. Imaging wise you get a 5 MP primary camera as well as a 2 MP "selfie"  camera and 8 GB of storage to go with it. There is also a microSD slot because these days 8 GB barely scratches the surface.
All this is wrapped up in a nice new fresh coat of Windows 10 so expect added functionality and a few software tweaks.

Dead capacitative keys solution for Android.

I recently had a tiny accident with my phone, and as with all things glass and fragile and please do not drop me, it immediately started acting up and my handy capacitative keys died on me.
Naturally I was quite distraught as getting a new phone or even replacing the screen was a viable solution for me. The geeky curious side in me got into gear and before long I had some viable solutions.

1) Easy touch.
This is my app of choice and offers a plethora of options and customization. Not only does it provide the minimum home, back and recent tasks keys, it throws in a few extra slots that can be customised for either calls, tools, favourite apps and the like. You can get it on the play store here

2) Soft buttons.
Soft buttons provides the essential capacitative keys access and not pretty much else. It also works only on rooted devices so it's not one for the faint hearted. You can however still check it out here incase you have a thing for trying out softwares that void your warranty.

3) Handy soft keys.
This app also offers the basic functionalities and not much else. It however appears more polished and minimalistic if you into that. It doesn't require any rooting and is as such a better option if you crave the functionality offered by Soft Buttons and less clutter than Easy touch. You can grab it here.

Feel free to check out the above three and they are available for free on the Google play store.

Call for Proposals: Faculty Research Awards in VR by Google

Are you intrigued by virtual reality?
Does the idea of cheap and practical virtual reality platforms tickle on your mental faculties?
And lastly, are you in academia dabbling  in the areas of immersive audio; optics and displays;computer graphics and rendering and user input technology?
If you answered yes to all the above questions, then Google needs your research help in the above areas. The deadline for submission of is 15th October and more details can be found here

Every Phone You Ever Wanted For As low as $50(Ksh 4500)

modular phone components

Each year, handset manufactures are engadged in a frenzied rat race to unveil phones with the biggest screens, the beefiest processors and a host of other jaw dropping features that aim to win over consumers. Yet in as much as this sort of competition is great for innovation, the consumer is often both the winner and the loser, caught between upgrading to a newer model and stuck with the older barely an year old model.
its this conundrum Google's ATAP (advances technology and projects) group aims to solve by undertaking what has come to be known as Project Ara.
Project Ara is a Google project to produce a modular phone with interchangeable components such as the camera module, the screen, the processor and even the memory unit. The  components are held together using an electro magnet and can be easily assembled by clicking the modules together which produces a suprisingly sturdy phone.
For $50 consumers will get a basic frame equipped with a  screen, Wi-Fi connection and processor. Photography bluff? Equip your phone with a better camera and memory unit or if you use your phone for more challenging tasks, why not swap out the processor for a faster one. This could in effect extend the life of the average smartphone by years and given Google's penchant to produce cheap, lean smartphones, phones potentially free of bloatware and software tricks from mainstream manufacturers. There is however the question of a reliable chain of distribution worldwide which could dampen the revolutionary potential that Project Ara may bring. You can expect to see a working model sometime next year possibly just in time for CES 2015.

Matatus Cashless Payment System Deadline Looms.

A crisis is in the offing as the July 1st deadline for the cashless payment system looms near for Nairobi residents. Many Nairobi residents and matatu operators are ill prepared for the switch over with only a small fraction of the city fleet equipped to handle cashless transactions and as is often the case there is likely to be a transport crisis in the city as matatu operators and commuters rush to comply with the deadline. 




Some of the payment services available include;

• Lipa na Mpesa which is provided by mobile operator Safaricom

• Bebapay which is a collaboration between Equity Bank and Google

• 1963 Jinice which is an effort by theCompliant MOA

• Abiria Card which is a joint effort by the Kenya Bus Service(KBS) and Hong Kong based TaptoPay

Abiria cards have the added advantage of being used to make purchases at all MasterCard branded outlets countrywide and are supported by Local bank Kenya Commercial Bank and can be loaded throughout all KCB branches,KCB Mtaani Agents, KCB M-Benki platform and all KCB branches countrywide.
You can apply for your BebaPay card at all Equity Bank branches and Equity Agents countrywide. The cards can also be loaded at all Equity Branches and Equity agents countrywide, BebaPay tellers at major city bus stops as well as direct top-up via Safaricom Mpesa  paybill number 272900, Orange Money via Business number 272900.

Create Animations on the fly

Attention all ye animated movie addicts, how would you like to create your own animated movie?

Pixar, the studio behind blockbuster animated films such as Toy Story and Monster University as well as renderings for movies such as Jurassic Park and Skyfall is making it possible for you to make your own world of otherworldly or cuddly fluffy creatures via its Renderman site when the new version of the rendering software comes out for FREE!

However, before you go taking out loans with dollar clouded eyes, the software can only be used for non-commercial purposes which include academic, research and software development purposes otherwise you will have to fork out the better part of $500.

Well still something to look out for after the world cup ends 

Techno Phantom Z launches in Kenya

Techno Mobile continued its evolution towards premium phones with the launch of the Techno Phantom Z in the Kenyan market. The phone launches at an attractive pricing point of USD 400 (about Ksh 37000) which will no doubt prove a great attraction given the technology offerings availlable.
Some of the eatures available include

• 5.2 inch full HD AMOLED screen.
• Android 4.4
• Mediatek MTK6592 Octa core processor
• 16MP primary camera and an 8MP secondary ''selfie'' camera
• 16GB of onboard storage expandable to 32GB
• 3030mAH battery
• Dual SIM standby 

Nokia X

Nokia X; a phone for the masses?

Nokia once ruled the roost when it came to emerging markets thanks to its cheap yet functional phones whose main selling points were color screens,mp3 ringtones, at least 10 MB of on board storage, the occasion torch appearance here and there and the ability to make calls and well, send messages( limited to a 20 message inbox of course). however, along came Samsung with its plethora of affordable android flavored and "affordable" phones which could do much more than just call, text and serve as an emergency torch for those famous Kenyan blackouts and almost overnight Nokia's grip of the market began to wane.
pressure was now on Nokia to deliver a cheap yet functional phone and the first tentative step into this direction was the Lumia 520 which though not particularly "affordable" to the majority of Kenyans was a success of sorts perhaps egged on by Safaricom's bonga point reward scheme which had it selling for as little as ksh 8000.
However, people were still not convinced about the windows phone OS and thus the Nokia x was born. retailing at an introductory price of ksh 13000 in safaricom shops, it offers value for the price point. buyers in particular will be happy with the 4 inch LCD display, access to the play store and its diverse ecosystem of applications, its 1 GHz duo core processor as well as 4 GB of on board storage. the rather glaring sacrifices however include the rather below average camera at just 3 megapixels as well as the battery rated at just 1500 mAh. another concern will be the user interface which requires some getting to. the verdict is still out there on whether this will be Nokia's Windows crossover success.

Moto G

Moto G

Overview

Good phones do not come on the cheap. The notion has been bandied around with much success apparently but as previously witnessed with the Nexus range of phones, you can indeed deliver premium at much lower costs. While the Moto G can hardly be classified as a flagship or even premium, it does deliver some pretty mid-range features and specs for the price of a budget and could drive up sales in emerging markets.

Out of the box, the Moto G comes in black which however can be customized with a variety of colors (7 to be exact). The form measures 129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm all of which appears to be screen at first glance owing to the absence of any physical keys on the front panel and minimal clutter save for the Motorola logo, LED notification light, motley of sensors, speaker grille and front facing camera. The 4.5 inch LCD screen instantly comes to life when the phone is switched on and manages to knock above its weight pulling in an impressive 326 ppi density at the price range obviously and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection.

Delve deeper into the Moto G and you will find an impressive array of hardware and software features. in keeping with the Google design language of less is more, the Moto G comes with minimal bloatware running near stock Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) which is great for customization and memory efficiency but sadly leaves out some pretty cool software tricks seen on more premium Motorola phones. The software is powered by a Snapdragon 400 Quad core 1.2 GHz processor backed by 1 GB of RAM which enables the phone breeze through most everyday activities but could see it taxed by much more graphics hungry games.

On the media front, the Moto G comes with a standard issue 5 MP primary camera whose picture quality is rather poor and a secondary 1.3 MP camera. The primary camera supports video capture at 720p. the Moto g comes with 8/16 GB of onboard storage which is however not supplemented by the option to expand memory via microSD.. This could be a limiting factor especially if you store plenty of media on your phone as well as limit the number of applications you can logically download.To compensate for the likely reduced music storage capabilities Google throws in an FM radio to keep the listener “busy”. The 1.2 GHz Quadcore processor coupled with the Adreno 305 GPU and 1 GB of RAM should ensure most games play smoothly but again the limited onboard storage severely limits the number of quality games that can be installed. The battery is pretty decent at 2070mAH which should keep the phone running for a while.

The data speeds are pretty decent 2G and 3Gconnectivity but LTE support is lacking. There is Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot support but given the price range NFC is rightly missing. For media transfer and battery charging there is the standard microUSB slot.

At a glance

Network

2G Network                                                        GSM 900/1800-RM-899

               850/1900-RM-900

3G Network                                                        HSPDA 850/900/1900/2100

SIM card                                                               Single SIM

Display

Dimensions                                                        129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm

Weight                                                                 143 g

Display                                                                 LCD capacitative touchscreen

Size                                                                        720 x 1280 pixels4.5 inches

Loudspeaker                                                      Yes

3.5mm jack                                                         Yes

Memory

Memory card slot                                            No microSD support

Internal memory                                             8/16GB,1GB RAM

Data

GPRS                                                                     Yes

EDGE                                                                     Yes

HSDPA, 21Mbps

Wireless                                                              Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot

Bluetooth                                                           Yes

USB                                                                        Yes, microUSB

Camera

Primary                                                                5 MP

Video                                                                    Yes, 720p @30fps

Secondary                                                           Yes, 1.3 MP

Radio                                                                    FM radio

Music player                                                      Yes, MP3, MP4 player

Features

Operating System                                           Android OS v4.3 (Jelly Bean)

Chipset                                                                                Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

CPU                                                                        Quad-Core 1.2 Cortex A7

GPU                                                                       Adreno 305

Battery                                                                 Li-Ion 2070mAH battery

GPS                                                                        Yes, with A-GPS support and GLONASS

Available colors                                               Black, interchangeable back covers

Nokia Asha 501

Nokia Asha 501

Overview

Nokia keeps redefining the line between pure smartphones and feature phones and with the introduction of the Nokia Asha 501, the line is now thinner than ever. It borrows heavily on the design cues from the Lumia range with bright candy colors and the bold form factor of the now very identifiable Lumia range of phones and introduces the newly minted Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.0 operating system. With it Nokia aims to build on its strong brand presence in emerging markets and the phone is bound to be a hit especially for people looking for a bridge between basic feature-phones and low end smartphones.

Feature phones have come a long way since the early days of the very Kenyan Nokia 3310. With the Asha 501, Nokia manages to produce a featurephone on the borderline between smart and dumb. A cursory glance reveals a presentable 3 inch capacitative touchscreen and although the pixel density is rather low at 133 ppi, it should serve for a budget phone. The screen is encased in a boxy casing and can be customized with a variety of colorful cases (yellow, red, green, blue, black and white). Weighing a lightweight 98g and measuring just 99.2 x 58 x 12.2mm, the phone would feel comfortable even in the smallest of hands.

Under the hood you will find limited internal memory of just 128MB which however can be expanded up to 32 GB and a meager 64MB of RAM which is obviously not meant for multitasking but should keep the Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.0 O.S chugging along happily. The battery is a modest1200mAh but Nokia’s new “low power display” software   trick should be able to keep the phone running without much of a power drain. Battery recharge is via the now almost standard micro-USB port

On the connectivity front the phone comes with a dual-SIM/single SIM setup with the ability to hotswap SIM cards without having to switch off the phone first. There is 2G support, Bluetooth support and Wi-Fi connectivity thrown in for good measure and but sadly no 3G connectivity.

On the media side of things the Asha 501 rocks a 3.15MP primary camera which supports QVGA video capture. There is FM radio support and MP3/MP4 which can be enjoyed via loudspeaker or through the 3.5mm headphones. The OS being still pretty new doesn’t have a rich ecosystem of applications but popular apps such as Whatsapp and Nokia Maps will find an easy home here. The Nokia-EA Sports partnership is also alive with the Asha 501 allowing owners to download up to 40 EA games and applications for free.

At a glance

Network

2G Network                                                        GSM 900/1800-RM-899

                850/1900-RM-900

SIM card                                                              Optional Dual SIM

Dimensions

Dimensions                                                           99.2 x 58 x12.1 mm

Weight                                                                 98.2 g

Display                                                                 TFT capacitative touchscreen

Size                                                                      240 x 320 pixels, 3.0 inches

Multitouch                                                            Up to 2 fingers

Loudspeaker                                                        Yes

3.5mm jack                                                           Yes

Memory

Memory card slot                                                 microSD expandable up to 32 GB,4GB included

Internal memory                                                   128MB, 64MB RAM

Data

GPRS                                                                   Up to 85.6kbps

EDGE                                                                   Up to 236.8kbps

Wireless                                                               Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth                                                              Yes

USB                                                                     Yes, microUSB

Camera

Primary                                                                 3.2MP

Video                                                                   Yes, QVGA

Radio                                                                    FM radio

Music player                                                         Yes,MP3, MP4 player

Features

Operating System                                                 Nokia Asha Software Platform 1.0

Battery                                                                 Li-Ion 1200mAH battery

Available colors                                                   Red, Green, Yellow, White, Black