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Can Windows Phone Mango Reposition Microsoft and Nokia In The Mobile Apps Ecosystem?

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Yesterday, we reported that Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE are all building and developing on Windows Phone 7. That was the same platform that Nokia had pitched to save itself from the likes of Android and iOS powered phones. Our concern was how can this company compete on margin and premium if the Asian brands are allowed by Microsoft to enter this game. It is a tough one because they can eventually make cheaper phones that will affect Nokia capacity to command great price on their products.

 

Mango, the next version of Microsoft Windows Mobile  version,  is planned to ship phones this fall. With these three companies, people will be buying phones built with Mango along with Dell, HTC and LG. While HTC will make on Windows, it already does for Android. But Nokia is different, it has embraced Windows Phone 7 as the primary platform.

 

Mango, a new version of Windows Phone 7, is an attempt by Microsoft to get into the app business. First started by Palm via WebOS, this is the hope to curtail the momentum of Apple iOS and Google Android. Unlike the two, Microsoft is still way behind in 3rd party apps with only paltry 17,000 apps in its Windows Phone Marketplace.

 

With these numbers, Microsoft is 5th with about 9% mobile operating system market share (2010), according to multiple researches. Android, iOS, Blackbeerry and Symbian all top it. Mango version supports Internet Explorer with HTML5 and hardware acceleration engine. It also has built-in voice-to-text and text-to-voice support. This will come with excess of 15 multiple languages including Chinese, Portuguese, etc.

 

Try Housing Directory – Garage48 Accra Winner – For Your Agent in Ghana

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Housing directory is an estate-based online search engine to search just about anything or any agent anywhere and everywhere in Ghana.  It was the overall winner of Garage48 Accra. We tried this tool and it is ridiculously effective, but it seems that the guys are not maintaining the site since the program ended.

 

Housing Directory – Bringing together people looking for accommodation and people offering rooms or apartments. A channel for finding rooms and apartments. Housing portal with maps and preference listings. Helping students and people moving to town.

 

URL: housingdirectorygh.com
Twitter: @housingdirgh
Facebook: Housing Directory

Team members: Diamond Kpesese, John Allswell Sanni-Thomas, Kofi Manful, Klenam Fiadzoe, Fiifi Baidoo, Maximus Ametorgoh

The Perils of Netification – Why Too Much Internet Hurts?

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Internet promotes ‘groupthink’ which robs us of original fresh perspectives. Once one idea starts, everyone bounces on it and that is it. We begin to wire our brains alike and rapidly codify our brains to think along. From New York Times to CNN, AP to USA Today, finding original fresh perspectives is difficult because we have become half-baked intellectuals that rarely care to remember things?

 

Yes, since we can Google, why bother to remember. Microsoft Word helps us get along with misspellings and why worry to spell correctly. Word is there to help you. And did I mention that the art of hand writing is dead because in 30 years today, kids may never have to ever use a pencil in pre-schools or primary schools. We will have gadgets that eliminate the need for knowing your spelling and hand-writing very well.

 

Would they miss those? I doubt so because by then, there would be no paper check with contracts executed digitally and all hand-writing skills will matter less.

 

Personally, I do not like cellphones. They distract and affect ones concentration level, especially for those that still enjoy reading. Unfortunately, the reality of this age is that you have to live with it to move along.

 

In the Internet, we Google random data and pieces of news and rarely spend time to understand any concept very well. The values of books are low because we have cheap alternatives online. We lose the balance and depth that comes from reading nice books.

 

Today, what do you do? Google the topic or visit Chat Rooms and ask someone to explain the topic in a paragraph. Suddenly, you are an expert. When you engage the so-called expert in a conversion, you will discover he needs to google for more facts to keep the discussion going.

 

Just like the guy that was asked in an AT&T commercial to name the capital of Peru in a game show. He called his buddy to help and the man Googled the answer for him. No one puts efforts to remember because the other part of the brain is on the Internet.

 

We have put our brains on holidays. I used to memorize all the major statistics and by doing that sharpen my brain to retain and produce when needed. These days, who cares what is in the brain. Your Smartphone is there to help you. Why memorize your car plate number when it is there?

 

Just ask a typical 21-year student that uses GPS to describe how he travelled from New York City to say Boston, a road he has taken more than 20 times; he will not even recall the first exit from New York City. The reason is that GPS is the brain. I am guilty of this also; I care less of those exit numbers provided the GPS is on.

 

So does it mean that kids born today will be less-intellectually capable that those born in 1960? The new kids will use less of their brains and their abilities to think creatively may be challenged? And because their brains are not storing and retaining data and facts, they may not properly mine data very well. Relying on computers and gadgets that offer what has only been known and programmed therein.

 

It is unlikely that Faraday, Einstein, Edison, Curie and others would have become legends if they lived in this age? Also, it is also possible that there are many legends in this time that people do not care because there are many of them. I recently visited an archive and saw some old editions of popular magazines. There were many scientists on covers of magazines. Then discovery was a feat and whenever it happened, the world celebrated. But today, it is so common that we care not that much.

 

Think of the last time you saw a scientist on a major magazine (I am not talking about innovators like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs). I mean people that create the basic knowledge the world feeds on. They are very rare but it does not mean that guys are not making breakthroughs in science daily.

 

You know that I am on the losing side of this argument because no matter the perils of netification of the society, not using an Internet would be more trouble. Let the brains go on vacations if they want, I will continue to ‘live’ on the web because for all its negatives, there is no life without the Internet.

With City Explorer, You Cannot Miss Your Way in Lagos, PHC and Abuja

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For local businesses, having an online resource available at the touch of a button is one of the great advantages of modern technology. City Explorer is designed to promote local products, places and services to their immediate community.

The online platform can be accessed via a home computer, a mobile phone, or tablet device and will display local business info complete with description, location and directions of how to get there, photos, ratings and comments by people who have bought the product, patronized the service and been to that location.

 

This product as founded during Garage48 Lagos where it was pitched as follows:

 

City Explorer – Applications helping to explore your city and promotes local businesses. Improve the search results for the off-line businesses. On mobile and web. Helps to search for your places of interests.

 

Team members: William Ukoh, Dayo Ayeni, Demilade Jemilugba, Dayo Adeniyi, Rodney Jackson Cole, Oluwamayowa Steepe

 

URL: steepe.org/cityexplorer

Twitter: @CityExplorerNG

Facebook: City Explorer

East Africa PC Shipment Outlook – HP Leads. Dell And Acer Follow. Mecer/Zinox Lags

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From multiple reports, including IDT research, vendors will not rely on pricing or hardware specifications for a competitive edge, but rather on their ability to engage in demand-creation programs, mobilize channels, and articulate a message that their products will provide an unmatched user experience.

 

This is the Vendor Outlook on PC shipment, going forward.

  • HP maintained its top position on the East Africa PC market, with shipment growth of 46% year on year, supported by strong commercial demand and improved run-rates during Q1 2011. The vendor remained very strong in the Kenya market but continued to struggle in Ethiopia and Uganda.

 

  • Dell came a close second in Q1, with more than 600% year-on-year growth, after an aggressive channel recruitment and revamped drive from mid-2010. Dell continued to benefit more than other vendors from the shift from the gray market to official channels, especially in Ethiopia and Uganda, where desktop sales increased significantly.

 

  • Acer was third in East Africa in Q1, with 200% year-on-year growth, mainly thanks to deals in the telecommunications space. This channel is expected to continue growing as telcos explore data services to supplement dwindling voice revenues.

 

It is quite instructive that Mecer, which came into the East African market (Kenya) at the same time its Nigerian version, Zinox came into being has not managed any significant sales achievement in that region. Meanwhile Zinox was last rated as the highest selling PC brand in Nigeria Q4 2010.

 

IDC’s Quarterly PC Tracker is famed to deliver timely intelligence and an inclusive database detailing changes and trends in the African PC market. The tracker enables users to view data by volume, value, country, year, quarter, vendor, brand, processor brand, and channel. It also includes easy-to-read summaries that analyze volume and value by form factor, vendor, and end-user segment.