Berlin, Germany | AFP | Chinese tech giant Huawei launches its latest high-end smartphone in Munich on Thursday, the first that could be void of popular Google apps because of US sanctions. Observers are asking whether a phone without the Silicon Valley software that users have come to depend on can …
Read More »Huawei turns to Africa to offset US blacklist
Paris, France | AFP | As the US leads a drive for the West to shun Huawei over security fears, the Chinese tech giant has sought to strengthen its position in Africa, where it is already well-established. Huawei has taken a leading role in developing next-generation 5G mobile phone networks around the …
Read More »Smartphone moviemakers take the limelight at African festival
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | “It’s not because you don’t have the means that you don’t dream,” says Guy-Serge Namane, a director at the second Bushman Film Festival, a cornucopia of global smartphone cinema. “Action!,” his assistant director calls. Namane asks actress Berenice Irie, in full make-up, to …
Read More »Emerging economies catching up in smartphone adoption: survey
Washington, United States | AFP | Smartphone use has become the norm in most developed nations, while many emerging economies are showing sharp gains, a global survey showed Tuesday. The Pew Research Center report found strong majorities of adults using smartphones in the world’s wealthier countries, led by 95 percent …
Read More »Coca Cola company paying you $100,000 to give up smartphone
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Enhanced water company Vitaminwater, Coca Cola-owned company, recently launched a contest challenging entrants to give up their smartphones and tablets for a whole year. That’s a tough thing to do in this day and age, but the company is ready to make it worth your …
Read More »Samsung folding screen lets smartphone open into tablet
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Samsung on Wednesday showed off a folding screen that lets a smartphone open into a tablet, heralding it as the future for portable devices. Senior vice president of mobile product marketing Justin Denison pulled a prototype foldable smartphone from a suit jacket inner …
Read More »‘Die With Me’
New hot smartphone app that only works if less than 5% battery Left Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | From Whatsapp to WeChat or Skype,the world has plenty of choices when it comes to messaging apps that connect friends and strangers on the internet. The market is so crowded that …
Read More »Apple overtakes Samsung in shrinking smartphone market: survey
Washington, United States | AFP | Apple overtook Samsung in the fourth quarter as the largest smartphone producer in a declining global market for handsets, research firm IDC said Friday. A survey by IDC showed Apple — which reported its quarterly data Thursday — led all vendors with 77.3 million …
Read More »Smartphone addiction
Study shows danger of imbalance it creates in your brain Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | Researchers have found an imbalance in the brain chemistry of young people addicted to smartphones and the internet, according to a study presented on November 30 at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North …
Read More »Phone addicts get unusual help
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | These days we check emails and messages on our smartphones all the time. Not only on public transport but also in social situations, for example when having drinks with friends. The more one feels the urge to check their phone, even when they are not expecting …
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