ZAP,MPESA NOW NFC PAYMENTS

Trust Kenyans to change invent new ways of using stuff. Eunice my local grocer has just put up a new notice just at the door of her shop. For a while now she has been having a re-stocking problem due to the many unpaid bills that her close clients have accumulated.

 

So to avert a sudden closure of her business she has decided to turn to ICT for help.

All her clients have a mobile phone and most probably a mobile money transfer from Zain (ZAP) or Safaricom (M-PESA). So all she wants is to alert her customers that now payment can be done by either service.

 

So she called me to edit her new notice that was well written in caps and on an A4 white paper.

As I looked at it a few customers passed by and made good observation.

‘That is a good idea it will not feel like raiding the wallet soon we will not have to carry our wallets and stuff all information will be in these mobile devices’. Said one of them.

 

And that’s true a lot of interesting stuff is happening in this field especially with the SUV not the vehicles but the Stocked Up Value service that is being used in the Far East.

Since now banks offer mobile banking it becomes inevitable that the mobile device will soon be carrying some money which will allow you to pay for essentials or incidentals.

 

Even for Central banks, when more business and transactions are done by the mobile devices then the requirement of printing more paper money is reduced.

 

Also for the banks, the cumulative growth of credit or debit cards has been good but the uptake of the mobile money transfer has been impressive. Remember African consumers have a love hate relation with banks, but when they go to buy their devices, the ownership aspect comes in and if it can transfer money that’s a sale.

 

With many establishments accepting mobile money payments then the initial fear aspect have been removed. What needs to be done is for the mobile manufacturers to come up with devices that require only one touch (off course that is after security checks) the transfer of a Stock Up Value to a Point of Sale.

 

By using the much touted NFC Near Field Communication; a wireless communication technology over short distances.

Since it uses little energy to transfer small amounts of data that may be required for let say payments for a bus tickets or a few groceries, it can be cheap way to conduct business.

A device that supports NFC can work in active or passive mode. What is interesting is that when it is in passive mode no energy is used when reading out data that is stored therefore meaning it can work when switched off. That is why VISA is mouthwatering when thinking of the possibilities in smartcard application.

 

As for which mobile companies that are investing in this includes SonyEricson, Sony, LG and Nokia.

So folks in just 15 to 18 months when all tests are done, expect to be pointing you device to a receivers and paying for a service.

 

As for Eunice for some reason she started receiving text messages informing her that she has received some money through ZAP or MPESA. Now what she is hoping was that phone had NFC. She would just point at the products and not have to carry a wad of bank notes.

 

 

 

*131# AND SAFARICOM

I remember some years ago while I was in primary school, the Daily Nation newspaper (I do not remember which year) had a story about how Kenya became the first country in Africa to put a person on the moon.

I was very elated and the emotions were overwhelming. Little did I know that the story was an April Fools news story.

Well I heard the same feelings this year and I had to make sure that it was no April fools day prank.

I decided to dial *131# and see what the think tanks of Safaricom had come up with. And it was no April fools day gimmick I received kshs 50 airtime on credit which I had in 72 hours as per the service. Also if you do not pay with the said time you can not use the service for a month.

The service known as OKOA JAHAZI (which means Save The Situation)uses the premise that you are stuck somewhere that has know shop that sells scratch cards, and since it’s an emergency (like the other day my cubicle had ran out of toilet paper…I had to wait for a while and dash into next cubicle) so if I had the service I would just dial *131# and get air time and send a toilet paper SOS.

Mmmm I like the service and apart from making air time available at anytime anywhere, the service is also a genius plot by them crafty guys of Safaricom.

When you have over 9 million customers, as Michael Joseph has; I would like to see least over 75% of these customers to constantly use all or part of the Safaricom array of services.

Therefore what the company is doing is to increase the ARPU by encouraging the customers to constantly have airtime which has to be used within three days.

With our peculiar calling habits the 50 bob will last 3 minutes since you can not have had 50 bob airtime and called half of your relatives. S

o what do you do, place the carrot in front and the guy will chase it. Soon people will be asking why such a small denomination and MJ will be saying bingo!

To the 15 million mobile users in Kenya and EA region, expect more innovative and exciting products from all the Mobile networks in the country.

To Safaricom Kudos and wait ….. I have to OKOA my thirst. I wonder if our breweries could come up with some product that you could get one a pay later. Just a thought

LADIES,GADGETS AND SOCIAL SITES

The cliché has been that women hate gadgets and the fear for many ICT companies was how they would excite our lady folk. Well as it is now, it’s the lady folk that is exciting the tech firms.

 

Am from Mars and am yet to understand and know my mother. She is a sweet lady but some days I do not know. Why am I going on about this …well consider this.

 

Ladies type text messages faster than men. To test these ask the lady colleague next to you to type the same message and time this. Ladies are always two words ahead. Also men think in CAP letters when using mobile phones.

 

Another interesting thing is that ladies have evolved new ways of using letters while guys stick to the straight and sure thing. Example while a man will type this text: ‘Where are you?’ ladies use letters: w r u.

 

Now if the un-secure boyfriend picks the phone and reads the message the girl can always say a different thing. ‘Oh it’s Mary she reminding me about grandma’s White Regular Underwear. That’s why guys can not cheat that well like ladies.

 

Before I digress any further the fact is that with many ladies having small fingers it’s easier for them to type on a mobile phone key pad than a dude. All the mobile phone makers need to do is to make their devices lighter. Mum and my aunties hate carrying heavy things.

And Oh yes about the colours, they must be pretty period. I have seen the reactions of some elderly ladies (over 50 years) turning into sixteen years old when deciding on a colour for over ten minutes. Apparently they were buying a phone for their college going granddaughter. I left them with a shade of pink and another kind of pink. They all seem the same to me.

 

An interesting thing about women is that if the happen to meet for the first time; they can easily strike up a conversation. Men need an intervention and beer seems to work very well. Now men dive into social sites not to chat but to get dates and hopeful hook ups. Women want to share their feelings and thoughts.

 

I heard this conversation in the office the other day:

 

Dude 1 – Hey are you on face book?

Dude 2 – yeah

Dude 1 – so what kind of friends do you have?

Dude 2 – all kinds why

Dude 1 – do you have girls?

Dude 2 – yap

Dude 1 – Invite me and we can intro me to them

 

An as it goes Dude 2 got invited and tried all the face book tricks. Am yet to inquire of any development.

 

My lady folks have made social sites the in thing. Recently while replying to a thread on face book. I was kept informed on the ‘wall chatting’ on a soap opera that runs on a local TV station. After 15 minutes I learnt all the characters and their motives.

Apart from such many ladies on chat rooms say a lot about what is happening to theirs lives and what’s mores exchange photos and photos of weddings, bridal showers, baby did this and that.

 

To the guys let it be. If there is one thing ladies enjoy is talking and social sites and the mobile phones are making it easier for them. Once they start they do not stop.

As for the men you can now keep the remote and watch soccer all day.

  

 

BONUS PAY – EASTER SHOPPING

Americans have been an angry lot. After a sterling show of their audacity of hope a black man now sits in the white house. Their hope of the American dream has of late been tested immensely with the current economic crisis. But as they try to fix these mess bonuses given to the AIG executives has elicited anger that is understandable.

 

How can an institution make losses then seek bailout from the people’s taxes pay people who really do not need that money in the first place a tidy sum of Dow? Well am also scratching for answers since this is a typical case of what happened in the ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell.

 

In Kenya March and April are seen by most employed people as the end of the long broke month of January. To me especially I was eagerly waiting for that bonus pay since the ‘Blue Chip’ I work for had improved on its performance. We made a profit better than the previous year but LO no bonus (off course the executives will get their nice cushioned bonuses).

Revenues are up but it seems they were magically created. So my Easter shopping seems to be going hay wire.

 

But if the bonus was there this is what was in my shopping list.

 

1. Acer is selling a nice laptop for just 19k. It has very good specs with an improved battery. The laptop comes with open office and you can always upgrade it to with windows XP.
2. Motorola Z3 is an excellent device that is sleek and interestingly has fast connection with GPRS/WAP/JAVA. The slide facility hides an efficient and durable device. Expect a memory slot and voice dialling facility. It’s just under 7k.
3. Zain or Safaricom modems. Safaricom has slashed its modem prices and one can get one for just under 5k. As for Zain they have just launched a service that gives you a modem after a deposit of 10k with a monthly fee of shs 3,999 which translates to paying shs 133 per day (all day) to be on the net. All you have to do is make sure that your battery is fully charged. Both modems come in a nice flash disk.
4. Any device from the Mi-Phone guys. Last time they had the Obama Mi-Phone all 5000 devices in the market were sold out. Guys who use this phone say they are durable, easy to use and battery does not disappoint. Did I mention they have an inbuilt FM radio? Well you can get one for just 3k
5. But what I am saving for is the Nokia N97 period. The grape vine says the wait is nearly over.

 

Just as an after thought I still have to pass through Bata Shoes they have new stocks and my a 30% off on its month long sale. You can not buy a device and forget about you poor feet. Walking around looking for deals needs a good reward.

To the surfers out there a special thanks to condrod.us; I found the posts especially insightful, hilarious and to the folk whose day was messed up by one phone call, I share your pain.

 

We made a huge profit I need my bonus!    

WILL SEACOM CONTAIN OUR PECULIAR HABITS

It’s Friday and the clock has just hit 3pm East Africa standard time. The behaviour of East Africans is the same all over the region. After a lethargic slow afternoon, a flurry of activities seem to take place at this time. Guys get to chat rooms, texting goes to overdrive and making a mobile call especially in Nairobi CBD becomes a tedious affair due to congestion.

   

One thing you must now admit is that the mobile phone and now any communication device was meant for the African. We have come to embrace it turn it around and even found new ways of how to use it.

Now a fibre optic cable has touched based.

 

So when the SEACOM fibre optic cable landed in Kenya, it was met by the same reactions as the mobile phone did. Remember back then, there was this cautious curiosity that came with the gadget. In fact the talk then was that; the devices use or emit a lot of ‘radiation’ and it can affect your manhood.

The suggestion then was that once you buy the device and you happen to be in the pub for a while, place the phone on the table, the effects will be minimised apart from the flossing.

 

So will the fibre optic cable experience curious caution? Are we ready for the possibility?

The permanent secretary of information Dr. Bitange Ndemo who I like and admire has been singing the same tune. We as a country and region can to be a people that just consume content from outside,we need produce our own content.- I FULLY AGREE

 

At the moment I have been encouraged by the number of innovative ways that young guys in the region are using the mobile phone technology. They have reinforced the idea that with these devices are their offices and services is just a phone call away. So imagine with the costs of communication drastically falling by as much as 60%  due to the fibre optic cable, what can’t you do?

 

The number of people learning dream weaver and other website design stuff has shot up considerable, now more companies have websites although they still are brochures on the net. Few companies or government agencies are making their site interactive which is a shame at this time of the day.

 

What I found even funny was that only 15 journalists in NATION MEDIA GROUP LTD know what blogging is all about. The company has over 200 journalists. Therefore if one of the simplest ways to produce content is by blogging and few understand how are we going to get our content into the World Wide Web?

 

To me it’s quite simple, provide or have most or all government services through the internet. And this is where we need Dr. Ndemo’s stewardship.

To turn all the government brochures on the net into interactive portals and as it happens everywhere else in the world the rest of the people take up the idea and turn it up side down and opportunities are created.

 

Its good that government has come up with E-Government, E-health and soon E-Dairy will be launched soon making our dairy farmers become among the most ICT savvy people in their industry around Africa.

 

Content is there and the ideas are there. What the vibe is and has always been is that  ‘kama gava imesema ni sawa basi ni sawa – if government says its ok then it must be fine’.

Well GAVA has said it ok thats why they have invested over a billion shillings on it. So guys lets get connected.

 

As for the folks in the region Fridays 3pm will always be Friday 3pm. This is the time to make contact and find out where you will be at and at what time, how long does not matter since as long as you and them are there its ok.

And by the way, the guys who are talking or communicating to each other are on the next floor and sit on the same table.

Makes you wonder what we will do since our peculiar calling habits are a site to behold leave alone understand.

NAIROBI MORNING BUS

I love my beer especially when it’s cold. My love for this frothy drink has even made me come up with new ways of cooking using beer. Experimenting on other foods and fruits also has made for interesting sessions. But recently I did find out to the annoyance of the people sitting next to me that beer mixed with pears is a bad combination. Apart from the short conversations that ended every two minutes, the counter seemingly looked very lonely after some time.

So imagine sitting next to a person whose phone rings every minute and the conversation is not done with the caller but with all sitting next to him. That is the daily scenes in any commuter bus in Nairobi. Where as fart can disappear in the air, the apparent yelling on the mouth piece becomes infectious and for some reason either people call themselves or it’s a Nairobi thing.

Take for instant Monday 23rd at 7.30 am. I decided to board bus from Donholm estate to the Nairobi CBD. The journey normally takes about half an hour and my my my. Entering the bus I could see very distinguished looking folks and I must say until 10 minutes into the journey it’s was heavenly.

Then a phone rang and the ring tone was loud very loud. The device rings for a while and people start looking at me since am not picking the phone, but it was’t mine but the dude sitting next to me.
Now I wonder why has a lousy bad ring tone and then not pick up the phone. If you do not want to pick the phone how about putting it on silence mode that way you stop annoying other folks.

And if that was not enough some guy decides to wake some very old man who was day dreaming.
Old man picks the phone the turns to young man sitting next to him. He hand his phone to him then says ‘who is calling?’ the young man baffled says ‘I do not know since its your phone sir’
Old man says to the young man ‘tell whoever that am in the bus I shall be in town at 10am I have to see the doctor about my prostrate ok’

But the best was the old lady who was called by her grand son. Here is just a snipet
Old woman – ‘hallo my dear where is mum?’
——
Old woman- ‘ati Daddy did what to mum? ….. you found them in the sitting room running naked and laughing? And all in the bus became red faced

I wonder what I will hear tomorrow and I have come to love this morning soaps

READ AND CHARGE YOUR BATTERY

I recently drove past the Pumwani Maternity Hospital in the eastern part of Nairobi. I smiled and my colleague in the car asked what was funny. I retorted by saying that this was where I came to this world. So where is the joke he must have asked? Well I just came to find out the other day that I had the same expression of shock like fourteen other folks scattered all over Kenya.

Apparently we all had same midwife during our births…so…. Well according to doctor a baby just needs seven seconds to imprint the anything it sees. And it appears that the midwife gave us the same look when we all opened our eyes for the first time.

Well what has that got to do with things gadgety? When you decide to by a communication device be it a laptop, mobile phone or other ICT device, the gadget always comes with a manual in several languages now even Kiswahili. The instructions are usually very easy to follow.

One set of instructions could be on an easy to follow pamphlet with the nitty gritty on the thick book. Majority of the comments and my friends questions have been on the performance of their batteries.

To most guys they say and I quote ‘this Nokia guys are full of crap how can they make a cool phone with a lousy battery’ or the other was ‘Henry I just made one phone call on my new Samsung and the bat is kaput should I return it I still have the receipt’ my answer is always question that start like this ‘so how long did you charge the battery before you used the phone?’ and a barrage of reasons are usually followed and the out come the same.

A new device on hand but a lousy experience due to the poor performance of the battery. Now it’s better to read the manual fast before using any device, I have learnt my lesson also.

You see the manufacturers forgot to tell you something about their battery; which is that, almost all batteries used in gadgets and other devices have a memory sensor. And the work of this sensor is first to know when the battery is fully charged.

Now since mobile manufacturers, computer makers and the like tested their products, its was found out that battery A needs 6 hours while B needs 12 hours of charging before using it. After the said time is used in charging the memory sensor knows that for a full charged and better performance, 6 hours is needed. I have tested this with the Nokia N96 and the results were very good.

After charging the battery for the required 6 hours, I took the phone for a road trip and after four days in Mombasa and with the constant use of the device I just had to recharge it once again, this on the last day. So unlike the baby who imprints something after seven seconds of life, the battery on the other hand will require assistance to get to their best performance level.

As a foot note I have decided to form a club of people who get shocked like me and if you have guessed it the midwife will be the patron.

The only problem is locating her. I wonder how I will ask her to be the patron….any manual on this out there.

THE VERDICT : N96

The Tana River begins from the foot of Mt. Kenya and weaves its way down on the eastern part of Kenya all the way to the coast near Malindi. At one of its crossing is the gate way to the town of Garissa. It has been called the capital city of the Somali people and in deed the vibrancy of the town is evident immediately you cross the river.

 

It takes you about four and a half hours to get to Garissa from Nairobi. The road there is rather good but the scenery becomes very boring after one hour. You get to see the same kind of tree over and over again. From a distance everyone as the popular song says ‘looks the same’ well the Camels look more the same on close up. As such you have to get something to read or do. And testing the various apps and battery duration of the nokia N96 became a good choice.

 

One thing I have to commend the mobile networks is that I was constantly in the networks throughout the journey. I did not experience a drop on frequency or even static noise.

 

So I decided to be online and chat with some folks. One thing about the N96 is the way it automatically to your set access point. This is even when you change sim cards. Unlike other devices the N96 is able to identify with the sim card and does a connection to the net. Simple things that make the phone easy. Well after chatting for some two hours my guys went mute. Apparently its quite cheap to be online with Zain. I ended up using only 27 bob on chatting and simple surfing about 9 bob over the 2 hour I was online.

 

The N-Gage games is must experience for any user of this devices. The thing it does is to connect you with a community of gamers on the net where you get options to download a free trial, share your online status, and play games with any people around the world.

 

You could always purchase the game you mostly like and come up with various players from anywhere. Being a dude Asphalt 4 was my choice and I did play till my battery started show the low battery sign. So after about three hours of being on line and playing games the battery conked out. The device aesthetics has really improved but due to its fast processor and the application the Finish phone maker forgot about the power source. The phone is great to handle and all but when you loose power very fast it becomes a let down.

However all is not lost because them guys in MIT have developed a new way to manufacture batteries that can be recharged in seconds.

 

Well when someone takes such long trips you need to archive memories. The camera was not a let down and its automatic features make it to change the picture quality in this harshest of places.

 

The heat of this area did not seem to affect the performance the device and I must say. The average temps of 90 degrees Fahrenheit so imagine. As for the other features you need to buy to experience. My verdict it’s a good buy if you are a multimedia fellow

    

N96 BORING AND SEXY

It’s always interesting to hear about what people think about zee Germans. They may be a ‘little’ bit dull but what you must agree with me is that their engineering compensates for their dreary demeanor. Take the Mercedes Benz, not only does it project power, it’s under currents extenuates sensuality with a tint of torque. So boys imagine what it would do to attract the opposite sex. Mmmm  

  

Exactly and that’s the same response I got from the Nokia N96. Apart from the Sirocco the giant Finnish mobile maker has for a while been handy and sturdy devices that had a male feel to them. But with the Asians coming up with cool looking gadgets, it has been a surprising time for me as I get a barrage of inviting comments on the Nokia N96.

 

Compared to its predecessor the N95, the N96 lives up to how the Finnish people appear to most people boring. However do not let appears cloud you judgment. The clicky twiky plastic noises that were associated with the N95 are not there. The key pad does not have the grooves that are in the N95, its flat and smooth on the N96 almost feels like touch screen.

 

The screen is bigger and quality is brilliant. If you are a movie buff the installed Transformers Movie is a good test for you. For a 2.8 inch screen the birate/video quality is good and disappointment is minimal if any.

However you may not be able to make a call if you do finish the film.

 

Apart from improving the memory and adding a DVB-H tuner the device also has other cool features like a 5 mega pixel camera with geo tagging functionality (Via GPS). When enabled it automatically tags the images with the GPS location coordinates, which you can later use when sorting the pictures on your PC or online photo service.

Nokia N96 also comes with 16 GB of built-in flash memory and microSDHC memory card slot, where you can fit 8 GB memory card for a total of 24GB of storage.

With all this improved features I did get a lot of attention from many ladies and I got wondering? Does the N96 emit any pheromones?

The ladies seem jazzed about the device may be boring is actually sexy

 

 

    

CREDIT CRUNCH WHERE

As the world contemplates on several kinds of stimulus packages, Kenya and the African region as a whole seem to be dancing to another tune all together. I keep getting the feeling that we may have been living in an island isolated from the ripples of the world financial crisis.

Yes I agree that there is a world financial crisis but here you minus Africa. While the world did business on 2% came from the African continent. It seems that most of the trade has been within the continent. Do not tell me about the minerals the oil the resources ….well there have been there but no meaning change has taken place until access to ‘information’ became this easy.

Since my paps in the rural area has information on where to sell his farm produce, all he has to do is send a text message to the willing buyer and an agreement is made. Deliver the produce the buyer then he does the payment through mobile money transfer.
All this is happening in every seven people who have a mobile phone in Kenya. Now imagine the number of transaction that take place in a day and you will start asking yourself ‘credit crunch? What credit crunch’

And with our poor provision of statistics it could also probably project a situation which implies that many people in Kenya are self-employed and the number of the unemployed could be highly inflated.
The number of businesses in the micro-economy is yet to be fully captured by the treasury. A lot of business takes place around this section of society where money moves around and rarely leaves. Once in a while capital injection is put in but these societies seem to run pretty well.

If you think that I am on a rant ask yourself why is Safaricom telling Vodafone that they are willing to buy the commercial rights of M-Pesa? Or why did Zain go to court over its Z-mobile money transfer service or why is Orange Kenya starting on its feasibility study on its own mobile money transfer service (it should be ready by the end of October).
Our curiosity is still high Kenyans are buying new gadgets and experimenting on the latest applications

So who was asking of a credit crunch? Well am now walking around with a Nokia N96, I have just had it for two days and first the screen is supa but the battery the battery oh god