Well, Safaricom, thanks to M-Pesa, has done it again by scooping the Gold Award on the category Best Mobile Money Services for M-Pesa Money Transfer Service. Makes it the solo African winner. Below are the final winners of the Mobile Content Awards 2009

Winners – Mobile Content Awards 2009

Best Operator

Gold – Orange UK
Silver – CSL
Bronze – FREEDOM4 WiFi

Best Handset

Gold – HTC for HTC Hero
Silver – Nokia for Nokia 5800
Bronze – Research in Motion for BlackBerry Curve 8900 Smartphone

Most Innovative Business Model

Gold – Orange UK for Orange Dolphin
Silver – Spin3 for Mobile Casino Partner Program
Bronze – i-wood for Permission Based Mobile Marketing

Best Handset Application

Gold – Financial Times for FT iPhone Application
Silver – Alchemy Content / MSHK for Ministry of Sound Clubbers Guide to Ibiza iPhone Application
Bronze – Airborne Mobile for Homes on Mobile Phones Real Estate Application

Best Marketing Campaign

Gold – Samsung Mobile UK for Carphone Warehouse Interactive In Store Window Display
Silver – OgilvyOne for Kodak Snow Stories Mobile Application
Bronze – Clickatell for SMS Speech Excerpts to Global Citizens by President Obama (From Cairo to Ghana)

Best Social Communities and UGC

Gold – Utel for FOTOCHAT
Silver – aka-aki for The People Nearby Application
Bronze – Cellufun, Inc for Cellufun

Best Technology Innovation

Gold –  Movidia for MA1110
Silver – dotMobi for Instant Mobilizer
Bronze – DeviceAnywhere for DeviceAnywhere Proof Center

Best Mobile TV and Video Service

Gold – Vantrix Corporation for Media Profiler
Silver – QuickPlay Media for PrimeTime2Go
Bronze – Mobix Interactive for 3 on Demand

Best Mobile Game and Gambling Service

Gold – Spin3 for Mobile Gambling Software
Silver – Cellectivity for Bet2Go Mobile
Bronze – HeroCraft for High Speed 3D

Best Mobile Money Services

Gold – Safaricom for M-Pesa Money Transfer Service
Silver – Accumulate for Accumulate Mobile Everywhere
Bronze – Valimo Wireless for Valimo Mobile ID

Best Start-Up Company

Winner – eyeSight Mobile Technologies

Industry Personality of the Year

Winner – Pieter de Villiers of Clickatell

M-Pesa is what it is today because of Safaricom and its subscribers, the Kenyan People

This is not the kind of mood one likes to wake up with but I read an article yesterday by Olga Morawczynski (Whose page at CGAP gives a 404 page maybe for a good reason)  which she wrote for CGAP trying to tell us what we don’t know about M-Pesa, Kenya’s mobile money transfer. I feel obliged to say that his research (If any) is biased. Her findings are inaccurate and his theories incorrect. This article was published in July which means nothing much has changed since then.

I am here to talk about the role of Safaricom, the Kenyan citizen and the unseen push to the success of M-Pesa. Am here at the perception you have put up and the mentality you have created that M-Pesa is only for poor people. I may not be rich but am not poor. I am one of the millions of people using M-Pesa. I feel the racial divide here. If this product was implemented anywhere else in the world, it would have worked just as well, because its a great product. Because its an innovative product. In CGAP’s article base, there seems to be a big percentage on M-Pesa but most of it coming out as a poor man’s solution. I want to put out a few points here.

1. Safaricom’s role in M-Pesa was vital. Maybe because no one else believe in the idea enough to try it on their platform. If we go by Olga’s findings or insinuations, seems like Safaricom and the Kenyan people were being used as an experimental pad, we took all the crap and when there was success, here comes Europe trying to show how the success was theirs. Well, no one disputes the fact that they did a good thing, but we did too. I feel part of the M-Pesa success as a user – and it has been of great help to me. I feel insulted by this article, I feel downtrodden. Maybe I should ask how much money one has to pay to get an article published at CGAP on them – I guess the answer might be am from the poor Africa I cant afford.
2. Kenya was right for the product: The same product has been launched in Tanzania by Vodacom and almost a year later, its still to get off the ground. It maybe the people’s reception to the idea or the company’s marketing strategy for the product. Mobile money transfer in Tanzania has many players with 3 different competitors but its not as popular as it is in Kenya.
   
3. The European companies that came up with the idea to use Kenya as a testing pad for M-Pesa had just designed it as a Micro finance loan repayment solution. Kenyans made it a money transfer platform. Safaricom and Kenyans played the role of making them believe that it could grow as big.
4. M-Pesa has been beneficial to Kenyans of all classes, not only the poor as stated in his article.
   
5. M-Pesa was really popular in Kenya way before the post-election violence, so that did not play the major role described in one of your articles

In conclusion, I think this writer owes Kenyans and Safaricom an apology. Am sure she will get a glimpse of this article and I hope she does the right thing or responds to this article with his view. Africans have been over the years been used as research pads and its unfair, its time you took us for what we are.

Sleek Looking Chinese Phones designed to just cheat the mind of the buyer

I lost my Blackberry the moment I arrived in Tanzania a while ago and when when I went shopping for a phone, I wanted something simple yet a phone that I could get to achieve a few basics like blog, facebook, email, IM and a few things. So I hit downtown Dar es Salaam and went phone shopping.

I thought that we had quite a bunch of Chinese phones in Kenya but that was just like a third of the number in Dar. I wanted a Nokia in the ranges of 5310 and I knew just like every little gadget I have, I would over use it to get what I wanted. Unfortunately, it was too expensive in Dar. I came across an iPhone on the shop counter and I looked closer only to realize it was a Chinese fake. I actually went ahead and bought it.

It had TV instead of U-Tube, GPRS instead of 3G, quite some fake browser and only Java application support made it quite closer to getting me anywhere. Even the Gmail app could not work. I spent about $160 for it, not too bad for the look, it was an exact copy of the iPhone, physically.

Question is how good is this Chinese mobile for Africa? It may be cheap but how long does it last? Within 2 months, my iPhone was useless. A waste. This is what happens to the thousands of the cheap quality mobile phones distributed to Africa from the Chinese market. The Chinese have found a way of putting a media player, a GSM radio, an FM receiver and a Bluetooth platform on really cheap material and have it flooded to Africa for near future waste. They make money off it as they dispose their trash to us. I feel so bad knowing what this does to our environment. The thing is that our governments are not looking at these effects and they are just allowing cheap imports without regulating the quality.

What is the work of bodies like Kenya Bureau of Standards or CCK for that matter? Where is the civil society in environment? This is a challenge to anyone who can put a word forward, lets think of the effects of cheap stuff before we buy them. I challenge mobile phone service providers to put up campaigns to support proper quality of phones and help save our people from these fake things.

We are all happy when we can get an extra service at no extra cost. Blackberry addicts like me must admit that without the unlimited internet service that comes with it (For a small monthly fee), it would not be as interesting. Am sure at one point or another you have tried to connect your Blackberry as a modem or thought of how convenient the internet connection would be on your laptop… unlimited internet is the best thing that ever happened to me (Currently on an unlimited 3G connection). Anyway, here is how you can get your Blackberry to work as a modem on your computer or laptop.

I assume you have the Blackberry Desktop installed (If not, get the latest version from the Blackberry website or use the CD that came with it to install the software and modem drivers).

1. Open your Desktop manager, leave it running on the background, you don’t need to do anything else on it.
2. Connect your Blackberry to your computer/laptop.
3. Confirm that the modem is installed. You can do this by going to Control Panel > Phones and Modems. In the Modems tab, you should see a new Standard Modem on a new port (such as COM6 or COM11). Click Properties -> Diagnostics -> Query Modem. You should see the following:
   ATQ0V1E0 – OK
   AT+GMM – BlackBerry IPmodem
   AT+FCLASS=? COMMAND NOT SUPPORTED
   AT#CLS=? COMMAND NOT SUPPORTED
   AT+GCI? COMMAND NOT SUPPORTED
   AT+GCI=? COMMAND NOT SUPPORTED
   ATI1 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   ATI2 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   ATI3 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   ATI4 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   ATI5 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   ATI6 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   ATI7 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
   (Please note that this may differ depending on your Blackberry Model, just verify that the modem is connected and it works)
4. Click Properties -> Advanced. Add  initialization command with the appropriate carrier-specific APN Setting.
   For Vista users only: Under Control Panel>Phone and Modem>Properties on the General Tab, click “Change Settings”. After giving Administrator approval, click the Advanced tab. There, enter the appropriate APN settings for your carrier as noted below.

   +cgdcont=1,”IP”,”APN” e.g. Safaricom in Kenya would be +cgdcont=1,”",”safaricom”

5. Create a new connection and use the Blackberry modem to connect. Dial up number should be your normal GPRS/EDGE number (*99# for Safaricom) and authentication still the same (Safaricom: user – saf, password – data).
6. Disable IP Header Compression (*Vista users, see the note below)

1. Make sure TCP/IP Properties (Advanced) “Use IP Header Compression” checkbox is NOT checked. To verify this, do these steps:
   

   1. Start Menu->Network Connections->”BlackBerry Modem”
   2. Click Properties Button
   3. Click Networking Tab
   4. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)”
   5. Click Properties Button
   6. Click Advanced… Button
   7. Disable “Use IP header compression” checkbox
   8. Click all OK buttons to close all dialogs

   Also make sure you clear all these checkboxes, if you see any of these checked:
   Turn off “Enable Modem Compression”
   For Vista users only: Under the Network and Sharing Center, click “Manage Network Connections”. When the Network Connections screen is visible, you should have the Blackberry Modem connection you created. Right click the Blackberry Modem and select “Properties”. Under the Properties screen on the General tab, select the “Configure” button. Ensure that ALL check boxes are unchecked. Select “OK” to exit the screen. Under the Networking tab, select the properties for the Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4). On the Properties screen, select the “Advanced” button. Ensure that “Use IP Header Compression” is unchecked. Select OK to exit the screen.

   Turn off “Enable Hardware Flow Control”
   Turn off “Enable Modem Error Control”

   After this step you are done! Connect to the internet and enjoy your surfing. Please note that I tested this with my Blackberry 5310 Perl. Lets know if you have any issues.
   

Motorola Cliq

The war of high end mobile gadgets initially dominated by Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s Blackberry has a new player threatening to take over the market. Motorola has unveiled their first Android based smart phone, The Cliq. This new gadget has a sleek design more resembling the iPhone at a glance but moves slowly to prove better reliability when you pull up the slide with a QWETY keyboard that has always given Blackberry a lead ahead of the iPhone.

The phone has a touch screen and a physical slide-out keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, 3G connectivity, the ability to shoot video at 24 frames per second, a standard headphone jack and GPS capability.  A price for the device has not been announced yet but its not expected to go too far from the current prices of the high end iPhone and Blackberry.

The Cliq is lovely to hold. It feels quite slim (about 0.62 inches thick) and light (weighing 5.6 ounces). Comparatively, the Palm Pre is 0.67 inches thick and weighs 4.76 ounces, while the iPhone 3G is 0.48 inches thick and weighs 4.7 ounces. The sliding keyboard on the Cliq is smooth and the physical(!) keypad offers fantastic tactile feedback, making touch-typing a very real possibility. The phone comes in a polished black the company calls “Titanium” and “Winter White.” The 3.1-inch display is bright and easy to read — at least under the florescent lighting where we put the phone through its paces. The screen is touch capable and very, very responsive. It’s certainly on par with the iPhone.

The device will have a custom interface called Moto Blur that will bring together e-mail messages, text messages, Facebook and Twitter feeds, and photos into a single interface.

The new social Motorola

The Cliq has a 5.2-megapixel auto-focus camera. We tested it briefly by shooting some pics in low light and comparing it to photos from the iPhone’s camera. Guess what? The Cliq’s cam captured finer details and offered a brighter picture with true colors. It’s easy to share and upload photos, in the spirit of Cliq fun. The user interface on every photo has four choices: Share, Gallery, Set as Wallpaper and Delete. Clicking on the Share tab means you can post the photo to MySpace, Gmail, Picasa or any other photo-sharing site you have set up such as Flickr.

As usual, it launches the American and European market before it gets to Africa but am sure we shall have access to it real soon. It seems like the perfect gadget for anyone torn between the iPhone and a Blackberry, combining the business features of Blackberry and the social that is an iPhone.

Color Rings - Lets electronize the Jewels

Technology has proven to be leaning towards beauty and love for sleek devices. The iPhone is a good example, sleek and beautiful – and its a toy for men. Now this is heading to even personal reach and soon girls will be demanding diamond rings with blutooth and all the tech talk… BCK has come up with a very innovative way of using just your fingers to talk…forget your bluetooth headsets, here comes the Color Rings

“The color rings are an accessory for cell phones that are inspired in the gestural language of the use of the phone. It is conceived as an extension of the hand, which makes their use a more natural one, and more comfortable and more attractive as well. The rings are thought to be either an electronic component, or a fashion accessory. They were designed to be worn in the thumb and pinkie fingers, and work as a microphone and headset, respectively. These, interconnected wirelessly with the phone, allow responding calls only by separating the fingers and speaking, using distance sensors between rings to activate the call.” Says BCK’s portfolio page.

Color Rings

Working together with your cellphone (presumably via bluetooth), the ‘rings’ are worn on your thumb and little finger. One ring works as the microphone, and the other is the headset.

Now this is the new version of the rings and I assume that soon some diamond company will get innovative and start spreading the love with technology. Each day gets better with technology! This is an amazing innovation, just imagine where we are headed!! Your hand has just become the new headset.

This is the Blackberry smartphone that we are giving away

Majibu.com is on and its getting into motion with a big bang! We have just announced a Blackberry 8100 give away for 3 Users who will be the first to reach 5000 points on our new question and answer blog. To enroll, you need to be a member by signing up at http://majibu.com/register and its free! Users who have had accounts at http://dearkenya.com and http://qanda360.com do not need to register again, their logins will work at Majibu.com.  Your display name will act as your username unlike in the past where we have used email addresses to login.

How to Earn Points:
You earn points by login in, answering open questions, voting for questions and answers and inviting friends. Each time you ask a question, you loose 5 points.  The more you answer, the more points you make. You earn extra points if your answer is voted the best answer.

Participation:
Participation is open to members from all African countries. The winners will be announced on the website as soon as we have our first 3 members to hit 5000 points. The phones will be shipped to owners within a week after that.

Blackberry 8100:
This is a smartphone like no other with all the features and a slim design. It will be open to work with any GSM Network in Africa. Please see features at http://na.blackberry.com/eng/devices/blackberrypearl8100/pearl_features.js

What if I dont win?
Everyone has equal chances to win, unfortunately, only 3 people will walk away with the smart phones. However, this is a great chance for you to be able to interact with people from Africa and share knowledge and help solve someone’s problem or get yours solved. So everyone is a winner.

Requirements for Winners:
You will need to have 5000 points at Majibu.com supported with a minimum of 30 question from you, votes and a minimum 20 best answers. This is to ensure the quality of content is not compromised as the main aim of the website is to provide solutions to issues raised by members.

So, get on it, start making your points now! All new members get 100 bonus points. Dearkenya and QandA360.com members get 100 points as well on first login. Lets do this!

Majibu, Swahili for answers has unveiled its new question and answer website which starts running today, 17th August 2009. A walk through it shows a lot of adaptation of Yahoo! Answers, probably the most famous question and answer website. This launch narrows the reach for the African, making it easy to find questions and answers relating to the everyday life in Africa. Majibu.com is simply a nice place to seek simple and complex answers to issues.

Majibu borrows from the creators of DearKenya.com and soon will complete acquisition for the Kenyan question and answer website that has been running for close to 3 years now. Dearkenya has at least 15000 questions and 49,000 answers posted so far. That makes it a great archive for research, so if the merger moves as predicted, Majibu might just be among the biggest bases for local content. We are happy to be Majibu! Congrats on the launch of majibu.com.

Rahasms.com offering free sms to East Africa

A new website offering free SMS within East Africa went live yesterday, or so I seem to think. Rahasms.com to me seems to work like previously running sms websites which somehow shut down at some point. You register, activate account, activate number and there you are, 5 SMS messages to any mobile network in East Africa for free. I tried it and sent one to myself, you get 100 characters for your message and the rest of the message is an advert, clearly the business point of it.

While we get these innovative products, one cant stop to wonder, what happens to the consistency of such services?  There was Sasanet, SMS-East Africa, Niaje, someone answer me, where did they all go?

I guess the best thing we can do is enjoy this while it lasts….hope it does!

Credit card processing in Africa is a challenge to e-commerce growth.

During this time and age, its a pity that huge industry players like paypal and authorize.net still have high restrictions for e-traders and online stores based in African countries. Apart from a few countries, most of Africa is restricted to 2nd class payment processing who look like risky to deal with hence loss of business and trust from potential customers.

There are a few though that I have seen that quite translate to real business and are professionally setup and with standards even higher than paypal. Some of these even let you accept paypal on your site!

I particularly love 2checkout, accepts all major cards with very secure verification and fraud prevention. The range of allowed products is also quite big. There are a few integration issues that require a technical experience in web programming.

I came accross AlertPay, also easy to configure, allows merchants from all over Africa, with direct bank account withdrawal of your funds and easy terms. Though its rules are quite loose as compared to its competitors, its the choice for Africa. Works 100% as paypal, with email payments and pay now buttons. Accepts all major cards and funds are processed in real-time.

I leave a challenge to the banks and developers in Africa, why are we taking this money from our poor economies to the west? Think and let us grow our e-commerce industry. Come on, leave a comment here if you have any challenges or ideas for this growth.