Zim Mobile Network Wars

 Telecel has been approaching Ecocash merchants to turn them to double agents offering both Ecocash and Telecash . Econet Wireless is rumored to have taken countermeasures of coercing exclusivity agreements with intentions of circumscribing Telecel's access to their agents.
Telecel seems to have Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) support as  RBZ is rumored be considering banning mobile money agents from entering into exclusive agreements with individual mobile cash payment system operators.

 Econet need to tread carefully with the ongoing Competitions and Tariffs Commission (CTC) probe. CTC  wants to establish whether Econet has any case to answer and whether it has flouted competition rules in its interactions with banks and suppliers.

Banks have been up in arms with Econet, inculpating it of not giving them neutral access to its subscribers, whilst Telecel has been working in arm's length with ZimSwitch as they have recently introduced a Telecel Debit card, with rumours of Visa/Mastercard support in the pipeline. Econet Wireless, will launch an electronic commerce platform before year-end. Econet recently became an exclusive iPhone dealer with the finalized Apple products distribution deal. Apple mobile devices record the highest web usage , Econet has now set its sights on data and other overlay services.

With mobile financial transactions up by 5%,  the Telecel debit card is response consultation with retailers, bankers and ZimSwitch in order to broaden financial inclusion. This was just after Telecel announced it had begun a fibre deployment project which will see the company laying its own optical fibre cable to avail more high capacity data provisioning for the network nationwide.

Not to be left out in ongoing network wars, NetOne has reinvented the old “callbox”, with the introduction Chatter Box which is a wired fixed position device which looks similar to the old call boxes but works exactly like a cellphone. To use you require your sim-card, slot it in and you are good to go. Having proven to launch new products like OneWallet, I doubt other competitors will launch similar offerings to the Chatter Box. Could this be one what NetoOne CEO meant when he said arguing that the State Procurement Board had made them procure “useless” equipment.

Even with with new developments and improvements Telecel continues to lose market share. Econet has soared past 9 million subscriber. Telecel registered a significant decline of 4.6% in their subscriber base. This means that state-owned NetOne is also creeping up slowly to potentially overtake Telecel. NetOne grew its subscriber base by 1%.

Acid Diaries

Who knew being cuffed in the back of a cop car laying down on the seat would be comfy? Happened in the last 48 hours. Blame the acid. #WelcomeToBangkok

After tripping for some time I have decided to post some notes advising anyone interested on how not to be in hell after your trip.

1. Clear your schedule for the next 48 hours. this 24 hours for the trio and another for recovery. In second 24 try not watching TV it will just freak you out.

2. Before the trip clean your house, a messy place could cause a messed up trip. This is like baby-proofing your place for the trip.

3. Call your family/friends, this help you not freak out or worry about them during the trip.

4. Leave your phone.

5. Emergency cash. Like $50 in a sock, don't carry your card most likely going to lose it or screw up on the pin.

6. Emotions will be high, importantly will depend how you are feeling before the trip as this will affect the actual trip. Don't do it if you are going through a dark period .

7. Maybe carry a camera(don't lose it), its like any trip so memories wont hurt and will help boost your memory of the trip's events.

8. Have a safe trip and enjoy it!!

Steam is coming

The gaming OS based on Linux will be available for download soon. To me soon seems like a long time, hope its not too late. Some are encouraging against installing SteamOS, but myself as an avid fan of Linux and self-confessed PC game addict I'm downloading Steam. I've no doubts that there will be some issues at first but my this is Valve their dominance in PC gaming is my encouragement for thumbs up to install.

Steam OS is an operating system built on around Steam through use of Linux architecture. Its taken the best aspects of Linux to create what the Valve team calls "the best gaming operating software." Picture this as Android but with purpose of its creation towards gaming. Like Android its free!

However the hardware requirements aren't available at the moment but Valve says you are going to need a very, very fast machine to run Steam OS. Dedicated Steam machines are like the sport-cars of gaming, very fast but expensive.

Many people will be interested in a pure gaming OS, I hope game makers join the bandwagon.

Instagram 5.0 now with Instagram Direct

Instagram pushed an update this isn't just one of those bug fixes or redesigned interfaces(well kinda is). Its an update where Instagram ported a four year old feature by adding a communication platform/selective image sharing with the introduction of private messaging they have labeled Instagram Direct. The update includes these new features 

• The ability to share photos privately with up to 15 people.
• See who has seen, liked, and commented on your privately-shared photo in real time.
• Receive push notifications when one of your friends shares a photo with you.
• If someone you don't follow shares a photo with you, it goes to a special "requests" area. You can decide from there if you want to view it.

On that bombshell here are some thinks to think about:

1. Still no holo. Now, they could focus on a redesign. They made one for iOS7 easily so it matches the UI updates, but the Android version is starting to look dated and out of place. I blame Facebook on that part.
2. I can sense something coming i.e. dick pics on girls inboxes
3. Offline cacheing and saving
4. Countermeasure for Snapchat rejecting Facebook bid
5. No support for certain versions for iOS & Android
6. Finally somewhat an extremely pointless add on why not just actual direct messages.

Here are the links it's free:

 

This is Myspace.

Myspace is a social network that died long ago... now it's reincarnated! As a self-labeled social media butterfly, I’ve got a serious declaration: I’ve never retained a Myspace account (used occasionally, or remember about it). It has been hectic to manage the time from writing up killer truths and confronting for my friends or better yet anyone else in my way on Facebook and when that got me in trouble (and depressed), I turned to Twitterfor some full on war. The idea of signing up always nagged at me, even though I still or porbably have an account from decades back, but I never bothered. Until recently a friend made me think twice. I did (well with my Twitter)

The new Myspace is pretty loud. The interface is mind blowing, it’s laden with better-quality, cleaner visuals that give the site a more contemporary feel. They call it "UX". They paid attention to how users were utilizing the site (to discover/listen to new bands) and pivoted to give it a music/artist focus.  They kept the design simple and image-focused.  They added a radio.  These are all good changes. A revamp, and now that Myspace is officially back, and currently with an iOS app (no iPad version yet!!!). It’s time to take yet another look at what the new Myspace is bringing to the social-media-meets-music table.

 I've got a question: Does the new Myspace have a chance?

I'm annoyed & Angry

I hate being angry. It's the worst emotional feeling possible. I'm so full of rage. Killing anyone or anything is a given. I'm not really concerned. I've let the anger control me, it was not meant to be like this. Sometimes you wish people could just be simple. Why do people make empty promises. I do not do that so why should anyone. If you cant do something simply state it, make it known so I can make other plans. By keeping the truth to yourself even though it affects me and others nothing is achieved other than a terrible counter measure.

I'm annoyed and angry, I feel like punching someone or better yet being punched, just any physical release not this emotional pain which hurts deeply. Knowing nothing can be done, it just has to be endured but I don't know how. I'm feeling angry because I have been let down by someone. That someone keeps on making empty promises. I'm angry with myself for believing in them. The only person you can truly trust is yourself. You can let yourself down but at least you would have expected it and know exactly what went down. I wish people could just be straightforward and simple.

Come Walk With Me

 It’s not easy being an M.I.A. fan, but those of us who kept allegiance & faith through MAYA, Trufflegate, and serious label issues have been rewarded with a return to gloriously electric form.It’s been almost a year and a half in the making, but the slow-jam-turned-dance-track seems worth the wait. This is M.I.A coming back with power, Matangi will surely be worth it.