Author: Valentine Muhamba
Apple will unveil the iPhone 12 on the 13th of October
The announcement of a new iPhone is among the most anticipated events of the year. This year hasn’t been like all the other years when new iPhones were announced in late September. I can imagine there are those who have been chomping at the bit to know what it will look like and what features […]
Instagram’s 10th anniversary has come with new features
Instagram is celebrating its 10th birthday. It seems like the app has been around forever. Or it might just be that the decade (on my part) has seemed to have flown by or melded together. Anyway, to celebrate its 10th anniversary Instagram has unveiled a number of new features. Instagram Stories map feature Instagram introduced […]
French media company Canal+ buys stake in Multichoice
French media group Canal+ has acquired a 6.5% stake in Africa’s largest broadcasting company Multichoice Africa. In a report by Tech Central, the news was announced on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) news service Monday morning. Background This is an interesting turn of events because in 2018 Vivendi (Canal+ parent company) was turned down after […]
Here’s how much it costs to send money from EcoCash to OneMoney & vice versa
We have crossed the threshold of interoperability as per the directive that made ZimSwitch the national switch. This means that we can all send money from EcoCash to other mobile money wallets as well as bank accounts. There has been a lot of chatter about the charges that are associated with transferring money from EcoCash […]
Sony Music appoints Taponeswa Mavunga as Director of Africa
Sony Music UK has appointed Zimbabwean Taponeswa Mavunga as Director of Africa. Mavunga will be responsible for supporting artists within Africa to develop relationships, identify opportunities and increase the visibility of UK signed artists across Africa. Before joining Sony, Mavunga previously held the position of Head of Publicity at Columbia UK. In that position, she […]
EcoCash joins ZimSwitch, you can now send money from EcoCash to OneMoney and other accounts directly
Last month the RBZ’s Monetary Policy Statement revealed that the date for ZimSwitch becoming the National Switch was the 30th of September. That date was an extension for the previous date set which was the 15th of August. The initial date that was set was a little ambitious because the integration that the RBZ required […]
Within days ZESA increases tariffs by a further 50% with effect from today
Last week ZESA, through a communique, announced the increase in electricity tariffs by 50%. In a strange turn of events, tariffs have been increased again by a further 50% of the ones that took effect on the 23rd of September 2020. The new tariffs are as follows: Tarrifs take effect from the 1st of October […]
Facebook is bringing Messenger into Instagram DMs
If we take a little trip back in time to early last year Facebook, according to a report by The New York Times, was looking to integrate Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs and WhatsApp under one umbrella. There were murmurings during the second half of the year that Facebook was testing cross chats between FB messenger […]
Netflix launches mobile-only subscription in Nigeria
Netflix is trying to increase its presence on the continent. The hurdles to that expansion have been the price of the packages as well as the availability of broadband. These factors have kept the service limited only to those who can afford the packages and have access to the internet. In light of this Netflix […]
Google Meet won’t limit free plan meetings to 60 mins until March 2021
Back in April Google made “Meet”, their premium video conferencing software free for everyone. The policy allowed users on the free plan to host meetings that longer than 60 minutes. This decision was influenced by the growing need for video conferencing platforms that was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The policy was, however, set […]
Batman Unburied, a scripted narrative series coming to Spotify
Image Credit: Jim Lee/DC In June, Spotify and Warner Bros. announced a multi-year partnership to produce original Podcasts. These podcasts will be scripted narrative audio series featuring popular DC characters like Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and more. The first series to come out from this partnership is titled, Batman Unburied. The narrative series will be […]
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the world’s first foldable PC
Image Credit: GizChina Lenovo is going to be celebrating the 28th birthday of their Thinkpad brand with the launch of the much talked about Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, the world’s first foldable PC. Now I am sure the tech enthusiasts among you were already aware of this device. So you can forgive me for raising […]
Outdoor payment terminals could give Zimbos more ways to use USD
The second coming of United States dollar transactions in Zimbabwe presented recurring problems. If you are in possession of foreign currency you have a lot more power than you do if you have local currency. That power is however limited in Zimbabwe because of the friction points that exist especially for international payments. The one […]
Mastercard launches Fintech Express in the Middle East and Africa
Mastercard has launched Fintech Express in the Middle East and Africa. The program is designed for emerging and established businesses under the fintech umbrella looking to add payment solutions or innovate through partnerships. The program aims to expand Mastercard’s partnership with fintech companies and to create a seamless process of bringing fintech enterprises into the […]
Man of Steel aged a lot better than I thought it would
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel was a very divisive film when it came out in 2013. Expectations were high because, in my opinion, there wasn’t yet a definitive Superman movie. There were a lot of things that everyone expected it to do and to be. Man of Steel also wasn’t helped by the fact that […]
U.S govt putting pressure on Kenya over digital tax
A couple of months ago Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved the 2020 Financial Bill. The bill made a number of changes to Kenyan Tax legislation but the biggest part about that bill was the Digital Services Tax. Through this legislation, the Kenyan government would impose a 1.5% tax on digital sales and services. The US […]
Podcastle, a Chrome extension that turns articles into podcasts
The one problem that I have had with text-to-speech software is that it often doesn’t sound quite right. I am one of those people who enjoys the audio format. So I sometimes like to use programs that turn text to speech just to mix things up. The extension I use from time to time, Read […]
You can now buy ZESA tokens online on Techzim Market!
A number of Techzim Community members have been asking if they could buy ZESA tokens using the Techzim Market. Electricity is one of those that we can’t do without and the more ways that are available to purchase it the better. In light of this, we are happy to say, you can now buy ZESA […]
ZimArt Shop, an eCommerce platform for visual artists
Antfarm Zimbabwe, a local website and software development company, has announced the launch of an online store called ZimArt Shop. Antfarm launched ZimArt Shop in order to give Zimbabwean artists an online platform to sell their products. The online store is open to visual artists, writers, craft suppliers, local galleries and designers. How do artists […]
ZESA tariffs have gone up by 50%
With the way prices are running away it was expected that ZESA tariffs would be going up. The price increase sees ZESA tariffs go up by about 50%. There have been no changes to the consumtion bands New tariffs take effect from the 23rd of September 2020. New tariffs Consumption Bands kWh Price (ZWL$) 1 […]
3 features that would make WhatsApp even better
As popular and as widely used as WhatsApp is, there are some features that, I think, could enhance the experience. During the lockdown, there are 3 features that I have needed from WhatsApp that aren’t yet available. Editing sent messages Typos are a common feature on messaging platforms. Beyond typos, there are times when a […]
Mobile money subscriptions took a dip in Q2, this could be the start of a downward trend
The POTRAZ Sector Performance Report for the second quarter of 2020 revealed a dip in the number of active mobile money subscriptions. The figure recorded for Q2 2020 was 7 457 652 active subscribers across all mobile money platforms. This is a 2.8% decrease from the figure recorded in the first quarter which stood at […]
Mobile operators had over “500% losses” due to Zim currency crisis
The Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) released the abridged sector performance report for Q2 2020. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were palpable when it came to industries like the postal sector. The other inescapable force that affected the performance of the sector in Q2 was the deteriorating Zimbabwean economy. No sector […]
Fanset International, another local player in vehicle fleet management
The vehicle tracking and fleet management industry is a lot more populated than I initially thought. Following the launch of TelOne’s Teltrack, we were made aware of Dandemutande’s fleet management service. There is also another player in the fleet management space called Fanset International. A representative from the company reached out and gave us insight […]
Applications are open for Space-Tech Challenge 2020
Space-Tech Challenge 2020 applications are now open. The challenge is looking to identify and develop innovators, entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses in the space-tech sector across Africa. Space Technology is a broad industry that involves infrastructure and software that is used for earth observation and space exploration. The earth observation aspect of space-tech has blossomed over […]
WhatsApp multiple device login feature reportedly in final stages
WhatsApp has been for a long time now working on a feature that will allow users to login into one account from more than one device. The feature looks to ease the difficulties faced by users when they migrate to different devices or for users that might want to use their account over multiple devices […]
Switches that can turn your house into a smart home
Smart Home systems are one of the many wonders of the Internet of Things (IoT). Having the ability to better manage one’s home and appliances through a mobile phone is beyond convenient. I’ll admit that I often thought of these systems as more of an expensive party trick. These were devices that I thought would […]
Trace Group acquires SA production company Okuhle Media
South African audiovisual production company Okuhle Media has been acquired by Trace Group. This acquisition sees Trace take a majority stake in one of South Africa’s leading content production companies. Okuhle Media is a Cape Town-based media production house that was is established in 2013. The company produces, develops and licences content for commercial and […]
BancABC City Hopper charging 2% for city to city remittance
BancABC launched City Hopper today and the one thing that was on all of our minds was how much it would cost? Charges are what makes or breaks a service. So I reached out to BancABC customer services to ask how much it would be to send money via City Hopper, and the service rate […]
BancABC launches “City Hopper” local remittance service
BancABC has launched a local remittance service called City Hopper. This service will allow customers to send foreign currency between cities in Zimbabwe instantly. City Hopper will be available to all customers whether they are a BankABC customer or not. ‘We are launching the City Hopper – a domestic remittance service to address the nationwide […]