Tag: Astro
Don’t Get Your Hopes Up. New OPPO Store In Harare Has No OPPO…Yet
If you are in Harare and you frequent the 1st street/George Silundika section of the city you might have seen a nice looking green sign with OPPO written in white. I totally beamed with excitement seeing that brand in Harare streets I mean these guys own OnePlus which in my head meant the flagship killer […]
Zimbabwe’s latest mobile OS stats – Android maintains lead, Windows & others trail in the distance
The latest figures on mobile operating system (OS) spread from GS Stat Counter indicates that as recently as December 2016-January 2017, Android, the Linux Kernel-based, mobile OS developed by Google is on 76.95% of all mobile devices in the country.
Astro Mobile to setup mobile phone, television assembly plant
Astro Mobile plans to set up a mobile device and television assembly plant in Zimbabwe by the end of 2015. Should these plans succeed, Astro has potential to create employment and reduce the cost of production for their Astro brand.
Smartphone distribution in Zimbabwe – Whose line is it anyway?
Smartphone penetration is very low in Zimbabwe trailing far behind other nations like South Africa at 30% and Kenya at 67%. But who should be responsible for equipping the nation with these devices?
Whatever happened to Astro Payit anyway?
The Astro brand is constantly aiming to define its name when it comes to local innovation. The team there has conceptualised some cutting edge solutions in tech, but sadly others have failed to go market. Hre’a a look at Payit and possible reasons it failed.
A closer look at the Astro Virtual 2+; our first local phone with an 18MP camera
This is a review of the Astro Virtual 2+, the latest midrange mobile device from Astro Zimbabwe. Its biggest claim to fame is an 18MP camera and some other specs that will entice any Android aficionado. But is this enough o make the phone a runaway hit?
Gtel looks beyond phones, introduces its own tablet
You can never get enough of screen size. That logic that has been the driver behind the transformation of mobile phones from small and easy to handle toys into larger, well-sized devices with ample displays. It’s what makes sense in a world where we watch more video on mobile devices than ever before. That’s what […]
The top 10 mobile phone & tablet brands on the Zimbabwean market
We recently talked about how Android is now the leading mobile operating system in Zimbabwe, something that is attributable to a lot of factors around the availability of cheap Android devices. But what are the top 10 mobile phone and tablet brands in Zimbabwe right now? It turns out that in all of this Android […]
Android takes over as the leading mobile operating system in Zimbabwe
Move over Nokia and Symbian; Zimbabwe is now officially an Android market. The latest figures from GS Statcounter for the month ending January 2015 place Android as the leading operating system (OS) for mobile phones. 53.49% of mobile devices run the Google-owned OS, which has managed to overtake the Series 40 that is used on Nokia feature […]
How the Astro Goat is trying to find Zim relevance, without WhatsApp
When the Astro Goat entered the market at the end of 2014, which was a few weeks ago, it was playing on two features that most of the people are looking for in a phone; affordability and the ability to use WhatsApp. This has changed in light of developments from WhatsApp, although this little bargain […]
Astro Funbook 2 review: How does the Zim tablet for locals by locals perform?
Local is lekker , homegrown is the best pick, Proudly Zimbabwean or Buy Zimbabwe. There’s a slew of these mantras that communicate the same message really. Support local brands. When it comes to tech hardware that herd is pretty thin though. Not many entrepreneurs want to service this market in terms of hardware. In the […]
The 5 gaffes in the 2014 Zimbabwe technology space
Before we do the countdown to the new year and start living through those New Year’s resolutions, we’ve decided to take a look at not only the winners and losers, but also the embarrassing moments from the Zimbabwe technology space that we’ll gladly leave behind this year. Here are just five faux pas from 2014. […]
Predictions for 2015: The rise of the Chinese phones
Bigger is better, but emerging markets matter the most. This doesn’t entirely sum up mobile devices in 2014 but it speaks volumes about what we saw in the market this year. For the high end market the focus was on how Apple (finally) took the leap and started offering a larger screen for its phone. For […]
Device and OS review 2014: What was worth the mention
We are fast approaching the end of this year. Like every other year before it, there have been both hits and misses from the tech world. From awesome devices and software slip-ups here is a quick run through at what was worth the mention in this device and OS review for 2014. A for Apple The […]
Get ready for the $30 smartphone from TECNO
It has been reported by Biztech Africa that TECNO, a device manufacturer that has a strong focus on the the African mobile space is set to introduce a smartphone priced at a under $30 next year. This comes after an executive from TECNO made the remarks in an interview at Africacom last week. The company […]
Gtel to launch the slimmest phone on the market tomorrow
Gtel Cellular, a local device manufacturer is set to launch a new mobile phone tomorrow night called the Gtel A755. This is likely to be the brand’s new flagship phone, succeeding the A750 Xplora MX1 which was launched in June this year. One interesting feature about this new phone is that it will be the thinnest device […]
Google is demanding more from Android, local OEMs in trouble?
Android has always been praised for being kind of open and highly versatile. However at the same time Google hasn’t been generating that much profit from the OS. By these means and many others, no one outside of Samsung has seen enough profits from the open source software save for a few non-publicly traded vendors. […]
My visit to Astro’s new Masvingo store
Local tech startup Astro recently set up shop in Masvingo in a very discreet location. The place is still unsightly familiar, located on the same street that seems to have nothing going for it. At first glance, you’d notice what remains of a large chain supermarket, a little further down the road is a new Great […]
Lies, damn lies, entrepreneurship and Africans supporting each other
The life of a startup entrepreneurship is anything but easy. Anywhere in the world really. What is considered the normal failure rate is nothing short of scary and alarming. Very close to all startup companies are headed for failure before they can become anything, again, anywhere in the world. The odds are stacked against the entrepreneur so much, any break anyone can […]
The top 11 tech startups to watch in Zimbabwe
The local tech startup scene has been going through a period of growth over the past couple years. A lot of changes taking place in our environment have contributed to this including the availability of internet services and a growing awareness of opportunities that lie in tech based solutions. There is no exact science involved […]
Astro mobile to launch a new flagship smartphone called Astro Virtual 2
Local tech services and devices company Astro, is set to launch their new flagship smartphone called the Astro Virtual 2 tomorrow at an event to be held in Harare. Astro is keeping details of the device under wraps until the official unveiling but obviously it’s an upgrade to the current flagship, the Astro Virtual. From […]
Of irksome Bloatware
Defined as the excess and unwanted junk that chews up your RAM, memory, battery and most importantly for us on prepaid bundles; data, bloatware this is one of the most irritating customer ring–fencing and brand visibility techniques that device and software manufacturers employ. This is basically the hordes of applications that are pre-installed on a […]
Astro pitches the Astro Mobi Store to artists at a poorly attended meeting
Local mobile device maker and software company Astro ,today presented its Mobi Store product to local artists in a “round table” discussion at Alliance Française. Astro Mobi Store team leader, Leonard Mufati presented the solution which Astro hopes will help counter piracy of local content. Although some prominent local musicians like Cindy, Baba Shupi and […]
Astro to launch Mobi Store next week, we are cautiously excited about it
Local mobile devices brand Astro is set to launch a new product called the Astro Mobi Store at the e-Tech Africa Expo 2014 scheduled for 12-14 March 2014. Yesterday I was at the Astro offices in Harare and had a chat with the Astro CEO, Munyaradzi Gwatidzo who gave me a glimpse of the Astro Mobi […]
Latest Techzim Podcast: WhatsApp, OK tech store and FB algo change (promo)
Here’s our latest podcast – recorded this week! In there we share our thoughts on the new OK tech store, Facebook’s change to the feed algorithm and what this means for page managers, WhatsApp’s declaration that they will not do ad & game gimmicks that their competition employ, Astro’s new Square-like payments dongle and app and […]
Astro working on a card based mobile payment solution called Payit
Bethel Communications called Astro because of their Astro brand of android devices is in the final stages in development of a mobile card based payment solution called Payit. The enterprise product is targeting informal traders and small businesses to enable them to accept debit or crecit cards through their smartphones and a small card reader […]
Astro Funbook Review: Does it justify the $399 price tag?
We finally got our hands on an Astro device and we were fortunate enough to be given one of their most expensive devices to review. This is exciting because we are able to review what they have as their “best foot forward” and ultimately draw a conclusion on what their brand stands for device wise. […]
Astro claims $5m revenue in first year operation, targets $50 million in 2014
Last Friday we attended a Global Entrepreneurship Week event hosted by Emerging Ideas at the Celebration Center in Harare. Astro CE, Munyaradzi Gwatidzo was amongst the speakers and made some startling claims about the ambitious brand he founded. The young CE, claimed that in just its first year in business, Astro has made revenue up […]
Astro releases brand video, and its a good one
Astro, Zimbabwe’s new smartphone brand released a brand video which is the clearest indication yet of where their brand is going, or at least where they claim they want to take it. The video done for them by a local media company is right up there amongst the top video productions by local companies. It’s the […]