Author: Tapiwa Matthew Mutisi

Netflix miraculously blew past subscriber growth targets, and hits an all-time high. In the last published report, total membership stood at 103.95 million. The US market accounted for 51.92 million subscribers while curiously the international market (outside US) accounted for more subscribers, with 52.03 million. Netflix crushed its Q3 subscriber growth targets,…

Huawei launches first smartphone with its own AI chip to challenge Apple’s iPhone X Huawei recently launched a new flagship smartphone, the first to contain its own artificial intelligence (AI) chip that could help it compete with Apple and Samsung. The Huawei Mate 10 series of high-end devices includes the Mate 10, Mate…

Huawei is in the process of unveiling its next flagship smartphones, the Huawei Mate 10 and Huawei Mate 10 Pro. The Mate 10 series of smartphones includes the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro Key features include a Leica dual-lens camera and its own AI chip, called the Kirin 970…

Kwesé TV has provided customer convenience through an innovative payment option, that comes in the form of an online sales and distribution channel branded the Kwesé eStore. Some people within the Econet Group certainly know what they are doing given the potential that eCommerce has in Africa because of the convenience it…

Telecom operator Etisalat announced its fastest 5G live trial at Gitex 2017, reaching 71Gbps, setting a global record in the industry. Alongside a fleet of humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles and ‘connected cars’, UAE telecoms giant Etisalat broke the record at its stand in Dubai World Trade Centre, reaching 71Gbps. The trial…

The free bouquet will feature at least five channels including Kwesé Free Sports Channel which offers live sports games from the English Premier League, the NBA, general entertainment, news, some religious channels and national free to air channels. DStv now faces a tough challenge as a new and fierce rival…

Econet Media has chosen broadcast compliance, monitoring and analysis software, Mediaproxy, for its African pay-TV platform Kwesé TV. Mediaproxy, a provider of software-based IP broadcast solutions, has announced that Econet Media has chosen its unified broadcast compliance, monitoring and analysis solution for Kwesé TV. As the world’s largest scale HEVC via…

NetOne is now the second largest mobile communications company in Zimbabwe and has over 4,000,000 subscribers. NetOne has unveiled a $100 000 promotion as part of festivities to mark its 21 years of existence. Through the recently launched promotion, the company’s subscribers will be given cash prices ranging from $20 to…

On the 22nd of June , EcoCash and the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) announced a partnership that saw tollgates linking directly with customers’ EcoCash wallets. EcoCash went on to launch a mobile app in partnership with ZINARA specifically designed for paying tollgate fees. Considering the worsening cash crisis prevailing in the…

Capacity recently announced the shortlist for the 2017 Global Carrier Awards and Liquid Telecom is again among the shortlisted for “Best African wholesale carrier.” But the big question on everyone’s mind is if they can win this prestigious award 6 years in a row? Liquid Telecom is Africa’s leading independent…

Launched in 2015, Yoco gives SMEs the tools to accept card payments and grow their business, and is used by more than 14,000 companies across South Africa. Now the South African fintech startup Yoco has launched its enhanced, free point of sale (POS) solution, purpose-designed to give small and emerging businesses the…

Since its inception this year in May, Nigerian online ticketing startup PayPass has witnessed an impressive growth, with over 2,000 people using the platform and more than 60 events listed. PayPass has designed a portal where users can create their own events, share them on social media and have their audience…

Before smartphones, messaging from a desktop computer felt like was a revolution. But times change. Even people who haven’t used AOL Instant Messenger, or AIM, for years, were distressed to hear that it would be killed on Dec. 15. The great thing about AIM: “Pioneering chat app that taught us to text.” The…

As events unfold in Zimbabwe we realize that after Kwese TV’s entrance to the big stage which DStv had solely dominated for a very long time, DStv’s life line merely hangs upon its exclusive broadcasting rights to the popular English Premier League (EPL). In South Africa, MultiChoice subsidiary SuperSport’s monopoly on key sports…

Prior to Kwese TV being launched in Zimbabwe, we initially had 2 choices only – one really bad TV that literally sucks the life out of you (ZBC-TV), and on the other hand, an expensive option (DStv) that had monopoly. Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation now wittingly and popularly known as ‘Dead Broadcasting…

Microsoft is suddenly acknowledging that digital music is a two-horse race between Spotify and Apple, hence the need to dump Groove Music. Microsoft still isn’t having much luck competing in the digital music realm. The software behemoth has announced that it’s axing its Groove Music services (streaming, purchases and re-downloads) after December 31st, 2017. And unlike…

Well, I’m among those people who use the music-identifying mobile app often. Shazam is a mobile app that recognizes music and TV around you. It is the best way to discover, explore and share the music and TV you love. Shazam connects more than 1 billion people. It took them 10 years…

Under a power packed campaign dubbed ‘Magetsi Kwese Kwese/Amagetsi Yonkidawo’, ZESA Holdings Group’s ICT unit Powertel Communications has recently partnered with one of Zimbabwe’s retail giants OK Zimbabwe to roll out the Powerplus prepaid electricity vouchers. This ‘airtime-like’ method of selling prepaid electricity is found in all of OK Zimbabwe Limited’s retail outlets…

The employment opportunity through the access roads project comes at a time when Econet under its youth empowerment programme, Elevate, is also creating job opportunities for the youths who according to the last census revealed that in Zimbabwe youths who are below the age of 35 constitutes a mega 77% of the…

Orange to Deliver World Class Mobile Streaming Service From Kwesé TV. Kwesé TV, the brainchild of Econet and Africa’s newest broadcasting and satellite network was well received in Botswana, yet in Zimbabwe were it was expected to be welcomed with an open arm still is battling a regulatory setback to…