At Mobile World Congress last night, Nokia announced a lineup of its Android phones. The phones are the Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL. The three phones are manufactured by Nokia but run a forked Android version called “Nokia X”. Nokia has built its own services and interface on Google’s Android and the OS has no ties to Google. It reminds us of the Android version on Amazon’s Kindle Fire range.

We’ll go into specs, features, photos and videos of the Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL.

Nokia X+

Pre-installed apps on the Nokia X+

The Nokia X+ packs a 4-inch IPS capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, giving it 233 pixels per inch. It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 768MB of RAM. Internal memory stands at 4GB and can be expanded up to 32GB via a MicroSD card. Its operating system is Nokia X 1.0

The Nokia X+ is a dual SIM phone and accepts Micro SIMs. The main camera on the X+ is 3 megapixels and captures pictures at a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels. It has a 4x zoom and lacks flash. The camera is capable of taking panorama pictures and has facial recognition. The Nokia X+ does not have a front camera.

Apps pre-installed on the Nokia X+ are Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Skype, WeChat, Nokia’s MixRadio and HERE – its map service.

Here are pictures of the Nokia X+Click to view slideshow.

On the connectivity side of things the X+ has a microUSB 2.0 port, 3.5mm audio connector, bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, WiFi and WAPI. It can connect to 3G HSDPA networks and download at speeds up to 7.2 Mbps.

The X+’s 1500mAh battery lasts 4.5 hours on network browsing and 4.7 hours while browsing with WiFi. Music playback on the other hand will make the battery last 26 hours while video playback reduces its life time to 8.6 hours. This isn’t impressive.

Nokia says the X+ will cost $136 which is about N23,000.

Nokia X

The Nokia X has the same features of the Nokia X+ in all dimensions except memory. The X has a 512MB RAM and is priced at $122 which is about N20,740.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/nokia-x–specifications-price-details/1/345272.html

Nokia XL

Nokia XL home screen

The Nokia XL  is the third phone in Nokia’s X series. It has a 5-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels which gives a pixel density of 187ppi – lower than the Nokia X+.

It is powered by a 1GHZ Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM and 4GB internal memory. Additional memory up to 32GB can be added via a microSD card. The Nokia XL is also a dual microSIM phone.

The main camera on the Nokia XL is 5 megapixels and captures photos at a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. The camera’s features include auto focus, 4x digital zoom and LED flash. The secondary camera on the other hand, is 2 megapixel and captures photos at a resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels.

Below are pictures of the Nokia XL

The pre-installed apps are the same as the Nokia X – Twitter, Facebook, Viber, Skype, WeChat, Nokia HERE Maps and Nokia MixRadio. Connectivity options on the Nokia X are USB 2.0, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, 3.5mm audio connector, WiFi and WAPI. Maximum data speed is 7.2Mbps on 3G HSDPA.

The XL has a 2000 mAH battery that lasts 5.5 hours of browsing on cellular connections and 6 hours on WiFi.

The price of the Nokia XL is $150 which is about N25,500.

Here’s a quick video of the Nokia X, Nokia XL and Nokia X+ in action

Quick Thoughts

Looking at the price points and features of Nokia’s X range, there are no wow features when compared to other operating systems. Nokia’s app store still requires developers to port apps to it(like BlackBerry 10). The price for Nokia’s phones is a little expensive compared to low-end phones from other Android manufacturers that target emerging markets.

Recently launched Oveem is an e-commerce store for fresh fruits and vegetables in Nigeria – at least that’s what the description on the site says. Oveem’s website has eight categories of fruits and vegetables to choose from and promises to deliver within 24 hours.

Here’s what the website looks like

The service currently delivers to these areas in Lagos: Apapa, Ikeja, Ikoyi, Isolo, Victoria Island, Lagos Island, Lekki, Surulere and Yaba. We know you’re already thinking about how they intend to preserve fruits over long periods of time. Well, Oveem’s website says they handpick items after you order so you don’t have to worry about eating rotten bananas and oranges.

If you’re into salads and smoothies, you can also get them at Oveem. They say those can be delivered weekly to your home or office.

Oveem isn’t the first attempt at delivering fruits and vegetables. In February 2012, we saw MHQ – an online store that promised to go to the market on your behalf. MHQ sold regular household items as well as pepper, onions and rodo. Yes, Rodo.

What do you think? Would you order from a site like Oveem?

Photo Credit: chany14 via Compfight cc

From his images, we can see what is a purported casing of an iPhone 6 with a 4.7 inches diagonal display iPhone phablet with a 5.5-inch display.

Another set of pictures have leaked from MacRumors. These give us a better look into the design of the purported iPhone 6.

Apple is known for secrecy in its plans for any of its devices and services. However, last year’s rumours of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C turned out to be true.

Source: BGR , MacRumors

First, a background. Flappy Bird is a game for iOS and Android that has recently gone viral in the last few days. The game was developed by Vietnamese developer, Nguyen Ha Dong.

To advance in Flappy Bird, you have to tap the screen to navigate the bird between Super Mario-like pipes. After each pipe, you get a point. It drives people crazy.

What’s amazing about this game however, is that some users have managed to play for so long and have reached scores of over 2 billion. Yes. 2 billion pipes.

Flappy Bird For Android

Flappy Bird For iOS

On January 24th 1984, Steve Jobs unveiled and demonstrated the first Macintosh to Apple shareholders. A couple of days later, he showed off the Macintosh at the Boston Computer Society. Time has published the 90-minute presentation. It has never been seen before on the Internet.

Steve Jobs explains how the Macintosh let users record video, process word documents in different fonts and create pictures. Don’t take my word for his awesomeness, watch the video below.

Source: The Verge via TIME

This is largely due to the hope that it will go viral. Most content and products don’t go viral, they are marketed and sold to specific audiences. This post is a shameful shameful sell.

Here are 7 marketing tips for Nigerian startups

1. Nomenclature

A generic name will hurt you in search engines. If you search for your proposed company name and someone else has the domain/name you want, think up another name.

After selecting a name, acquire as many public web properties related to that name as possible. Set up a Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tumblr account with the exact name of the company. Link all of them back to your website. Create a Google Place.

2. Targeting

I was speaking to a client a few weeks ago and it turned out they were running an online campaign targeted at the whole of Nigeria while their service was only available to Lagos residents. They had wasted thousands of naira.

If your company has products for teenagers, target users between the age of 13 and 21. Not all 10 million Facebook users.

3. Marketing Budgets

As you budget for your Internet plan, diesel and salaries, don’t forget to put some money aside for marketing. $5(N8750) a month on Facebook goes a long way when you do it right.

4. Engagement

10,000 Facebook fans but your website doesn’t get up to 100 visitors a day.

Firstly, people need to stop the habit of acquiring followers/fans for the sake of numbers. I’ve realised that these numbers only matter when you’re in constant engagement with your fans/followers.

Publish content that you think your fans would like to relevant social networks and include a link to your website occasionally. Be funny. Remember that people don’t live in a world that’s closed to your industry. Ask what they feel about Ronaldo’s win of the Ballon D’or.

Don’t tell me you’re selling an iPad and link me to your homepage. I’ll never click any link you post again.

5. Search Engine Optimisation

People need to be able to find your T-shirt selling website if they’re looking for T-shirts to buy. The title of each webpage should contain words you think a person would search for if they were looking for your product.

Make a list of 10 or more keywords you want to show up for every month and insert them in the title tag when you’re linking to the page. If you’re not sure what keywords you want to show up for, Google one keyword or phrase and scroll to the bottom to see related terms.

Something like this works

<a href=”http://www.konga.com/men-s-wear/darcy-mens-long-sleeve-shirt” title=”Men’s wear: Darcy Men’s Long Sleeve Shirt in Nigeria”>Darcy Men’s Long Sleeve Shirt</a>.

Konga and Jumia do this very well. No wonder they show up for almost anything you want in Nigeria. Asos shows up for almost any clothing term you search for.

Create a Google+ page  and link to all your top-level categories with the keywords and phrases you want in the about section. Submit a sitemap  to Google Webmaster tools.

6. Start A Blog

Share pro tips around your service. Blog about your industry’s successes and challenges. Blog about experiences in Lagos traffic.

7. Start A Newsletter

Newsletters are great because they bring users back to your website. When you start blogging, add a banner to every page on your website asking people to sign up. Send a newsletter that links back to your website at least once a week. Mailchimp and CreateSend are great tools.

I had Samsung’s 2014 edition of its Galaxy Note 10.1 for about two days this week. Here are a few thoughts after using it.

Too Large

10.1-inches is a bit too wide for a device that’s mean to be mobile. It’s really light so your hands won’t feel it but typing is a bit stressful because you’ll have to move your fingers from one end of the device to the other. Constantly.

Handwriting Recognition!

When your wrists hurt after moving your fingers around so much, you can use the Note 10.1 2014′s stylus and write instead. Handwriting recognition works great.

Camera

The camera is a bit slow by a few milliseconds. The good part is you can take a selfie and a picture of what you’re seeing at the same time. Here are 2 pictures taken at the journalists training at cchub last weekend.

Way Too Many Features

Samsung boasts of its multi-window feature on this device. For me, it’s a lot of stress. There are also too many options that pop up when you don’t need them. Like the notepad and calendar that pops up when you turn of the display and turn it back on. You can also swipe down from the homescreen for another window. Its function I couldn’t figure out.

If there’s one thing you have to get used to, it’s the number of gestures you can make from the home/middle button. When you hold it for a while, it shows you apps that are currently running so you can switch. When you tap it twice, S-Voice comes up.

On the left of each app you run is a small arrow icon. When tapped, it shows a list of shortcuts to other apps. I mean, when I want to go to other apps I can just go home or switch apps right?

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition reminds me a lot of a desktop working environment. There’s just so much chaos.

HBO has announced the premiere date of the 4th season of Game of Thrones. The medieval-style hit show is to return to screens on the 6th of April at 9PM eastern time(3AM in Nigeria. The Season 3 finale saw 6.3 million viewers and made Game of Thrones the most pirated TV show of 2013.

When we last saw Game of Thrones, a large part of House Stark had been wiped out after Robb’s wedding. Leaving Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon orphans. The Lannisters are still in charge while Stannis Baratheon and Melisandre decide not to kill Davos.

Outside the seven kingdoms, Daenerys is still the mother of dragons and now 10,000 unsullied. Jon Snow returns to the wall after knowing a lot of nothings.

Game of Thrones is based on the books from A Song of Ice and Fire – a trilogy by George R. Martin.

Source: Variety, IMDB

In a statement to Neowin, Microsoft has announced Nigeria and 23 other countries where Windows Phone smartphones sold more than iPhones.

Microsoft attributes the increase in sales to the expansion of its portfolio by phones from Nokia and Huawei. Both manufacturers released mid-range to low-end phones last year.

Windows Phone also rose to the number two mobile OS spot in 14 countries including India and South Africa. Microsoft has however not released concrete numbers for any of these markets.

As a Lagos resident, I have seen more Windows Phone devices in public than iPhones but that’s on the surface. Reports estimate the number of smartphones in Nigeria to be 5 million compared to over 40 million feature and dumb phones. There’s still a lot of ground to cover for smartphone vendors.

Polaroid has announced the Socialmatic at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. The camera gives users the ability to print instant photos and share them to social networks they wish.

The Socialmatic has a built-in Zero Ink printer that prints out a 2×3 inch full colour sticker photo in less than a minute – you don’t even need to shake the paper. Each Socialmatic also has a unique QR code – which users can scan and move to other devices or print out.

On the digital front, the Socialmatic runs Android behind a touchscreen interface. It features a 14 megapixel front camera and a 2 megapixel rear camera. For storage, there’s 4GB of internal memory and a Micro SD slot for additional storage.

There’s WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity so you can easily share photos to others. Polarioid’s Socialmatic will ship in the fall of this year at a price of $299 and is available in white or black.

Can Polaroid get its groove back?

Source: The Verge, Polaroid