In the small messaging app eats large corporation’s messaging app world, Tecno’s Palmchat is the new one the block. The Chinese have refused to carry last. In the last year we’ve seen Tencent’s WeChat grow astronomically alongside Line, Viber and WhatsApp. They’re growing so fast, Google just had to launch Hangouts in competition.

Enter Palmchat: The most likely and yet unlikely contender. I stumbled across it a few days ago when I was checking out 2go for Android. Palmchat is just like any other messaging service but it’s got features from every other messaging service. Here’s the breakdown

User ID

Each Palmchat user is handed an ID. This ID serves the same purpose as a BlackBerry PIN. You can search users by ID and add them up.

Search
Unlike WhatsApp and other messaging platforms which require you to have a contact’s details before you can message them, Palmchat has Look Around and Search By Info features. Look Around shows Palmchat users around you and how close they are to your location. Search By Info lets you search for a user based on different values of information. Just like how you find friends on Skype.

Chatrooms    Because 2go is a serious competitor (2go came pre-installed on the Tecno N3 in the markets where Tecno is growing), Tecno has created chatrooms for Palmchat. Chatrooms range from Romance to Football and allow users exchange messages around various topics. Chatrooms are also the best places to find new friends (and errr.. set P).

Private Messaging

You can’t have a messaging app without this. Like every other app on the market, Palmchat allows you send private messages to another Palmchat user. You can also attach images and audio files. I like that this part has a slightly different interface from what we’re used to. There’s a message bubble or smiley or file and the timestamp comes below the message.

Shake Shake

Shake Shake is a Tecno hookup tool that displays a random profile when you go to that section and shake your phone. I think they just wanted to add some fun to it.

What does Tecno intend to do with this?

It’s pretty obvious. With the speed at which Tecno’s Android and feature phones are eating up the market, Palmchat will be a serious competitor to other messaging apps. All Tecno has to do is pre-install them on every Tecno phone. Just like Samsung is doing with ChatOn. Palmchat currently has between 1,000 and 5,000 downloads via Google Play. That’s just an estimation but the graph is worth looking at. It’s going upwards. In the future we might even see a video call feature within Palmchat. Then Tecno will join the army of telco competitors.

When the application starts, it presents you with Topics which are:

1. Alphabets

2. Words

3. Syllables

4. Sentences

5. Games

The topics are seemingly placed in order, so it will be beneficial to the learner to go from item 1 to 5.

The ‘Alphabets’ section shows you each alphabet and its pronounciation, a word with the same alphabet it’s translation.

The ‘Words’ section shows the combination of alphabets just learned in the previous section and combines them to make words giving the pronunciation along with an English translation of the word

The ‘Syllables” section also shows the combination of alphabets and their pronunciation. It acts as a continuation of the ‘Words’ section as there is not too much a difference between this section and the ‘Words’ section.

The ‘Sentences’ section combines all the previous sections together and puts the ‘Words’ and ‘Syllables’ learned before to form full sentences. It also follows with the English translation of the sentences that form. This is very useful for basic sentence construction for beginners.

The ‘Games’ section is like an exercises section that tests your knowledge on what you learn from all the previous sections. There is a game available for each section. The ‘Alphabet’ game has you tap on the sound card to listen to the sound of the letter and match it up with the appropriate letter. The ‘Words’ game  shows the word in Yoruba and asks for the English translation of the word and the ‘Syllables’ game does the same thing as the ‘Word’ game. Finally, the ‘Sentences’ game speaks the sentence out to you and there are three options to select from and you are to drag the correct English translation into the box.

I see instances where the Yoruba 101 app could be used in primary (elementary) schools to learn basic Yoruba language and then move forward from there. It is also a good application for people who want to learn the language from the very basics.

I think some points of improvement could be to update the app weekly or maybe monthly with new exercises because at this point, I feel like paying for the app to get just one set of exercises is not very worth it. But if they can keep the exercises dynamic, I think it will be totally worth it.

The App costs $0.99 and you can get it for iPad or your Android device. If you’ve tried this app please leave your comments below.

Mobile social network, 2go finally released an Android version of its popular feature phone app. Founded in 2007 by Ashley Wolff and Alan Peter, the company rose to 10 million active users with only four developers and has been recruiting in the last six months to bring this version to the market.

Alan Wolff says Android is the fastest growing platform in Africa with under $50 devices on the horizon although feature phones make up 88 percent of its 2go’s usage. 2go currently has over 30 million users.

The Android version of 2go retains the mobile service’s chat and chatroom functionality but now supports notifications. We’ve looked through the app and the interface reminds us of WhatsApp’s interface. You’ll also notice WhatsApp-like smileys are available.

Download 2go for Android Here

As the feature phone vs. smartphone battle continues, African app developers will seriously have to look at credible stats and numbers. Android phones are growing fast even though there are data and battery constraints.

What do you think about 2go ‘porting’ to Android?

Here are screenshots of 2go for Android

Following rumors that BBM for Android and iOS will launch on June 27, BlackBerry has said in a statement to Mashable that the rumored date is incorrect.

BlackBerry first announced BBM for Android and iOS at its BlackBerry Live event last month. They also announced a new BlackBerry, the BlackBerry Q5.

The rumour spread after a tweet by T-Mobile UK said that the messaging application will launch for Android and iOS devices on June 27. T-Mobile has since deleted the tweet.

BBM is one of the major attractions to BlackBerry’s range of smartphones.

What do you think about multi-platform BBM? Does it seem like a great move for BlackBerry?

Source: Mashable

After nearly 7 months since it first announced its new music player tagged the gPlayer, Gidilounge has finally said they are ready to release the next generation Gidilounge app into the wild in a few weeks.

The new music streaming app will have all the features that where disclosed to the public at their October 10th event which included the ability to browse and create playlists, save their favorites and listen to a music Lounge (curated playlists) but in addition the app will allow users to discover new and upcoming artist, listen to latest releases and the weekly Top 10 of most listened to songs on Gidilounge.

The Lounges will be positioned in a way that if you are cooking for instance, there is a lounge for that where you can listen to music as you cook, or driving or even studying. It will also cover popular genres like like Juju, Afrosoul, Afrobeat and Highlife music.

The exact date for its release has not yet been confirmed but the new gPlayer will be available on the web and all mobile platforms (iOS, BlackBerry, Windows 8 and Android smartphones and tablets) for Gidilounge and music fans everywhere.

BlackBerry announced that they will be allowing their messenger service, BBM go cross-platform to iOS and Android devices starting this summer.

According to BlackBerry, the first version of the new BBM for iOS and Android is expected to have the following features:

• The immediacy of BBM chats
• Multi-person chats
• Voice note sharing
• BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more

Looks like iOS and Android users will have to wait for some features like BBM voice, connected apps, video calling and screen share features. The messenger will run on iOS 6 devices and above while the Android version will be compatible with version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and above.

After the announcement, people on Twitter discussed Blackberry’s decision to make its most loved and exclusive app cross-platform. Many loyalists stated this would finally let them switch platforms, while others said it could be damaging to Blackberry sales, but the company isnt looking at it that way.
“[BlackBerry 10's prospects are] so strong that we are confident that BBM can become an independent messaging solution,” Blackberry CEO, Thornsten Heins said.
We just hope that the move is a positive one for the phone makers.

With users signing up as fast as possible, Appsify.me has quickly gained a reputation as the WordPress of iOS. The project was initiated by former Shopping.com employee Jerome Collomb and Leonardo Apiwan, a mobile web developer. Appsify.me uses an intuitive CMS-like system to make app development accessible to beginners.

You can try out a demo version at demo.appsify.me. Here’s a video showing how it works.

Within the week, Facebook launched Facebook Home – a special application for Android that lays Facebook goodness over your Android phone. Initially, speculations hinted at a Facebook OS or a Facebook Phone. This application puts all those to rest. It’ll be available from the Google Play Store on April 12th.

We’ll take you through the features of the app and let you decide if you want this. You probably will.

Cover Feed

Instead of  your regular Android lock screen, Facebook has added a Cover Feed. The feed shows the latest Facebook updates from your friends. It’s basically your News Feed but more beautiful. You can also access this by hitting the home button on your device.  

Notifications

Notifications about calls, messages and from other apps show up right in your homescreen. Profile pictures make it easy for you to see who the notifications are coming from. All notifications from all apps are available only on the HTC First. Facebook Home from the Play Store only includes Facebook notifications.

Chat Heads & Messenger

The Chat Heads & Messenger allows you access all your text and Facebook messages in one place. Like a messaging hub. For group chats, you’ll get notifications showing tiny pictures of all the people in that chat. You can also chat within any other app on your phone. This means you can chat while you watch videos or browse the internet.

App Launcher

When you install Facebook Home, the app starts you with a couple of screens: an app launcher with the essentials, and a list of all your apps. You can then drag your favorite apps to the home screens or create more.

From the main homescreen, you can drag your Facebook profile picture to the left to see your messages or start chatting with friends. Dragging up allows you open your app launcher or post to Facebook while dragging to the right will lead you to the app you used last.

If you’ll like to see how everything works together, here’s a video from Facebook

Looking at the screenshots and videos we’ve seen across the web, Facebook Home is a beautifully designed layer for Android. It reminds you of Motorola’s Motoblur or HTC’s Sense UI but more beautifully designed. Facebook Home like we said earlier, will be available for download from April 12 but already runs as the main overlay for HTC’s First.

Afrinolly added an iOS app to its suite of applications. The app links you to trailers of African movies, music videos of African artistes and African comedy videos. You can also find full length Nollywood movies and Bollywood trailers via links to YouTube.

The company also announced that its total number of app downloads across existing versions of, Afrinolly (Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Nokia’s S40 and Java) has crossed the 2 million mark. It crossed the 1 million mark in August last year.

Afrinolly’s iOS app interface is different from its other apps. There’s a different home screen with most viewed trailers, celebrity profiles and music videos.

Before you download, there’s a caveat. The app only works on iOS devices running iOS 5 or later. It’s also optimized for iPhone 5. You can now download here.

Since it launch, Afrinolly has targeted mobile phone users. It was the winner in the entertainment category of Google’s Android Developers Challenge 2011. But unlike other services providing African movie content, a larger number of its users are in Africa – where 82% of Afrinolly downloads are from.

As far as we know, Afrinolly’s model doesn’t include buying and streaming content as it faced a lawsuit from competitor, iROKOtv for use of iROKO’s content without permission. Afrinolly’s apps link you to YouTube videos.

Both companies in 2013, will have to sort out their issues and focus on growing their userbase on the African continent.

We’ll be watching.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated an error that a large number of Afrinolly’s users are in the diaspora.

You know how a snake bit Chuck Norris and it died 3 days later? For those who don’t know Akpos, he’s the witty fictional character that I noticed late last year on the Internet. With an army of Akpos parody Twitter accounts and BlackBerry Messenger broadcasts, Akpos jokes have kept us laughing into the new year.

Mobile advertising company, Twinpine, has launched an Akpos app for Android devices. It’s a pretty simple app that allows you read Akpos jokes and share them on Facebook and Twitter.

Once in a while, the app gets updated with more Akpos jokes and all you have to do is connect to the internet to update it. The jokes are text files so the app isn’t eating so much into your data plan.

What’s very interesting about this app is that Twinpine hasn’t placed an ad block in it. For a mobile advertising network, you’ll think that’s what they’ll do. Perhaps they’re waiting for it to go mainstream before they do that.

Google Play Store’s stats says the app has between 10,000 and 50,000 downloads and I keep meeting people who have downloaded the app.

If you’ve got a Nokia or BlackBerry phone or any phone that can run java apps, the guys at StackArena also have an Akpos app for you – it pulls jokes from AkposJokes.com so it requires an Internet connection to work. For web users, AkposJokes.com is where you want to go.

Just before we published this post, we came across an Akpos Jokes application for Android from StackArena. They’re certainly pushing this as we’ve seen a couple ads across the mobile web.

StackArena’s Akpos Jokes for Android has a more beautiful interface than Twinpine’s. It also allows users add jokes, rate them and share to any sharing app on their device.

At the bottom, is a shuffle button allowing you Shuffle through jokes and seeing how many times a joke has been viewed.

StackArena’s app has the potential to be huge because it’s built around social activities. You don’t just read an Akpos joke, you can add yours, rate jokes from others and share them anywhere. A sizeable number of jokes in this app aren’t even Akpos jokes.

Compared to Twinpine’s app which allows users read jokes offline, StackArena’s app requires an Internet connection to work. That sucks a bit.

As for monetisation, Stackarena has added an advertisement banner at the top of each joke.

For iOS users, we currently can’t find an Akpos app for you. We’re hoping Twinpine or StackArena publish one soon.

This brings us to the question: Who is Akpos?