We have decided to start a new series that recaps the top stories of the week here on TechArena. I will be highlighting the top 5 popular stories for that week or just stories that you should know about. Let’s get to the top stories for this week.
Vivo Y15 Goes on Sale in Kenya
Earlier this week, Vivo announced that its phones are officially available in Kenya. The first phone the company has is the Vivo Y15 that is available in the country for Ksh 22,000. This is not cheap and puts it in direct competition with the Samsung Galaxy A50, Huawei Y9 Prime 2019, Huawei P30 Lite among others.
The one unique selling point of the Vivo Y15 is its 5000 mAh battery. This is quite big and slightly bigger than we are used to seeing especially for this price. For some reason, most smartphones with bigger batteries are the affordable ones, mostly below Ksh 10,000, but the Y15 hopes to change that.
The Vivo Y15 isn’t available online but you can get it offline through a number of retail outlets in Nairobi.
Have a look at some of its specifications below.
Display: 6.35-inch Infinity-V display with 720 x 1544 pixels resolution
Processor: 2GHz Mediatek Helio P22 PowerVR GE8320
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD card up to 256GB
Cameras: Triple13MP + 8MP + 2MP rear cameras, 16MP front-facing camera
SIM: dual SIM
Battery: 5,000mAh battery
Android: Android 9 Pie; Funtouch 9
Size: 159.4 x 76.8 x 8.9 mm,190.5 grams
Also Read: Vivo Y15 Specifications and Price in Kenya
Instagram Fighting Fake News
This week, Instagram rolled out a new feature that will let users report false information on the platform. With this, users will be able to flag down false content by reporting it as “inappropriate” and choosing the “false information” option.
Instagram will then use this information to decide whether the content needs to be reviewed by third-party fact-checkers. When a post is identified as having false information, it will not be deleted but rather will be de-ranked from the Explore tab and hashtag pages. With this, they will not be easy to find and this will curb the spread of that post and information.
Tecno Dives Deep into KaiOS
KaiOS is a new operating system made for smart feature phones. The feature phone market is still big as not everyone can afford a smartphone. With this in mind, neglecting this segment means that we are neglecting a percentage of our population.
As KaiOS grows, Tecno has dived deep into the ecosystem with the announcement of the Tecno T901 earlier in the week. This is Tecno’s first phone powered by KaiOS. This phone is not available in Kenya and we are not sure when it will be. The price is also a mystery at this point but I don’t expect it to be expensive.
Tecno has clearly seen a target market with the launch of this phone. It will be appealing to those who may not be able to afford or simply do not want a full-featured smartphone.
Fingerprint unlocking for WhatsApp
This week, we also got information about an upcoming feature on WhatsApp that will require users to use their fingerprint for authentication before using the app. This is to just an extra layer of security and keep your messages away from prying eyes.
The feature is available on the beta version of WhatsApp, version 2.19.221. If you have this version, you can activate fingerprint unlock by following the steps below.
How To Enable Fingerprint Unlock
- Navigate to WhatsApp Settings
- Tap on Account
- Tap on Privacy
- You’ll see a newly added option – Fingerprint Unlock that you can easily set up by toggling the button and setting up your Fingerprint.
Samsung Accepting Galaxy Note 10 Pre-orders
This week, Samsung started accepting Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ pre-orders in Kenya. These two phones were unveiled about a week ago and should be available in retail stores in Kenya very soon.
The only option to pre-order either of the two smartphones is by going to Samsung partner stores across the country. There is no option to do that online which is disappointing. If you are interested in some of the partner stores you can go to, you can find them here.
The official retail prices of the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10+ have not been shared but Samsung has previously stated that the Note 10 will be available for Ksh 104,000. The Note 10+ will be slightly more expensive.
