itel is now in the laptop business with the announcement of its first product, the Able 1 laptop. The company introduced the device at the online launch of itel P37. Where it also announced the itel TV, itel Earbud X, and T1 and the all-new itel Android TV.
Officially, the company says it comes in a 19.9mm slim body design. With three thousand milliamp battery which can give about six hours minimum usage. itel says the laptop is specially designed for automatic voltage adjustments between 100-240 volts. It is powered by a quad-core CPU and has one terabyte of hard disk space. Supports Bluetooth 4.2, has two USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI and a micro SD card reader port.
It seems the laptop is geared towards light office work and studies. There are plans for new models with more customized features. The retail price for the laptop is KSH 39,999 in Kenya and NGN 200,000 in Nigeria. You can order them online from Jumia Kenya and Nigeria online stores as they are currently on discount.
This is what the company says about the device.
itel is introducing its first Laptop product, ABLE 1. With its flagship laptop, itel seeks to address the three most important factors affecting personal computers; Processing Power, Battery Power, and Storage.
Also checkout the new itel Spirit 1 laptop.
We did a little digging around and believe these below are the device specifications of the new laptop. We are however reaching out to itel to confirm this and we will update you on any changes necessary.
What are your thoughts on the device and itel entering into a new product category? Check out what’s new on our YouTube channel. Subscribe to follow for the latest videos in the ecosystem.
Update: Updated to include official device retail price and specifications.
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Ten teams from across the globe are winners of the first Imagine Cup Junior AI for Good Challenge. The competition is an extension of the Microsoft Imagine Cup and targets secondary school students. Thousands of students, aged 13 through 18, participated in this year’s competition to come up with ideas to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges using the power of artificial intelligence (AI).
What I love most about Imagine Cup Junior is seeing educators embrace new technologies like AI and machine learning and then provide these experiences to their students, says Anthony Salcito, VP, of Education. Not only do students get the opportunity to learn about Microsoft’s AI for Good initiatives. But they also further develop and practise 21st-century skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity, he adds.
Despite the uncertainty during a global pandemic and adjusting to remote and hybrid learning, students found creative ways to bring their teams together, innovate, and learn about AI along the way. From hardships experienced by friends or family to issues, they have read about in the news, or their determination to preserve the earth and create a better world for future generations. The standard of the student submissions was truly awe-inspiring. Every student who took part brought their heart to their projects, which really came through to all the judges.
Imagine Cup Junior AI for Good Challenge winners
The top 10 global winners recognized this year and their concepts are:
“Here to Hear” from Western Canada High School in Canada: A language-learning tool that supports children with hearing impairments, helping to support inclusiveness in education for the DHH community.
“Sense and Save” from Daffodils Foundation for Learning in India: An AI-powered, bio-resistive graphene sensor for real-time amniotic fluid monitoring in pregnant women, supporting those who do not have regular or easy access to healthcare.
“Gaia Eye 80 degrees” from Beijing No. 80 High School in China: A global environmental diversity and anomaly discovery sharing platform, empowering people to report environmental concerns and observations and get feedback powered by AI.
“CORRA” from St Aloysius College in Australia: The “Companion Obedient Response Robot,” designed to interact with and support children with autism in the form of a robot doll that can be with them at all times.
“Titans” from Maharaja Agrasen Model School in India: A scan and check app for consumers to detect counterfeit medicine packaging, to help reduce the growing issues with counterfeit medicines being sold in India.
“HygieneNET” from Jesuit High School in Oregon, US: A deep learning and sensor-based system for enforcing hand hygiene compliance in healthcare facilities.
“Imagineering” from Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore: An AI-powered app that identifies any anomalies in a baby’s faecal matter to support and guide new parents and provide early diagnoses of any diseases.
“Ying Wa Crazy” from Ying Wa College in Hong Kong: Designed to bring Chinese medicine to a digital platform, embracing the major principles of Chinese medicine and building those into an app to increase the speed of diagnosis.
“G Force” from On My Own Technology in India: A non-invasive pressure mapping method to screen skin cancer and enable earlier detection.
“SMSR” from Hurlstone Agriculture High School in Australia: The “Smart Mobile Sanitizing Robot” to supply and clean feminine products to support period poverty and efficient waste management.
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Microsoft is hosting the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on Sunday, June 13 at 5 pm GMT. Where the company will talk about the gaming lineup coming out of the partnership with Bethesda. Games coming to Xbox this holiday, upcoming releases on Xbox Game Pass, and more. Interestingly the company has revealed what’s next for Xbox in a conversation on the future of Gaming at Microsoft today.
Amongst what’s next for Xbox; you can play Xbox directly from a TV without a console. Microsoft is opening cloud gaming on browsers to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. The release of at least one new first-party game into Game Pass every quarter. New subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass and new low monthly price purchasing models for console and Game Pass. The series of conversations took place between Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, members of Microsoft’s Gaming Leadership team and hosted by Head of Xbox, Phil Spencer.
Gaming is fundamentally aligned with our mission as a company. Gaming is the most dynamic category in the entertainment industry. We believe that Microsoft can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining the future of interactive entertainment.
Satya Nadella, MICROSOFT CEO
Here are the details on What’s next for Xbox and Xbox Game Pass
Xbox is working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experience directly into internet-connected televisions with no extra hardware required except a controller.
In the next few weeks, cloud gaming on the browser will open to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. With Edge, Chrome, and Safari support, players will be a click away from gaming on almost any device.
Xbox is exploring new subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass. So more players around the world can experience the most immersive and fun games across devices, geographies, and financial realities.
Later this year, we’ll add cloud gaming directly into the Xbox app on PC and integrate it into our console experience to light up scenarios like try before you download.
Xbox is working with telecommunications providers on new purchasing models like Xbox All Access, which allows consumers to buy both a console and Game Pass for a low monthly price, rather than spending money upfront.
Cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will launch in Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan later this year.
Xbox is building its own streaming devices for cloud gaming to reach gamers on any TV or monitor without the need for a console at all.
We’re in the final stages of updating our Microsoft datacenters around the world with our latest generation of hardware, the Xbox Series X. This means gamers will see faster load times, improved frame rates, and experience Xbox Series X|S optimized games.
Games, Developers
With more than 23 studios worldwide creating games for Xbox, our goal is to release at least one new, first-party game into Game Pass every quarter. Role-playing games, shooters, strategy titles, adventure games, and more are all being built by our first party teams. To ensure that there is a steady stream of compelling exclusive content to explore.
Our independent developer program ID@Xbox has earned developers over $2B dollars since the program’s inception, with over 2000 titles launched and many more on the way. This model is now being used for ID@Azure, allowing independent devs to build cloud-based experiences. These programs bring new voices from diverse backgrounds into the world of game development.
What Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer’s conversation on why Microsoft is all-in on gaming below.
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Future Ni Digital, an initiative to equip over 50,000 owners of Micro Small Enterprises (MSEs) with relevant digital skills by the end of this year kicks off in Nairobi. With plans to be expanded to multiple counties across the country. The initiative launched earlier this year also plans to put two thousand Kenya youth in jobs by the end of 2021.
Key partners of the Future Ni Digital initiative include the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development (MoITED), the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA), Stanbic Kenya Foundation, Microsoft Philanthropies and the African Center for Women, Information and Communications Technology (ACWICT).
Speaking at the Kariobangi Center of Excellence during the start of the training, the Chief Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, Mr. Lawrence Karanja applauded the partners for supporting the government in its efforts to promote digital technologies and ICT. As a way of creating employment opportunities and improving on public service delivery.
Speaking during the event, the CEO of MSEA, Mr. Henry Rithaa said, “Our mission is to create an environment that makes our MSE sector globally competitive, and we are honoured to partner with such noble stakeholders who are appreciative and aligned to meeting this National goal. Continuous skill improvement is key for survival in today’s dynamic market environment, that is why we have come together to address the knowledge and skill gaps in digital literacy that will benefit 50,000 MSEs. This partnership is timely and oriented to the Authority’s strategic direction of focusing key service delivery functions on digitization and innovation to better serve the MSE sector.’’
The Future Ni Digital initiative will offer online digital entrepreneurial skills to assist these MSEs to expand and grow their businesses in the ever-changing digital market. As part of this, 192 trainers have already undergone the requisite training in a bid to kick off the mass training of the entrepreneurs. Stanbic Kenya Foundation and Microsoft Kenya have also deployed an online learning platform to enable learners to access content and further develop their skills.
The trainers are drawn from the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA), the Kenya Industrial Business Training, Uasin Gishu and Nakuru counties as well as County Industrial Development Officers from around the country. In total, over 1,000 trainers from different government agencies will be trained to become instructors who will then engage with the various MSE’s and upskill them on how to leverage on online and digital platforms to grow their businesses.
The Stanbic Kenya Foundation donated ten laptop computers to the MSEA Training Center at Kariobangi and are set to donate a total of 400 computers to the other training centers across the country.
Speaking on behalf of the bank, Stanbic Bank Kenya CE, Charles Mudiwa noted, “As a bank, we seek to elevate businesses and individuals and empower them to achieve their dreams. Many enterprises in the country are still struggling to recover from the effects of the global pandemic, and we have seen that having digital skills is key to survival. Building the capacity of Kenyan citizens by providing access to resources and knowledge is in line with our objectives as part of our non-financial support.”
Microsoft Country Manager for Kenya, Kendi Ntwiga said the organization’s involvement in the initiative stems from its mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
“Microsoft has operated in Africa for close to 30 years. In that time, we’ve built strong partnerships across the continent, helped bridge gaps in infrastructure, connectivity, capability, and we are working to assist the continent to digitally transform while creating sustained societal impact,” Kendi said. “It also represents our desire to support the Kenyan talent create innovative solutions for local and global impact while also addressing the existing gap in some of the required digital skills for the new age.”
ACWICT, the implementing partners of the digital program, developed the curriculum for the trainings and are currently rolling out the training sessions with the MSEA members.
Speaking on behalf of the implementing partners, ACWICT Executive Director, Constantine Obuya said, “the goal of this program is to accelerate skilling and employment prospects for 50,000 underserved, out of school youth in Kenya to ensure an inclusive economic recovery post COVID-19 pandemic. The project responds to the challenge of high youth unemployment in Kenya, which has further been compounded by the outbreak of the pandemic. The impact we hope to achieve is a skilled, resilient, and thriving youth effectively optimizing digital opportunities for improved livelihoods”.
MSE’s contribution significantly to economic growth of the country, yet a number of them are still struggling to survive. The digital skilling program aims to address this gap by providing individuals with access to and knowledge of innovate tools for their sustainable development and equal opportunities.
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Samsung Electronics is announcing the Galaxy Book Go and Galaxy Book Go 5G laptops as new additions to the Book series. The devices are expected to be the most affordable versions in the series with a retail price of $349. The laptops come in Wi-Fi and LTE versions and are expected to be available in June this year. A 5G model will come later on in the year. The other laptops in the series are the Galaxy Book Pro, Galaxy Book Pro 360 and Galaxy Book.
The Galaxy Book Go series has a smart clean finish. It is light at about 1.4kg and is also thin. The top of the device feels smooth whilst the bottom feels like it has a grip. It comes with a 14-inch Full HD display with a slim bezel and has an aero shape design. The device is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 compute platform, with optional LTE connectivity. Whilst the 5G is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G compute platform. It runs an ARM processor so it doesn’t come with a fan for airflow. Ports include USB C and A, a headphone jack and a SIM card tray. It has a 180-degree folding hinge.
The go devices are good for lightweight office works, browsing, emails, streaming, etc. It can be a good companion for students as well.
Galaxy Book Go Specifications
Dimensions
323.9 x 224.8 x 14.9mm
Weight
1.38kg
OS
Windows 10 Home / Pro
Display
14-inch TFT FHD (1920 x 1080)
CPU
Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 7c Gen 2 compute platform
Graphics
Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU
Connectivity
LTE, Wi-Fi 5, 802.11 ac 2×2,Bluetooth v5.1
Color
Silver
Memory
4GB, 8GB (LPDDR4X)
Storage
64GB, 128GB (eUFS)
Camera / Mic
720p HD / Digital Mic
Battery
42.3Wh (Typical)
Adapter
25W USB Type-C Fast Charger
Speakers
Dolby Atmos®
Port
USB Type-C (2), USB 2.0 (1), 3.5pi Headphone/Mic,MicroSD, Nano-SIM, Nano Security slot
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The Federal government (FG) of Nigeria is announcing the indefinite suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria. This announcement comes after Twitter also removed tweets shared by President Buhari and suspended his account for 12 hours.
In a press release, also shared on the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture’s Twitter account, it “cites the persistent use of the platform [Twitter] for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence” as the reason for the suspension. The FG is also directing the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”
Twitter users in Nigeria are already looking to use VPNs to bypass the blackout if implemented by internet service providers in Nigeria.
Amnesty International Nigeria and other nonprofit legal and advocacy groups are calling the move illegal. And an infringement on the freedom of expression and access to information rights of Nigerians.
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