City cartels and politicians behind garbage menace

By Correspondent

Since Governor Mike Sonko was sworn in as the Nairobi governor, powerful garbage cartels and politicians continue to sabotage his quest to transform Nairobi to a better City.

According to sources within City Hall, the garbage cartels and two Nairobi opposition politicians are said to be frustrating the governor’s ambitious plan to end the garbage menace.

Unknown to many garbage cartels are working mostly at night sneaking garbage from the Dandora dumping sites back to our streets. 

According to a city hall official who requested anonymity, he said after the trucks dump the garbage in Dandora, the cartels wait till midnight when they load the same trucks and mess the city in strategic points.

The cartels are also seeking unreasonable Ksh 1.5 Billion as payments  for the services that were  either not done and others poorly done.

 The Governor is said to have reported the same to the relevant authorities for action.

This comes few days after the Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said that his government is committed to deal with the garbage menace in the city and is already undertaking a project known as ‘Operation Ng’arisha Jiji’ aimed at ensuring efficient waste management.

Multichoice Kenya's Corporate Communications Manager Philip Wahome (right) and Sales and Distribution Manager Steve Kombo (left) at a media conference on October 18, 2016

Last week, Multichoice announced that its subsidiary GOtv was reducing the prices of all its packages in addition to adding more sports content. 

The changes saw Gotv slash by 28% the prices of GOtv Value  bouquet from KSh. 650 to Ksh. 470. The price of GOtv Lite bouquet was reduced to Kshs. Ksh. 840 per annum down from Kshs. 1800.

The price of the GOtv decoder and GOtenna has also went down to Ksh. 2999 from the previous cost of Ksh. 3999.  In an interesting development, Multichoice has announced a 60% price reduction in the price of DSTV Explora from Kshs. 30,650 to Kshs. 12,500. 

The new price is inclusive of the decoder, cabling and installation costs. The DSTV explora was launched in 2013 and offers users a full HD experience with additional features such as personal video recoder (PVR functionality), video on demand capability as well as video rental services all within the same interface. 
The PVR functionality allows the viewer to record shows into a 2 Terabyte hard drive and watch them later (one can record upto 220 hours of content).
One also has the option to pause, play and rewind live TV giving the user more control over their viewing experience. 
The video on demand capability is offered through DSTV catch up service. DSTV Catch up allows you to watch the latest series for a given period of time as soon as they air on their main networks. The video rental service, is another addition that allows a viewer to watch content for a fee which is added to your monthly subscription.
Explora is especially useful when watching the latest films after they open in theaters worldwide.  The moves by Multichoice are very interesting and could point to increasing competition in the content provision space.

The entry of new streaming services such as Netflix and Showmax as well as competition from other existing players like StarTimes are likely to have pushed the firm to make these changes.
The opening up of the its wide array of sports content to GOtv subscribers will ,most likely intensify demand for the service while at the same time one up Kwese TV, which is set to enter the market later this month. 

The reduction in prices of Explora may attract new users onto the platform but at the same time, we cannot downplay the competition triple play and quad play users have had in the target market.

Going for the gold with LG this Olympics

By Correspondent

With the Rio Summer Olympics just around the corner, athletes around the world are getting ready for the iconic multi-sporting event. Top on their mind is getting an honor only reserved for the top brass—the gold medal. Every elite athlete will be going for the gold, and LG Electronics has an instrumental role in helping them achieve this.

LG Electronics has been a key player in harnessing the power of technology to redefine the modern sporting experience. One has to look no further than TV, where LG’s top-of-the-line OLED TVs have caused a huge stir, captivating millions across the world with breathtaking picture clarity.

LG has gone a step further and is now using the power of technology to make training easier for athletes, ensuring that athletes have that all important competitive edge over their rivals. 

LG understands that training is a primary factor in determining the success of an athlete and has rolled out a range of products meant to help athletes transition into the modern era of smart training.

Smart training is simply data driven training that leverages on devices and smart connectivity to collect as much information as possible about the athlete’s training routine.

This includes data such as their speed, acceleration, deceleration and other pertinent information, which trainers can use to tweak their athletes’ performance to optimum levels.

One revolutionary product that has proven its effectiveness for both athletes in track and field events is the LG Watch Urbane 2^nd Edition, which provides users with the data they need to make every minute of their training count. 

This use of this technology was initially restricted to field events such as marathons, but has now been scaled up to include team sports such as football, where team work is essential.

But while technological tools provides trainers with reams of useful data, it was what trainers do with the data that truly counts. 

This means that the best technology partner is not just one that helps improve the training process, but rather one that also focuses on improving people.

LG is all about people. It develops its products with people in mind and seeks to improve the lives of people, even going the extra mile to achieve this. 

That is why it has established a reputation as a key corporate sponsor of teams, providing much crucial funding to develop world-class story.

In different markets across the world, LG supports sporting talent. This is what makes it unique in that it shares in the aspirations of different peoples around the world to become all that they can be in the different sports they are good at.

In Europe, LG has sponsored teams like Manchester City and Bayern Leverkusen. In Africa, it is rewarding top football talent in Kenya’s top league by offering incentives to players of the month. Internationally, LG has supported the Cricket World Cup. 

This Olympics presents yet another opportunity for LG to continue in its prestigious tradition of developing the world’s top sporting talent.

LG’s innovative products improving consumers’ lives

 By Correspondent
As the world continues to experience rapid technological development, the need for electronics manufacturers to continue pushing their boundaries and produce cutting-edge technology is becoming more apparent with each passing day.
New technologies are great, but once something becomes popular there is an almost instant desire to improve on it, and this continues until that technology is rendered obsolete by something new that replaces its relevant functions.
This demand has created an enormous need for companies operating in the consumer technology space to continuously innovate in order to keep up with the growing demand.LG is one such company that is always striving to innovate and this is apparent in each business unit. From OLED TV, to gesture controlled selfies, or from the Door-in-Door refrigerators to commercial air conditioners designed for use in coastal areas, the company is always looking for ways to develop new technologies and to improve existing ones.

LG Electronics Chief Finance Officer Mr. Jinho Seok, General Manager Marketing Mr. Moses Marji and Opalnet Managing Director Mr. Rakesh Singh during the official opening of LG Electronics’ new outlet at the Nairobi’s Garden City Mall. LG is investing ksh100million in regional expansion.

“Our drive for innovation is never-ending, we continue to seek new ways to solve the problems around us,” said Maureen Kemunto LG Electronics Assistant Communications and Brand Manager.As consumers become increasingly interested in establishing appliance’s ability to minimize on effort and save time before purchase, competition by manufacturers to increase their range of ‘intelligent’ product portfolio in the home appliances category to fulfill this growing need has been on the rise.To improve customer’s lives, LG Electronics’ products are now being designed to minimize the effort that goes into daily chores, thereby giving users more free time to spend as they see fit.For example, its appliances are progressively becoming smartened up thanks to sensors and other technologies embedded in them.
They are becoming intelligent by integration with mobile devices and the internet. This ‘intelligent’ quality ultimately enhances human capabilities.Guided by this philosophy, LG engineers and designers have developed their own distinctive take on what it means to create products with an intuitive responsiveness to the demands of users.
It recently rolled out refrigerators that let users know when certain foods are running low. The company’s groundbreaking new Internet of Things (IoT) technology has made this and so much more possible.
It also recently introduced ‘LG Smart Home’, which is built around the idea of unifying multiple smart appliances into a single, cohesive system in order to increase convenience and simplicity.Coupled with its interactive new feature HomeChat, which employs Natural Language Processing (NLP) and LINE, the popular mobile messenger app with over 300 million users, homeowners can communicate, control, monitor and share content with LG’s latest smart appliances.
To illustrate this, the company’s smart refrigerator has several innovative, convenience-enhancing features such as Smart View, Smart Power Saving and Smart Manager.
Smart View employs the industry’s first built-internal refrigerator camera to allow users to see the content of the refrigerator using a smartphone or tablet. Every time the fridge door is opened, the camera captures images of the interior shelves.
Users can check these images through HomeChat™ to quickly assess what they need to buy while they’re at the supermarket, helping to save time and preventing unnecessary purchases.Moreover, LG Smart Manager also transforms the refrigerator into a complete food management system with a handy recipe search function which presents the user with a variety of tasty meal options based on the items stored in the refrigerator.
Additionally, the company’s advanced Dual Door-in-Door refrigerators double the benefit of traditional Door-In-Door refrigerators.
They are fitted with extra compartments that act as perfect storage space for drinks and other frequently accessed itemsWhen it comes to washing machines, LG’s smart washing machine is equipped with several smart technologies that simplify the task of doing laundry.
 Guided Laundry can recommend and automatically apply the optimal settings for any type of laundering scenario. For example, for orange juice spills, simply texting “remove juice stains” on HomeChat will initiate One Touch Washing to prescribe the appropriate course of action.
LG clearly appears to be leading the pack in making people’s lives easier and more comfortable with its recent launch of HOM-BOT SQUARE a cordless robot vacuum cleaner seems to have set it apart from competition.
The cleaner has a feature that enables it to monitor the home while the owner is away. If the unit senses any movement, its integrated cameras automatically take photos of the room and send them to the homeowner’s smartphone.
LG’s innovations actually do improve the lives of consumers, with its products, house work is becoming easier and consumer’s lives are becoming more comfortable.