MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO: THE FIRST EVER ANDROID FROM MICROSOFT.

 Microsoft has finally unveiled its first-ever Android-powered device two weeks ago which is dubbed the Surface Duo. The highly anticipated device which is expected to be released on 10th Sept is packed with two screens as the name suggests and it is expected to battle out with giant companies like Samsung, LG and Huawei who have earlier released their dual screens devices.

One feature that makes this gadget to stand out, is its small size which resembles a small notebook when folded and almost the size of iPad mini when unfolded. When unfolded, it measures about 4.8 mm thickness which makes it to be the thinnest android device. Furthermore, its thickness is almost the size of the USB-C port.

Another outstanding feature is the material which is used to make it. For both front and back, it's made of glass, and due to durability concerns, the hinges were exempted from being made of glass. Microsoft did not forget to include a bumper inside the box which is meant to attach the device with an adhesive which is commonly found in devices like Galaxy fold cases.

All eyes are focused on the flawlessness of the folding and to assure you is that the Surface Duo provides the best folding experience and it folds at 360° or you can fold it at any position and make it stay there. This is so impressive since no device has ever done this before. Therefore Microsoft deserves thumps up on this.

Below are the main features found in the Microsoft Duo Surface:

Dimensions & Weight	Open: 145.2mm (H) x 186.9mm (W) x 4.8mm (T) Closed: 145.2mm (H) x 93.3mm (W) x 9.9mm (T at hinge) Weight: 250g
Display	Dual PixelSense Fusion Displays Opened: 8.1” AMOLED, 2700×1800 (3:2), 401 PPI Single PixelSense Displays: 5.6” AMOLED, 1800×1350 (4:3), 401 PPI Wide colour gamut: 100% SRGB and 100% DCI-P3 Display Material: Corning Gorilla Glass
SoC	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform optimized for the dual-screen experience
RAM & Storage	128GB/256GB UFS 3.0 6GB RAM
Battery & Charging	3577mAh (typical) dual battery Fast Charging using 18W charger in-box
Camera	Adaptive camera: 11MP, f/2.0, 1.0 μm, PDAF, 84.0° diagonal FoV, optimized with AI for front and rear Multi-frame HDR, dynamic range scene detection, portrait mode with adjustable depth Up to 4K 60fps with EIS
Connectivity	WiFi: WiFi-5 802.11ac (2.4/5GHz) Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.0 LTE: 4×4 MIMO, Cat.18 DL / Cat 5 UL, 5CA, LAA Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 150Mbps Upload Bands Supported: FDD-LTE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66 TD-LTE: 38, 39, 40, 41, 46 WCDMA: 1, 2, 5, 8 GSM/GPRS: GSM-850, E-GSM-900, DCS-1800, PCS-1900 Location: GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS
Security & Authentication	Biometric lock type: Fingerprint reader Security applications pre-loaded on the device: Microsoft Authenticator
Pen & Inking	Supports all in-market generations of Surface Slim Pen, Surface Pen and Surface Hub 2 Pen
Audio	Mono speaker, Dual mic with noise suppression and echo cancellation optimized for productive use in all postures. Audio formats supported: 3GP, MP3, MP4, MKV, WAV, OGG, M4A, AAC, TS, AMR, FLAC, MID, MIDI, RTTL, RTX, OTA, IMY Qualcomm aptX Adaptive
Exterior	Exterior Material: Corning Gorilla Glass Colour: Glacier
Android Verison	Android 10 with Microsoft Surface Duo UI

GET FREE 500MB FROM SAFARICOM AND “BROWSE BILA WAAS”

The newly introduced promotion from Safaricom which is dubbed “BROWSE BILA WAAS” enables customers to enjoy 500 MB of data that expires at midnight. The good thing is that the offer is available for both prepay and post-pay customers and it comes hand-in-hand with the non-expiry data bundles. This means, for one to receive this free data, you will need to buy the non-expiry data first before being allocated it.

In case you were wondering how you were going to subscribe to this offer, here is the way to go:

Dial *544# then select option 0

You will later be prompted to buy the non-expiry data bundle which in turn the 500MB will be automatically topped up as a bonus.

As simple as that, and you are on your way to enjoying the promotion.

NEW SAFARICOM EMATIC ANDROID TV BOX WITH NETFLIX SUPPORT.

 The giant telecommunication company has finally launched its first-ever Android TV box that can be purchased at Masoko at a whooping price of Ksh 6,879, which slightly lower compared to its predecessor Giga Box. It's no doubt there are slight differences between these two boxes in that:

1. The Ematic does not have the DVB-T2 technology to air free local channels
2. It does not support sim card, unlike the Giga Box
3. Has Pre-installed apps like Netflix and Youtube.

The Android Tv box is targeting the people who are not ready to spend over 20K to own an Android Tv flat screen. With this, it creates an interface that makes one feels when using a smart Tv since the box runs on Android 9 (pie). The availability of this operating system will enable one to download apps from the play store or sideload them to enjoy their favorite movies and shows.

Apart from the powerful Operating System, Here are some of the main specs that you would expect from the box:

• Google and Netflix Certified
• 4K (Ultra HD)
• Remote with voice search
• SoC: Amlogic S905X: A quad-core ARM Cortex A53
• GPU: Penta Core Mali-450 up to 750MHz +(DFS)
• RAM: 2GB DDR3
• 8GB eMMC Storage
• Bluetooth 4.2
• DRM – Play ready, Widevine
• Size(L*W*H) – 100mm*100mm*23.5mm
• Dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 ac/b/g/n
• Ports : 2 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 X TF (MicroSD) card slot, 1 X HDMI 2.0a port, 1 x 10/100 Ethernet (RJ45) port

IS THE GALAXY NOTE 20 ULTRA WORTHY BUYING?

 After the release of Galaxy S20 Ultra earlier this March, Samsung has once again gone ahead to release the most anticipated Galaxy Note 20 Ultra which happens to be the elder brother of the recently announced Galaxy Note 20.

Despite all the hype made before its release, one of the most important questions one ought to ask him/herself before spending over $1400 to get one is, will it live it up to the expectations?

Well, in this post, we shall focus on the important features that one should consider before purchasing any kind of smartphone. Based on such features, we shall look at:

1. Design, Display and Durability
2. Performance, Battery Life and Charging
3. Camera
4. Software and Update

DESIGN, DISPLAY, AND DURABILITY. 

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is featured with a 6.9'' AMOLED edge-to-edge display with barely no bezel thereby retaining sharper angular body than the previous NOTE-series. Furthermore, the Ultra has a 3200 by 1440 resolution that clocks around 511 ppi hence providing the clearest visuals and videos that you can possibly watch in any kind of smartphone which are both enhanced by 1200Hz refresh rate. Moreover, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is IP68 certified which makes it dust and shallow waters for at least 30 minutes.

PERFORMANCE, BATTERY LIFE, AND CHARGING.

Despite the distinction of running with a new processor, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra ships to the US with the Snapdragon 865 plus and Exynos 990 to the rest of the world. This device comes packed with a 12 GB RAM plus you can choose to buy the 256 GB or 512 GB of internal storage.

When coming to the battery, Note 20 Ultra is powered by a 4,500 mAh cell which can comfortably take one throughout the day without charging the device. Finally, when it comes to charging, Note 20 Ultra comes with a 25W fast charging and also offers a 15W wireless charging.

CAMERA.

Photography has become very important nowadays and by that, Samsung did not want to disappoint when it comes to taking quality pictures in your palm of your hand. Thus Note 20 Ultra comes packed with a 108MP main camera while the standard offers the 12MP. The device is featured with triple rare cameras; a 108MP wide lens complemented by a 12MP telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide. Which in terms offers up to 50 times zoom. Furthermore, it enables shooting videos in 8K resolution and at a rate of 24 fps.

SOFTWARE AND UPDATE.

The Note 20 Ultra runs on Samsung's One UI 2 OS, on the android 10 version. This will enable the device to receive updates time after time whenever available.

VERDICT: THIS DEVICE IS WORTHY EVERY SINGLE $