Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Friday July 31st, 2015

Nadella: Why I chose Kenya for Windows 10 global launch….. CA board reinstated by Appeal Court…. M-Pesa Foundation Academy commences applications process….and much more.

Nadella: Why I chose Kenya for Windows 10 global launch

Microsoft on Wednesday launched its highly anticipated Windows 10 operating system. Billed by the by the tech giant as “the best Windows ever”, the company aims to have one billion devices running on the software. It is built to run across laptops, desktops and smartphones.

Safaricom CEO says dominant player tag to slow its growth into global brand

Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore has told Parliament that the telecommunications regulator does not need to impose sanctions on it as long as it is not abusing its dominance in the market. Mr Collymore told the Senate Committee on ICT on Thursday that curtailing Safaricom’s dominance would limit its target to grow into a global brand.

CA board reinstated by Appeal Court

The Court of Appeal Thursday ordered embattled board of Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) back to office pending final hearing in a case questioning the board’s legality. “The board has been reinstated pending an indefinite hearing, activities can now resume as normal, Court of Appeal has in another ruling allowed CA to go on with top management restructuring,’ said CA board chairperson Ben Ngene Gituku.

M-Pesa Foundation Academy commences applications process

The M-PESA Foundation Academy today announces the start of its formal applications process for bright, talented but economically disadvantaged students. The Academy, which had its foundation stone laying in May 2015, has put out applications across all 47 counties seeking applicants in their final year of primary school.

Pay-TV reaches 21 percent of TV households in East African community

Pay-TV has reached 21 percent of TV households in East African community, a region that consists of five member countries, namely; Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The five countries of the East African Community (EAC) had a total population of 146.89 million end-2014, with 33.61 million households and a TV household penetration rate of 23 percent.

KCB now issuing Kshs 130 million weekly in loans via M-Pesa

Four months ago, KCB and Telco Safaricom partnered to launch the KCB M-pesa account, a facility aimed at increasing financial inclusion through savings as well as issuing loans through Safaricom’s mobile money service M-Pesa. A month after launch, KCB announced that they were able to register 1.5 Million users and issue a total of Kshs. 1 Billion in loans and over Kshs. 100 million in customer deposits.

Five great features that come with Microsoft Edge Browser

On 29th July, Microsoft launched Windows 10 that came in with a new browser, Microsoft Edge. Microsoft Edge was initially developed under the codename Project Spartan, a web browser developed by Microsoft and included in the company’s Windows operating system. Microsoft Edge is designed to be a lightweight web browser with a layout engine built around web standards, removing support for legacy technologies such as ActiveX in favor of extensions and integration with other Microsoft services, such as the digital assistant Cortana and OneDrive; it also includes annotation tools and a reading mode.