LG to invest Ksh100million in regional expansion

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

LG Electronics has today announced it will expand its branch network in the eastern African region to improve the availability of its products and services for a growing client base.

LG is investing approximately Ksh100 million in the first phase of this expansion that will see 25 additional retail outlets opened in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Zambia by end of this year.

Kenya will see two more outlets opened in Nairobi, bringing to six the total number of LG outlets across the country.

Speaking while officially opening a new outlet at the Nairobi’s Garden City Mall, LG Electronics’ Managing Director, Mr. Taeick Son said the company would continue to focus on delivering innovative products to its customers in eastern Africa.

“We are committed to delivering products that allow our customers to experience convenience in their lives.  Our motivation has always been based around our strong desire to create a happier, better life,” said Son.

He added: “This outlet, just like the rest of the portfolio that we shall soon be rolling out, will provide our wide range of products that includes home entertainment, home appliances, mobiles and air conditioners, among others.”

At the beginning of the year, the company embarked on a drive to improve its customer service by opening two new service centres in Nairobi and Mombasa, bringing the total number of such units in Kenya to 17.

LG customer service centres receive approximately 3,000 claims (individual item-linked queries) every month, a number expected to increase going forward.

The company further undertook an extensive investment to boost the capability of its technicians through training by experts from Korea, especially on new product categories.

Recently, LG launched the first of its 2015 new Super Ultra High Definition (UHD) TV in the Kenyan market.

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

LG RELEASES LATEST TONE ULTRA™ IN BEST-SELLING BLUETOOTH HEADSET SERIES

LG Electronics (LG) today added to its growing portfolio of diversified Bluetooth headset products, introducing the newest version of its mid-range stereo headset, LG TONE ULTRA™ (model HBS-810). The TONE ULTRA HBS-810 will go on sale starting in late August in the United States, followed by key markets in Asia and Europe.

The release of the HBS-810 comes hot on the heels of LG’s recent announcement that it had sold its 10 millionth LG TONE Series Bluetooth headset globally since launching the series in October of 2010. Despite its premium features, more consumers can now enjoy the new TONE ULTRA’s mix of flexibility and high sound quality at a reasonable price.

As an upgraded successor of the TONE ULTRA HBS-800 model, the HBS-810 is specifically designed to provide an enhanced audio experience. The latest TONE ULTRA headphones deliver premium quality sound made possible through collaboration with JBL, one of the world’s leading audio electronics specialists.

The TONE ULTRA’s Quad-Layer Speaker Technology™ provides enhanced bass and middle-range tones, and boosts overall sound quality through optimized audio equalization. The flexible silicone gel ear pieces fill the ear cavity, providing maximum sound insulation and clearer music playback with very little outside interference.

The new TONE ULTRA also comes with advanced features that were previously available only on high-end headsets. LG’s innovative wire management technology makes the ear buds completely retractable, leaving no tangled wires and helping the headset maintain its sleek profile at all times. The two-way jog button makes it easy to control volume as well as content with options like fast-forward and rewind readily available.

“We are excited to add another new product to our TONE ULTRA portfolio, opening up more options to enjoy the ultimate sound quality that comes with a Bluetooth stereo headset,” said Seo Young-jae, vice president in charge of Innovative Personal Devices at LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “With so many premium features available at such a highly competitive price, we hope that more people will be able to experience the superior quality of our Tone Series Bluetooth headsets for themselves.”

Details of price and availability will be announced locally at the time of launch. Visitors to LG’s Booth at IFA 2015 (Hall 18 of Messe Berlin) can also experience the new TONE ULTRA from September 4-9.

LATEST ANDROID WEAR UPDATE BRINGS WI-FI CONNECTIVITY TO LG G WATCH R

With the latest Android Wear update, LG’s first round wearable device, G Watch R, will become Wi-Fi capable, allowing wearers to receive notifications and other information on their wrists even without a Bluetooth connection.

Over the next several days, LG’s G Watch, G Watch R and Watch Urbane devices will all become more versatile once the Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) update is rolled out around the world. As the only company to have introduced three separate Android Wear devices, LG is fully committed to Android’s wearable ecosystem.

In addition to G Watch R’s Wi-Fi capabilities, all three LG devices will now support interactive watch faces which owners can download from Google Play. Interactive watch faces allow users to tap on specific areas of the watch display in order to see additional related information.

The latest update will also allow LG’s Android Wear devices to support useful apps that perform specific functions, such as displaying a four-day weather forecast or performing translations in numerous foreign languages right on the watch itself. As there’s no need to pull out and turn on a phone, Android Wear apps deliver convenience and save time for active and busy users.

Television joins in on the upgrade cycle

Who would have ever think

LG 4K OLED TV

that we would one day be replacing our TVs just as fast as the iPhone? It now looks like the cutting-edge technological advances in consumer electronics has allowed for bigger, better and clearer TVs to be produced on an almost annual basis, as we have seen TV’s evolution in terms of image quality and design, take place within this decade.

So what are some of the features that justify making the investment of a new television set? Screen resolution is definitely the big one because at the end of the day, all you are really buying is the visual experience. We have come a long way from the monochrome cathode-ray tube technology (CRT).  

In the early days, High Definition (HD) sounded like it was the most revolutionary thing to happen to TV. Having taken over from PAL and NTSC, advances in the post CRT design era have seen the introduction of the two most innovative technologies in the TV world; OLED and Ultra HD 4K.

OLED promises much better picture quality overall, including nearly infinite contrast ratios. This is because each pixel in the image generates its own light, as opposed to LED and LCD which require backlighting allowing you to achieve perfect black and perfect white through a photographic technique called High Dynamic Range (HDR). HDR combines multiple exposures in order to produce brighter and more detailed images, delivering rich color depth that look more life-like than your regular LCD screen. 

4K Ultra HD TVs deliver four times as much detail as the regular 1080p HD screens. It is important to note, that this technology is quite new and so there is very little broadcast content out there as groups such as UHD Alliance are still working to set standards for this new format. Ultra HD is set to be a work in progress for years to come making it almost future proof. Currently, all screens with UHD technology are larger than 50 inches, due to contrast ratio, making it a hefty investment.

With all this in mind, you should definitely be in a better position to make a smart buying decision when buying your next TV. In the meantime, we can sit back and await the 4K HDR OLED TV.

Vision 2030 urges for entrepreneurship policy reforms to reap long-term GES, US gains.

The Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat is calling for rapid enactment of regulations necessary to enable taking up of post-Barack Obama visit and Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) gains.

Policy reforms in entrepreneurship, said the Secretariat’s Ag.Director General Prof. Gituro Wainaina, will be key in capitalizing on the opportunities, ideas and resources created.

Speaking at a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony with Start-Up Africa (SUA), Prof. Gituro said financial commitments for Kenyan start-ups by private sector companies around the world will require a conducive environment to be operational.

 “Policy reform to create an ease of doing business environment will determine whether aspiring entrepreneurs will be able to benefit from the long-term gains following President Obama’s and GES commitments,’ said Prof. Wainaina.

Start-Up Africa (SUA) seeks to equip youth in Kenya with innovative and empowering entrepreneurship and financial literacy education.

Tipping Kenya’s emerging tech entrepreneurs as future drivers of massive economic transformations, he urged for prioritizing of the tech sector as an ‘entrepreneurial ecosystem’ that will stimulate economic transformation. 

“We need to develop entrepreneurship policy that will help such firms to succeed. It is more about removing obstacles to their growth such as anti-competitive cultures, unfair taxations, unnecessary red tape, lack of access to markets or investment capital,” said Prof.Wainaina.

Prof. Wainaina said the explosion in technology start-ups vindicates Vision 2030 inspiration to shift current industrial development path towards innovation where creation, adoption, adaptation and use of knowledge will be the key source of economic growth.

“These developments build credence to Kenya’s ‘Silicon Savannah’ signature, born from the Government’s Vision 2030’s goal to use ICT in cultivating a knowledge based economy,” said Wainaina.

Prof. Wainaina noted that there is need to formulate a mechanism for mobilization of capital and foreign direct investment.

Such a mechanism, said Prof.Wainaina would enable investors seeking to invest in Kenya and in local start-ups gain direct access to the country’s entrepreneurs and investment opportunities.

“We need to put our own house in order by mapping out existing investment opportunities, innovations, entrepreneurship opportunities and sources of capital to enable us package Kenya as an investment destination,” he said.

Over Kshs. 101 billion (USD 1 billion) was committed by US government and private sector  in capital funding to train, mentor and partner over 1 million entrepreneurs in Africa.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), The Department of State, USAID, IBM, International Finance Corporation, Caterpillar Inc and Goldman Sachs are part of the American institutions whose commitments will assist Kenya’s women and youth entrepreneurs.

African private sector commitments came from Chase Bank, KCB, Equity Bank, The Coca-Cola African Foundation and Mara Foundation among others.

The Global Entrepreneurship Network also pledged to launch a Kenyan office to support entrepreneurs and the development of a local ecosystem.

Youth entrepreneurship is a key strategy to solve youth unemployment in the country’s long term development blue print. The Youth and Women Enterprise and Development Funds preceded the current Uwezo Fund in financially benefitting the youth.

The Kenya Vision 2030 is the national long-term development blue-print that aims to transform Kenya into a newly industrialising, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment.

Amateur or professional-quality photographs, LG G4 your best bet

The increased availability and heightened utility of smartphone-based cameras has allowed for more people than ever to use photography to express themselves.

Most people now carry advanced digital cameras with them wherever they go, and the power of these devices far outstrips what most sophisticated cameras of the past were capable of offering.

There are around 5.2 billion mobile phones in use around the world today and approximately 83 percent of those phones are equipped with cameras. This proliferation of smartphones (particularly in emerging markets) means that an astounding 90 percent of people who have ever taken a picture have done so on a mobile phone.

Industry insiders and analysts have projected that over one trillion photographs will be taken this year. One trillion may seem like a daunting number, but the increasing capacity of phones to store data (thereby encouraging users to take more photos) over the last several years shows that we have been on course to break the trillion barrier for some time.

One of the largest perks of smartphone cameras is their ability to instantly share photos and videos via text message or on social media. Of the billions of photos taken per day, roughly 1.8 billion are shared on social networks, up from 500 million in just 2013. Shockingly, a mere 93 million of the photos posted online are selfies.

By shrinking the size of the camera and making it easier than ever before to take either amateur or professional-quality photos, the advent of the digital camera has heralded a new age of mass photography. In addition to the powerful cameras on new models, smartphones give users the ability to instantly edit their photos, upload them to social networks as well as store them on a hard drive or in the cloud.

Though the inclusion of advanced digital cameras on smartphones has spelled doom for the previously popular “point-and-shoot” digital camera, smartphone cameras have served as a gateway to photography for millions.

The latest in line of elite flagship smartphones from LG, the G4 is equipped with a number of cutting edge features that make it well positioned to be the most popular LG smartphone ever.

Boasting a remarkable 16mp camera, G4 makes full use of its detailed display and instinctive operation to help users take professional-quality photographs. Expertly tailored to meet the needs of modern consumers, the user-friendly G4 is the perfect phone for today’s mobile photographers.

For the longest time, mobile cameras have lagged far behind more advanced digital single-lens reflex cameras (DSLRs) in their ability to capture photographs when there is little natural light. The G4’s camera lens boasts an aperture value of F1.8, making it the brightest smartphone lens on the market and capable of going toe-to-toe with lens used by professionals.

Apart from F/1.8 aperture lens, there are a number of other features that help to set the G4 apart from competition. For instance, in manual mode, the photographer can customize the level of white balance, ISO, shutter speed, manual focus and exposure compensation. When placed in the hands of an expert, these features allow the G4 to shoot capture striking images. Manual mode also gives photographers the ability to select RAW or JPEG as the format for their files.

Additionally, unlike other mobile cameras, retaining high color accuracy is not a problem with the G4 thanks to its advanced color spectrum sensor. If the user is taking a photograph in a dark environment (such as night or in a deep forest) most mobile cams struggle to find the correct color levels because they are unable to distinguish between environments. But the G4’s sensor ensures that its photos always look great regardless of the conditions.

Lastly LG G4’s front-facing camera is comparable to the primary cameras of its main competitors. At 8.0 megapixels it is equal to the iPhone 6’s primary camera and 3MP stronger than Galaxy S6’s. But on top of simply having a back camera quality for front camera shots, selfies are now easier thanks to a user-friendly feature called gesture shot.

AIRBNB CEO BRIAN CHESKY ATTENDS GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURIAL SUMMIT IN NAIROBI WITH PRESIDENTS OBAMA AND KENYATTA

Airbnb, the world’s leading community-driven hospitality company, announced that its CEO, Brian Chesky attended GES 2015 this weekend where he meet with entrepreneurs from around the world and explored the sharing economy’s impact and expansion, particularly on the African continent - which represents a huge opportunity for the company. In the last twelve months alone, Airbnb has more than doubled in size in Africa.



“The spirit of entrepreneurialism is a common thread that unites the Airbnb community across the globe,” said Brian Chesky. “I’m thrilled to meet so many entrepreneurs here at GES who will build and grow this community throughout Africa. And I’m excited to see how Airbnb will empower people across the continent to make extra income while providing travellers with a truly authentic experience.”



As a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship (PAGE), Brian Chesky joins a group of US business leaders committed to helping to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs around the world. At the GES 2015, he will participate in a roundtable alongside other PAGE members and US Administration officials including US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. He will also participate in a discussion with Steve Case on “Getting Ready for Growth,” and lead a Challenge Hack on the sharing economy.



Airbnb will also sponsor prizes for the winners of the GES Youth and Women Spark the Fire Pitch Competition, providing winners of the African Impact, Top Women-Owned African Business, and other winners with Airbnb travel accommodations to support historically marginalized communities on their entrepreneurial journey.



As a PAGE, Chesky’s signature initiative has been supporting the growth of entrepreneurship in Cuba, where Airbnb launched in April and which has already become its fastest growing market.



Many of the steps taken in Cuba to overcome challenges around internet literacy and mobile payment infrastructure will provide important lessons for Airbnb’s growth in Africa. This week’s trip, which includes a visit to the iHub incubator in Nairobi, is also an opportunity to hear from local entrepreneurs, and understand the opportunities and challenges facing Airbnb and other sharing economy leaders.



In the wake of strong successes in key markets around the world, Airbnb plans to significantly grow its business in Africa, where the company has already seen some impressive growth. In just the last year:



●      The number of listings in Africa has more than doubled

●      The number of people staying in Airbnb listings in the region has increased by 145%,

●      The number of Africans using Airbnb to travel has increased by 139%



To help spur additional growth, Airbnb has also appointed Nicola D’Elia as General Manager for Middle East & Africa. Previously, Nicola was responsible for Facebook’s growth and partnerships in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. D’Elia will build out a team to accelerate Airbnb’s growth in the region.



In Kenya itself, there are currently over 1,400 listings available to book through Airbnb with the greatest concentration in Nairobi (788). Kenyans are also embracing Airbnb as a way of traveling, with the number of Kenyan guests using Airbnb tripling in the last 12 months.