₦airaland Forum

Established in 2012, Spikke Digital Solutions has evolved from a Digital Marketing Agency to technology provider & IT consulting company providing services across the Continent. We have over 5+ years of outstanding experience in deploying critical solutions for our clients that match their business objectives worldwide.

Our services ranges from: Bulk SMS Marketing, Digital Marketing, Web Development, Software Development, USSD Service Development, Short & Long Code Setup.

Contact Information:
hello@spikkedigital.io
+233265515154
www.spikkedigital.io

In my corporate life journey, I have come to realize that the values of an organization determines the fate of the organization. What the organization prides as very crucial to their success must be imbibed into each and every employee of the organization to ensure the success of the organization.

With the constant engagements I have had with vendors and clients in Ghana, I have realized some very little things that are ignored which can slowly bring a business to an end... http://npontutechnologies.com/index.php/2016/10/06/7-great-tips-to-earn-more-in-the-digital-industry/

African mobile entertainment and internet TV pioneer, iROKO, today announces multiple deals totaling $19m, both in content development and in capital funding. French media giant CANAL+, together with existing investor Kinnevik AB, are investing in addition to iROKO’s own cash flow to give the leading African tech & entertainment company the platform to scale its operations and expand aggressively across the continent. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2016/01/25/iroko-closes-content-capital-deals-at-19m/

I remember back in 2009 when WhatsApp was launched, many were those who had to beg for invitations from their friends in order to join the platform. Gradually, the messaging app was made open to the public without the need for invitation. it wasn’t long after when the company decided to charge uses for the app. For less than a dollar, we could enjoy WhatsApp for a whole year.

On February 19, 2014, Facebook Inc. acquired WhatsApp for approximately US$19.3 billion. By early January 2015, WhatsApp had 700 million monthly active users with over 30 billion messages being sent every day. In April 2015, Forbes predicted that between 2012 and 2018, the telecommunications industry will lose a combined total of $386 billion because of OTT services like WhatsApp and Skype. That month, WhatsApp had over 800 million active users. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2016/01/18/whatsapp-now-officially-free-as-they-drop-subscription-fees/

Funding is a term on the lips of every entrepreneur and its one of the difficult part of running a business, getting funding to scale. Though there are lots of reason way many startups are denied funding, the edge to pitch again to another investor is something that never dies. On the Continent, getting funding for your business or startup is not an easy task.

Often entrepreneurs go the extra miles just to get a few thousands to push their ideas out there, but often there is no luck though one might have a tangible business model. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2016/01/16/silvertree-internet-holdings-to-invest-10m-in-african-startups-this-year/

Competition in Nigeria’s Smartphone market is unwavering as the big players try to stamp their dominance while new entrants such as Infinix Mobility and others are pushing with new devices. Notwithstanding, few years ago, the Nigeria mobile market was dominated by the likes of Nokia, Apple, Samsung, HTC and Blackberry. Then came Tecno with cheap and affordable smartphones, within few years it became a popular Smartphone brand in Nigeria. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2016/01/11/infinix-conqueroring-the-smartphone-industery-in-nigeria/

All over the world, the spread and evangelism of STEM is moving at a faster pace than never before. Children from across the globe are being introduced to hardware hacking thanks to cheap kits like Arduino and the Raspberry Pi. On this side of the Continent, you often hear news of startups who are often into the software side of tech, and its rear to find Hardware Startups. Read More...

http://techafrikico.com/2016/01/07/got-takes-fork-us50000-village-capital-brings-hardware-accelerator-program-accra/

It was rare to see a conference of African Tech Enthusiasts as huge as that of CES, MWC, Defcon and others, but fortunately, that’s not the case anymore. This year’s edition of the Africa Mobile & ICT Expo 2015 was nothing like we have seen before. Both the organisers and attendees of the programme were amazed with the interest and the engagements during the 3 days event. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/12/29/africas-ces-africa-mobile-ict-expo-2016-lauched/

Samsung today announced that it will be releasing an updated versions of their Galaxy A3, A5, and A7 smartphones in coming weeks. The Samsung Galaxy A7 which was launched at the very beginning of this year together with the other Galaxy A series smartphones represented Samsung’s attempt at bringing quality smartphone construction and design at a price tag consumers can afford.

With it being nearly a year since the original announcement of the Galaxy A7, it makes sense that Samsung would want to refresh the lineup. Below you can find the specs for all three of Samsung’s new smartphones Read More...

http://techafrikico.com/2015/12/10/updated-versions-of-the-galaxy-a3-a5-and-a7-announced/

Many industrialists think penetrating into the African market can sometime be a pain in the ass, but the truth be told, if you understand the Continent, one can penetrate and make so much. If you think Africa is poor, you have already lost the battle! In Africa, there are over 327,145,889 people who have access to internet as of the third quarter of 2015.

In all, the Continent is almost reaching one billion in mobile subscriptions. Affordable smartphones are contributing significantly in bringing more people online across the continent. It is projected that by 2019, feature phones will only account for 27% of Africa’s mobile handset market, as the market for smartphones fueled by handsets priced under $100 per unit continues to grow. Read on...


http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/24/how-infinix-could-become-the-xiaomi-of-africa/

Mini PCs and PCs on stick have come of age with respect to shapes and sizes. In recent times we have seen major corporations like Intel, Meegopad, Arduino, Raspberry who are pushing the boundaries to bring affordable mini computers to consumers.

As much as these Mini PCs are useful, they can’t really be used for high performance demanding applications, but luckily, it probably wouldn’t be the case anymore. A new company has come up with what’s believed to be the world’s first powerful PC on a stick.

MagicStick is the most powerful PC on a stick that turns your TV into a real computer... Read more..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/23/magicstick-worlds-first-powerful-pc-stick-8gb-ram/

Mini PCs and PCs on stick have come of age with respect to shapes and sizes. In recent times we have seen major corporations like Intel, Meegopad, Arduino, Raspberry who are pushing the boundaries in bring affordable mini computers to consumers.

As much as these Mini PCs are useful, they can’t really be used for high performance demanding applications, but luckily, it probably wouldn’t be the case anymore. A new company has come up with what’s believed to be the world’s first powerful PC on a stick... Read On..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/23/magicstick-worlds-first-powerful-pc-stick-8gb-ram/

In a market where smartphone are damn crowded, it can sometimes be tedious trying to get the best smartphone for your need, but this can sometimes translate more money had to be spent in order to get the type of phone to get the job done. Affordable smartphones are something we have begun seeing in recent time with the like of the Android One from Google among other.

Today, Motherboard spotted a TracFone on WalMart’s website, developed in partnership with LG, that has pushed the price of an Android smartphone down to less than... Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/21/lg-just-released-the-cheapest-smartphone-ever-cost-only-10/

e-Payments in African is still in its early stage, but some African countries have been able to embrace the technology seamlessly without too many obstacles in the way. In Ghana, Mobile Money is gradually taking over the banks and this is as a result of the trust through education, transparency and comfort that backs the technology.

Unfortunately, the Mobile Money solution doesn’t seem to go far to help e-Commerce owners to easily integrate their solutions and also track transactions not to talk of the hectic process it takes for one to get signed up to use the Application Programmable Interface (API) from our telcos. Currently, there are many e-payments platforms on the market which are fully operational.

The newest to join the industry is SIKA which means Money in a Ghanaian language (Twi). Unlike other platforms, SIKA can boast of something pretty different from its competitors. SIKA aims at bringing to the banking world innovative ways through which one can transact business at a low cost... Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/18/sika-an-online-payment-platform-set-to-be-the-paypal-in-africa/

These days its easy to find internet of things all around us, from smartwatches, smartshoes, hoverbaords. The latest to be gaining recognition lately are Hoverboards and Segway is best known to be used in high cooperation’s and the military.

Hoverboads on the other hand are a great piece of tech, but they are not ready for the market. Recent videos shoes how easily people fall off them. Read More...

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/12/hoverboards-are-a-fiasco-xiaomi-just-unveiled-a-better-segway-ninebot-mini/

Wearables are still in their armature stages and developers together with manufactures are finding ways to improve on them to make them better and ready for the market. One of the successful tech out of wearables are the fitness trackers which are saving lives in different ways.

Xiaomi has been one of the major leaders in this industry as far as the Mi Band is concerned. The Xiaomi Mi Band has been one of the successful fitness trackers on the market with more than 6 million units sold worldwide. The company is expected to unveil the Mi Band 1S, a new fitness tracker that will reportedly incorporate a built-in heart rate monitor, on... Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/10/xiaomi-to-launch-the-mi-band-1s-on-nov-11-an-upgrade-to-the-mi-band/

Xiaomi is known for its well-built and affordable smartphone line of product. The and its dedicated community won the third smartphone manufacturer in the world. With the company’s latest flagship the Xiaomi Mi Note and the Mi Note Pro, Xiaomi aimed at battling with some of the top brands on the market,but unfortunately it’s not making that much with its current flagship.

In a previous post, we reviewed the Elephone P8000 which caught a lot of people attention especially here in Africa to those who are not familiar with the brand. Elephone had been in existence for quite some time and gaining some popularity especially in Asian countries. Read more..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/05/could-the-elephone-vowney-be-the-huawei-nexus-6p-killer/

Huawei has been a major player in the smartphone industry with their contributions to successful devices like the Huawei Nexus 6P and the latest for the company to add to its portfolio is the Huawei Mate S. Read On...

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/06/huawei-ghana-to-unveil-the-huawei-mate-s-smartphone-coming-weeks/

The Ulefone Be Touch 2 glorifies itself by the reviews of many experts as an iPhone 6 Plus replica. Though this might be true is some ways, its not all true. The device packs very impressive specs in its enclosure considering it's price tag. What do you think of the Ulefone Be Touch 2? Let me know in the comment section.

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/05/review-the-ulefone-be-touch-2-is-the-holy-grill/

Smartphones are getting cheaper and smarter these days. Elephone is one of the smartphone manufactures making waves mostly in the Asian countries and over the past years, the company has introduced onto the smartphone market some impressive flagships like the Elephone P6000 Pro, Elephone P6000, Elephone M2 among other devices.

One of the company's most budgeted smartphone with great specs we got to play with is the Elephone P8000. If you are a fan of Elephone devices, you may have noticed the nice design pattern of the P8000. One of the things that draws people's attention to the Elephone P8000 is its carbon fiber texture along with the metal band, the P8000 is surprisingly built way higher than the price it comes with. Read More...

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/02/review-if-there-was-a-beast-among-smartphones-its-would-be-the-elephone-p8000/

It’s often easy to find kids face-down using their phone and tablets bought for them by their parents. They are becoming smarter each time and they use, with ease, new electronic devices which older folks sometimes find it difficult to. But the question still remains, are they just having fun with these devices or they are actually learning something useful that could go a long way to shaping their future?

Computers are everywhere: in our homes, offices, cars, and all, but what makes them more intelligent and fun to use is how they are programmed (what you want them to do). Programmers are the people who dream up new things and then write the instructions that bring their ideas to life. It’s estimated that by 2020 there will be 1 million programming jobs left unfulfilled. Read More...

http://techafrikico.com/2015/11/01/jitex-on-a-quest-to-exposing-kids-to-develop-interest-in-ict/

I have been asked countless time “What’s the best smartphone out there?” First of all, there is nothing like the BEST SMARTPHONE!. But really, it’s a question that is debatable. We all have different preferences and what I might consider as my ultimate go-for smartphone, wouldn’t be what you may like or want. Most people fall in love with smartphones with great Camera, Crispy display, Better Audio and a long battery life. The list goes on.

Though I said there is nothing like the best smartphone, I want to introduce you to a smartphone I got my hands on which I am using as my daily driver. The phone is nothing, but a rugged, heavy, bulky piece of waterproof, dustproof, shockproof and lots more all packed to make a phone specifically designed for the construction industry.

http://techafrikico.com/2015/09/23/the-smart-max-4g-smartphone-will-win-your-heart-despite-its-ruggedness/

An ex-Apple CEO, John Sculley has launched a set of low-cost yet stylish smartphones aimed for emerging wireless markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.The smartphone who has a funny African name, specifically a Nigerian name “Obi” comes in two variants.

The Worldphone SF1 and SJ1.5 models both start at under US$199 (GHC 814) but offer capabilities found in more expensive smartphones. The phones use a customized interface, called Obi Lifespeed, which runs on the Android operating system, version Lollipop. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/28/ex-apple-ceo-john-sculleys-new-smartphone-obi-is-coming-to-nigeria-and-kenya/

I spend most of my time online browsing and searching for content ideas to learning something new each and every time. Often I get frustrated on having to bookmark each website I want to keep, though it’s not a bad thing, I feel somewhat lazy to do it over and over again. Session buddy has been a life saver ever since I discovered it.

Though it’s great, it has it own limitations which I thought could have been addressed by the developers of the Chrome extension.

I wish Session Buddy was a SaaS, but it’s just an extension where if for any reason you choose to move to a different platform (OS wise) you can’t take your sessions with you like Google does with bookmarks, I wish session buddy had the features to always restore your sessions back.

Session Buddy was great, but I wanted more and that’s when I discovered “Pike“. Pike is a Chrome extension that helps (always onliners) to share resourceful links and also add private comments to those links in real time.

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/27/meet-pike-a-modern-social-link-sharing-app-for-the-web-and-more/

The Chinese smartphone giant, Xiaomi is said to storm Africa and the hopefully next month according to sources. Its believed that Mobile In Africa Limited will be the official distributor of Xiaomi Products in the 50 sub-Saharan countries, but will first launched in South Africa. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/22/xiaomi-to-storm-africa-next-month-starting-with-south-africa/

Xiaomi launched the newest version of its mobile operating system, the MIUI 7 on the 19th of August which comes pack with some amazing feature. Since its inception, the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer, xiaomi has always place customer satisfaction first in everything that they do.

Xiaomi who tops the smartphone marketshare in China at the expense of Samsung and other Android makers. The MIUI Rom was first created back in 2010 before Xiaomi had begun selling phones and now counts 150 million users.

The MIUI Rom has made it way to many smartphone users even those that are not Xiaomi’s. One of the reason the Xiaomi MIUI keep succeeding is the community that drives it. The Rom is backed by a large community from various parts of the world with world-class developers always trying to port the Rom to other smartphones and tablets.

Read More.. http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/20/here-are-the-best-miui7-features-you-need-to-know-about/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Website&utm_term=MIUI7&utm_campaign=FacebookShare

The government of Ghana in a move to transform and strengthen the ICT sector in the country and to also create jobs initiated the Tema ICT park (somewhat a smaller version of Silicon Valley maybe). The $400 million ICT Park project which is a Public/Private Partnership initiative created to boost the technology base in Ghana.

The Government of Ghana has demonstrated its commitment by initiating the construction of the project with a $10 million facility being a sub component of the project as of 2013. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/14/mauritius-to-invest-260-million-into-the-tema-ict-park-project/

Over the past years, Africa has seen the birth of ground shaking and problem solving solutions turned into business that are tackling everyday issues all over the world. Africa is indeed rising!

The total capital invested in African startups more than doubled to US$26.9 million in 2014 compared to US$12 million in 2013, with the average amount invested per venture increasing to US$200,000 from US$130,000 last year and this is a significant spike translating that African ideas and business are selling.

This is according to VC4Africa Venture Finance for Africa Report, which found 44 per cent of registered ventures are successful in securing external capital investment. Read more..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/11/straight-outta-west-africa-5-of-the-most-promising-startups-from-ghana/

Today’s kids are going to be the future leaders one day and this means from all works of both rich and poor. But for those of us who live in the cities and are privileged to have internet access and smart devices to know more about the world of technology and what’s going on in the world in general, do we often take the time to think about those in the rural areas who don't have the same opportunities as us?

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/07/rural-connect-how-the-youth-are-helping-orphans-in-ghana-learn-ict/

Wearables are believed to be one of the major driver in the technology industry. From smartwatch, smartshoes, smart contact lens, the wearable industry has evolved over the past years. As comfortable as we feel wearing these devices and as innovative the devices are becoming, we seem to forget about one major aspect of our society.

We live in a world where the fingers are not the same. With that said, there’s a new wearable out there that aims to offer blind users quick access to notifications, the time, directions, and much more. Read More..

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/06/meet-dot-smartwatch-the-worlds-first-smartwatch-for-the-visually-impaired/

It is believed that one of the reasons why Africa is hampering could be due to the lack and shortage of skilled personnel in the Continent. Though this involves individuals and organizations worldwide to help tackle, someone needs to take the lead for others to follow and that’s where IBM Arica Technical Academy comes to play.

The Africa Technical Academy has been in existence for quite some time and just recently, the company is working on expanding the Africa Technical Academy and its Africa University Programme to over 20 African countries, it said in a statement. Read More...

http://techafrikico.com/2015/08/03/ibm-grace-africa-with-60-million-to-support-technology-programmes/