Mobile Device Review: EDUP WiFi Disk

Have you ever tried to play a video, music, access a file or view your pictures on your storage device (e.g memory card, hard disk drive, memory stick et cetera) all at the same time. That sounds like too much to ask right?

Well not anymore, introducing a mobile device that makes all these possible and much more. the EDUP WiFi Disk!!!

EDUP WiFi Disk

This device is a multifunctional mobile storage conversion device that  allows you to share files, play videos, music and manage files  across multiple devices seamlessly at the same time via WiFi. This enables you to carry out all your daily tasks without fear of running out of storage on your mobile device.

This device is cross platform and supports Mac and Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Android and iOS platform and comes with an app for easy file management.

Once the WiFi Disk is powered up, you connect a storage device to the USB socket, and the storage becomes accessible via WiFi. Simply search and connect to the EDUP WiFi wireless network on you mobile device or PC.
You can then access your files via WiFi without stress. The WiFi disk can be setup in bridge mode so as not to interrupt your wireless internet connection, letting your surf the net and access your files at the same time. How cool is this.

This cool device is available in Nigeria on Konga

You can watch the DEMO video below 

Android App
iOS App

IT Competence required: Beginner/Intermediate 

Digesting the Opera Mobile Web Report

Opera recently released the monthly Mobile web report showing the ten (10) most active Opera Mini countries. 

In November, the top-ten Opera Mini countries, counted in number of unique monthly users were India, Indonesia, Russia, Nigeria, China, Brazil, South Africa, Bangladesh, Mexico and Vietnam




The browsing habits of Opera Mini users in Nigeria showed an allegiance to local social media site such as nairaland.com; news sites such as vanguard, punch, information nigeria.

Opera Mini is continually growing in popularity due to its speed and data compression even in low speed data networks; hence its safe to say every Nigerian mobile web user has an Opera mini browser

For the full report, click here

BBM finally out on Android and iOS

BBM is now officially out on Android and iOS though its the launch is low key. The sad thing is that its not available to Nigeria on the Google Play Store.

I got a mail from Blackberry informing me of the availability of the BBM app shared below.

Unfortunately, the BBM app is not available in Nigeria which is surprising. The reason for this is still not clear but we'll get to the bottom of this.

......More to come

Windows 8.1: The Start Button is back

The Start Button is Back!!! 

 One of the major features of the recently released Windows 8.1 is our beloved 'Start' button which has been the hallmark of navigation in all Windows based systems right from Windows 95. I bought a laptop for my dad some months ago, running on the Windows 8.0 and I literally needed a GPS to navigate through the laptop. I'm not an just average PC user, I work on different OSes on a daily basis but the new Windows was not it for me till I did some tweaking to get a third party Start button.

The notable changes are as follows

• The Start Button to classic desktop :):)
• Old apps, like Photos and Music, have been enhanced with new designs and features.
• improved help and tooltips functionality
• A more comprehensive seach
• Multiple application view
• improved help and tool tips functionality

However, the old problems such as limited Win 8 apps, navigation on non-touch PCs still exist. It might not seem like much of a change to a non-Windows 8 user at first glance, but this update is a welcome development.

Verdict: The Windows 8 was designed to work across smartphones, tablets and PCs hence, its more of a touch based OS. For the best user experience, a touchscreen laptop is recommended ( but they dont come cheap)

Is BBM ready for the Messaging War?

It's an open secret that Blackberry have decided to offer their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) on Android and IOS platforms, and was scheduled to be launched in the summer. Unfortunately, the anticipation of BBM fans have been worn by the inability of RIM to meet up with the scheduled launch date, though there are reports that BBM for iOS and Android devices is due within days. 

With their seeming inability to meet up with he launch date and expectations of many fans, I seem to wonder if they're ready for the competitive world messaging apps. While Blackberry are still busy with BBM beta testing, their rivals have been their major rivals have been improving their apps.

Whatsapp have added new features such as ability to send multiple multimedia files (e.g up to 10 pictures) at the same time, this is not available on the current BBM, which only allows you to send one picture at a time. They also launched the Voice feature for sending voice messages which is similar but not as sophisticated as the already available BBM Voice.(Note: Whatsapp has over 300m users)

WeChat is another major player in the messaging world with over 300 million users primarily in Asia and has been re-branded for the international market. WeChat has similar features with Whatsapp but the Shake feature on their app is real cool.

Viber is another strong player in the messaging world with over 200 million users and offers texting, voice and video calls on mobiles and now on PCs. 

You'll agree with me that BBM with just about 55 million users have a lot of catching up to do, and further delays in the launch will not help their quest to be the No. 1 Messaging App. Also the current BBM features are pretty much basic and can be provided by almost any of the apps mentioned above. Blackberry needs to give the BBM app a 'Waoh factor' to enable it standout.

Only time will tell if BBM's move into the competitive world of messaging apps was worth it.

Samsung: Android's Major Threat?

Android is the world's most popular mobile operating system; 75% of all smartphones sold in Q1 2013 were Android. From humble beginning in 2008, Android worked its way to the top, supported by phone manufacturers who wanted a stake in the then Nokia/Apple dominated market. Android is an open-source software stack with permissive licensing which allows the software to be freely modified and distributed by device manufacturers, carriers and developers. 

Samsung has benefited the most from the success of Android, as its sales figures and profits have increased enormously over the years. The successful launch of the Galaxy S4 is an indicator that it's a major player in the handset market and the undisputed "King of Android". But it's not certain how long this fruitful union will last. There are indications that both parties are getting wary of the other.

Samsung always aimed to stand out from other Android device manufacturers by trying to create a Samsung experience, with the introduction of Samsung apps blended with Android releases for specific features on their devices. Now, they've taken it a step further by introducing apps such as the S-Voice and S-Translator in its flagship Galaxy series which can be viewed as alternatives to the Google apps. 

Not only that, Samsung announced a campaign in February that promises developers, 100% of revenue from software sold in its store. This is a massive effort to encourage the development of apps specifically for Samsung phones. It's evident Samsung have a plan of a future without Android and are simply getting all they need from Android; waiting for the perfect time to move on.

Google on the other hand are wary of this threat to Android and had hoped to use Motorola (which it acquired in 2011), as its joker, but this has not paid off yet. It has been slow to get the production lines busy again, though there are rumours of a Google inspired X phone from Motorola, meant to rival the iPhone and Galaxy S series phones.


Android and Samsung have come a long way together, thumping Apple to second best and causing a stir in the mobile world. However, things are not the way it used to be and their relationship can be summed up by the line " Keep you friends close but your enemies closer".

Analysis: Why BBM is going on Android and IOS

It might come to many as a surprise why RIM to roll out BBM on Android and iOS a few days ago. It was actually a smart business decision.

RIM has previously restricted the BBM app to only Blackberry devices as a means of making the Blackberry phones more attractive to the prospective consumers, but this is not working as RIM has lost a lot of the market share to Android, iOS and even Windows. BBM is the most valuable product that RIM have as we speak, and it'll be bad for such a good app to go extinct due the struggling Blackberry sales figures.

Competition from other messaging apps (such as Whatsapp) might also be a major reason behind this move. From humble beginning in 2009, Whatsapp was handling ten billion messages per day as of August 2012, growing from two billion in April 2012 and one billion in October 2011. This tremendous growth experienced by Whatsapp was due to the fact that it was cross-platform i.e it works on all major platforms (Android, BB OS, iOS, Symbian S40, S60, Windows). Whatsapp is also seen as a cheaper alternative to text as was observed on the last day of 2012 when they processed 18 billion messages.
Party crashers, Google and Facebook are also working on messaging app due for release anytime soon, so this is the best time for RIM to make the move.

Another reason is the launch of BBM Channel. It's a new platform from RIM to will allow users subscribe to various channels and get updates from the subscribed channel...sounds like another name for twitter if you ask me. However,  cross platform operation is key in order to achieve success and revenue from this new service.

It seems RIM have got it all figured out, what better way to take on your competitor than on a level playing field. I expect the number of active BBM users and messages to increase, which might mark a turnarounf in the fortunes of RIM, however, I am skeptical about the success of the BBM channel. Interesting days ahead

***Sent from my BBM for Android***


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BBM Quick Facts:

• More than 60 million monthly active users
• More than 51 million daily active users who are connecting with friends or colleagues an average of one and a half hours every day.
• BBM users send and receive more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly twice as many messages per user per day as compared to other mobile messaging apps
• Almost half of BBM messages are read within 20 seconds of being received; indicating how truly engaged BBM customers are