Google Translate Introduces Support for Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo) and Hausa

Google recently added Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo) and Hausa to its online language translating services, I took it for a quick spin and here are my thoughts. 

Google Translate, English to Yoruba - Good Morning

It seem to be an early attempt as the translations are hit and miss it terms of accuracy, also the speech option – which would say aloud the translated word or phrase in the language it was translated to was unavailable. 

At this stage I wouldn’t recommend using if for any serious work that required translation into Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo) or Hausa, but it does make a good novelty or gesture to the Nigerian demographic.

Google is also looking for volunteers to help improve the quality of its translator service. It is also available on android powered devices through the Google Translate app form Google Play. 

So why don't you guys give it a spin and let us know how you feel?

Sony Xperia Price Guide (August 2013)

Here’s the next batch of lowest device price point we could find in Nigeria. So when next you’re going to upgrade your kit, you’ll know if you’re truly getting a bargain. 

Sony Xperia Z Ultra – NGN 137 000 est. (One Hundred and Thirty Seven Thousand Naira)
Sony Xperia Z – NGN 86 000 est. (Eighty Six Thousand Naira)
Sony Xperia ZR – NGN 76 000 est. (Seventy Six Thousand Naira)
Sony Xperia SP - NGN 61 000 est. (Sixty One Thousand Naira)
Sony Xperia L – NGN 46 500 est. (Forty Six Thousand Five Hundred Naira)

Sources - 1, 2, 3

Blackberry 10 Price Guide (August 2013)

It’s that time again! It’s time to get rid of that banged-up sorry excuse for a mobile phone and upgrade yourself to something slim, slick and sexy!

If you’re anything like me you’re always looking for a bargain – so I’ve taken then liberty of searching high and low, online and offline for the lowest prices offered for Blackberry’s latest mobile devices in Nigeria. So where ever you decided to buy your next device you’ll know if you’re truly getting a bargain.

Blackberry Z10 – NGN 74 400.00 (Seventy Four Thousand Four Hundred Naira)
Blackberry Q10 – NGN 96 000.00 (Ninety Six Thousand Naira)
Blackberry Q5 – NGN 62 000.00 (Sixty Two Thousand Naira)

Sources - 1 , 2 , 3 

 

Sony Xperia Z: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Were back, and better than ever! To those who missed us we apologise but be assured our little break was for the good of the blog and the reason for our absence will soon be self-evident. So, that’s enough small talk let’s get down to business.

We take a deeper look at the Sony Xperia Z highlighting its Pro and Cons from an unbiased perspective; we do the product research so you don’t have to!

 Sony Xperia Z

The Sony Xperia Z, most will agree that it is a behemoth of a device in every respect. With its 5” Full HD 1080p Reality Display, 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, 13 megapixel camera, running Android Jelly Bean (v4.1.2) and 4G LTE the Xperia Z is still one of the most powerful devices – if not the most, announced so far this year. Its perks don’t end there, the Xperia Z is also equip with NFC for lightening fast media transfer between devices, Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 for crisper images and videos, Exmor RS for mobile with High Dynamic Range for clear camera images in poor lighting conditions, WALKMAN – the original portable music player app and battery STAMINA mode which exponentially improves battery standby time by automatically shutting down battery – draining apps when the screen is off.

But wait, there’s more! The Xperia Z is IP55 and IP57certified, meaning this device is dust-proof and water resistance to a depth of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes. To top it all off the Xperia Z has a tempered glass finish on both its back and front, to give it that smooth premium feel.

 Xperia Z

It is a good device – a very good device, but like every new piece of tech it has its fair share of flaws. The Xperia Z is ‘water resistance’ not ‘water-proof’, so you could run water over it to give it a quick rinse under a tap but I would definitely not recommend taking if for a swim. Some early adopters have complained that after regular exposure to water the devices built-in stereo speaker will cease to function – luckily theirs a quick fix for that. Submerging the device in a container of rice for a few hours should whisk the devices speaker back to life. But admittedly I can think of very few Smartphone’s that will fair that well under similar conditions.

Another issue worth bring to light is regarding the devices Wi-Fi, it seems that the devices has poor compatibility with certain Netgear Wi-Fi routers resulting in poor Wi-Fi reception at distances that other devices would have good reception.

 Sony Xperia Z

 
Also some early adopters cited than on some occasions the Xperia Z would fail to come out of standby and become unresponsive for an indefinite amount of time. The only way to get the device running again would be to perform a hard reset – removing the battery for the device and placing it back in the putting the device on again, but due to the fact that the Xperia Z’s battery isn’t removable this puts some users in a real pickle. This isn’t a problem that’s new to Sony devices either, it’s plagued earlier Xperia models such as the Xperia X8 and Xperia Neo, luckily this glitch is usually rectified with a timely update.

The most troubling issue with the Xperia Z is regarding problems encountered while accessing microSD cards. Although this problem seems to be mostly specific to 32GB microSD cards. A significant amount of Xperia Z users have complained about their microSD cards being ‘... removed unexpectedly’ repeatedly while still in the phone, thereafter their microSD cards become condemned and unusable by the phone or any other device for that matter. This issue seemed to be triggered during heavy exchange of data between the phone and the micoSD card. Initially the fault was attributed to cheap microSD cards made by SanDisk, but soon realized it was not a fault with the SD card but the device after similar problems were encounter with other brands of SD cards such as Samsung and Kingston. At the time of writing this article the problem still had not been resolved but Sony representatives highlighted that only a relatively small amount of Xperia Z users were experiencing this problem and the problem could be caused by miscellaneous apps installed on their devices.

So there you have it “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” of Sony’s Xperia Z. It has its fair share of flaws, but none of these are deal breakers right? Let your voice be heard! Leave a comment below.

Sources

Specs | Issues | Sleep of Death
Wi-Fi Issue | microSD Issue

Request a Review

Hey there! I’d just like to thank all our returning visitors and avid readers. We’ve come a long way over the last 14 months and we wouldn’t still be running if it wasn’t you guys and your continuous hits. In our quest to become the number one Nigerian Tech resource on the internet we continue to search of tech news and information that would be relevant to the Nigerian consumer, but this is no easy task. To tackle this problem we’ve launched a new segment on our site, it called “Request a Review”.

As the name suggests if you’re interested in any tech news or require any tech related information make a request either on our Facebook page or email us on feedback@truetechkings.com or inquires@truetechkings.com. No request is too big or to small so just lets us know what you want to know and we’ll get right on it and post a response to your inquire as soon as possible! So start sending and let us answer all your questions!

Nokia Asha 311 Overview - Hit? Or Miss?

I’m sure we all remember the days when Nokia was dominating the Tech Headlines with their extensive range of stylish and ground breaking mobile phones. That was till 2003 when the mobile phone industry took a detour in its approach to device design and functionality with Apples release of the iPhone. The era saw the rise of the Smartphone and consumers began to demand for mobile phones with more functionality and capabilities. This demand has also ushered in Android Powered phones and Blackberry devices. Nokia soon saw its market share in the mobile phone Industry steadily decline. Today Nokia is seen as the underdog of the mobile phone Industry. Oh! How the mighty have fallen. Most experts categorise Nokia among the likes of RIM - the Canadian phone manufacturer who has also seen its market share on a constant decline, and according to speculations maybe on the verge of bankruptcy. RIM has bet all its chips on the Blackberry 10 OS and the phones and tablets that will run it, but I digress.   

Nokia may be down but it’s far from out, and that’s what the Finnish mobile legend is intent on proving to the world. Nokia has been trying to compete in the smartphone market with its vast range of feature and high-end smartphones.

Nokia’s Asha range of mobile phones are feature phones that just about match up to basic entry level android smartphones, these devices usually have a significantly low price point but run on Nokia’s Series 40 Asha platform, while the Lumia range of smartphones are high-end Windows powered devices, in the same ranks and the Samsung Galaxy model phones and Apple’s iPhone. 

So here’s the scoop, the Asha 311 is a touchscreen device with a 3 inch screen and 56K colour pallet. It has 140MB of user accessible memory upgradeable up to 32GB via microSD card. It’s got a 3.2MP camera and it runs on the Series 40 Asha OS which supports Java and Series 40 web apps. You get the standard mid-range connectivity options such as 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It does have multitouch and a Corning Gorilla Glass screen, features usually reserved for high-end smartphones. Let’s not forget its rather flaunted data compression feature that shrinks transmitted data size resulting is faster loading Apps. With the Asha 311 you’ll get a pick of 40 EA games titles ranging from ‘ports’ of FIFA 12 to Need For Speed: The Run to The Sims. You’ll also get the regulars like Angry Birds, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.

But however you look at it the Series 40 App offerings are light-years away from that of Androids Google PLAY and Apples App store. Another downside is it doesn’t have Adobe flash support which leaves you with a limited browsing experience and with only a 3.2MP camera without a flash these pitfalls tilts the Asha 311 into the low performance market, that said I’m not sure where to place the Asha 311.

 As a feature phone it could easily be said to be the best in the world, bit its NGN 19,000 (Nineteen Thousand Naira) price tag bumps it out of the feature phone spectrum and into the low-end Smartphone realm. Today you could get an Android Smartphone within that price range, and the Android platform has a world of Apps enriching your mobile experience in comparison to the series 40 platform. In my opinion the Asha 311 looks like a Smartphone, acts like a Smartphone but sadly it’s not. I don’t see the younger crowd that its marketing has been targeting in Nigeria readily adopting it because of these pitfalls. The free games offered are a quaint novelty but hardly an incentive. I feel this novelty will quickly wear off as the Asha 311’s short comings become apparent.

I would only recommend this device to individuals who refused to get on the Smartphone bandwagon, but need a device that can keep up with the times. Come to think about it, I think I have an aunt this would be perfect for, thank goodness it comes in pink!

So what do you think? Is the Asha 311 a Hit? Or is it a Miss? Don’t be bashful let you voice be heard in the comment section below, and remember every time you leave comment a household brand is saved from bankruptcy!