Techish Kenya
Technology News, Startups, Opinions, Reviews
May 31, 2026 at 12:04PM
Kenya signed an AI tourism deal with Google to double arrivals. We explain the four parts, the numbers, and unanswered questions.
May 30, 2026 at 01:38PM
Kenya's drone delivery market gains a 25kg hybrid cargo drone as GDC teams up with local operator ThatcherX. Here's why.
May 30, 2026 at 05:42AM
Google has quietly expanded YouTube Premium Lite availability in Kenya, giving users a more affordable way to enjoy ad-free YouTube without paying for the full YouTube Premium subscription. The new plan costs KES 299 per month, making it 40% cheaper than the standard YouTube Premium Individual plan, which currently goes for KES 499 per month. …
May 30, 2026 at 04:26AM
Just a month after launching its experimental Ask YouTube feature for desktop users, Google is now bringing this powerful conversational search directly to the biggest screen in your house. Starting this week, Ask YouTube is officially expanding to the YouTube app on smart TVs, gaming consoles, and streaming devices. If you missed the initial drop …
May 29, 2026 at 06:26PM
Last weekend, we reported the news about Samsung community chatter suggesting the Galaxy S22 series could still get the One UI 8.5 update. That hope now looks much thinner because we finally have a clearer picture of exactly why Samsung may be leaving its 2022 lineup behind. Historically, porting a mid-cycle update like previous One …
May 29, 2026 at 05:36PM
Samsung is currently rolling out the One UI 8.5 update, and while it brings a host of exciting features, it isn’t without its growing pains. Several Galaxy S23 and S24 owners are finding themselves trapped in a frustrating loop, stuck indefinitely on the Galaxy AI welcome screen. I first learned about this bizarre glitch when …
May 29, 2026 at 12:06PM
When Safaricom announced that it was doubling its Home Fibre speeds late last month, the internet naturally buzzed with excitement. Like most of you, my eyes immediately darted to the usual suspects: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Platinum. Seeing the entry-level Bronze plan jump from 15Mbps to 40Mbps for the same old price was undeniably …
May 29, 2026 at 11:19AM
After a one-year hiatus, the Google Developer Group (GDG) Nairobi has announced the return of Google I/O Extended Nairobi 2026 edition. Scheduled for Saturday, June 20th, 2026, at the Simba Corporation Aspire Center in Westlands, the full-day event promises to bring the biggest announcements from Google’s main I/O conference in Mountain View directly to the …
May 29, 2026 at 09:27AM
Airtel Africa is on an absolute tear this month. From record-smashing fiscal results to major backend shareholding shuffles, the telecom giant has kept our newsroom incredibly busy. But while most of the recent news has been happening at a group level, this latest blockbuster development brings the action straight home to Kenya. Airtel Kenya is …
May 29, 2026 at 04:17AM
As we head into yet another weekend, Samsung is making sure Galaxy users have something exciting to look forward to. Just last weekend, we shared the initial list of Galaxy devices that had started receiving the stable One UI 8.5 update. That first wave was understandably heavy on the premium side, including the Galaxy S25 …
May 29, 2026 at 01:51AM
Anthropic raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation, passing OpenAI. We break down what is real, what is hype.
May 28, 2026 at 08:47PM
Corporate acquisitions rarely result in immediate wins for the consumer. However, ever since Canal+ completed its $2 billion takeover of MultiChoice late last year, we’ve watched the French media giant make deliberate, aggressive moves to steady what was a visibly rocking ship. Before the acquisition, the company had been bleeding users, resulting in a massive …
May 28, 2026 at 08:09PM
Just after Samsung unveiled its mid-range lineup in Kenya with the recent arrival of the Galaxy A37 and A57 packed with creator features , the rumour mill is spinning up again. I’ve been wondering why the company delayed the Galaxy A27, but thanks to a massive new leak of official renders and specs, it looks …
May 28, 2026 at 07:51PM
The Galaxy A57 and A37 bring OIS video, Nightography and on-device AI editing to creators. Here is how each feature works.
May 28, 2026 at 11:49AM
Spiro acquires UK engineering firm Coexlion and plans Africa's first electric motorcycle R&D centre in Nairobi to localise design.
May 28, 2026 at 11:38AM
TECNO POVA Curve 2 5G debuts in Manila at PHP 16,999 with curved AMOLED, Dimensity 7100, and 8,000mAh. Kenya pending
May 28, 2026 at 11:22AM
From June 1, 2026, Kenyan motorists who commit minor traffic offences get a police notice instead of an automatic court appearance.
May 28, 2026 at 11:14AM
DStv Kenya will broadcast all 104 FIFA World Cup matches on every package, with cheaper decoders, signalling Canal+'s strategic shift.
May 28, 2026 at 08:33AM
For millions of Kenyans, including myself, this regulatory crackdown is long overdue. We constantly pay premium prices for aggressively marketed data bundles and airtime promotions, only to watch our critical calls drop midway or see our internet connections slow to an agonizing crawl. I cannot count the number of times I have been forced to …
May 28, 2026 at 06:20AM
Kenya’s smartphone market just delivered one of the clearest warnings yet about what happens when devices become too expensive for ordinary consumers. According to Omdia’s latest Smartphone Market Pulse for Q1 2026, Kenya’s smartphone shipments declined 16% year-on-year as rising retail prices pushed consumers to significantly extend their replacement cycles. And honestly, that number should …
May 28, 2026 at 06:10AM
Africa’s smartphone market still belongs to TRANSSION. That much remains undisputed. According to Omdia’s latest Smartphone Market Pulse for Q1 2026, the Chinese smartphone giant, through TECNO, Infinix, and itel, retained a commanding 47% market share across Africa after shipping 9.3 million smartphones during the quarter. To put that into perspective, Samsung, the second-largest smartphone …
May 28, 2026 at 05:59AM
Africa’s smartphone market is still growing, but the latest numbers from Omdia suggest the continent may be approaching a difficult turning point. According to Omdia’s latest Smartphone Market Pulse for Q1 2026, smartphone shipments across Africa grew 3% year-on-year to 19.9 million units. On paper, that sounds healthy enough. But the story underneath those numbers …
May 27, 2026 at 10:10PM
Meta launches Instagram Plus, Facebook Plus and WhatsApp Plus subscriptions globally with new Meta One AI and creator plans. Full prices, features, KES costs.
May 27, 2026 at 09:42PM
A 25% concentration, a 19% Xiaomi collapse, and a 50% RAM price jump: inside the Q1 2026 smartphone market
May 27, 2026 at 09:23PM
Tanzania catches up to Kenya as Vodacom and PayPal open a direct bridge between the M-PESA Super App and PayPal wallets.
May 27, 2026 at 03:39PM
Looking at Counterpoint Research’s latest Global Handset Model Sales Tracker for Q1 2026, I can’t help but notice a glaring reality about the global smartphone market: we are living in a tale of two extremes. The numbers are out, and the major headline here is that Samsung Galaxy phones took a whopping 5 spots in …
May 27, 2026 at 06:15AM
Just a couple of years ago, the local smartphone enthusiast space breathed a collective sigh of relief. Out of nowhere, Safaricom’s e-commerce platform, Masoko, silently started stocking Google Pixel phones alongside other enthusiast-favourite brands like OnePlus and NOTHING. Having a trusted retailer backed by Kenya’s biggest telecommunications company carry these devices felt like a major …
May 27, 2026 at 04:43AM
Google doesn’t sell Pixel phones in Africa. Officially, as far as Mountain View’s hardware division is concerned, the Kenyan market doesn’t exist. Yet, take a walk through Nairobi’s tech corridors or casually scroll through local social media storefronts, and you will find an impressive lineup anging from the aging Pixel 6 to the shiny new …
May 26, 2026 at 09:25PM
The bank is offering eligible business customers free access to Google's Hustle Academy, the AI and digital skills programme that has trained more than 18,000 businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa.
May 26, 2026 at 09:11PM
KMRC listed a KES 3 billion sustainability bond on the NSE, oversubscribed 312.8%, funding green and social home loans across Kenya.
May 26, 2026 at 09:01PM
Centum's TRIFIC has opened a KES 4.8bn dollar-denominated green REIT from KES 129,000. We explain the structure, yield and risks.
May 26, 2026 at 08:51PM
A 2026 Boston University and AERC report finds China–Africa trade hit a record $275 billion, but Africa now repays Beijing more than it borrows.
May 26, 2026 at 08:35PM
I&M Group's Q1 2026 profit rose 19% to KES 5 billion, with bad loans down 33% and customers up 42%.
May 26, 2026 at 06:25PM
We are officially two weeks away from the biggest sporting spectacle on earth. As a massive football fan, my calendar is already marked and my schedule is getting cleared. I definitely won’t watch all 104 matches, but you can bet I will be glued to the screen for the marquee matchups and the knockout drama. …
May 26, 2026 at 03:37PM
Imagine waking up to discover that your phone number which is tied to your banking apps, your KRA portal, and your daily life has been quietly handed over to a total stranger. Even worse, any money you left in your mobile wallet has vanished into a corporate black hole Safaricom casually refers to as an …
May 26, 2026 at 10:04AM
Let’s not mince words: if you currently own the 2025 TECNO Spark 40, there is absolutely no sane reason to upgrade to the newly released TECNO Spark 50. In fact, calling the Spark 50 an “upgrade” is a stretch. In my books, it’s a recycled device wrapped in fresh marketing jargon. The Spark 50 has …
May 26, 2026 at 06:09AM
When news first broke that the Finance Bill 2026 proposes new taxes on digital services and payments, many Kenyans immediately focused on the pain points: M-PESA, paybills, and online transactions becoming more expensive. Then came reports of a 25% tax on mobile phones, and social media exploded. At first glance, it sounded like smartphones in …
May 26, 2026 at 05:28AM
In December 2025, Kenya’s highest court handed banks a win they had chased for over a decade. The Supreme Court ruled that the fees banks pay to Visa, Mastercard and each other to process card payments are not taxable as royalties or as management fees. The judgment wiped out withholding tax demands that had been …
May 25, 2026 at 07:34PM
Five Kenyan universities are preparing Romania-linked EU academic partnerships covering master’s pathways, dual degrees, Erasmus+ mobility, and joint research opportunities.
May 25, 2026 at 06:45PM
Apple could be preparing one of its most notable ecosystem shifts yet in iOS 27, with new reporting suggesting the company may allow users in the European Union to replace AirPlay with Google Cast and other streaming protocols at the system level. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is working on support for third-party …