The Mobility Nigeria team was present at mobiFEST 2010 held earlier today at Afe Babalola Auditorium at the University of Lagos.

We got a hands-on of Encipher’s upcoming Android-based tablet. Though a pre-production model, I loved the feel of the device and found web browsing up to par. We are looking forward to Encipher letting us have a go at the final release.

We also had a good feel of a production Samsung i9000 Galaxy smartphone – and what a device it is! From the gorgeous screen to the fluid interface, the Galaxy wowed both Dayo Olutunfese and myself. Unfortunately, without a QWERTY keyboard, it isn’t my type of device. Still, we are looking forward to reviewing the Galaxy here.

We were not allowed to take any pictures of the device, but the Samsung representative confirmed that the Galaxy will be available in stores across Lagos within the next two (2) weeks.

As for the event proper, I was part of the panel that addressed mobile devices and value added services. In addition, the Mobility Nigeria desk at the event was dedicated to promoting our ongoing WIN-a-smartphone promo.

“A few shots from mobiFEST 2010″

From mobiFEST 2010 in pictures, posted by Yomi Adegboye on 8/17/2010 (7 items)

Generated by Facebook Photo Fetcher

Here’s the most anticipated news item on MobilityNigeria till date – our WIN-a-smartphone promo announcement.

We are giving away one brand new top-end smartphone and two others. Count it: that’s three (3) devices!

PS: If you are attending mobiFEST2010 today, feel free to walk up to our desk/stand to have a chat with members of the MobilityNigeria team. We’ll be on ground for the full-day event.

Find more details and enter for the promo at www.mobilitynigeria.com/promo

This promo is valid till 30th September 2010.

Here’s how to easily create music “Playlists” on your Blackberry music player:

1. In the media application click “Music”
2. Click “Playlists”
3. Click “New Playlist”
4. Click “Standard Playlist”
5. Type a name for the Playlist;
6. Press the “Menu” key;
7. Click “Add songs”
8. Click on any song you want to add to the Playlist, and the song will be added automatically;
9. To add more songs repeat steps 6-8
10. When you are finished press the “Menu” key and click “Save”.

Courtesy: The Jared Company – Smartphone Specialists

This one is nice and easy: if money was not an issue, what mobile phone in the market right now would you buy? Give us at least three (3) devices in your order of preference.

Note: unreleased devices are not valid.

Why we are asking? Well, let’s just say that MobilityNigeria will be giving you an opportunity to win a dream device shortly. As such, your contributions to this question might just help make your dream come true. Also, be sure to keep your eyes on this site.

E fit be you!

Nokia is currently running a promo, the Ovi Touch Campaign contest, in which they are giving away a Nokia handset each week of August.

You need to have an Ovi account (and just in case you don’t, you are permitted to create one right away), and then you must answer each week’s question.

Interested? Head over to Ovi Touch Campaign page.

If you do win anything, we’ll like to hear about it!

Ahead of the mobile applications expo coming up next week at the University of Lagos, we present an interview with Mr. Emmanuel Okoegwale, the gentleman behind the event.

1. Can you please tell us about MobiFest?
MobiFEST is Nigeria’s first mobile apps, contents and devices conference and exhibition. It will hold at the Heart of the Nigerian Youth Market in the Yaba axis of Lagos, targeting students from five higher institutions. MobiFEST was conceived to accelerate mobile apps development focusing on areas of strong compelling need across all areas of human endeavors in Nigeria.

2. What do you hope to achieve with the exhibition?
With the high rate of adoption of the mobile technology in Nigeria with more than 70 million subscription, it is natural for us at mobilemoneyafrica to explore the opportunities that the mobile present s in a Nation of less than 20million internet connections .Mobile phones are easy to use and available across class structures and educational status.

It is our sincere belief that many developmental challenges facing Nigeria can be managed using the mobile phone and allied applications.

3. Do you think there is significant opportunity in the mobile apps development space for African tech entrepreneurs?
We have see what simple SMS has been used for Kenya’s MPESA which is the world’s most referenced mobile payment platform, accounting for 15 per cent of the GDP flow, 50 percent of all domestic remittances with more than 16,000 agents and serving more than 12 million subscribers all within four years of launch. Same can be duplicated all across Africa and domesticated to address specific local needs.

Simple SMS solutions is actively used in areas of Health, microfinance, Banking, governance and many other areas across Africa. Innovations can only be limited by imagination in this space and this is what we want to address at mobiFEST.

4. How big do you think this opportunity is?
Earlier I mentioned MPESA in Kenya but that is about one of the instances where such successes has been measurable in terms of contributions to National economy, employment opportunities and even profitability. We don’t know what is out there because we can’t even measure it yet.

However, with the rate of adoption of mobile technology, new exciting apps, smart devices evolving all across Africa, there is millions of dollars untapped opportunity out there but the question is How big is this opportunity like You rightly asked. I don’t know it yet but we hope to bring all these issues to front line agenda in near future and we hope to commission research and survey to determine the market opportunities and size.

5. Do you think there is room for Nigerian mobile app developers to use mobile apps as a means of solving the nation’s development problems?
Nigerians are very smart people but abilities are limited where there are no opportunities. My expectation is that the mobile network operators or device manufacturers active in the mobile landscape in Nigeria and Africa would have since considered setting up an innovation lab in Nigeria where Young mobiprenuers can try out their stuffs. It may be housed in any University in Nigeria to create a hub for the developers in a focused community setting.

6. Where do you see Nigeria’s mobile apps development space in the next few years?
If we can get the right support to leap frog this industry, the potentials are there and hopefully, Nigeria can create a vibrant content and apps market for the new smart devices like the Blackberry, iPhone, Androids, Nokia and Samsungs of the world.
If we get it right with government and private sector support, the future will be bright and rewarding however if no action is taken, five years from now, we will still be faced with consuming foreign mobile apps and contents that does not have any strong compelling need for us as Africans and does not address any of our developmental needs.

7. What is the major challenge for Nigerian mobile app developers? How does mobiFest hope to address this problem?
We need to create an opportunity to network, get these guys together and identify the challenges with a view to addressing the short term challenges and proffering local solutions to such challenges. For this reasons, we are bringing some Nigerians that had excelled in mobile apps industry to share their experiences with the emerging ones with a view to learning a few tricks from them.

8. To our readers who might be thinking of attending, why in your opinion do you think they should attend?
It is an opportunity to test new exciting mobile apps in the Nigerian market and developed by Nigerians at the exhibition halls which will run alongside the conference at the University of Lagos. Some of these Nigerian firms will be showing their latest apps. Nokia and Samsung will be there as well, while MMIT led by Jide Akindele will demo the innovative mobile payment apps that was developed locally in Nigeria. Kofi Oroh from Mobitronics be will be sharing His news apps for delegates at the event. Mobile CV and many others will be presenting and exhibiting at this event.These are just some of the many innovators that will be showcasing their innovations at the event.

The event which is divided into device hub, innovation, developers and mobile money hub will also host a SIM card registration center.

About Emmanuel Okoegwale
Emmanuel Okoegwale is a mobile VAS specialist with specialization in mobile financial services. He is a Director at the African center for mobile financial inclusion, Acmfi in UK and serves on the board of the world first open source mobile micro finance platform in the US, FrontlineSMS Credit.

He is the founder of Africa’s leading resource for mobile financial inclusion, MobileMoneyAfrica and very active in the shaping regulations in the mobile financial landscape in Africa.He is a well known circuit speaker and workshop facilitator in Africa and UAE. He will be speaking at comworld series in Nigeria, Sept 2010.

If there is a smartphone on this planet that has been updated to death, it is the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Nokia seems to be absolutely committed to this device.

Improvements include:

1. Overall speed/performance is better
2. Kinetic scrolling is better
3. Mail for Exchange is better
4. Touch vibration bug is fixed
5. Browser is better
6. Improved video calls
7. Music Player is better

How the OTA Update Works

From the phone’s home screen click the dial pad short cut key, then dial *#0000#. The phone displays your current firmware version.

From that screen, click Options and select Check for updates. The phone will alert you of a new firmware version and then select download.

Once the installation file is downloaded, select Install and the new firmware will be installed on your phone.

Nokia 5530 XpressMusic Too
The Nokia 5530 also got an update to v31.0.005, so if you have this Symbian device, there are goodies for you too.

In August 2002, Nigerians celebrated the launch of Mobile telephony under the policy directions of the NCC. Since then we have witnessed significant uptake of services with more than 70 million subscriptions across all regions of the country.

The availability of the mobile phone opened new vista of opportunities for the smart entrepreneurs in Nigeria like Femi Adeagbo of SaveMyContacts, Chike Nwobi, formerly of MTECH which is now a publicly quoted firm operating in a number of African countries. A host of many other mobiprenuers took advantage of the opportunities.

Nigerian mobiprenuers are getting it right when it comes to entertainment and informational based value added services. Most media outlets are always promoting one form of text to win event or promotions.

While all the above may sound exciting, in other climes in Africa, mobile telephony technologies are actively used to commerce as the case in Kenya where MPESA is changing how millions access formal financial services.

In some parts of East Africa, mobile SMS are extensively used to monitor patients on Tuberculosis treatment and even pregnancy management for rural women folk with good results in areas with limited access to Health services.

In many areas of our daily lives as a Nation, we have areas of strong compelling need where simple SMS can make a significant difference. From election monitoring, governance, Health and Banking, simple SMS based application can make a positive difference, empowering millions with mobile phones.

While it could be interesting to download the Shakira clip of the world Cup theme song on the mobile but our needs as a Nation is more compelling than just ring tones and freebies. The same entrepreneurial spirits of the Chika Nwobi’s, Femi Adeagbo, Tosin Onanuga, Yomi Adegboye and other pioneers in the mobile value added ecosystem are needed more than ever before if we must experience the mobile value added in our own ‘Language’ and address our needs.

Join us on Tuesday on August 17th at Nigeria’s first mobile app, content and device conference, holding at the university of Lagos, Akoka.

Mobifest – Reaching the mobile Generation.

Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the new BlackBerry® Curve™ 3G, the 9300.

The BlackBerry Curve 3G smartphone features a comfortable full-QWERTY keyboard for fast, accurate typing, optical trackpad for fluid navigation, built-in GPS and Wi-Fi®, as well as dedicated media keys, so music lovers can easily access their tunes while on the go.

The new smartphone also features a 2 megapixel camera that can record video and a microSD/SDHC slot that supports up to 32 GB memory cards for media storage. Support for 3G networks makes browsing faster, streaming music smoother, and gives users the ability to talk on the phone while they browse the web, instant message with BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) or share their location with friends on popular social networking sites.

The BlackBerry Curve 3G ships with BlackBerry® 5 and is BlackBerry® 6 ready. BlackBerry 6 is a new operating system for BlackBerry® smartphones that was announced last week. BlackBerry 6 is expected to be available for the BlackBerry Curve 3G, subject to carrier certifications, in the coming months.

Source: Official RIM Press Release

Last month, I published my hands-on with MobiNigeria app for Symbian. In response to that article, one of our regulars here made a comment that didn’t go down well with too many people, yet he had a point that I will attempt to blow up in this article.

I find that regardless of how good the available apps for Facebook, WordPress and Twitter are, after the initial euphoria of installing it, I almost never go back to using them. Why? Well, I have a browser for those. One application on my smartphone – the web browser – takes care of the functionality that all three of those apps provide.

Why would I want to launch each one separately and switch around to update my blog, Twitter feed and Facebook wall like that?

The MobiNigeria application for Symbian, like every other news site application (e.g. AP, Mobile Industry Review, National Geographic, etc) simply reproduces what is already on the website itself. I am subscribed to lots of news sites. I find that one single application – the RSS Feed Reader – is a more efficient way of receiving news updates from all.

It is certainly painful to have to launch an app for each of those sites just to keep up-to-date with news and reviews.

The truth is that for people who do more than the average on the internet, having an app for each service would be madness. Incidentally, many mobile appstores are full of such apps – including the Apple, Ovi (Nokia), and Android stores.

These days, we are quick to say, “There’s an app for that“. Still, we might find that there are not too many things that we really need an app for. As a rule, many internet-based services may not really need a dedicated application.

I have always been of the position that the mobile web (and hence the mobile web browser) is the solution to the problem of multiple apps for most internet-based mobile activities. Time will tell.

Still, we must leave room for those who are not into multiple online activities, but have only one or two activities that they are committed to online, say perhaps just updating their WordPress blog or Facebook pages and nothing more. These may prefer to use an application for doing that. They may be in the minority, but since when did it become politically correct to discriminate against minorities?

At the end of thee day, perhaps the freedom of choice of what to use, and where and when to use it is what makes mobile more fun!

RIM has announced their very first BlackBerry OS 6 smartphone, the Torch 9800. The device is a slider QWERTY handset with a 3.2-inch HVGA (480 x 360 pixel) capacitive touchscreen display.

RIM also threw in a 5 megapixel autofocus snapper with LED flash, HSDPA, Wifi, 4GB internal memory. Of course, the spanking new Webkit-based super-browser from RIM will be in there as well.

The Torch 9800 will go on sale this month. Unfortunately, that will be restricted to AT&T for now. We also hear that it will be available on Vodafone in the UK at a yet undisclosed date.

Here at MobilityNigeria, we are hoping that our US partners, MyCricketPDA, can get a unit across to us in the earliest possible time so we can take it for a spin.

Thanks to Adewuyi Abiola for the tip-off!

Read more from TechRadar

OS 6 Compatibility with Existing BlackBerry Smartphones
In related news, RIM has announced it will be upgrading certain older devices with OS6, so they can take advantage of the new Webkit-based browser. That’s great news for owners of those devices, as the upgrade will totally change the web browsing experience of users. The qualified devices include:

1. Bold 9700
2. Bold 9650
3. Pearl 3G

In July 2010, a BlackBerry device made an entry into the top 5 phones chart, while a USA mobile network made a debut on the top 5 networks chart.

The Nokia 5800 retained its position as the most used mobile for accessing Mobility Nigeria.

Of the top 5 phones, three (3) are QWERTY keyboard devices, one (1) is touchscreen, and one (1) is regular keypad.

Overview

• 21% mobile of MobilityNigeria’s traffic in July 2010 was from mobile devices
• 352 devices on 362 networks from 109 countries accessed Mobility Nigeria in July 2010
• 40.7% of devices are wi-fi enabled
• 10.1% – Wi-fi usage
• 25.5% are QWERTY phones
• 18.5% are touchscreen phones
• 29.6% are smartphones

Top 5 Phones

1. Nokia 5800 – 5.4%
2. Nokia E63 – 4.7%
3. Nokia 3110 Classic – 4.7%
4. BlackBerry 9700 – 3.9%
5. Nokia E71 – 3.0%

Top 5 Brands

1. Nokia – 52.4%
2. BlackBerry – 9.3%
3. Sony Ericsson – 6.1%
4. Samsung – 5.8%
5. Apple – 4.7%

Top 5 Operating Systems

1. Symbian – 26.3%
2. Series 40 – 19.9%
3. BlackBerry – 9.3%
4. iOS – 4.7%
5. Windows Mobile – 2.7%

Top 5 Networks

1. Etisalat Nigeria – 25.7%
2. Zain Nigeria – 13.8%
3. MTN Niugeria – 7.0%
4. Glo Nigeria – 4.9
5. T-mobile USA – 2.7%

Top 5 Countries

1. Nigeria – 52.7%
2. India – 8.2%
3. USA – 7.0%
4. Canada – 3.1%
5. UK – 2.2%

Don’t forget, this is all MobilityNigeria.com traffic only, but then these statistics may present some fair indicators about mobile web traffic in Nigeria in general.