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ICT Africa Updates
by Robert Alai 07 Feb '08

07 Feb '08

<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263801&u=h…> [image: proinv]<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263802&u=h…> [image: banner]<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263796&u=h…> [image: nclogo]<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263801&u=h…> http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263796&u=h…> Industry Exhibition One of the focal points of NOVATECH - The ICT Market Place is an exhibition hall. Vendors can take advantage of the participation of about 350 high level delegates, including company executives, government leaders, representatives of continental organizations and research & academic Institutions. For more details please point your browser to http://ictafrica.nepadcouncil.org/exhibitions.html<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263798&u=h…> Conference Agenda at a Glance - Click for Preliminary Research and Tutorial Program<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263797&u=h…> Tuesday, 12th February 2008 15:00 to 18:00 Early registration at the UNECA Conference Centre Wednesday, 13th February 2008 08:00 to 09:30 Registration core period 10:00 to 11:00 Opening Ceremony 11:00 to 11:30 Coffee Break sponsored by 11:30 to 13:00 Plenary session 1: "ICT Market in East Africa and the Indian Ocean: Trends, opportunities and challenges" 13:00 to 14:30 Lunch Break sponsored by 14:30 to 15:00 Presentation of the Matchmaking System for the B2B Meetings 15:00 to 16:30 Plenary session 2: "Regional integration and international co-operation for ICT deployment: Current situation, needs and key conditions" 16:30 to 17:00 Coffee Break sponsored by 17:00 to 18:30 Plenary session 3: "Financing ICT Projects: Possible ways and means" 18:30 to 20:00 ICT Company presentations (1) ICT Company presentations (2) ICT Research & academic presentations (3) 21:00 Opening Dinner sponsored by Thursday, 14th February 2008 08:30 to 10:00 Workshop 1: "ICT Skills, Training and Awareness: Critical success factors" Workshop 2: "Network Infrastructure Technologies: Pre-requisites for progress" Internet Connectivity A 10:00 to 10:30 Coffee Break sponsored by 10:30 to 12:30 One-to-one business meetings Wireless Networks A Internet Connectivity B 12:30 to 14:00 Lunch Break sponsored by 14:00 to 15:30 Workshop 3: "e-Applications: Expanding opportunities - ePALS" Workshop 4: "Mobile and Wireless Communication Technologies: Trends and future - SWANsat" Fibre Optics/Wireline Networks A 15:30 to 16:00 Coffee Break sponsored by 16:00 to 19:00 One-to-one business meetings Tutorials A Tutorials B 19:00 to 20:00 ICT related thematic presentations (4) ICT Companies' Success Stories (5) TBD 21:00 Dinner sponsored by Friday, 15th February 2008 08:30 to 10:00 Workshop 5: "Outsourcing: How to match demand and supply?" Workshop 6: "Institutional and regulatory framework for ICT development: How to create a conducive environment" Wireless Networks B 10:00 to 10:30 Coffee Break sponsored by One-to-one business meetings Fibre Optics/Wireline Networks B ICT Solutions A 12:30 to 14:00 Lunch Break sponsored by 14:00 to 15:30 One-to-one business meetings Tutorials C ICT Solutions B 15:30 to 16:00 Coffee Break sponsored by 16:00 to 18:00 Closing Ceremony – ICT in the EAIO Region: A route paved with opportunities 19:00 Closing Cocktail [image: jcb]<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263800&u=h…> [image: image2]<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=1&d=89263799&u=h…> [image: jcb] <http://http%7C/www.developingtelecomms.com> For more information, contact: Clarissa Dhliwayo cdhliwayo(a)nepadcouncil.org +1-607-857-2456 Pamela Odero podero(a)nepadcouncil.org +254 722 829 438 You are subscribed as alai.robert(a)gmail.com. To unsubscribe please click here<http://cmpgnr.com/r.html?c=1155828&r=1154781&t=934038918&l=6&ea=alai.robert…> . <http://www.campaigner.com/?testdrive_1> -- --------------------------------- www.kazi-africa.com polls2007.blogspot.com ----------------------------------

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Problems with Five Undersea Fiber Optic Cables
by brian 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

Problems with Five Undersea Fiber Optic Cables February 6th, 2008 Via: Mena Report: http://www.menareport.com/en/business/221875 A total of five cables being operated by two submarine cable operators have been damaged with a fault in each. These are SeaMeWe-4 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe-4) near Penang, Malaysia, the FLAG Europe-Asia near Alexandria, FLAG near the Dubai coast, FALCON near Bandar Abbas in Iran and SeaMeWe-4, also near Alexandria.

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End of Discussion-Impact of Post-Election Violence on ICT organisation
by John Walubengo 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

On behalf of the KICTAnet Secretariat, I wish to thank all those who spared the time and effort to contribute in last weeks discussion. The contributions are being compiled into a report for distribution within two weeks. Thanks alot and we hope you can be available for other discussions on contemporary national, regional and internatioal ICT issues affecting our community. Keep the Faith and Hope alive, walu. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping

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[Fwd: Re: Kenya: The Media is Not Innocent]
by alice 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [kictanet] Kenya: The Media is Not Innocent Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 12:15:12 +0300 (EAT) From: Silverscreen Pictures <ssp(a)silverscreen.co.ke> To: alice <alice(a)apc.org> I totally agree on the fact that the Media was culpable in inciting people to violence. Specifically Vernacular stations which were sadly set up on the premise of "propagating and posturing a community's position and interests". This is in total regard of the fact that any region in this country, is a melting pot of the varied communities that form the Kenyan nation. Even some of the mainstream FM stations, their inclination was obvious, leading to their lack of objectivity in their broadcasts. Some of the Newspaper columnists, depending on what communities they belonged, subjectively belaboured the virtues of their kinsmen or affiliates, and at times showing the kind of infatuation and Hero worship these writers carried to pen their stories/columns. We know there is a strong lobby from the Media Owners that resist any suggestion or policy that calls for regulations, however harmless to democracy. REMEMBER THE MINISTERIAL DIRECTIVE IN 2003 CALLING FOR A MERE 20% LOCAL CONTENT?????. I have no prescriptions, but I sadly think that if we are not careful, we may be creating a MEDIA MONSTER, If the tenets and principles of responsible and objective journalism are not embraced. Ingolo ----- Original Message ----- From: "alice" <alice(a)apc.org> To: ssp(a)silverscreen.co.ke Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke> Sent: Monday, February 4, 2008 10:58:54 PM (GMT+0300) Asia/Kuwait Subject: [kictanet] Kenya: The Media is Not Innocent http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=41049 KENYA: The Media Is Not Innocent Kwamboka Oyaro *NAIROBI, Feb 2 (IPS) - The media was partly blamed for the Rwandan genocide 14 years ago which left nearly one million people dead in 100 days. "Kill the Inkotanyi [cockroaches]!" a local radio station urged its listeners at the time. * "30 Days in Words and Pictures: Media Response in Kenya During the Election Crisis" -- a workshop organised here last week by California-based media advocacy group Internews -- enabled media professionals to conduct a "self-audit" of the role local media played in the post-election violence. The audit revealed that media -- especially vernacular radio stations -- might be partly to blame for the on-going violence sparked off by the announcement of Mwai Kibaki as winner of the Dec. 27 elections. The violence has reportedly claimed over 1,000 lives and displaced some 250,000 people since the December election. David Ochami, a commissioner with the Media Council of Kenya, told IPS that long before the elections were held, vernacular radio stations had ignited ethnic consciousness among the listeners "making them support leaders from their own tribe and harbour bad feelings about people from other communities." "The ethnic hate our radio station was propagating about those from outside the community was unbelievable. I can’t repeat any of those expressions at this forum," said a journalist with a vernacular radio station. "The unfortunate thing is we let these callers speak vile and laughed about it." "We took sides in the issue and we became subjective, forgetting our professional tenet of objectivity and neutrality. In fact, this polarization was so bad in the newsrooms that some broadcast journalists refused to cover or read news that wasn’t favourable to the candidate or party they supported," said a journalist. In fact, leading up to the elections the local media conveyed inflammatory campaign messages as advertisers’ announcements. "Both print and broadcast media put money ahead of responsibility by accepting and conveying paid-for hate material," Mildred Baraza, a Nairobi- based journalist told IPS. "This could have incited the audience, and when they got a chance they avenged as a result of the pre-election messages," she said. Redemtor Atieno, another Nairobi-based journalist who also helped to organise the workshop, is confident that the media’s biased reporting contributed to the mayhem in the country. "Professionalism was thrown to the dogs as tribe and partisanship carried the day. We failed our audience by conveying interests of politicians without questioning the impact of our stories," Atieno told IPS. Participants at the workshop also blamed media owners for playing a major role in encouraging the violence. "They had vested interests in either camp of the political divide," a reporter with Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) said, adding that he and his colleagues wanted to tell the real story but they couldn’t because the stories could portray the government in a bad light. "We had beautiful clips and stories from the field, but we went back to the newsroom knowing that the story would never be used," he said. Even privately owned media owners who backed different political parties had a hand in the stories that were carried. If it was about the party they supported, they exaggerated the story and generally depicted the opponents in negative ways. "The media organizations refrained from telling the world the truth about what was happening," Ochami told IPS. "There has been a tendency of portraying the Kenyan crisis as a problem between two ethnic groups -- where one [Kibaki’s Kikuyu] is victimized by another [opposition leader Raila Odinga’s Luo]. Any other story on the contrary is downplayed or ignored," Ochami explained. There are those who believe the media is innocent and the violence currently rocking the country was bound to happen anyway -- that historical economic inequalities among the Kenyan communities had to boil over at some point in time. "The public vented long bottled-up anger. It was meant to explode whether the media encouraged it or not," said a journalist at the workshop. "Many people voted last year for change and it was a protest vote against years of inequalities. When they realized this would not happen when Kibaki was declared winner, they exploded." Mitch Odera the moderator of the workshop and media consultant said one of the causes of Kenya’s unrest is the immaturity of its democracy. "There hasn’t been competitive democracy in our country. That is our problem," Odera told the participants at the workshop. The government was also blamed for the chaos because it slapped a blanket ban on live broadcasters soon after violence broke out in the country. "The ban did not extend to international media including the Internet which many Kenyans accessed and spread the word. This led to skewed information and hence panic and more destruction and deaths," said one journalist from the electronic media. The Editors Guild -- an organization of editors from all media organizations -- went to court this week to challenge the ban on broadcasters. Participants at the workshop also heard the first hand experiences of journalists who covered the post election violence. Practioners complained about threats to their lives and complained that they felt segregated from the rest of the country. As the workshop was taking place participants were well aware that several political writers and analysts had received death threats for writing stories that were viewed as unfavourable towards the government. (END/2008) _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet(a)lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet This message was sent to: ssp(a)silverscreen.co.ke Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/ssp%40silverscreen.co.…

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FW: Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme 2008
by Wanjira, Alice Munyua 06 Feb '08

06 Feb '08

-----Original Message----- From: Njiraini, Mwende Sent: Fri 01/02/2008 17:08 To: Wanjira, Alice Munyua Subject: Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme 2008 Call for Applications Internet Governance Capacity Building Programme 2008 DiploFoundation is currently accepting applications for the 2008 Internet Governance Capacity Building Training Programme (IG CBP). This online programme is designed to improve Internet governance (IG) related knowledge and skills for participants mainly from developing countries. The Programme also facilitates community-building among individuals with different national, cultural, and professional backgrounds. The Programme The programme offers 120 places for young professionals from diverse stakeholder backgrounds in IG-related fields and is open to individuals from around the world. The programme is conducted entirely online. The programme includes three phases, which take place over eight months during 2008: I. The online training phase consists of § an 8-week long Foundation Course, introducing IG policy, process, and actors, and covering 5 thematic baskets: Infrastructure and Standardisation Basket, Legal Basket, Economic Basket, Socio-Cultural Basket, Development Basket; § two 4-week long modules of the Advanced Course, covering two advanced topics chosen by each participant from: e-Commerce, e-Voting, Intellectual Property Rights, Infrastructure and Economic Models of Interconnectivity, Privacy, and Security. Learning activities take place in an online classroom and include the analysis of course materials, interactive group discussions using a variety of communication tools, assignments, and exams. Successful participants will receive a certificate of completion of the programme. II. The online policy research phase is an optional 3-month period of supervised, collaborative online work focused on IG policy issues of highest relevance to developing countries, and is closely linked to training activities. III. The policy immersion phase includes capacity-building fellowships awarded to a number of successful participants in the programme, such as internships with partner organisations and attendance at IG-related meetings, including the Internet Governance Forum later in the year. Languages Programme materials and platform are fully in English. Besides English-speaking groups, several bilingual groups will be formed for the foundation course, having English as the primary language, and either Arabic, French, Portuguese, or Spanish as the secondary language for communication and interaction. Target Audience The training programme seeks applications from the following categories of individuals from both developed and developing countries: § officials in government ministries and departments dealing with IG-related issues (e.g., telecommunications, education, foreign affairs, justice); § postgraduate students and researchers in the IG field (e.g., in telecommunications, electrical engineering, law, economics, development studies); § civil society activists in the IG field; § journalists covering IG issues; § individuals in Internet-business fields (e.g., ISPs, software developers). Participants from developing countries are eligible to receive full scholarship support for the foundation course, while for the advanced phase, a number of scholarships will be offered to the most successful participants. Timeline § 3 March-29 April 2008 - Foundation Course on Internet Governance § 5 May-29 June 2008 - Advanced Course on Internet Governance § September-November 2008 - Policy Research Phase (optional) § July 2008 through 2009 - Policy Immersion (fellowships) Fee 1) Foundation course Applicants from developing countries: full scholarships are available for all selected applicants to cover the course tuition. Applicants from developed* countries: Euro 550. 2) Advanced course Applicants from developing countries: Euro 150. A number of scholarships will be offered to the most successful participants of the foundation course from developing countries. Applicants from developed* countries: Euro 400. 3) Research phase Full scholarships are available for all successful participants of the online training phase to cover the research phase tuition. * OECD members <http://www.oecd.org/document/58/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1889402_1_1_1_1,00.ht…> Requirements The applicants are required to have: § Basic awareness and interest in IG issues § Knowledge and/or experience of the multistakeholder approach in international affairs § Fluency in English, as well as fluency in the second language for the applicants to any of bilingual groups § Good writing skills, ability to summarize information and focus on details § Regular access to the Internet (dial-up connection is sufficient) § Minimum of 8 hours commitment per week during the programme § Participation in online consultations (once a week at specified times) Deadline The deadline for applications is 14 February 2008, by midnight UTC/GMT. How to Apply For further information and to apply, please visit: http://www.diplomacy.edu/ig/ <http://www.diplomacy.edu/ig/> Do not hesitate to contact us at ig(a)diplomacy.edu <mailto:[email protected]> . Please circulate widely. Thank you, Mwende Njiraini Engineer II/New Technologies Communications Commission of Tel: 254 - 020 - 4242419/000 P.O Box 14448, Nairobi 00800 Nairobi KENYA Email: njiraini(a)cck.go.ke Website:http://www.cck.go.ke Disclaimer: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use by the individual(s) or entity to whom it is addressed to. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Additionally, if you have received this email in error please notify the sender immediately by a reply e-mail.

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Fourth Undersea Cable cut in Middle East as Egypt Rules out damage by ships
by brian 04 Feb '08

04 Feb '08

Oh my, this is beginning to look rather serious. Is there any doubt now that there are some strange forces at work? Brian ----------------------------- Via: AFP: Ships are not responsible for damaging undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean, Egypt’s Government says. Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia. A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said. Egypt’s transport ministry said footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged. “The ministry’s maritime transport committee reviewed footage covering the period of 12 hours before and 12 hours after the cables were cut and no ships sailed the area,” a statement said. “The area is also marked on maps as a no-go zone and it is therefore ruled out that the damage to the cables was caused by ships.” Earlier reports said that the damage had been caused by ships that had been diverted off their usual route because of bad weather. A repair ship is expected to begin work to fix the two Mediterranean cables on Tuesday.

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Kenya ICT Board launches Public Panels (1 attachment)
by Al Kags 04 Feb '08

04 Feb '08

The Kenya ICT Board yesterday launched the ICT Public Panels, which are special stakeholder forums that are designed to enable the private sector to collaborate with the government through the board to develop Kenya's ICT agenda. Speaking at the Kenya ICT Federation's "State of the Industry" luncheon, the CEO of the Kenya ICT Board, Mr. Paul Kukubo flanked by his two deputy CEOs, Mr. Victor Kyalo (Infrastructure and Programmes) and Ms. Eunice M. Kariuki (Marketing), presented the board's overall strategy, which is now being finalised. [Download it here: http://tinyurl.com/3cvmfo] They invited the wider ICT industry to participate in the validation of the board's strategy, which was presented as well as to contribute to the development of the ICT agenda through the Public Panels. "We feel that the work that we do can only really be productive if we adopt a policy of inclusion and ensure that we carry everyone along," said Paul Kukubo in his presentation. "We want to urge the public through the industry sector groups to participate as keenly in our work." Essentially the Public Panels will be co-convened by industry sector groups, such as the Kenya ICT Federation, the Kenya Business Process Outsourcing and Contact Centre Society (KBPOCC) and others and the board will facilitate their working sessions. The anticipated output of the panels includes policy recommendations, white papers, position papers and actual draft project proposals. The Chairman of the Kenya ICT Federation congratulated the board on the presentation of the strategy saying that it was clear that quite a lot of work had gone into its development. He said that it was a breath of fresh air to see the depth and breadth with which the board was working. "Clearly we are in good hands." DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION: http://tinyurl.com/3cvmfo ALT DOWLOAD PRESENTATION: http://tinyurl.com/25rnqo

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Third Undersea Cable Cut - conspiracy or not?
by brian 03 Feb '08

03 Feb '08

There are some blogs around the Internet that speculate about these cable cuts. One pretty plausible claim is that the launch of the Iranian Oil Bourse which was planned for this week might be the cause for such a scale of interference as the bourse would have negatively impacted the US dollar. -------- Iran Oil Bourse to deal blow to dollar Fri, 04 Jan 2008 20:45:41 The long-awaited Iranian Oil Bourse, a place for trading oil, petrochemicals and gas in various non-dollar currencies, will soon open. Iran’s Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari told reporters the bourse will be inaugurated during the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution (February 1-11) at the latest. “All preparations have been made to launch the bourse; it will open during the Ten-Day Dawn (the ceremonies marking the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran),” he said. The Minister had earlier stated that the Oil Bourse is located on the Persian Gulf island of Kish. Some expert opinions hold inauguration of the bourse cold significantly devalue the greenback. --------- Could this be why the 3rd cable cut has effectively removed the Middle East from the internet? ---------- Via: CNN: An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days. Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparently caused by a cut undersea cable. Ships have been dispatched to repair two undersea cables damaged on Wednesday off Egypt. FLAG Telecom, which owns one of the cables, said repairs were expected to be completed by February 12. France Telecom, part owner of the other cable, said it was uncertain when repairs on it would be repaired. Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography, a research company that consults on global Internet issues, said the cables off Egypt were likely damaged by ships’ anchors. The loss of the two Mediterranean cables — FLAG Telecom’s FLAG Europe-Asia cable and SeaMeWe-4, a cable owned by a consortium of more than a dozen telecommunications companies — has snarled Internet and phone traffic from Egypt to India. Officials said Friday it was unclear what caused the damage to FLAG’s FALCON cable about 50 kilometers off Dubai. A repair ship was en route, FLAG said. Eric Schoonover, a senior analyst with TeleGeography, said the FALCON cable is designed on a “ring system,” taking it on a circuit around the Persian Gulf and enabling traffic to be more easily routed around damage. Schoonover said the two cables damaged Wednesday collectively account for as much as three-quarters of the international communications between Europe and the Middle East, so their loss had a much bigger effect.

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Blogger of Mass Destruction - huh(?)
by brian 03 Feb '08

03 Feb '08

The stakes in the information economy are very high. Even moreso the interests of a sovereign state. A country like the USA takes this so seriously that they conducted the following as a test of their preparedness. Interesting amongst some of the simulations are scenarios where they test their ability to "control" the release of information to the public by the media.... It is good to think about Kenya's preparedness in this context. Brian --------------- Bloggers of Mass Destruction February 2nd, 2008 Via: Daily Herald: It’s the government’s idea of a really bad day: Washington’s Metro trains shut down. Seaport computers in New York go dark. Bloggers reveal locations of railcars with hazardous materials. Airport control towers are disrupted in Philadelphia and Chicago. Overseas, a mysterious liquid is found on London’s subway. And that’s just for starters. Those incidents were among dozens of detailed, mock disasters confronting officials rapid-fire in the U.S. government’s biggest-ever “Cyber Storm” war game, according to hundreds of pages of heavily censored files obtained by The Associated Press. The Homeland Security Department ran the exercise to test the nation’s hacker defenses, with help from the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department, CIA, National Security Agency and others. The laundry list of fictional catastrophes — which include hundreds of people on “No Fly” lists suddenly arriving at airport ticket counters — is significant because it suggests what kind of real-world trouble keeps people in the White House awake at night. Imagined villains include hackers, bloggers and even reporters. After mock electronic attacks overwhelmed computers at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, an unspecified “major news network” airing reports about the attackers refused to reveal its sources to the government. Other simulated reporters were duped into spreading “believable but misleading” information that worsened fallout by confusing the public and financial markets, according to the government’s files. The $3 million, invitation-only war game simulated what the U.S. described as plausible attacks over five days in February 2006 against the technology industry, transportation lines and energy utilities by anti-globalization hackers. The government is organizing another multimillion-dollar war game, Cyber Storm 2, to take place in early March.

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NOKIA E61i for Sale - Ksh 25, 000 with all accessories and Boxes intact
by Robert Alai 03 Feb '08

03 Feb '08

You all know Nokia E61 – it's been among the most popular Nokia smartphones ever since it was presented. Its fans have always been divided over it not having a camera. Taking that into account Nokia decided to release an updated version of the handset marked with "i". Besides a camera, the new model features a number of small modifications, or otherwise upgrades, which would again reinstate it as a top-notch smartphone messenger. Now join us on our GSMArena journey which would try to answer a good deal of questions for you… and for us, for that matter. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i official pictures* Key features: - Rich connectivity options - UMTS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, Infrared - Outstanding battery life - 2 megapixel camera - Messenger form factor with a full QWERTY keyboard - Really large 2.8" TFT display - Solid, metallic body - Symbian OS 9.1 S60 3rd Edition UI - microSD memory card slot Main disadvantages: - Hefty weight - No HSDPA support - No secondary camera for video calls - S60 UI doesn't come with Feature Pack 1 Right from the start the Nokia E61 was a successful model that made itself a nice group of dedicated fans. Not having a camera was obviously not a big deal for those guys. Even now in workplaces where information confidentiality is strictly guarded, cameraphones are simply not allowed. The business messenger market though realized that office workers and businessmen need an all-in-one tool that would allow them to work efficiently during the day and to have fun or just relax in the evenings and weekend. So essentially it has come to this that purely business handsets are gradually being equipped with more and more extra features such as a music player, a video player, a camera, etc. The market niche for such devices is fiercely competitive and it seems that our new Nokia has plunged into the deep with some other serious swimmers such as Palm Treo, Blackberry Pearl, Motorola Q, HTC S620, Sony Ericsson M600, Samsung i320, iMate JAQ plus several HP IPAQ products. And if you look at the details, the Nokia E61i is even functionally identical to Nokia E70. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i and Nokia E70: functionally identical but so much different* When we started to review the new Nokia E61i we came up with a couple of key questions that had to be answered in order for this review to be complete and those are: - Is the camera positioning the E61i into another device category? - Is it worth exchanging your vanilla Nokia E61 for it? In the same time the review had to cover all the aspects that we cover in all other reviews – meaning that we should go over all the features of the smartphone in detail. So for those of you that are into smartphones for a long time now and wouldn't want to go through all of this, here is our low down on exactly how the Nokia E61i differs from the vanilla E61. The E61i is thinner than the E61 by a small margin but is 11 cc smaller. The E61i has a better build quality over the E61 and possesses a rather stable and solid body. The keyboard has definitely got a few updates – first, the navigation joystick is replaced with a D-pad, which is a great choice by the way. Then there are two new shortcut keys – the Phonebook and My Own key. The My Own key is a customizable shortcut key that you can use for starting an application of your choice. The keys of the QWERTY keyboard have gotten just a notch smaller, but the space between them has increased. Furthermore their tactile feedback is far better on E61i than on the E61. As a result the ergonomics of the QWERTY keyboard have greatly increased. Software-wise the E61i didn't stay long enough in development so that it can get the Feature Pack 1, that's now available for the S60 user interface. So obviously we would be waiting for other devices to try it on. Nevertheless, the E61i comes with several preinstalled applications that were not available in E61 – the WLAN Wizard, the Search application and the Team Suite. The WLAN wizard is a Wi-Fi network scanner, Search is a global search engine for your handset contents and finally, the Team suite is a more specific application that allows for creating so-called "teams" in order to make mass communication with your colleagues easier. Having those applications is not a big deal, though, as they can be downloaded to your E61, too. The E61i also has newer and more user-friendly Internet calling settings and finally, let's not forget – the new messenger comes with a 2 megapixel camera that can always come in handy for making snapshots of people and places. So what are the answers to the two questions we had, you might ask. Well, for that, our friends, you'll have to bear with us to this review's very end. As far as retail package is concerned, the box contents you should expect are the Nokia HS-5 headset and a data cable. Nothing more to please the eye – but hey, the E-series handsets are all about business. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i retail box contents* Enter the Dragon Being an updated version of the Nokia E61, the Nokia E61i has pretty much the same design as its predecessor. The dimensions are identical too - the Nokia E61i measures 117 x 70 x 13.9 mm and weighs 150 g. You all know Nokia E61 – it's been among the most popular Nokia smartphones ever since it was presented. Its fans have always been divided over it not having a camera. Taking that into account Nokia decided to release an updated version of the handset marked with "i". We are more than pleased with the construction quality of the E61i. The handset didn't produce any creaks during our test, and furthermore it didn't look like those are likely to show up even after months of use. As we already said the body construction and the way parts fit together is something that has improved over E61. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i all over* Well going over the phone you couldn't help but notice the LED in the upper left corner of the front panel. It is in fact an ambient light detector which is used for power optimization. It detects the available ambient light and thus controls whether backlighting or display brightness should be adjusted. It also serves the double purpose of an event light alerting you of different event – a feature that is totally customizable. Next to the LED/sensor, right in the dead center, is the in-call speaker grill. Due to the really wide form factor, it takes some time to get used to position your ear right on the speaker. Unaccustomed to it, during our tests we often tended to go left or right. Next to it is the On/Off key – it's made of white rubber that somehow doesn't follow the metallic design of the handset. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i top part: LED/light sensor and On/Off key* The QWERTY keypad is probably the most exciting thing about a handset with that form factor. It is the single thing that can make or break the pleasure of using the device to its full potential. As you would see later on in the review, the Nokia E61i keyboard manages to impress with a great usability. One can easily notice that there are several design updates over the E61 – all for the better, we might add. You might have noticed that the keyboard of our test unit is in fact not a QWERTY one, but instead a QWERTZ one. The simple reason for that is that it is the German version of E61i – fully localized with the added special characters. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i keyboard: design has changed* The left side of the device features a dual volume key and the voice key. A single press allows you to start an immediate recording of a voice note for example. A longer press takes you to the voice dial/voice command interface. The voice key is pretty well recessed so it isn't probable that you would press it accidentally in your pocket – a flaw that Nokia E61 had. Beside those keys is the loudspeaker grill – the sound it produces is nice – clear and loud. The loudspeaker position is well-thought of, as the sound doesn't get muffled when you put down the handset on its back, as is the case with most current mobile phones. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Left side view: voice key, volume key, loudspeaker* The bottom part of the device features the charger port, the Pop port for connecting the data cable and the headset, as well as the Infrared port. The charger port of the E61i can fit only the latest types of Nokia chargers – the ones with a thinner jack. Unlike N-series handsets the E61i doesn't come with a charger adaptor included which would allow for using the older types of chargers with it. Strangely enough, although we had that type of adapter we couldn't charge the E61i with an older charger. It seems that with this model Nokia has left behind the backwards compatibility we were used to see. The right and top sides of the handset don't accommodate any control elements. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Bottom side view • Right side view • Top side view* When you turn the phone over, you would see that its back is pretty bare. The only element that really catches your eye is the 2 megapixel camera lens. The lens is protected by a silver circular ring. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Nokia E61i back • camera lens* The most of the back is taken by the fully metallic battery cover. Removing it is done with a slide – much like inserting it back on. Note that we say "inserting" – the cover has to be inserted into tracks which allow it to slide all the way to the top. Now it isn't the most comfortable solution we've seen but it surely is among the most secure ones. When you remove the back cover the large Nokia BP-4L Li-Polymer battery is revealed. It has a capacity of the impressive 1500 mAh and is manufacturer-rated to be able to sustain the handset with power for up to 400 h in standby, and for up to 9 h of talk time in GSM-only networks. Our test showed that when used moderately in a UMTS network the E61i was able to offer the impressive six full days with a single charging – and that being the first one for the battery. When we say moderately we mean that the E61i almost never left our office and for those six days we did a total of around 35 minutes of talking, 1 hour of Bluetoothing, 30 minutes of WLAN web browsing, 2 hours of listening to music, 40 minutes of playing video, taking several dozens of pictures, and a lot of fiddling with the phone. So just to sum up for you – it is a nice mark for Nokia's latest messenger smartphone. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> *Removing the back panel • memory card slot • 1500 mAh battery • SIM card bed* Although being rather wide, the Nokia E61i feels pretty much comfortable when held in hand. If you try to work with it single-handedly and if you are dexterous enough to hold it in your right hand and to navigate with your thumb, you mind find that the left soft keys are a bit too far for you to press accurately. If you have bigger hands, that surely wouldn't pose any problem. The smartphone leaves an impression of a thin, stable and user-friendly handset – although a side jog dial would have come in handy. [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#> [image: Nokia E61i] <http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_e61i-review-142.php#>

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