MAMBO Take
Apple's 2026 iPhone plan could leave budget buyers waiting until 2027
A split launch would turn Apple's biggest 2026 phone event into a premium-only season and push value-conscious buyers toward older iPhones or Android.
MAMBO Take
Opinion
Clear, accountable takes on where tech is heading.
MAMBO Take
Safaricom's KSh 80.13 billion dividend is a victory for shareholders and a test for growth
The record payout shows renewed confidence after years of Ethiopia investment. It also raises the question of how much cash Safaricom should return versus reinvest.
MAMBO Take
Visa's new East Africa chief comes from mobile money, and that changes the strategy
Visa has appointed an executive who grew a mobile money challenger. Her task is to connect cards, wallets, banks and merchants across seven markets.
MAMBO Take
Xpeng's G9L turns the electric SUV into a private lounge on wheels
The G9L is not competing only on range and acceleration. It is selling the cabin as a mobile living room, office and rest space.
MAMBO Take
The Mechanical Myth: How Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey Tamed the IMAX Beast
From three-strip Technicolor to The Dark Knight and The Odyssey, cinema has repeatedly forced hostile machines to serve human imagination. Nolan's latest film turns IMAX from an action format into a complete dramatic language.
MAMBO Take
TECNO's 0mm-bezel concept looks stunning. Your palm may disagree
TECNO says its concept removes the final visible border around a smartphone display. The engineering achievement is real, but bezels also protect screens and prevent accidental touches.
MAMBO Take
Pixel 11's glowing camera bar could revive the notification LED, if Google makes it useful
The Pixel 11 appears to bring coloured notification lighting to Google's camera bar. The idea could reduce screen checking, but only if it becomes more than decoration.
MAMBO Take
Kenya wants Oracle's cloud and AI expertise. It should negotiate like the data matters
Oracle and the ICT Authority are exploring deeper cooperation on government cloud, AI and certification. Kenya needs skills transfer, interoperability and enforceable data controls.
MAMBO Take
RISE 2026 takes Nigeria's technology debate to Jos, where it belongs
Hosting a major national technology conference in Jos challenges the idea that Nigeria's digital economy begins in Lagos and ends in Abuja.
MAMBO Take
South Africa is ready to scale AI. Access and infrastructure could still split the winners
The conference moved past chatbot demos toward energy, banking, public services and telecom infrastructure. The harder question is who can participate.
MAMBO Take
Africa cannot manufacture 60% of its vaccines by importing all the important knowledge
Manufacturing plants are only one part of vaccine sovereignty. Africa must own more of the science, delivery technology, intellectual property and market.
MAMBO Take
KOKO Networks' asset sale is a warning to African climate tech
KOKO built one of Africa's most visible clean cooking platforms. Its asset sale shows how hardware, households and carbon finance can become dangerously tangled.
MAMBO Take
America invents it, China perfects it, Europe writes the rules for it
The old line says America innovates, China replicates, and Europe regulates. China's rocket catch shows why that line is useful, and why it is no longer enough.
MAMBO Take
You probably do not need the newest AI model
The useful model is the one that solves your repeated task reliably, affordably and inside your workflow. Benchmark leadership is not a personal productivity strategy.
MAMBO Take
AI is not killing every junior tech job. It is breaking the ladder into them
Routine work once trained junior employees. As AI absorbs it, employers demand judgement and architecture before candidates have had a place to learn them.
MAMBO Take
The AI tax is raising Apple prices, but it is not a fee for Apple Intelligence
Consumers are paying an indirect AI tax through scarcer RAM and storage chips. The mechanism is supply-chain competition, not a direct charge for AI software.
MAMBO Take
Amazon Leo is coming for Starlink in Africa. Cheaper internet is not guaranteed
Amazon now has enough low-Earth-orbit satellites to begin service, but Africa needs gateways, licences and affordable hardware before competition reaches consumers.
MAMBO Take
Africa has a seat at the AI governance table. Now it needs real leverage
A seat at the table matters, but it can become ceremonial. Africa needs coordinated policy, local research capacity and bargaining power to shape how AI is built and deployed.
MAMBO Take
A KSh 150,000 flagship is harder to justify when midrange phones are this good
Midrange phones now cover most everyday needs, but 2026's memory crisis is squeezing cheap devices too. The smart buy depends on support, cameras and total ownership cost.
MAMBO Take
The iPhone Ultra shortage is also a marketing plan
Analyst estimates say Apple's first foldable iPhone could be scarce at launch. That may be a manufacturing constraint, but the sold-out effect still sells the product.
MAMBO Take
Android 17 app Bubbles show why Google still understands multitasking better than Apple
Android 17 lets Pixel users turn almost any app into a movable floating window. It is a small interface change with large implications for phones, tablets and foldables.
MAMBO Take
Sony is ending new PlayStation game discs in 2028. What gamers lose
Sony says new PlayStation games will become digital-only from January 2028. Existing disc titles can still be reprinted, but the trade, lending, and ownership culture around new games will take the real hit.
MAMBO Take
Can your smartwatch predict illness, or just make you anxious?
Wearables are getting better at spotting when your body behaves differently from normal. That can be useful, but an alert is a clue, not a diagnosis.
MAMBO Take
The free AI era is ending. That is okay.
For two or three years, using powerful AI has felt almost free, but in 2026 that is changing.