By Staff Writer

Now Kampala residents can determine the cost of their trips 

inDriver, an international online ride-hailing service headquartered in New York and used by 26-million people across more than 200 cities, today becomes available to residents of Kampala. inDriver users can independently set the price for their trip, while drivers can choose the most profitable and convenient orders.

The app’s Real Time Deals model combats algorithms used by other ride-hailing companies, which rack up prices because of peak hours, traffic and request history. 

inDriver allows passengers to set their own fare for their chosen route. Nearby drivers who receive notice of ride requests have three choices – accept the fare offered, ignore the offer or bargain for a higher price.

“Until today, taxi services in Uganda did not leave any choice for local residents when it came to the cost of the trip. Users were only offered to agree to the price specified in the application or on the taxi counter. inDriver came to change this situation. We want customers and drivers to independently and directly determine the fair and favorable price of each trip. Already today, residents of Kampala, using inDriver, will be able to make sure that the cost of travel can be significantly lower than the usual prices. And soon people in other big cities of Uganda will be able to see it  as well,” said Egor Fedorov, Chief Marketing Officer, inDriver.

Kampala is the first city in Uganda where inDriver was launched. The service is already operating in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. inDriver has already connected more than 1,000 drivers in Kampala, and dozens of new drivers are being registered daily. At the initial stage after the start, inDriver will not charge drivers any commission.

A unique feature of inDriver is that drivers are not automatically assigned to riders. Once the counteroffers are in, passengers select the most suitable driver in line with what categories are most important to them – fare, driver rating, estimated time of arrival or vehicle model. 

inDriver has the option to make the rides safer. Passengers can share their GPS location and ride details in real time from the app with trusted contacts. 

Travelling with inDriver can be done throughout Kampala’s city borders. Currently, one can pay for the ride only in cash, which allows to further reduce the cost of the trip, as when paying by card, the bank charges an additional commission.

In recent days inDriver has been working in Kampala in test mode to collect first feedback. This week showed that prices became more attractive for passengers. Passengers using the app pay on average 20% less than with other services. For example, for a ride from Century Cinemax Acacia Mall to Makerere University Main Gate with inDriver, users paid just 4,000 UGX, from Bugolobi to Bunga Market 8,500 UGX. 

You can download inDriver for free from the Google Play Store and AppStore.

By Staff Writer

Infinix Mobility officially launched its 6.1-Inch smartphone packed with the latest technology, the Infinix Note 6 on Monday 8^th July 2019.

The new device succeeds the Note 5 which was launched last year in June with no stylus, and a Note 5 Stylus was later launched.

The remarkable Note 6 comes with a 6.1 -Inch AMOLED Full view display screen, supported by a MediaTek P35 Octa-core processor paired with a 4GB RAM, 64GB internal storage which is expandable to 128GB, and a non-removable 4,000mAh battery that lasts 3-days on a single charge. The device runs on Android 9.0 Pie with XOS 5.0 OS on board.

The Note 6 comes with a triple rear camera sensor — 16MP primary, 8MP wide and 2MP deep sensors. With a front facing camera which comes with a 16MP, 3D face beauty sensor that captures great selfies even in low-light settings. 

Given that we are all about the fast connectivity, the Note 6 has a 4G connectivity that supports fast internet browsing as well as great phone call connections.

The device comes with an intelligent X-Pen as one of the key selling features. Infinix this time around upgraded X-Pen features which now includes an AR measure smart tool for accurate dimensions, has AI handwriting recognition for efficient note taking, and has a 6.0-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio.

The X-pen features empower one’s inspiration with a whole new perspective to generate genius ideas hence the phones theme, “The Genius.”

Infinix Note 6 Specifications in summary

OS Version: Android 9.0 Pie with XOS 5.0

Display: 6.1″ AMOLED;

Processor: MediaTek Helio P35 SoC

RAM / ROM: 4GB+64GB expandable to 128GB by microSD

Battery: 4000mAh with 10W fast charge

Front “Selfie” camera: 16 MP with AR Emoji, AI beauty, 3D face beauty

Back camera: 16MP + 8MP Wide angle (120 degree FOV) + 2MP depth sensor

Network: 4G LTE

SIM: Dual SIM

Features: Fingerprint reader (rear-mounted), Face Unlock, X-Pen

Price and Where to buy

The Infinix Note 6 comes in three colors (Midnight black, Blue, Mocha Brown colors) and is available in Infinix branded stores across the country and via online stores at only UGX 749,000/= only.

By Our Reporter

Sheraton Kampala hotel joined the rest of the Marriott hotels last week to celebrate and appreciate employees for their dedication, commitment and outstanding service to the hotel.

Each year, Marriott International marks the anniversary of its founding by dedicating a week to celebrate and acknowledge Marriott employees for their effort and contribution towards exceptional services and recognize them as the true essence behind excellent customer care.

As an associate of Marriott hotels, Sheraton Kampala hotel celebrated the week by organizing a series of activities which included staff competition, awarding the best performing employees and playing fun games at the hotel gardens among others. Also the Senior Management Team prepared different food delicacy from their country of origin and served employees lunch at the staff canteen.

For example the GM Mr. Jean Philippe Bittencourt cooked a Brazilian meal; Deputy GM Mr. Martin Bredenoord prepared a South Africa delicacy, Mr. Deepak, Head of Food and Beverage offered the Indian cuisine food whereas Mrs. Helen Ssali, Learning and Development Manager prepared a delicious Luwombo to represent the central Uganda tradition gastronomy.

According to the hotel’s General Manger, Mr. Jean Philippe Bittencourt, the associate appreciate week is an annual Marriott culture event set aside every year to appreciate and recognize its employees for the hard work and dedicated efforts in ensuring that there is a soon running at the hotel across all facilities.

“As a place where people come to gather, we appreciate the work our employees do to ensure that everything goes well. This is because they are the ones that make everything happen and that without the associates there would be no Sheraton Kampala Hotel,” Mr. Bittencourt emphasized.

Joselyn Ngiine, the PR and Marketing Manager at the Hotel argued that the Associate Appreciation Week creates greater staff engagement within the Sheraton family and builds a stronger team synergy.

“The week provides an opportunity to engage with external talents and build a stronger pool of talent with the Marriott ecosystem. It also allows our staff member to grow talents to meet Marriott hospitality standards and inspire them to continuously better themselves for their personal career growth,” she noted.