Technology

JKUAT assembled laptops go on sale at Sh46,720

taifa

From left: Kiambu County deputy governor Gerald Githinji, JKUAT vice chancellor Prof Mabel Imbuga, ICT Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang'i, and JKUAT chancellor Prof Geoffrey Ole Maloiy during the launch of the Taifa Laptop at The Norfolk Hotel on June 12, 2015. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA |

Kenyan varsity's assembled laptops have hit the market in what promises to increase competition to multinational vendors such as Dell and HP.

The laptops, branded Taifa, will retail at Sh46,720 and run on Microsoft Windows software and Intel microchip.

The Taifa laptop that was conceived and designed locally and is a maiden product of the Nairobi Industrial and Technology Park (NITP), a subsidiary of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

ICT secretary Fred Matiang’i Friday said that such initiatives by JKUAT will boost the number of devices in the country.

“The ministry of industry will be working more directly with the JKUAT so that they can produce more devices,” Dr Matiang’i said.

The laptop will be available in selected stores in Nairobi, beginning this week. It has 4GB RAM, a 500GB hard drive and runs on an Corei3 processor.

The university's ICT director – who is also the technical project lead for the Taifa brand – Mr Kiula Mwirigi said, the Taifa laptop has been designed to offer great user experience and derives from the latest computing technologies available in the market.

Mr Mwirigi noted that the product, whose conceptualisation and subsequent production begun three years ago, is now available to the Kenyan consumers and will be sold through appointed agents and retailers across the county.

So far, 4,000 units have been assembled and are available for purchase.