Kenya plans 16% VAT on electric vehicles, batteries, e-bikes imports
Kenya plans to extend the standard 16% valued added tax (VAT) to electric vehicles (EVs), lithium-ion batteries, and electric bicycles, reversing tax breaks that supported the country’s electric mobility industry. The proposal, contained in the Finance Bill 2026, could increase the cost of imported batteries, electric buses, and related components in a market where startups like BasiGo, Roam, and Ampersand are expanding operations across public transport and battery-swapping infrastructure. The proposed VAT changes come as electric mobility firms continue to rely heavily on imported batteries, vehicles, and charging equipment. A 2025 industry study found that “all or almost all inputs for EVs are imported,” exposing the sector to foreign exchange costs, shipping charges, and import taxes. Kenya has emerged as one of East Africa’s most active electric mobility markets in recent years, partly helped by tax incentives that lower the cost of adopting electric vehicles and batteries. Kenya has also become one of Africa’s busiest electric mobility markets, with government investment data projecting annual EV sales could rise from 2,700 units in 2023 to 70,000 by 2030, supported by battery-swapping networks, charging infrastructure, and EV startup expansion across East Africa Industry operators have increasingly turned to Kenya as a regional base for expansion because of the country’s electricity supply, with government and energy sector data showing more than 90% of Kenya’s electricity generation comes from renewable sources, including geothermal, hydro, wind, and solar. The Finance Bill does not provide reasons for removing the VAT relief. The proposed changes are part of broader amendments affecting digital services, software, mobile phones, and virtual asset providers as the Treasury seeks to expand domestic revenue collection. The proposed amendments add to a broader debate across African markets about how governments can widen tax collection while still supporting investment in sectors tied to climate transition and industrial growth.
Read MoreNairobi’s traffic police may soon give way to AI
On Nairobi’s roads, traffic police officers have long acted like human operating systems—stepping into chaotic intersections, overriding traffic lights, waving matatus forward, stopping impatient motorists, and manually holding a city perpetually on the brink of gridlock together. The government now wants machines to take over. Treasury documents tabled in parliament show Kenya has allocated KES 1.18 billion ($9.1 million) next financial year to expand Nairobi’s Intelligent Transport System (ITS) Phase III, an AI-powered network of smart traffic lights, surveillance cameras, and road sensors that could gradually reduce the need for traffic police officers at major junctions across the capital. The investment is a sharp increase from the current KES 116 million ($898,180) allocation and signals the government’s growing confidence that cameras and algorithms can better manage Nairobi’s roads than traffic police officers stationed at major intersections. “The third phase of ITS marks the full integration of Nairobi’s traffic ecosystem,” Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) said in project documents. “It will encompass 125 intersections, linking them to the central control system at Cabanas.” The system, being rolled out by the Kura, will use artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor traffic in real time, detect violations, and automatically adjust traffic lights depending on congestion levels at specific junctions. The network will have a command hub at City Cabanas on Mombasa Road, where engineers will watch live feeds from intersections across Nairobi and remotely coordinate traffic flow. The project’s implications could be huge for the city’s five million inhabitants. For decades, Nairobi’s traffic system has depended heavily on human intervention. Officers manually direct vehicles at busy junctions, especially during rush hour or when traffic lights fail. Now, automated systems will take over much of that work. Economic cost of traffic Every smart junction under the project will be equipped with cameras capable of recognising number plates, identifying red-light offences, monitoring speeding violations, and detecting helmet compliance among boda boda riders. The system will also analyse vehicle movement, passenger numbers, and turning patterns before automatically relaying offences for enforcement. Officials say the project is necessary because the city’s congestion problem has become economically unsustainable. Government estimates released in 2024 showed traffic jams cost Kenya roughly KES 120 billion ($929.1 million) annually through lost productivity and fuel wastage. Commuters spend nearly an hour on journeys that should take minutes under normal traffic conditions. The government believes AI-controlled traffic systems can reduce those losses by making Nairobi’s roads more responsive and coordinated. Instead of relying on fixed traffic-light schedules or officers manually adjusting traffic flow, the AI system will continuously analyse congestion levels and dynamically adjust signal timings. “You don’t have to walk into a junction to adjust signal timings any more,” Kura said in project documents. “Everything happens from the control room.” The technology mirrors traffic-management systems already used in Chinese cities and European capitals like London, where sensors and AI-controlled intersections are increasingly replacing manual traffic coordination. A cabinet document approving the project in 2024 described the ITS rollout as a way of “eliminating human interfaces in traffic control,” unusually direct language that hinted at the government’s longer-term ambition. The project will integrate 125 intersections into the central traffic-control system. Treasury projections show the government plans to spend at least Sh5.3 billion on the programme over the next three financial years, with much of the financing coming from a $185 million concessional loan signed between Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and the Export–Import Bank of China in 2025. Among the intersections targeted are some of Nairobi’s worst choke points, including Moi Avenue and Kenyatta Avenue, Koinange Street and Kenyatta Avenue, Raila Odinga Way and Lang’ata Road, and Limuru Road and Muthaiga Road. The government says the system will also improve emergency response by instantly detecting abnormal traffic patterns caused by accidents or road disruptions and alerting police and rescue teams in real time. “If there is an accident, the system detects a change in traffic flow and immediately alerts the control centre,” Kura said. “Police and emergency teams can then be dispatched instantly.” However, the rollout raises questions beyond congestion. A citywide network capable of recognising number plates, monitoring traffic behaviour, and digitally issuing penalties creates a far more expansive surveillance infrastructure than Kenya has previously operated at this scale.
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – No space for Starlink in SA
In partnership with Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy pre-TGIF. Elon Musk got a double whammy yesterday, at home and abroad. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified against him in court, saying Musk wanted control of OpenAI for himself and even floated passing it to his children. And back home in South Africa, talks over equity equivalence rules that would have let Starlink operate in the country appear to be dead. Read more in today’s newsletter. —Emmanuel Get smarter about Francophone Africa with our newsletter, Francophone Weekly—the startups, tech policies, and institutions building the pipelines for ecosystem growth. Subscribe End of the road for Starlink in South Africa? Cameroon acquires French-owned bank Chimoney shuts down Kenya proposes 25% levy on smartphones World Wide Web 3 Events companies South Africa says it won’t cancel this critical rule keeping Starlink locked out Image Source: Tenor If Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned satellite Internet company, had any hope of a South African entry, that future just got bleaker. The country is ten toes down. It won’t consider the equity equivalence programme suggested by Solly Malatsi, the country’s communications minister, in 2025, and will stick with the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rule that has stood for over 20 years. On Wednesday, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the country’s telecoms regulator, pushed back against Malatsi’s plan to create a workaround that would allow Starlink and other foreign telecom companies to operate in the country without giving up 30% equity ownership under BEE rules. Understand this first: South Africa’s Electronic Communications Act (ECA) requires telecom licence holders to have at least 30% ownership by historically disadvantaged groups. That is the exact requirement Starlink says it cannot comply with. Malatsi had spent months pushing Equity Equivalent Investment Programmes (EEIPs) as an alternative. EEIPs allow companies to meet empowerment obligations through investments like infrastructure projects or local development initiatives. Starlink had also pledged to commit capital to community development under this route. All of that is now off the table. ICASA remains rigid in its reasoning: It says the ECA does not allow that flexibility; unless the law changes, the workaround cannot move forward. Starlink now has two realistic paths. One, accept the 30% ownership structure, which seems unlikely given that it hasn’t done so in any of the 26 African countries it operates in, and given Musk’s repeated public criticism of South Africa’s race-based ownership rules. Two, establish a local subsidiary, though that offers no guarantee either; Starlink said it had tried something similar in Namibia and was still rejected by regulators. The situation is further complicated by Musk’s deteriorating relationship with South African officials. In April, he called Clayson Monyela, the country’s Head of Public Affairs, unprintable names in an X post, straining an already tense relationship. We Have Secured the Bank of Ghana EPSP Licence. With our new Enhanced Payment Service Provider licence, we can help businesses collect, process and settle in cedis directly. Start here. government Cameroon has taken over Société Générale’s local bank Image Source: Tenor The Cameroonian government has completed the acquisition of the local subsidiary of Société Générale (SocGen), a French multinational bank and financial services company. Cameroon bought the French bank’s 58.08% stake, pushing its total ownership to 83.68%. The country said the takeover is temporary and designed to manage SocGen’s exit while creating room for new strategic investors later. The government has already renamed the lender as the General Bank of Cameroon. It’s not unheard of: African governments have historically held stakes in telecom and financial infrastructure businesses before gradually reducing ownership by selling to private entities. The Cameroonian government already holds stakes in lenders like Union Bank of Cameroon, NFC Bank, and Commercial Bank of Cameroon. The Kenyan government also held a stake in Safaricom before gradually selling portions over time. The great European bank retreat? Over the last few years, foreign lenders have either reduced their footprint in African markets or exited certain countries entirely. SocGen itself has sold subsidiaries in Congo, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and Mauritania. Standard Chartered has exited markets in Gambia and Tanzania to focus on its wealth management banking. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Africa is bad business. In many cases, these global banks are retreating to focus on markets where they see the most scale. What’s Cameroon’s play here? SocGen’s local subsidiary is one of the country’s biggest banks; allowing a sudden exit without a transition plan could have disrupted lending activity in the banking sector. By stepping in temporarily, the government intends to keep the bank’s operations stable and eventually open it to national and international strategic investors. Unlimited free transfers on PalmPay PalmPay guarantees you unlimited free transfers to all banks in Nigeria and a 99.9% transaction success rate. We are making digital banking safer, simpler, and more reliable for everyday Nigerians. https://bit.ly/PalmPay-ng companies Chimoney, a fintech startup, is shutting down Image Source: Tenor Chimoney, the Nigerian-Canadian fintech that built a single application programming interface (API) for cross-border payments across 41 currencies, has shut down after four years. The Canada-based startup, founded by Uchi Uchibeke and backed by the Techstars Toronto Accelerator, stopped accepting new transactions on April 30 and is refunding all customer wallet balances through August 31, 2026. Chimoneyraised under $1 million across its entire lifespan. It held aFinancial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) Money Services Business (MSB) licence and was among the first companies to receive a Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence under the Bank of Canada’s Retail Payments Activities Act (RPAA). That kind of regulatory credibility costs money to build and money to maintain. Chimoney’s story is really a story about what Africa’s fintech ecosystem chooses to fund. The companies building payment rails and compliance infrastructure are a harder sell to early-stage investors than the consumer apps sitting on top of them. Chimoney had paying customers and four years of runway, but the capital never showed up to match the ambition. The startup said it notified investors and customers
Read MoreSouth African artists earned $30.69 million on Spotify in 2025. Most of it came from abroad.
Nearly 74% of the R504 million ($30.69 million) generated by South African artists on Spotify in 2025 came from listeners outside the country, making the rest of the world South African music’s biggest market on the streaming platform. This was disclosed by Spotify at its new Rosebank office in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday. The R504 million ($30.69 million) earned by South African artists is a 28% year-on-year increase, nearly double the earnings recorded in 2023. The growth underscores how streaming platforms are turning African music into an export industry, and reflects a sustained international appetite for South African music genres such as amapiano. The announced figures are part of the global streaming platform’s annual Loud & Clear report. The report attempts to give visibility into artists’ earnings on the platform. According to the company, it pays out two-thirds of every dollar it generates from music streaming to rights holders, who eventually pay artists. Globally, it paid out $11 billion in 2025, and Nigerian artists earned over ₦60 billion ($43.92 million) in royalties. South Africa has roughly a quarter of Nigeria’s population, making the per-capita earnings comparison notable. In 2025, South African artists were discovered by first-time listeners more than 1.6 billion times, up 40% from the previous year. More than half of the royalties generated by South African artists on Spotify went to independent artists or labels, reflecting how streaming is lowering barriers to global distribution and allowing artists to monetise audiences without major label backing. The announcement also comes as Spotify deepens its investment in Africa’s music ecosystem, following its launch in South Africa, its first on the continent, in 2018. Speaking at the company’s Johannesburg event, Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director, said South African artists have become “a globally dominant creative force.” “Their success is driven by worldwide demand, ensuring that independent and local talent alike are being discovered by billions of listeners and taking the international stage by storm,” she added. Spotify’s data also showed that South African artists accounted for 67% of songs featured on Spotify South Africa’s Daily Top 50 chart in 2025. The company highlighted strong growth in music performed in Zulu, with a 37% increase in global royalties and more than 120% over two years. Local streams of South African female artists grew by 22% year-on-year, while their international streams grew by 20%. Overall, nearly 3,550 South African artists were added to editorial playlists on Spotify in 2025, and cloud rap, pop country, acoustic country, pop rap, and worship are the country’s fastest-growing genres over the last five years, according to Spotify data.
Read MoreGrey joins Moonshot 2026 as headline sponsor
TechCabal is announcing Grey, the US-based global cross-border payments company serving nearly three million users across 70 countries, as the headline sponsor of Moonshot 2026, for the conference’s return on October 28 and 29, 2026, at the National Theatre, Lagos, Nigeria. Grey’s headline partnership marks a new chapter for Moonshot, with the Y Combinator-backed fintech taking the top sponsorship slot for the first time as the conference enters its fourth edition. The partnership comes as Grey expands its cross-border capabilities with regulatory approval in Canada and the launch of Canadian dollar payouts, and deepens its push into B2B payments, placing the company at the centre of cross-border payments, one of the most active categories in global fintech today. Why Grey? Grey’s headline partnership comes at a moment when cross-border payments have become one of the most consequential fintech categories globally, with several companies in the sector operating across multiple countries and licenses. Built in Lagos, Moonshot’s home, Grey is a US-based global company now serving nearly three million users across 70 countries, with transfers to over 170 destinations in 30+ currencies. The company also powers virtual cards accepted at 150 million merchants worldwide, making it one of a small group of fintechs whose footprint genuinely matches the continent’s ambitions. Its recent expansion across South Asia and Latin America, introducing local payouts in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Uruguay, demonstrates the global reach the conference’s programs celebrate. The February 2026 launch of Grey Business places the company directly in the path of the founders, operators, and SMEs the conference convenes. As Moonshot prepares for an edition focused on African tech’s role in the global economy, Grey’s combination of African roots and global reach makes the partnership a natural fit. “Cross-border payments are one of the few categories where Africa is building global infrastructure, not just consuming it. Moonshot is where that conversation is happening, and Grey wants to be part of shaping what gets built next. We have spent the last four years building for people and businesses that operate across borders, and a meaningful share of them are based on this continent. Showing up at Moonshot as headline sponsor is the right way to acknowledge that,” said Idorenyin Obong, CEO and co-founder of Grey. “Grey has built one of the most consequential companies in African fintech, a global payments business with nearly three million users that started in Lagos,” said Tomiwa Aladekomo, the CEO of Big Cabal Media. “Having them as the headline sponsor of Moonshot 2026 is a natural fit, and we are excited about the conversations their team will be leading on stage and in our halls this October.” What Grey’s partnership means for Moonshot 2026 Grey’s presence at Moonshot 2026 will include a headline keynote from CEO Idorenyin Obong on the future of borderless money, a private executive roundtable convening business decision-makers and investors, and an immersive on-site experience featuring both Grey’s consumer product and Grey Business. Full program details will be announced in the lead-up to the event. About Grey Grey is at the forefront of providing secure and convenient global banking solutions to meet the needs of customers and businesses. Grey holds a Money Service Business license from FINTRAC in Canada and FinCEN in the USA, and our primary focus is on emerging markets. Our range of services enables individuals and businesses to easily own and manage multi-currency accounts. This includes currency exchange, sending and receiving payments to and from over 170 countries, as well as access to virtual cards. About Moonshot by TechCabal Moonshot by TechCabal is the flagship pan-African technology conference convening founders, investors, operators, policymakers, and creatives from across Africa and beyond. The fourth edition takes place on October 28 and 29, 2026, at the National Theatre, Lagos. The conference theme and full programme will be announced in the coming weeks. To stay updated, visit moonshot.techcabal.com About TechCabal TechCabal is Africa’s leading technology media platform, providing reporting, data, and context on African technology, business, and innovation since 2013. TechCabal is part of Big Cabal Media, which also operates Zikoko, Cabal Creative, and TC Insights.
Read MoreTechstars-backed fintech Chimoney shuts down, to refund customer balances
Chimoney, a Nigerian-founded fintech that built cross-border payment infrastructure for businesses, has shut down, citing a lack of capital to sustain operations. In a May 1 email seen by TechCabal, the Canada-based startup told customers it had stopped processing new transactions and integrations and had begun refunding customer balances. “As of May 1, 2026, Chimoney has ceased all new transactions and integrations,” the email read. “No balance on file: No action needed on your end. This is our final operational email.” Businesses that relied on Chimoney’s payment rails will now have to find alternatives, exposing the fragility of building on startup infrastructure: when the provider goes down, so does the payment rail. Founded in 2022 by Uchi Uchibeke, Chimoney enabled businesses to pay freelancers and vendors in 41 currencies across Africa, North America, and Latin America. The startup provided businesses with a single API for cross-border payments, supporting bank transfers, mobile money, airtime, gift cards, and stablecoin rails for off-ramps. In 2023, it joined the Techstars Toronto accelerator. Chimoney raised $280,000 in total funding, according to startup directory Crunchbase, excluding undisclosed grants. Uchibeke said this figure was closer to $1 million. “Under $1 million is too thin for a venture-scale fintech across multiple jurisdictions,” Uchibeke said in an emailed response to TechCabal. “I should have either raised meaningfully more or bootstrapped properly with a profitable beachhead. Trying to operate at venture scale on bootstrap capital was the wrong strategy.” Chimoney notified investors of its planned wind-down in February 2026 and clients in April, according to Uchibeke. The company also published migration guides for developers before halting transactions on April 30. Uchibeke noted that client wallet balances are being refunded through a self-service dashboard that will remain open until August 31, 2026. Clients can select their preferred payment method, submit account details, and complete two-factor authentication. Chimoney said refunds are being processed within seven to 14 business days. Uchibeke added that unclaimed balances after August 2026 will be transferred to the relevant provincial unclaimed property offices, in line with Canada’s framework for dormant and unclaimed balances. “When revenue stayed flat, and there was no clear path to additional capital, the responsible decision was to wind down while we could still return every client dollar and meet every regulatory obligation,” he said. Chimoney processed tens of thousands of transactions for hundreds of business and enterprise clients, according to Uchibeke, although he declined to disclose exact figures. He said the company never solved distribution at scale, partly because too much focus was placed on product development over customer acquisition. The company had positioned itself as an early mover in API-first cross-border payouts and said it was one of the first production Interledger payment providers globally. In 2025, it attempted to reposition itself around AI agent payment infrastructure, allowing AI agents to hold wallets and move money under policy controls. “The thinking was that the convergence of agentic AI, stablecoins, and our existing infrastructure (Interledger wallets, multi-chain support, licenced rails, identity layer) put us in a defensible position,” Uchibeke said. “We shipped it, [but] it did not generate enough traction in time. The distribution and customer acquisition didn’t move fast enough on the runway we had left.” The pivot coincided with Chimoney securing a Payment Service Provider (PSP) licence under the Bank of Canada’s Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA) in November 2025, allowing it to hold end-user funds. Despite the shutdown, Uchibeke said Chimoney’s parent entity, Chi Technologies Inc., will remain active and retain its PSP licence under dormant status. Chimoney is the latest venture Uchibeke has wound down, following the closure of AfricaHacks in 2023, a developer-focused community platform that later evolved into the World Innovation League (WII), a Canadian non-profit focused on digital skills and workforce development. He has also built several other products, including Oruly, a hybrid AI-and-human task outsourcing platform, and Food Waste Log, a food-waste tracking tool for restaurants. Uchibeke is now building APort, a separate product that requires AI agents to request and receive authorisation before they move money, change data, or trigger other sensitive actions on behalf of businesses. He said the new company is independent from Chimoney and carries none of its customer balances or regulatory obligations.
Read MoreTelecom subscribers may feel impact as IHS Towers slows infrastructure projects
IHS Towers is slowing infrastructure spending as rising costs across African markets force telecom companies to rethink expansion plans, a move that could also slow efforts to improve network quality for millions of mobile subscribers. On Tuesday, the tower company reported capital spending of $41.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 5.3% drop compared to the same period last year. IHS attributed the decline to “phasing” of some of its discretionary spending, meaning it is spreading out or delaying non-essential growth projects. At the same time, the company’s cost of sales rose to $183.6 million, up 5.64% from the previous year. The slowdown in capital spending could have direct implications for telecom subscribers. Tower companies like IHS provide the infrastructure used by operators such as MTN, Airtel, and 9mobile to deliver mobile and internet services. When expansion spending slows, the rollout of new towers, network upgrades, and fibre infrastructure may also slow, especially in rural and underserved areas. IHS is slowing down or postponing some expansion work, such as building new towers, upgrading power systems, or expanding fibre networks, while focusing more on projects that can deliver quicker returns. For subscribers, the impact could mean slower improvements in network quality, weaker coverage in crowded urban areas, and delays in the expansion of 4G and 5G services. Data demand across Nigeria continues to rise as more people rely on video streaming, fintech apps, social media, and remote work. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country had more than 153 million active internet subscriptions as of March 2026. Slower infrastructure expansion could make it harder for telecom operators to keep up with that growing demand. The cautious spending reflects a wider shift across Africa’s telecom industry, where tower companies are focusing more on efficiency than rapid expansion. Rising energy prices, inflation, and foreign exchange pressures have increased the cost of building and maintaining telecom infrastructure, pushing operators to prioritise projects that can generate faster returns. In Nigeria, IHS Towers’ biggest market, rising diesel prices and higher maintenance costs have made network expansion more expensive. Even so, the company increased spending in the country to $16.4 million in the first quarter of 2026, up from $11.2 million during the same period last year, according to its financial statements. The spending slowdown in overall spending also comes at a time of major strategic change for the company. In February 2026, IHS Towers announced plans to sell its Latin American tower business to Macquarie Asset Management and its 51% stake in I-Systems to TIM S.A. It is also preparing for a proposed $2.2 billion acquisition by MTN Group, expected to be completed later in 2026. Even though the company spent less on expansion, it still performed better financially in the quarter. Revenue from its ongoing operations went up by 6% to $415.4 million. Profit from core operations, measured as adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA), also rose by 6.4% to $268.7 million. Cash flow increased further, rising 15.8% to $173.5 million, mainly because the company paid less interest on its debt. Sam Darwish, chairman and chief executive officer of IHS Towers, said the results reflected “disciplined execution and continued commercial momentum across the business.” The company’s tower portfolio also continued to shift. Total tower count fell by 1,571 year-on-year to 37,641 towers, mainly due to the disposal of its Rwanda operations in late 2025. Tenant numbers also declined, partly because of the exit of Nigerian telecom operator T2, formerly known as 9mobile, from some sites under a restructuring agreement. “It was agreed that T2 (former 9mobile) would vacate our sites in exchange for a contractual commitment to settle portions of its historic overdue balances through July, 2027,” the company noted in its Q1 2026 report. “As a result, the total number of tenants was 54,854 at the end of the first quarter.” Still, IHS Towers said the underlying demand for telecom infrastructure remains steady. Excluding the impact of the Rwanda disposal and tenant exits, the company added 865 net new tenants over the past year. Lease amendments, which reflect additional services and equipment installed on towers, rose by 5,593 year-on-year. The company’s decision to slow capital spending mirrors actions taken by other telecom operators and infrastructure firms across the continent. Airtel Africa recently warned that rising energy costs linked to geopolitical tensions were affecting margins, while MTN Rwanda said it was maintaining stricter discipline around infrastructure spending.
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Sony Xperia 1 VIII just launched: Here’s everything you need to know
Table of contents Features of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII Sony Xperia 1 VIII price Sony Xperia 1 VIII vs. Sony Xperia 1 VII Sony today announced the Xperia 1 VIII, its flagship Android phone for the year. Pre-orders opened the same day across Europe and select Asian markets, with shipments set to begin on June 26, 2026. The phone is built for creators. Sony has kept the features that fans of the Xperia line have always relied on, including the 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microSD card slot, a dedicated two-stage shutter button, and front-firing stereo speakers. On top of that, it brings a larger telephoto sensor, a new design, the latest Qualcomm chip, and an AI camera tool that Sony calls the AI Camera Assistant. If you have been following Sony’s Xperia line, this is the most significant upgrade in a few years. Here is everything you need to know. Features of the Sony Xperia 1 VIII Image source: Sony | Xperia on YouTube 1. Display The Xperia 1 VIII uses a 6.5-inch LTPO OLED panel with a 1080 x 2340 (FHD+) resolution, a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate. It supports one billion colours with HDR coverage across the BT.2020 wide-gamut standard, and the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2. Peak brightness sits at around 1,510 nits according to GSMArena’s lab measurements, a slight step up from the 1,475 nits recorded on the Xperia 1 VII. The bezels are slim and symmetrical, with no punch-hole cutout. The front camera sits in the top bezel, as it has on every Xperia 1 before this one. 2. Chipset and performance The Xperia 1 VIII is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 (SM8850-AC, 3 nm), with an octa-core CPU comprising two 4.6 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix L cores and six 3.62 GHz Oryon V3 Phoenix M cores, paired with the Adreno 840 GPU. Sony says the chip delivers about 20% better processing performance than the previous generation, with improved power efficiency across everyday tasks such as gaming, app launches, and content creation. Early benchmark numbers from GSMArena put the AnTuTu 10 score at around 2,312,684 and the Geekbench 6 score at 9,278. The chip’s NPU handles on-device AI tasks under Sony’s Xperia Intelligence branding, which powers the AI Camera Assistant and the new Processing Optimisation feature for battery efficiency. 3. Camera system The cameras are the headline story of this generation. All three rear cameras use Zeiss optics with the Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating, and Sony has extended RAW multi-frame processing to every lens for the first time. That means the ultrawide and telephoto now benefit from the same dynamic range boost and low-light noise reduction that previously only applied to the main camera. Here is how the three rear cameras break down: Main (24 mm): 48 MP, 1/1.35-inch Exmor T sensor, f/1.9, dual-pixel PDAF, OIS. This is unchanged from the Xperia 1 VII. Telephoto (70 mm): 48 MP, 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/2.8, dual-pixel PDAF, OIS, 2.9x optical magnification, minimum focus distance of 15 cm. This is the biggest hardware upgrade on the phone. Ultrawide (16 mm): 48 MP, 1/1.56-inch sensor, f/2.0, PDAF. Front: 12 MP, 1/2.9-inch, f/2.0, 24 mm equivalent. The telephoto is where Sony made the boldest call. The 1/1.56-inch sensor is roughly four times larger than the telephoto sensor in the Xperia 1 VII, which means significantly better low-light performance and more natural background blur. Sony has dropped the continuous optical zoom lens, a defining feature of the Xperia 1 line, from the Mark III to the Mark VII. The new 70 mm lens is fixed, and the phone uses sensor cropping for a longer reach. That is a real trade-off. You lose the 170 mm reach and the 4 cm super-macro capability that the Xperia 1 VII had. What you get in return is a much larger sensor that performs better in low light and gives you cleaner crops at medium zoom distances. Sony says all three rear cameras deliver low-light performance comparable to a full-frame camera, particularly in noise reduction and dynamic range at Light Value 2 or lower. That is a qualified claim; it applies only to still images, but the sensor specs back it up more convincingly than they did for previous models. Video recording goes up to 4K at 24, 30, 60, and 120 fps with HDR, plus 1080p at up to 120 fps. Five-axis gyro-EIS works alongside OIS for stabilisation. The phone also retains native Sony Alpha camera support, so you can pair it with an Alpha body to use it as a wireless monitor and remote control. 4. AI Camera Assistant The AI Camera Assistant is new to this generation and runs on Xperia Intelligence, Sony’s on-device AI platform. When you point the camera at a scene, the assistant reads the subject, the environment, and the conditions, including the weather, then suggests adjustments such as switching lenses, changing colour tone, or adjusting bokeh intensity. The suggestions draw on Sony’s Creative Look profiles, which are available in the Alpha camera line. You can tap to apply a suggestion or ignore it and shoot manually. Sony notes the feature is not available during continuous shooting or RAW capture. This is Sony’s first real step toward the kind of scene-aware computational photography that Pixel, Galaxy, and iPhone flagships have offered for years. The key difference is that Sony has kept it optional. If you know what you are doing, you can turn it off entirely. 5. Design The Xperia 1 VIII has the biggest design change the line has seen in a long time. The vertical, traffic-light camera strip that Sony has used since the original Xperia 1 is gone. In its place is a square camera island in the upper-left of the rear panel, with the Sony logo sitting on the module itself. Sony calls the new look the ‘ORE’ design, named for the rough stone texture applied to the frame and
Read MoreEverything Google announced at the Android Show: I/O Edition 2026
On Tuesday, Google held the Android Show: I/O Edition 2026, highlighting what the tech giant describes as an intelligence system. The event explored the integration of Gemini Intelligence across several devices, including the newly unveiled Googlebook. In the keynote, Sameer Samat, the President of the Android Ecosystem, highlighted the massive scale of Android. “There are now 2.5 billion Rich Communication Services (RCS) messages sent every single day. The number of group chats across platforms has increased 116%,” Samat said. Gemini Intelligence Mandy Brooks, Vice President, Product Management and User Experience, Android Platform, introduced Gemini Intelligence as a seamless experience spanning phones, watches, cars, and glasses. Brooks said “Gemini intelligence brings the best of Gemini to our most advanced Android devices.” The system is designed to work proactively throughout the day to automate tedious tasks while keeping the user in control. During the presentation, Brooks demonstrated how the system could process complex requests, such as extracting information from a class syllabus and populating a shopping cart with required books. “We’ve been gathering feedback through a few hand selected food and rideshare apps,” Brooks said, discussing the expansion of these features to the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Pixel 10. Intelligent operations and personalisation Dieter Bohn, Director, Product Operations, detailed how Gemini Intelligence would solve the universal hassle of filling out complex forms. The system can populate text boxes with a single tap by securely pulling information from photos or emails, such as passport details. Bohn also introduced Rambler, a feature within Gboard that converts natural, fragmented speech into polished text. He showcased the Generative User Interface through a feature called ‘Create My Widget’ that allows users to build bespoke widgets using natural language prompts, such as a high-protein meal prep tracker. Bohn noted that the feature organises the specific bits of information that matter most to an individual user. Android 17 and creator tools Gabby Williams, Product Marketing, Android, unveiled the core updates coming to Android 17. A major highlight included a partnership with Meta to optimise Instagram for Android flagship devices. Williams confirmed that side-by-side tests show video captured on these devices now “score the same or better than the leading competitor.” New creative features such as Screen Reactions and Smart Enhance were introduced, alongside Sound Separation, which allows users to strip away wind noise from recorded audio. She also announced a significant visual update to the emoji library, noting that they have “hand refined nearly 4000 emoji to be richer, more delightful and more true to how you actually express yourself.” Digital well-being and connectivity Addressing the issue of “autopilot” phone usage, Williams introduced Pause Point, a digital well-being tool that enforces a ten-second delay when opening distracting apps. This encourages intentional usage rather than mindless scrolling. To assist those switching from an iPhone to an Android phone, the iPhone Operating System (iOS) to Android migration helps to wirelessly move all their data to the new device. Connectivity improvements were also featured, including the compatibility of Quick Share on WhatsApp for Android users. Williams explained that this feature is for users who want to share files with iPhone users through the app. These updates aim to ensure that sharing high-quality media, like wedding videos, is no longer hindered by the type of phone a person owns. Innovations in Android Auto Guemmy Kim, Senior Director, Android for Cars, presented the next generation of Android Auto. The update includes a redesigned Google Maps experience, which was described as “one of the major updates to Google Maps in over a decade.” It features 3D visuals and live lane guidance that utilises the car’s front-facing camera. The system now supports widgets on the car dashboard and a premium entertainment experience, allowing for 60fps High Definition (HD) video playback when parked. Kim highlighted that the deep integration of Gemini Intelligence within the vehicle allows for tailored answers about dashboard symbols or trunk dimensions. The arrival of the Googlebook The event also introduced the Googlebook, a new category of laptop. Alexander Kuscher, Senior Director, Laptops and Tablets, explained that these devices combine the best of the Android operating system and ChromeOS. “Googlebooks are the first laptops designed for Gemini intelligence from the ground up,” he noted. A standout feature is the Magic Pointer, which brings the cursor to life when wiggled to provide contextual suggestions. Kuscher demonstrated how Magic Pointer could visualise furniture in a photo of a room without the need for manual uploads to a chatbot. He said because users can access it by wiggling the cursor, “it’s easy to go from idea to ‘I’m done’ in an instant.” Hardware partnerships and availability Kuscher noted that Google is partnering with manufacturers, including HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS, to produce Googlebook models in various shapes and sizes. These laptops will feature a unique glowbar lighting effect and allow users to access their phone apps directly on the screen without a wireless download. A Quick Access feature will also bridge the file systems of phones and laptops. Closing the event, Samat reiterated that the major updates to the ecosystem would begin rolling out this summer. The new features for Android 17 and the first wave of Googlebook hardware are expected to be available later this year.
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Android 17 and the biggest Android updates in 2026
Table of contents Android phone updates Android Auto updates Googlebook What about Chromebook? Google held The Android Show: I/O Edition today, one week before its annual Google I/O developer conference. The event was a preview of what Android has planned for 2026, and it covered a lot of ground. Google’s central message was that Android is moving from being an operating system to what it calls an “intelligent system.” The show had three clear acts: a batch of phone features built around a new AI layer called Gemini Intelligence, a big update to Android Auto, and a surprise announcement of a brand-new laptop category called Googlebook. More on each of those below. Android phone updates Most of what Google announced for phones falls under the Gemini Intelligence umbrella. Here is a breakdown of each feature. 1. Gemini Intelligence Image source: Google This is Google’s new name for a set of AI features that let Gemini do things for you across apps, not just answer questions inside a chat window. With Gemini Intelligence, you can long-press the power button over a grocery list on your screen and ask Gemini to build a delivery cart from it. You can also snap a photo of a travel brochure and ask Gemini to find and book a similar tour. The visual design has been updated, too, with new animations that signal when Gemini is working in the background rather than waiting for your next prompt. Gemini Intelligence is rolling out first on the Samsung Galaxy S26 series and the Google Pixel 10 series this summer, and expanding to watches, cars, and laptops later in 2026. 2. Rambler Rambler is a new feature inside Gboard, Android’s keyboard app. It upgrades the existing voice-to-text tool so you can speak naturally without worrying about getting the words exactly right. When you turn Rambler on, you can ramble, repeat yourself, say “um” and “like,” or change your mind mid-sentence. Rambler listens to everything and turns your spoken thoughts into a clean, concise message before you send it. Your audio is used only for real-time transcription and is not stored or saved. Works across multiple languages in a single message You review the output before sending anything Part of the first Gemini Intelligence wave on Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 this summer 3. Create My Widget Create My Widget lets you build custom home screen widgets just by describing what you want. You type a prompt like “Suggest three high-protein meal-prep recipes every week” or “show me wind speed and rain for cyclists,” and Android builds a working widget from it. The same feature also creates custom Wear OS watch face tiles and desktop widgets on the new Googlebook laptops. It is coming to Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 first this summer, with Wear OS and Googlebook support arriving later in 2026. 4. Gemini in Chrome for Android Chrome on Android is getting a set of Gemini-powered features that were previously only available on desktop. Starting in late June 2026, you will be able to: Get page summaries and quick comparisons while browsing Use Gemini to help fill out complex forms by pulling relevant info from your connected apps like Gmail and Calendar Let Chrome auto-browse on your behalf, handling things like booking a parking spot or re-ordering from a restaurant Gemini in Chrome also includes Nano Banana, an image tool that lets you create new images or customise ones you find on a webpage, directly inside the browser without switching to another app. The auto-browse feature is available to Gemini Pro and Ultra subscribers. You will need a phone running Android 12 or higher with at least 4 GB of RAM. 5. Pause Point Image source: Google Pause Point is a new Digital Wellbeing tool that adds a 10-second pause screen when you open an app you’ve flagged as distracting. During that pause, you can choose to do a breathing exercise, set a timer in the app, look at a favourite photo, or open an alternative, such as an audiobook. The intentional friction is baked in: turning Pause Point off requires a phone restart. It is part of Android 17, and Google says it is the beginning of a larger set of wellbeing tools that will come later in 2026. 6. Screen Reactions Screen Reactions is a native Android tool for recording reaction videos. It captures your screen and front camera simultaneously, so you get the reaction overlay without needing a green screen, a second app, or any post-production editing. It works with videos and images. Screen Reactions is coming to Pixel phones first this summer via Android 17, with no confirmed date yet for other Android phones. 7. 3D emoji Google is redesigning all 4,000-plus Android emoji with a new 3D look, which Google is calling Noto 3D. The update gives the emoji more depth and visual weight, moving away from the flat style Android has used for years. Pixel phones are getting them first, with a wider rollout across Google products coming later in 2026. 8. Adobe Premiere for Android Adobe Premiere is finally coming to Android. The mobile version of Premiere has been available on iPhone since September 2025, and Google confirmed at The Android Show that the Android version will arrive this summer. It includes exclusive templates and effects built specifically for YouTube Shorts. Support for the Advanced Professional Video (APV) format is also expanding. It currently works on the Galaxy S26 Ultra and the vivo X300 Ultra, with more Snapdragon 8 Elite devices to follow. 9. Instagram for Android upgrades Meta and Google announced a set of Android-specific improvements for Instagram. These include: Ultra HDR photo and video capture and playback Night Sight integration for better low-light shots Built-in video stabilisation An improved upload pipeline so your photos and videos do not lose quality when you post them A properly optimised Instagram tablet UI for Android tablets is also part of the update. These features are rolling out through 2026 on Android
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