Jahazi: Your Internet All in One Place

Jahazi: Simplicity and Speed for the Common Mwananchi

Jahazi logoA group of Kenyan developers have been working for a couple of years to develop an all-in-one solution for email, sms, chat, browsing, etc called Jahazi. It’s a client-side application that you have to download, which means it will be housed on your computer. However, the data is all stored on their servers though, not on your computer – which means as long as you find a computer with Jahazi on it – or you carry it on a USB stick/drive – then you can access your information.

Jahazi: ChannelsJahazi works off of a simple “channels” system. You add the channels you are interested in having as a part of your account, be it email, SMS, chat, a web browser or an address book. They’re building the service to be extendable so that other developers can add channels and make new services available to the Jahazi userbase.

I like what I see so far. It’s a well designed, easy to use and fast Flash application. I imagine it’s even faster if you’re sitting in Nairobi, seeing as I have to deal with a number of international connections to get to the Jahazi database. I imagine that the number of users for a free service like this will skyrocket if they can get critical mass within the cyber cafes and if they make it a better/cheaper way to SMS.

What I like

  • It’s hosted in locally (in Kenya) for locals
  • Portability via USB
  • Extendability allowing for other developers to create more channels
  • It’s viral – you get 25 free SMS’s when you use Jahazi to signup more friends

What I’d like to see

  • A web-based version
  • A scaled down mobile version
  • Ability to use a different email address instead of the default (username)@jahazi.com

Below is a screenshot of the email channel:
Jahazi email channel

39 thoughts on “Jahazi: Your Internet All in One Place”

  1. Josiah

    Was at the skunkworks presentation that they did today.

    Absolutely love it.

    I’m waiting for a web version too + a full version for Unix and OS X. A mobile platform too is great… this is Africa after all.

  2. David Kobia

    I love to see stuff like this – an all in one solution. If they can custom brand this for cyber-cafe’s, they add onto that viral effect.

    My only peeve at the moment is the slow server access. I hope it isn’t as slow in Kenya. Collocating the servers to a reliable data center might be a good investment especially since they’re hosting mail too.

  3. Al

    Good to see Kenyans doing some cool developer stuff. Wonder who they guys are. Man there’s not much development news from Kenya and also developer groups or forums are few so it’s hard to exchange ideas.

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  5. Mentalacrobatics

    It is looking good. I’m on a flashcom line so I can not talk about speeds accurately. Will check up on it on a more reliable connection and let you know.

  7. Mugambi Kimathi

    It good to know that there are guys out there who appreciate good apps. We are VST Studios http://www.vststudios.com the creators of Jahazi.

    Jahazi is the simplest and fastest internet app on this planet. Why!! because it has been architectured to fully uses XML. Jahazi brings a new way to experience the internet using the latest technology.

    Jahazi vision is to be running on all devices that connect to the internet. so rest assured Jahazi mobile will be the next project once we stabilize jahazi.

    Mugambi

  10. Mugambi Kimathi

    Ok… Sorry for the false start. Actually we havnt got to the stage of distributing the Quick Start CD in supermarkets however we intend to do so coming soon.

    We are working on our website to make the links work. So by end of this week information should be good. if you would like to contact us you can write to us or send a comment to us on jahazi.

    Jahazi: Simplicity and Speed for the Common Mwananchi

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  16. Seth

    I am thrilled! One month away from boarding a Qatar airlines plane with my Software Engineering papers and just in time for a dot com explosion in Kenya.

    I love the jahazi concept and will try the product. Is it possible to include a white paper on your website perhaps highlighting the architecture? I’m sure that will aid developers seeking to add channels.

    Flash helps the interface but an AJAX framework may speed up the application especially if it will will mature into a fully blown web app.

    Kudos – oh, and please add some content on the about us link.

  17. zack lusitche

    hi am new and not tech savy am a small businessman now also marketing online classified for kenyaad.com have been a farmer in soy for some time and a mini-supermarket co-proprietor now how can i get skype to the masses as an alternative com device we have a database of 50,000 possible contacts also give me tips on other internet +offline method for the good of africa

  18. zack lusitche

    hi am an online/ofline marketer for kenyaad.com its realy tough selling internet door to door in kenya do give me tips on selling online .i also want to set up a directory of web designers and even have a competition hows that also i want to promote skype to our customers

  24. kennedy

    i have just checked the site but as per now i have little information about it.i must say this is a good move man.we will be hosting our own mails and get things done localy.i have no reason not to thank you.the features are good i will go for it and tell my friends about it.

  26. Sande George Ronnie

    Hey Guys, this is really nice innovative stuff.Am a Ugandan with a thirst for technological innovations,but this one that u guys have reached at tells a lot about africa as a whole. I can’t just imagine these software gurus of the west hearing about such stuff from kenya.You know what?,just get more practical with your innovations; use the inner man in you tirelessly something great is coming up.

  27. Bryan

    I love it all from that sms to email and to tha hott info they give. Props to your team guys!

  29. SAKINA

    Dear SIR/MADAM,
    Routesms Ltd. provides Bulk SMS having tie up with 12 international SMSC covering most of the countries in the world.Our professional technical team provides 24×7 technical supports which is one of the best in the industry.

    Our SMS Gateways rates are very economical and competitive.

    Some silent features of our service are :
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    2. DLL file which can integrate into any of your software.
    3. Desktop application which can be downloaded from our website http://www.routesms.com that can be used to send SMS.
    4. SMPP

    Please feel free to add me in your “MSN- ID” or “Yahoo- ID” chat list to discuss rates and technical queries.

    Thanks & Regards
    Sakina Poonawala
    Marketing Manager
    http://www.routesms.com
    Office Tel: 91 22 28668202
    MSN ID : sakina@routesms.com
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    SKYPE ID : sakina_routesms@skype.com

  30. Abdi noor Farah

    Mambo ya Jahazi yanafurahisha ni mwanzo mzuri, Basi Jahazi Usiende Mrama. Ahsanteni

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  36. Dicky

    u guys ur doin great, we are proud of u. Under ordinary Kenyan perception it only takes a genius 2 come up with this kinda of ando but u hv proved em wrong, kudos!

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