A local technology firm in Kenya, Whive.com, has launched a suite of mobile applications dubbed iKATIBA for Nokia S40 and S60 flash enabled phones. The applications have been presented in seven local languages in Kenya, including the Dholuo, a language of the Luo tribe originating from Western Kenya (the Dholuo Mobile APP is called Yawa) and English, Kenya's inherited colonial language and language of instruction in schools, colleges and universities, whose application is called TextIt. Others include Kikuyu, a language for the Kikuyu tribe originating from Central Kenya whose application is dubbed Aterere, Luhya, also a western Kenya tribe (Chombo) and Sheng an urban slang language which is a mixture of English and Swahili (Niaje). There is also a Somali (people of the North Eastern Kenya) whole app is dubbed Wariah and Swahili, Kenya’s national language with coastal origins going by iKatiba. “We at Whive.com believe in taking communication tools closer to the people and one way of doing that is supporting local markets by providing technology that supports their activities,” says John Karanja the founder, Whive.com. The dialects are some of the widely spoken in Kenya. Mr Karanja says more languages will be released in the near future. “It is our hope that this will add the necessary fuel to the mobile revolution that is already underway in Africa, that others have worked so hard to see happen,” said Mr Karanja. It is not common to find mobile applications made available to local communities. Source: SmartbizAfrica