African Android!

Saheed Adepoju, CEO and Co-Founder of Encipher Limited; has just come out with something interesting! As a self-confessed obsessed tech head, I am excited to see such a Tablet PC (usually referred to as a 'tablet') come out from Africa. It's refreshing to see Africa innovating in technologies that are relatively new to all industries- Adepoju is looking for investors and, according to an interview with VC4Africa, he feels that African investors don't want to invest.

"Talking about venture capitalists in Africa, I am yet to see one that will invest... when I mean invest, I don't mean give seed funding of $50 000. I mean actually give $2 million to a business that is already gaining traction. So I believe they are very risk averse in investing in a market where they are not sure of a return on investment," said Adepoju in a recent CNN article.

Saheed Adepoju holding the Way-C, Africa's first tablet

But let's get back to the device for a minute. It's a modest device to be honest, at 7 inches, running Android's outdated '2.1 Eclair' software with a resistive instead of capacitive touchscreen. It has 512MB memory on a Telechips Tcc8902 ARM11 processor, which is decent, and a less decent 1.3MP camera. It does however, come with a nice and hefty 16GB of storage. On the ports side, it has the usual Mic-in, DC-in, a 35mm headphone jack, an HDMI output up to 1080P plus playback, a USB host and a Highspeed USB OTG 2.0 to plug thumb drives, USB devices and hard drives, a very useful and rare feature. It also has 3G on top of its WIFI 802.11, with an impressive 6-8hrs on a 2600 mAh battery, a mix-match of old and new tech, but with the processor, and the 800×400 LCD resolution it might not be enough to run HDMI. As time passes on, perhaps future interations will sport better screens and memory. But for the time being, it looks like Encipher has made an honest and commendable attempt at the new, and as-of-yet uncertain future of Tablet PCs.

Now, some people will already say that the future is not so uncertain for Tablet PCs. And the answer would probably be the iPad. But in terms of global PC sales, it only accounts for 16% of global sales, there is still a lot of room and opportunity to give the rest of the world a reasonably priced (something iPads are not) device that does a few things, but does them well.

There is no mistake where this product sells well, and where it doesn't, why is that?

 Android is closing in fast behind Apple, in terms of market share and exposure in this tech-nouveau. Now I'm not an Apple hater, I'm typing this article from a MacBook Pro! I just don't believe Apple does much to diversify and establish smartphones and Tablet PCs. My adoration for Android is purely based on the wide array of possibilities that are only seperated by imagination. In such a short time, we have seen screen resolutions jump to actual 720pHD displays, 8MP cameras are becoming the norm, screen sizes are getting larger, we have high-end, expensive devices, and mid-range, economical devices, we also have hardkeys for those still in withdrawal from the ill-fated Blackberry! None of this would be possible if the only form factor around is an iPhone and an iPad. But I'm also equally grateful for Apple's success in the mobile market. Without it, there would be no scramble by Samsung, HTC, and the others to entice consumers with a melange of awesome features and designs.

But as far as Africa is concerned, the iPad and other Tablet PCs is just an accessory to wealth. The average middle-income household makes considerably less in Africa and Asia, compared to the US and Europe. The standards and consumer projection is mainly aimed at them, who will buy more than 100 million devices this coming year. This is where the Inye tablet is different. It may still be out of the price range for most middle-income homes, but it's a start. African consumers are going to demand the features that are more to their aesthetics. For example, as most devices are making the transition to 4G, Africa depends heavily on the more stable 3G network. Radio streaming is popular, but streaming movies is not, unique services like 'M-Pesa' are not integrated into devices like Google Wallet or App stores, despite Africa leading the world in mobile money transactions.

We can only hope, and this device definitely gives that. Perhaps we will see a dust-resistant, M-Pesa integrated device with a 'Matatu Meter' imbedded into Google Maps!

sources:


Michelle Atagana, "Where are Africa's Gadgets?" CNN© 2012 Cable News Network
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/24/world/africa/michelle-atagana-gadget-makers-opinion/index.html

Michael Gorman, "VMK Way-C tablet shows off its full figure, on sale for $300 in select countries this October" Engadge © 2012 AOL Inc. All rights reserved
http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/20/vmk-way-c-tablet-shows-off-its-full-figure-on-sale-for-300-in/

Digital knowledge in Africa: WikiAfrica and Share Your Knowledge at Orange Foundation

On Wednesday 24th October WikiAfrica and Share Your Knowledge projects will be presented within Les Matinales Numériques, a series of meetings organized by Orange Foundation at the cultural center CENTQUATRE in Paris and devoted to media and digital technologies use in the social field. Developing digital contents in Africa with Wikipedia is the title of the morning, wholly focused on the two projects and into which associations, institutions and NGOs supported by Orange Foundation will take part.

The foundation, linked to Orange/France Télécom, is one of the most active and cutting edge international realities supporting economic development, mainly through the use of digital and web technologies. Orange, one of the main telecommunications groups of the African continent, has been long acknowledging Wikipedia value as a free tool to access knowledge: it has been the first world firm signing an agreement with Wikimedia Foundation, making surfing Wikipedia for free for its own African and Middle East customers.

Moreover, the Orange Foundation supports doual'art, a contemporary art center in Douala, Cameroon, in WikiAfrica Cameroon field. The project has been conceived by doual'art in collaboration with lettera27 and the Africa Center in Cape Town, South Africa, and it will start in November 2012, lasting for a year.

WikiAfrica, born in 2006 with the aim of Africanizing the online encyclopaedia through the creation of articles from and about the African continent, will be introduced by the scientific director Iolanda Pensa, together with Share Your Knowledge, the training project developed in 2011 to support cultural organizations in sharing their own contents on Wikipedia.

Being a meaningful example of knowledge sharing and spreading, WikiAfrica shares many objectives with Orange Foundation, which since 2005 has been involved in various intervention areas related to knowledge and social innovation support, has been active in more than 30 countries in the world in synergy with associations and territorial NGOs and has established local foundations in Africa (Senegal, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Niger, Botswana).


Original Article here:

http://www.lettera27.org/index.php?idlanguage=1&zone=9&idprj=47&idnews=2594&pag=0&y=


 

Konza City - Ambition or Pipe Dream?

Konza City is a new and ambitious project endorsed by the Kenyan government through the Kenya ICT Board. The aim is to compete economically and culturally with the best cities around the world, and be known as Africa's first Silicone Savannah. Does this all sound overly ambitious? Your not alone if you are slightly cynical about this grand venture. 

The project will supposedly cost 14 and a half billion US dollars to create, and is hoped to not only decongest Nairobi, but to compete with it, thus bringing Kenya into the range of middle class income countries. 

Wouldn't that be nice if one city could accomplish all that in under 30 years!

The  concerns that people have in regards to how much is possible, or how much can be done by the government is marred by years of inefficient, corrupt, or just plain horrible attempts at improving civil facilities or urban projects designed to improve living conditions and have become masters in creating bureaucratic nightmares of any level.

Turning this...

Into a bustling Metro

For years, systematic corruption has deteriorated basic functions like garbage and traffic control. The roads are increasingly unbearable, as the people in charge of creating and maintainance use cheaper means and products, cut corners and look the other way as subpar infrastructure and standard reak havoc on the society, who in turn have adapted to such standards.

But as Africa struggles to position itself as an outsourcing destination for global clients in Europe and North America, Indian companies are raking in the few local contracts up for grabs. Now I'm not saying "its India's fault, they 'stole' the contracts" which unfortunately can become the reactionary response, but its Africa's fault for not making an attractive and compelling reason as to why they are better suited. The dwindling opportunities that multinational companies have provided are only being supported by the African operations of the mutlinational corporations. Driven initially by the demand from the telecoms sector, experienced Indian BPO players are snapping up many contracts, covering everything from data entry to fielding calls from customers.

However, analysts insist that multinationals will seek out the cheapest place to do business. Despite increasing wage inflation in India, a collapse of the rupee which depreciated 11% against the dollar between March and May - means the US and UK companies are still saving 60-70% by offshoring to India, according to Shyan Mukerjee, an India-based BPO analyst at Everest group. The global BPO industry was worth $45 billion in 2011, says Mukarjee, but Africa makes up less than 7% of that. The sector's growth in Africa is coming from servicing local operations rather than answering calls from the US and Europe. Kenya's BPO sector has shrunk from 45 firms in 2007 to just nine today, according to the Kenya ICT board. This could dampen the government's target to generate 20'000 direct jobs through BPO operations by 2013 and increase its contribution to the national economy to Ksh10bn ($110m). The anchor of this plan was the construction of Konza city, which has been delayed by government bureaucracy.

Sources:

http://allafrica.com/stories/2012100145.html

©2012 AllAfrica, AllAfrica.com

Wambua Kavila 1/10/12

http://www.theafricareport.com/north-africa/outsourcing-the-indian-connection-and-africa.html

©2012 The Africa Report.

Gemma Ware, Michael Omondi 4/9/12