At long last! Africa is finally taking a big step into the world of the portable electronic device. A smartphone and tablet said to be the first designed by an African company have been launched. The products, designed by Congolese entrepreneur Verone Mankou, are manufactured in China.
His company VMK's devices run Google's Android software. They will retail at $170 (£105) for the smartphone and $300 (£185) for the tablet.
"Only Africans can know what Africa needs," said Mr Mankou at the Tech4Africa conference in Johannesburg. "Apple is huge in the US, Samsung is huge in Asia, and we want VMK to be huge in Africa."
I know from my own visit to Ghana in 2009 that landlines are few and far between. Everyone seems to somehow have a mobile. That is in Ghana, right enough, which is a pretty affluent West African nation and is politically stable. I obviously can’t speak for the entire continent, as there are still some very dangerous places and areas, coupled with the annual threat of an aid crisis, either caused naturally or by man.
Source: BBC News
Read the article in full: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20850778
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