KaiOS Technologies has announced the extension of its affordable smart feature phones to more partners in six African countries.
This is coming after it announced in November last year that the 3G smart feature phone, which will retail between $20-$25 will initially be available from MTN in Nigeria and South Africa, followed very shortly by the other MTN operations in the continent as well as the Middle East.
The six new partners to deliver affordable smart feature phones running on KaiOS in Africa are Bomare in Algeria, Accent in Morocco, Condor in Algeria, Eric Beare Associates – Hong Kong based company operational in Egypt, South Africa, and other African markets, Maya Global Network– operational across Africa particularly in Kenya and Tanzania and Sico in Egypt.
In a press release, KaiOS noted that the mobile phones running on its operating system for smart feature phones, forms a new category of phones that combine the affordability of a feature phone with the essential features of a smartphone.
“Our mission is to close the digital divide by bringing advanced digital services to the billions of people who are still without internet,” said KaiOS Technologies CEO Sebastien Codeville.
He added that traditional smartphones are too expensive for large parts of the population in the markets. “We’re really excited to see a broad range of affordable devices reach millions of people who were previously unconnected through these new partnerships,” he said.
These new smart feature phones will be available for direct purchase by end-users who have their own SIM cards, or as part of bundled packages with local Mobile Network Operators. They go to market from Q2 2019 through distribution agreements with the following partners.
The operating system is based on open web technologies such as HTML5 and supports 3G and 4G/LTE, as well as Wi-Fi, GPS, and NFC. Devices running on KaiOS require little memory while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like the Google Assistant, YouTube, Facebook, Google Maps, and Twitter.