Cote d’Ivoire launches first locally made Smartphone
The first locally made smartphone was launched in Cote d’Ivoire recently. Founder Alain Capo-Chichi, an Ivorian entrepreneur, created “Open G”, the country’s first locally made smartphone.
The phone gives users who cannot read and write access to voice commands in 16 of the 60 local languages. Users can preselect languages and use voice commands to initiate basic functions such as text messages or phone calls and more complex actions like mobile transfers.
Commenting on the new phone, Capo-Chichi said that he created the phone for people with the same challenges as his parents. “In Africa, the problem we have… is that reading, and writing is not accessible to everyone. What we’ve done is try to help our parents who have difficulty with their smartphones… But why not make it easier by giving priority to commands since speech is three times faster than writing,” he said.
Open G has already hit the market, and developers report that they have already sold several thousand units.
Although the phone was intended to ease the lives of the illiterate and ageing population, it could also do the same for persons with disabilities. Voice accessibility settings can help blind, cognitively, and physically disabled people interact more seamlessly with the world around them. For these demographics or a blend of them, utility is the ultimate priority for any tech device. Hardware and software must therefore work together to help accomplish tasks in the fastest and most efficient way possible or fill in the sensory gap between users and their physical reality.
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