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Twitter Lite is now available in 21 more countries
Many of us want to engage with the rest of the global society, whether we live in major cities with blazing fast mobile connections or areas where data is prohibitively expensive or slow. To help bridge the gap for those in the latter regions, Twitter released its Lite app, which also takes up far less space on devices than the full Twitter app (the install size is just 3MB).
Google invests in OS that will put its Assistant on feature phones
Google has just invested $22 million in KaiOS, the company that built an app-packed operating system for feature phones. The move, which gives Google access to previously-untapped markets, will see KaiOS integrate Google services such as maps, Assistant, YouTube and search into devices, which are considered mid-point phones between basic phones and smartphones.
Researchers put smartphones on a power diet, drastically improve battery life
Nokia's Asha handsets already use browser compression to reduce data costs and power consumption for customers in the developing world, but the company's Finnish neighbours over at Aalto University have taken a totally different approach. By using a network proxy to squash traffic into bursts rather than a constant bit rate, and by forcing a smartphone's modem into idle mode between each burst, the researchers claim they can cut 3G power consumption by 74 percent. Now, we're fortunate enough to be surrounded by power outlets over here, but even we could use some of that.
Visa aims at developing countries with new international prepaid mobile payment service
Shortly after announcing its new digital wallet service V.me for developed markets, Visa also made a presence at Mobile Asia Congress in Hong Kong to promote its new prepaid mobile money platform aimed at the under-banked and the unbanked consumers. By utilizing its recently-acquired Fundamo (which currently has more than 10 million mobile payment subscribers), Visa aims to leverage on the vast number of mobile phone users in developing countries -- many of whom are already using local but carrier-bound mobile payment systems -- in order to offer a globally interoperable mobile payment network. This overlaying platform is said to be more secure, much cheaper and more convenient than the likes of Western Union, especially when you can simply make mobile-to-mobile payments when sending money across countries. Nigeria and Uganda will be the first nations to get a taste of this early next year courtesy of telecommunications provider MTN Group, and eventually more developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will join the list. Full press release after the break. %Gallery-139688%
Intel's Skoool software brings study materials to healthcare workers in developing countries
When we consider Intel's contributions to developing nations, it's hard not to hone in on the 5 million-plus Classmate PCs it's shipped over the past four years. This time, at least, Intel is leaving the hardware part of the equation to the Lenovos and HPs of the world and focusing on the software instead. The company just announced the Skoool Healthcare Education platform, a collection of online and offline educational materials designed to help healthcare workers in developing countries better treat women and children, tackling malnutrition, vaccination, communicable diseases and childbirth safety. To be clear, Intel isn't getting into the medical content business -- it didn't write these resources but instead culled them from various third-party sources. The idea is that the company will provide the platform to governments and healthcare workers for free, forgoing what might otherwise be an opportunity to collect licensing fees. (It'll be up to local governments to work with companies like Dell to secure low-cost PCs to run the software.) For now, Intel's launching the program in Sri Lanka, where it already has a working history with the President and Minister of Health, but a rep tells us the outfit hopes to expand the program to sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Central Eastern Europe and parts of Asia, reaching 1 million healthcare workers by the end of 2015. [Image courtesy of Intel]
Nokia's promised dual-SIM handsets arrive, look strangely familiar
Well, that didn't take long. When Stephen Elop said a new dual-SIM handset would ship by the end of June, apparently he meant to say, "Right away!" Nokia has announced the first shipments of its C2-00 -- the same dual-SIM candybar we've known about for a year -- throughout India, China, and various developing regions for €45. On this C2, one of the SIM slots is accessible from the outside of the phone, making it convenient for those carrying more than two cards. Additionally, the company revealed the X1-01, a dual-SIM (and still very loud) variant of the X1-00 with a specially tuned speaker that's said not to distort too badly -- even when the volume is turned to 11. It sells for €34 and lasts 43 days on standby. Both devices feature dual-standby, which allows calls and messages to be received on both numbers without needing to switch back and forth between them. Of course, this leaves us awaiting the arrival of Nokia's dual-SIM touchscreen phone, the C2-06, but this will suffice for today. Game on, Mr. Elop.
World Bank report finds selling virtual goods in games more profitable than 'real' economy
A report commissioned by the World Bank's infoDev unit has cast fresh light on one of the more fascinating aspects of our brave new interconnected world: the virtual economy. The "third-party gaming services industry" -- where wealthy but impatient players have someone else grind away at online games for them in exchange for monetary reward -- is one of the focal points of the study, chiefly owing to it having generated revenues in the region of $3 billion in 2009 and now serving as the primary source of income for an estimated 100,000 young folks, primarily in countries like China and Vietnam. What's encouraging about these findings is that most of the revenue from such transactions ends up in the country where the virtual value is produced, which contrasts starkly with some of the more traditional international markets, such as that for coffee beans, where the study estimates only $5.5 billion of the $70 billion annual market value ever makes it back to the producing country. The research also takes an intriguing look at the emerging phenomenon of microwork, which consists of having unskilled workers doing the web's version of menial work -- checking images, transcribing bits of text, bumping up Facebook Likes (naughty!), etc. -- and could also lead to more employment opportunities for people in poorer nations. To get better acquainted with the details, check the links below or click past the break.
MIT professor touts first 'practical' artificial leaf, signs deal with Tata to show up real plants
A professor at MIT claims to have Mother Nature beat at her own game. Dr. Daniel Nocera says his invention is ten times more efficient at photosynthesis than a real-life leaf, and could help to bring affordable alternative energy to developing countries. Described as an "advanced solar cell the size of a poker card," the device is made of silicon, electronics, and inexpensive catalysts made of nickel and cobalt. When placed in a gallon of water under direct sunlight, the catalysts break the H2O down into hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are then stored in a fuel cell -- the energy produced is apparently enough to power a single house for a day. Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen scientists try to one-up nature, in fact, we've seen solar-powered leaves before, but this thing actually looks poised for the mass market -- Nocera signed a deal with Tata in October. Full PR after the break.
Vodafone announces Webbox, gives internet access to the developing world
While many of us are focused on the latest and greatest consumer tech, there are many parts of the globe still waiting for utilities we take for granted -- like electricity, running water, and access to the internet. Developing nations do have access to cellphones, however. Vodafone is keenly aware of this fact, and its latest product, the Webbox, will bring the internet to anyone with a TV and access to 2.5G or EDGE networks. The Webbox is essentially a QWERTY keyboard -- with the data hardware from a phone stuffed inside -- that connects to a TV through basic RCA cables and allows for a relatively speedy internet experience by compressing data by around 90 percent. It's dead simple to set up, as you simply plug in the RCA's and switch on the device -- an Opera Mini browser pops up on screen and allows users to start surfing the world wide web immediately. An app store, some games, and a text editor are baked into the portal, and the ability to send email and SMS messages is included is well. Vodafone is selling the device -- which comes with a 2GB SD card and 100MB of data -- in South Africa for 749 Rand ($102), with other markets and a two year contract plan to be added later this year. Check out the Webbox, and all its elegant simplicity, in the video after the break.
United Nations identifies e-waste as an urgent and growing problem, wants change
E-waste might be one of the biggest misnomers in the history of nomery -- the image it creates in the mind is of a bunch of email and document files clogging up your local internet pipes. The reality of it is that electronic waste is rapidly populating ever-growing landfill areas in so-called developing countries (they're poor, just call a spade a spade) and the issue has now garnered the attention of the United Nations. The UN Environment Programme has issued a wideranging report warning that e-waste in China and South Africa could double or even quadruple within the next decade, whereas India could experience a five-fold rise. Major hazards exist in the unregulated and informal recycling of circuit boards and techno gadgets, as processes like backyard incineration for the retrieval of gold generate toxic gases while also being wildly inefficient. The whole point of the report is to encourage some global cooperation in setting up modern and safe recycling facilities in the affected countries to ameliorate the problem, though being generally more careful in our consumption and disposal of electronics wouldn't do the environment's chances any harm either.
Sharp brings TV to the powerless
Forget schools, forget lighting, forget easy access to drinking water... it's that sweet TV goodness that people living off the grid really need. Well, that and laptops. You're looking at Sharp's 26-inch LCD prototype which uses just a quarter of the power (or a third measured annually) of a conventional CRT with the same screen size. That's low enough to be suitably powered by a Sharp, triple-junction thin-film solar cell module whose surface area is roughly equivalent to that of the LCD screen. Sharp hopes to market the two items as a pair in a bid to "contribute to the environment." Good thing too, 'cause nothing fills a billion empty bellies like an eye-full of boob-candy.[Via Impress]
Thermoacoustics behind all-in-one cooker, fridge, and generator
Sure, building up a campfire in order to roast some eats in the wilderness could be fun for awhile, but for the reported "two billion people that use open fires as their primary cooking method," we're sure it loses its luster somewhere along the line. The University of Nottingham is hoping to change all that, however, by attempting to develop an all-in-one gizmo that acts as a "cooker, a fridge, and a generator," and relies on biomass fuels for energy. The £2 million ($3.96 million) SCORE (Stove for Cooking, Refrigeration and Electricity) project seeks to create a "wood-powered generator capable of both cooking and cooling food," and it will purportedly rely on thermoacoustics to cut down on pollutants, increase efficiency, and be more reliable to future consumers in Africa and Asia. No word just yet on when this newfangled kitchen appliance will be ready to ship, but a portable version would probably do quite well in the camping market.[Via CNET]
Negroponte suggests the OLPC can support Windows, may hit US schools
Just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about the OLPC, Negroponte, and the Sugar interface, in comes the man himself using the "W" word in an open-sourced conversation. Curiously enough, Nik Neg has not only stated that the present is "perhaps the most critical stage of the OLPC's life," but he also blurted out a quasi-firm $176 pricetag that would be attached to them. Additionally, he went so far as to admit that "XO's developers have been working with Microsoft so a version of Windows can run on the machines," and while no direct linkages were drawn to the recent $3 software package that the firm had announced, the writing is somewhat on the wall. Furthermore, a whopping 19 state governors have reportedly shown interest in grabbing a few of the inexpensive machines for their own schoolkids, and while the creator initially stated that the XOs were "designed for a totally different situation," he was also quoted as saying that business in the US "couldn't be ignored." C'mon guys and gals, how about a little less conversation and a little more action?Read - Hints of Windows on OLPCRead - US schools could adopt OLPC
Microsoft will sell $3 software to developing countries
In what initially sounds like an altruistic gesture towards developing nations -- but is in reality a shrewd business move to both compete with pirates and get kids hooked on Windows -- Microsoft will be selling a package containing full-fledged versions (well, kinda) of its OS and office software to eligible countries for a mere three-bucks-a-pop. Starting sometime in the second half of the year, less-developed nations that agree to provide free computers for their school systems will be able to participate in the latest effort in Microsoft's Unlimited Potential initiative, which nets them a bundle containing XP Starter Edition, Office Home and Student 2007, as well as various other educational titles (fingers crossed for Flight Simulator). Of course, by putting this restriction on participants, Microsoft is obviously forcing them to purchase PCs that work with its ecosystem of products -- and more importantly, that aren't the OLPC XO (Classmates are cool, though). The company will also benefit somewhat from governments that tend to buy their software from shady sources, although pirates can rest assured that they'll still be able to thrive on the patronage of individuals and private firms. So make no mistake about it, the war for the hearts and minds of the next wave of PC users is most definitely on, and while Bill Gates may espouse the many societal benefits of bridging the digital divide, Microsoft's Orlando Ayala made the company's intentions crystal clear when he told Reuters "This is not a philanthropic effort: this is a business."
GSMA wants 3G for developing countries
Sure, the OLPC project's connectivity options are all well and good with the promise of WiFi and mesh networking, but how's about tethering that $100 $130 laptop up to some high-speed WWAN action? The GSM Association has announced its "3G for all" initiative to bring UMTS access well beyond its current user base of 72 million people, most of whom reside in industrialized nations. Although OLPC is not specifically mentioned, the synergy is pretty obvious -- we suspect these laptops could find themselves in a few places where WiFi is hard to come by. Besides challenging carriers to build out the network, GSMA is asking manufacturers to develop 3G handsets with the needs of emerging markets in mind, something they've done in the past for 2G handsets with the goal of mass production at the $30 price point. UMTS has a long way to go in some industrialized nations before we see this all happening, but dare to dream, guys -- we're all about $130 laptops tethered to $30 3G-capable phones.
