Ugandan product designer, Edgar Ofuyunu, is set to launch the first smartphone to be locally designed in the country.
The 24-year-old Ofuyunu, who is the Chief Executive Officer of a technology company-Pixan, said got the idea after conducting a research that took him several years.
In a recent interview, he said, “
He is believed to have invested more than 820 million Ugandan Shillings in the project, with some of the money being earnings from his other product designs.
Ofuyunu believes the smartphone invention will bring about a shift from being consumers to being empowered and, by extension, create more jobs and harness innovation skills.
A recent report by the National Information Technology Authority Uganda indicates that almost 24.8 million Ugandans own mobile phones,
99 percent of which are exported from Asia and Europe, among others.
The report also shows that with 15.8 percent of the population owning smartphones, the young (15-24 years) are at the forefront of smartphone usage at 28 percent.
The 24-year-old designer Pixan CEO explains that the tech company is presently in manufacturing and is expected to be in the market this July with 4,000 phones for a start.
The Android 7.0 device is assembled in China and Vietnam, it will evolve into eight different phones, starting with Pixan MA. Its features would include having between three to five gigabytes of working memory and a storage of up to eight and 125 gigabytes. The device will have gorilla glass screen while the back is opal glass in pink, black, blue and gold colour options respectively.
The phone is expected to come with a 4G network system, 21-hour battery life when on a browser, 26 hours w idle and a front and back eight-megapixel camera.
