The start-up Kenyan Ushahidi BRCK presented his latest project, a tool that allows you to connect to the Internet from any location.
"If it works in Africa, so it will work anywhere in the world." Is the motto of the founders of Ushahidi, a start-up based in Nairobi. They demonstrated in 2008 with their open-source software including interactive mapping used by the UN and the biggest media in the world.
After the software (software), the creators of innovative and useful solutions to the continent, are experimenting with the creation of computer equipment (hardware). On the occasion of the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh, the Ushahidi team has left the Silicon Savannah Nairobi to present his latest project. Codename: BRCK. It is a small plastic cube design looks to connect to the internet anywhere because it "sucks" Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G. An approach that has its source in the daily entrepreneurs and innovative geeks in Africa. Tired of being disconnected from the internet any power outage or looking painfully network to access the web, they decided to develop an appropriate solution to the African reality.
This small box BRCK, which is under development, is equipped with a battery with a life of eight hours and is developed in open source, which means that the community of developers in Africa and elsewhere can freely access to the source code and enhance the applications that run on the system terminal. In addition, the user can insert a SIM card into the "brick" to create a network on which twenty are connectable devices. "This is the equivalent of a generator for internet, a GSM modem designed for your coding sessions do not end when the electric current is interrupted," says Ethan Zuckerman, director of the "Center for Civic Media" of MIT.
In his presentation, Ushahidi explained how people in remote rural areas will connect to the Internet by adding an antenna on the BRCK to increase connectivity. And the team is trying to find a cheap solution for networks of access to expensive satellite connections to the Internet. "Today, every activity requires an internet connection. We wanted to reinvent a way to connect to the Internet in Africa, taking into account the new resolutely mobile usage. We designed BRCK as an appropriate tool for these uses, cafes of San Francisco coders to Nairobi, "says one at Ushahidi. This device should be on sale in November for $ 199. The startup has raised more than 170,000 dollars for this project through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
This small box BRCK, which is under development, is equipped with a battery with a life of eight hours and is developed in open source, which means that the community of developers in Africa and elsewhere can freely access to the source code and enhance the applications that run on the system terminal. In addition, the user can insert a SIM card into the "brick" to create a network on which twenty are connectable devices. "This is the equivalent of a generator for internet, a GSM modem designed for your coding sessions do not end when the electric current is interrupted," says Ethan Zuckerman, director of the "Center for Civic Media" of MIT.
In his presentation, Ushahidi explained how people in remote rural areas will connect to the Internet by adding an antenna on the BRCK to increase connectivity. And the team is trying to find a cheap solution for networks of access to expensive satellite connections to the Internet. "Today, every activity requires an internet connection. We wanted to reinvent a way to connect to the Internet in Africa, taking into account the new resolutely mobile usage. We designed BRCK as an appropriate tool for these uses, cafes of San Francisco coders to Nairobi, "says one at Ushahidi. This device should be on sale in November for $ 199. The startup has raised more than 170,000 dollars for this project through the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
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