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Google to launch affordable smartphone for Nigeria market

By , ITWeb
Nigeria , 02 Aug 2017

Google to launch affordable smartphone for Nigeria market

During his first visit to Nigeria last week, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is set to launch an affordable mobile device for the Nigerian market.

As reported by techweez, this was during the company's google for Nigeria event last Thursday where Pichai delivered his keynote address and covered a number of plans for Nigeria, including the launch of an affordable smartphone, the Freetel Ice 2.

"Google is set to launch an Android device in September. One cool thing about this device is the price. The Ice 2 would be sold at N13 000 ($40) when it is launched," said Pichai. He also said the device would come with a security feature, Google Play Protect, which helps to keep device data safe.

Google said it hopes the smartphone will count towards its efforts to empower Africans through the internet. "We don't want to create the internet for Africans, but rather enable them to create the internet they want through the access, platforms and products we create," said Cesar Segunutpane, VP of product management at Google.

Segunutpane said the rollot of the device, in partnership with MTN, will come with all google apps and will be the first device to come with Google Play Protect.

The device is expected to go on sale in September and would be available through MTN Nigeria.

Among his announcements, Pichai said Google would launch a digital skills training program that would target 100 000 software developers in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. It was also announced that Google would invest US$3 million to mentor developers and African start-up founders.

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