As South Africa starts bridging the digital divide, and national government and some provincial administrations start rolling out broadband across the country, more learners will migrate to tablets and more schools will use them in teaching on a daily basis.
As parents know, while the 'electronic generation' is quite at home using mobile devices, they're still children and accidents happen. A lot! Innovative South African tech company, Future Mobile Technology, has solved that problem with the launch of the netsurfer LITE, a seven-inch tablet manufactured with Corning 'Gorilla Glass' infused into the LCD panel.
"It's virtually unbreakable," says joint CEO of FMT, Tracy Andersson. "We added it to the netsurfer LITE for added protection so that it is a good option for kids."
The LITE also comes at a "light" price, retailing at R1 399. But it's certainly not light on features. It uses the latest single-core technology that is optimised for multitasking and multimedia. It has an e-reader app available for download, Skype and all the social networking sites, from Mxit and Twitter, to Facebook.
"It also has a longer-than-usual battery life of between five and six hours," says joint CEO Graham Davies. "Plus, it's hyper fast, and comes with 8GB of storage. This means you can watch movies in HD via the enhanced video player function."
FMT's stated aim is to make WiFi and mobile technology available to the mass market in South Africa, but without losing quality. All netsurfer LITE tablets come with a leather pouch for added protection that also doubles up as a convenient stand for the device.
This is an area where FMT is looking to source local suppliers of local content to go into the boxes in which the netsurfer tablets are packaged.
But FMT isn't limiting itself to just supplying the South African market. Plans are afoot to launch in the United Kingdom later this year. "We want to take the devices international," says Davies. "The pricing is good wherever we go. The demand for high-spec, well-priced tablets is global."
The netsurfer Lite is currently available online from TakeAlot.com.
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