Fancy Vodafone Webbox Keyboard

Vodafone has announced the release of a Webbox device that allows you to access the Internet using any TV in the vicinity, simply by connecting a keyboard to it. The Internet keyboard was designed specifically for buyers from countries with developing markets (for example, Ghana or South Africa), where the technological and price barriers often prevent many people from enjoying affordable, ready-made access to the Network from home or at the workplace.

Webbox is a 14 x 25 cm QWERTY keyboard that can be connected to a TV using standard RCA connectors (popular among the people “tulip”). A plug-and-play keyboard that does not require any configuration turns any TV into an Internet portal.

At Vodafone, Webbox is considered a simple, yet fairly innovative product that has great potential. It can help people from different countries who have limited access to the Internet for various reasons, despite the fact that there the level of television penetration is usually quite high. The simplicity of the product, according to developers, is simply obliged to amaze everyone.

By connecting the set-top box to the TV, you instantly get access to many built-in services. You can go to the global network using Opera Mini, get access to sending and receiving SMS and e-mail, Internet search and media services such as FM radio, photo gallery and music player.

Opera Mini in Webbox works in 2.5G and EDGE mobile networks, compressing transmitted data up to 90%, allows you to load pages much faster and save money by reducing traffic. Links to popular sites, such as news and sports portals, social networks, as well as sites and web applications that are popular in the device’s distribution area (for example, searching for work in the region, local news, etc.) will be placed on the browser’s home page in advance. . In addition to everything, the owner of the Internet console will have access to several simple games, a dictionary and a simple text editor.

The Vodafone device is somewhat reminiscent of the OLPC (One Laptop per Child) project, in which it was planned to produce portable computers costing no more than $ 100 for children from developing countries. And it looks like Webbox, given the ubiquity of various cloud services, is a great and inexpensive solution to a complex problem.

Next week, Vodafone plans to start selling Webbox as early as next week. Plans to enter other emerging markets will be published later this year. The device will cost about $ 100 with a 2GB SD card, a SIM installed and 100 MB prepaid traffic.



via TechCrunch