Founded in 2016, KaiOS emerged as the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones, which was designed from the ground up to address the need for reliable, affordable feature phones with smartphone functionality in markets heavily impacted by the digital divide. It is affordable and easy-to-use, ideal for first-time internet users and those looking for an alternative to smartphones.

Five years since the first KaiOS-enabled device is shipped, KaiOS has gone up against industry giants to become one of the largest mobile OS, and now with a solid user base of over 165 million across the world. Never deviating from its mission of massively migrating 2G users to 4G to close the digital divide, KaiOS expands into a digital financial inclusion platform to bring the first digital economy experience to those who are excluded from a formal financial system with mobile payment, fintech, and device financing solutions.

Being selected for the Mastercard Start Path program allows KaiOS to connect with a global ecosystem of banks, fintechs, and technology players and unlock the potential of Mastercard’s network. This could facilitate KaiOS’s transformation into an inclusion enabler that brings the first digital financial experience to the next billion. KaiOS will receive support through Start Path to build a connected world with the provision of affordable, accessible, and relevant digital financial products that have never previously been available to the 1.7 billion unbanked and 3.7 billion unconnected population – mostly those with lower incomes, the elderly and women living in rural areas.

More details on the Mastercard Newsroom about KaiOS and other fintech innovators joining Mastercard Start Path: https://www.mastercard.com/news/perspectives/2022/mastercard-start-path-startup-engagement-program-wave-22/

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Since the first device KoX1 launched in Mexico in early 2019 and the second device GK3G in the following year, KaiOS has accelerated its growth and enabled hundreds of thousands of unconnected Mexicans to upgrade to digital services. With tractions gained in Mexico, KaiOS continued its expansion with GHIA to release the third device in its mobile lineup. Available starting today, the new GQWERTY will be made easily accessible and available in more than 25,000 distributors, e-commerce, marketplace as well as key retail points across Mexico. 

Designed to make digital mobile experience a breeze for basic phone users, GQWERTY powered by KaiOS features a QWERTY keyboard that makes control on a smart device easy. QWERTY also comes with a 4GB memory that is expandable to 32 GB with a micro SD card, 2MP rear camera, and a dual 3G SIM slot compatible with any mobile operators. Like any other KaiOS devices, it comes with access to KaiStore that hosts over 1,200 apps, including WhatsApp, Facebook, Google Maps, YouTube, and many other local apps. 

About KaiOS Technologies 
KaiOS  Technologies powers an ecosystem of affordable digital products and services, and exists to empower people around the world through technology. Its flagship product, KaiOS, is the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones with more than 165 million devices shipped in over 150 countries. 

Their mission is to  open up new possibilities for individuals, organisations and societies, by bringing mobile connectivity to the billions of people without internet in emerging markets, as well as providing those in established markets with an alternative to smartphones. KaiOS is based on HTML5 and other open web technologies. Devices running on the platform require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like the Google Assistant, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook and Google Maps. 
 
For more information about KaiOS, please visit www.kaiostech.com and www.twitter.com/KaiOSTech 

About GHIA 
GHIA is a Mexican computer, electronics, and accessories brand with 12 years of history in the market. Recognized for its excellent cost/benefit ratio and quality service, GHIA is one of the best-selling IT distribution channels. The company partners with strategic allies such as KaiOS Technologies to design and power the best technology in each of the products, with a mission to improve the people’s lives and close the digital divide in México.  https://www.ghia.com.mx/productos-ghia/celulares/ 

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Having redefined the way we connect and upskill our users to the digital world, we share this timeline infographic that marks some of our key highlights from the past year and what we’re looking forward to in 2022. 

January 2021 — The very first official announcement of the year is with Wikipedia, with its app released on the KaiStore, equalizing and extending access to essential knowledge to new internet users in developing markets for the first time. It is a significant achievement as it unlocks the largest collection of human knowledge to millions of people. CONTINUE READING 

February 2021 — With hundreds of millions of people impacted by the digital divide, it is crucial for isolated communities to gain internet access to life-enhancing digital resources. This time, with rural Africa.  

KaiOS partnered with Justdiggit to create a regreen app on KaiStore, and provided devices with monthly data to farmers in rural Tanzania. These farmers received training using the devices with the regreen app and access to features like internet browsing and apps. This project addressed critical ICT challenges – bringing affordable internet access to rural areas and providing digital skills training to new internet users. More importantly, it demonstrated to the farmers the need for such phones and apps, and they were willing to pay for and continue using mobile internet. CONTINUE READING 

March 2021 — We see increasing KaiStore visits as our ecosystem and developers are gaining recognition from our users. The KaiStore team is keeping up the momentum with a new set of updates that make it easier to find apps and enhance the UX experience as a whole. For example, the You May Also Like feature is a popular one as it gives suggestions to users with more great content related to their recent searches. CONTINUE READING 

April 2021 — While it’s important to continue expanding mobile broadband coverage, the primary challenge (and focus) is to reduce the usage gap. To address the affordability issue that hinders mobile internet adoption, KaiOS initiated a device financing program in Pakistan in partnership with Jazz, Swift Biz Solutions, Finja Lending Services Limited, and Pakistan Telecom Authority. With this new initiative, a user would only have to pay an upfront cost close to a 2G phone and a small monthly repayment for an internet device and data. This model can drive down the cost of 4G device and data and can be replicated at scale in other parts of the world to accelerate digital inclusion.  

May 2021 — The Life app by KaiOS is among the top 5 apps on the KaiStore, and it is particularly popular in African markets. This year, we released the second version of our Life app, incorporating feedback from our users and adding new features such as daily content updates, in-app web browsing, saving and searching posts, etc. We’re proud to see the Life app is changing lives for the better with its engaging and reliable content provided by our trusted NGOs and content partners.  CONTINUE READING 

June 2021 — Looking for more than just text messaging, voice messaging, and media sharing now? We hear you. This year, we brought WhatsApp VoIP – a simple and cost-effective way to communicate through voice call over the internet. It became the first data voice call that was made available for KaiOS users, an essential feature in times like now with substantial mobility restriction. Not only does it enhances the overall KaiOS user experience, it also makes KaiOS an even more sustainable solution for carriers. CONTINUE READING 

July 2021 — We welcomed the 1000th app to our KaiStore! We’re delighted to have grown the collection of apps to over 1000, thanks to the recognition from the developer community and our users. Lots of innovation and valuable content rolling out, with social continues to be the most sought-after category, followed by games and utilities. Stay tuned and see what exciting apps we will bring in 2022. 

August 2021 — Let’s reimagine the KaiOS experience with KaiOS 3.0, a significant and complete software update since the 2.5 version which packs the latest Mozilla Gecko engine (version 84) and comes with the latest chipset Board Support Package & Linux kernel. In this upgrade we added a number of new features, delivering a more streamlined user experience with enhanced security and stability. Be sure to keep an eye out on our next device with 3.0 in 2022! CONTINUE READING 

*Note: KaiOS 3.0 is only available on select KaiOS devices in the US as of today. 

September 2021 — Improving digital access to, and the use of financial transactions is always a key priority in KaiOS.  

China is no doubt the world leader in digital payment. To meet the local users’ needs for a diversified mobile payment experience, we’re thrilled to partner with Alipay to release the app in the KaiOS-run Nokia phones in China. Users can now scan & pay, go online shopping, make P2P transfers, and many more in Nokia 6300 and 8000. CONTINUE READING 

October 2021 — We‘ve come a long way since our first device is launched five years ago. It is with great pride we announced that we’ve reached over 160 million users, with more than 190 models shipped globally, despite the challenges in the recent two years with lockdowns, chip shortage, etc,. From no online experience to regular data usage, we unleash the world’s untapped markets with affordable access to mobile internet. CONTINUE READING 

November 2021 — KaiOS was presented with the Red Dot Award 2021 in the Interface and User Experience category for its design excellence – an interface design that is optimized, intuitive, easy-to-use for first-time internet users. 

Unlike other advanced or sophisticated OS designs for touch devices, the KaiOS UX team’s design vision is not solely focused on aesthetics. The priority is to ensure the UI runs seamlessly on a low-spec device and can be easily adapted by digitally illiterate users while keeping a good look. CONTINUE READING 

December 2021 — Before we conclude the year, we make sure we keep our focus all year long and are on the right track to be an ultimate platform that enables digital identity and financial inclusion.  

With over a billion people unbanked worldwide, there is an enormous need to reach these individuals on affordable internet phones and offer them reliable financial services through safe and easy-to-use payment apps. That’s why we added JazzCash to bring instant mobile payment and top-up services to our users, and help them become digitally and financially included. CONTINUE READING 

Our path as an enabler in the new normal  

As expected, the growth was still not like how we achieved in the pre-COVID times, but these numbers and new partnerships are going up and in the right direction in this second year of the pandemic. The post-COVID world is destined to have a complete shake-up in keeping the entire world functioning, both digitally and financially. Now it’s the time to work together to:  

Narrow the usage gap  

43% of the world’s population do not use mobile internet despite living in areas with mobile broadband coverage. $450B will be invested to reduce this gap over the next eight years from banks and institutions worldwide 

Ramp up digital financial services  

The positive shifts toward digital payment in many economies but also demonstrates the unequal access to these services among the excluded groups 

Reform digital skills education and engagement strategy to empower first-time internet users  

Devices and content are the foundation. The critical next step is to understand new users’ challenges and help them get the most out of our products 

The challenges, of course, remain enormous in the face of the pandemic. While the ongoing global chip shortage has a tremendous impact on the smart feature phone shipment, we have been able to source alternative affordable chips to maintain the production and channel our resources towards dual-inclusion (digital and financial inclusion) by:  

• making smart feature phones even more affordable with subsides from partners and consumer financing solutions 
• expanding to financial inclusion as part of the connectivity journey, starting with digital wallet onboarding on KaiOS 
• providing suitable fintech services like mobile money, bank/neo-bank, to improve access to financing that ultimately accumulates wealth and knowledge  
• growing the ecosystem to include the most relevant and popular services available on affordable devices  

Let’s work towards inclusive, affordable connectivity for all. 

Want to play a role in digital connectivity? Talk with us: https://www.kaiostech.com/partner-with-us/our-team/

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Available via the KaiStore, this new service allows KaiOS users to instantly send a request for airtime top-up from their phones to anyone in their address book, using WhatsApp. Friends and family can purchase mobile top-up on their behalf through Ding.com, making it easier than ever to keep their phones in credit and keeping them connected to their loved ones.

The partnership gives KaiOS users access to Ding’s network of over 550 mobile operators across 140+ countries, covering 95% of the population.

Commenting on the new partnership, Rupert Shaw, Chief Commercial Officer at Ding, said: “We are delighted to partner with KaiOS to introduce international mobile recharge to their ecosystem. Customers will now be able to engage with the Ding platform and stay connected by recharging their own devices or buying credit for other KaiOS users – all right at their fingertips.”

International mobile top-up, which is the most efficient micro-value transfer option in the market, has long been seen by expatriates worldwide as a convenient add-on to cash remittance – when supporting their families back home. This new offering will undoubtedly be welcomed by those with a KaiOS handset.

Mathieu Boyer, Senior Director, Ecosystem & Partnerships of KaiOS Technologies, said: “In times of increasing global volatility, it is even more crucial than ever to get everyone connected and stay connected. We are excited to work with Ding to provide this instant and secure online payment service, allowing our users to reach out to their friends and family to ask for a top-up, or enabling them to send mobile recharges back home – this is a great gift to be able to give someone.”

He added: “This partnership is a testament to our continued commitment to invest in digital solutions to deliver a safe, fast and convenient experience to our users and help bring mobile connectivity to billions of people.”

About Ding
Ding was founded to improve people’s lives by helping those with less gain access to more. As the number one international mobile top-up service in the world, Ding has been keeping people connected since 2006, when it launched this first-of-a-kind service. Today, Ding’s customers have successfully sent half a billion top-ups globally via the app, at Ding.com, in over 600,000 retail outlets across the globe, or via it’s expanding API-partner network through it DingConnect service. Ding delivers a top-up every second, via 550+ operators, across 140+ countries – helping families and friends around the world to stay connected.

About KaiOS Technologies
KaiOS Technologies powers an ecosystem of affordable digital products and services, and exists to empower people around the world through technology. Its flagship product, KaiOS, is the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones with more than 150 million devices shipped in over 150 countries. Kai’s mission is to open up new possibilities for individuals, organizations, and societies by bringing mobile connectivity to the billions of people without internet in emerging markets, as well as providing those in established markets with an alternative to smartphones. KaiOS is based on HTML5 and other open web technologies. Devices running on the platform require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and many more.  

For more information about KaiOS, please visit www.kaiostech.com and www.twitter.com/kaiOSTech.

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Expanding the app coverage to KaiOS, JazzCash allows users to transfer money to and from any bank or mobile account, pay utility bills, top up for airtime and data, and make use of the ReadyCash feature to request for short-term instant loan.

Key features of the JazzCash app:
1. Money Transfer
2. Bill Payment
3. Prepaid/ Postpaid Top Up
4. ReadyCash (digital loan feature)
5. QR Payment

Being the third largest unbanked adult population globally with 100 million adults without a bank account, many Pakistani have no access to formal banking services and have to rely solely in cash and transact in person. A safe and easy-to-use mobile payment app to be used on an affordable internet-enabled phone could easily reach these individuals, offering them essential and reliable financial services, e.g. e-government bill payment, money transfer, top-up data, small loan request, and help them become fully included – both digitally and financially.

“There is a real desire in JazzCash when it comes to financial inclusion. Creating a strong business and building a better Pakistan in parallel are key contributors of long-term success for JazzCash. This agreement will contribute in achieving that as we look forward to include more and more Pakistanis to the fold of JazzCash.” Mr Murtaza Ali, CEO of JazzCash.

“We’re excited to welcome JazzCash on KaiOS to further enrich our digital payments ecosystem,” said Sebastien Codeville, CEO of KaiOS Technologies. “Meeting the mobile money needs of the unbanked, first-time internet users is a vast opportunity. This partnership with JazzCash underscores our reinforced focus to be the ultimate solution to enable both digital and financial inclusion for the new internet adopters, delivering a simple yet secure mobile payment experience to positively improve their lives.”

Available starting today, JazzCash can be downloaded via the KaiStore to all new and existing Digit 4G devices in Pakistan, including Digit 4G Classic, Digit 4G Bold, Digit 4G Defender, Digit 4G Elite, Digit Power, Digit 4G Power and Digit 4G Music.

About KaiOS Technologies 
KaiOS Technologies powers an ecosystem of affordable digital products and services, and exists to empower people around the world through technology. Its flagship product, KaiOS, is the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones with more than 150 million devices shipped in over 150 countries. Kai’s mission is to open up new possibilities for individuals, organizations, and societies by bringing mobile connectivity to the billions of people without internet in emerging markets, as well as providing those in established markets with an alternative to smartphones. KaiOS is based on HTML5 and other open web technologies. Devices running on the platform require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Google Maps and many more.  

For more information about KaiOS, please visit www.kaiostech.com and www.twitter.com/kaiOSTech.

About JazzCash
JazzCash is Pakistan’s leading fintech with over 14 million monthly active customers, 80,000 retail outlets and of over 100,000 merchants nationwide. JazzCash offers a broad portfolio of branchless banking services for customers, including travel, ticketing, entertainment, money transfer, bill payments, debit card, insurance, savings, and payments for a wide variety of services. 

KaiOS Media Contact:
Eletta Leung
eletta.leung@kaiostech.com

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Presented with this prestigious award is a truly encouraging achievement of the company, as it signified recognition from one of the most internationally acclaimed design competitions. The KaiOS award-winning entry is a custom-built, innovative mobile interface design responding to the needs of the next billion to encourage mobile internet adoption. Half of the world’s population is not connected to the internet, and device affordability is a critical blocker. That’s where KaiOS comes in – powering affordable, easy-to-use devices with little memory while bringing the best of smartphones with valuable digital resources.

An affirmation for outstanding user experience design to onboard new internet users 

Just as exciting as winning the award is the affirmation of the team’s design approaches and capabilities to creating a user experience that has these new internet adopters in mind. Unlike other advanced or sophisticated OS designs for touch devices, the KaiOS UX team’s design vision is not solely focused on aesthetics. Ensuring the UI runs seamlessly and smoothly on a low-spec device and can be easily adapted by digitally illiterate users is a key priority while making no compromises on the good looks. The team has to go back to the basics – reimagine the barriers that new internet users may face and redesign what works for them.

The Red Dot Award recognizes good design, but it is a joint effort across all teams during the product development process to make a product functional, viable and nice-looking. It demonstrates the strong teamwork that makes the connectivity journey for the next billion easy – from discovery to actual interactions. 

Stage 1 – An operating system with intuitive UI 

The UX team takes a minimalist design approach that helps users navigate intuitively and interact with apps successfully, even on a non-touch display with 2.4 inches. This is particularly essential for users who have never own a mobile phone or are digitally illiterate. 

They are introduced to phone navigation using hardware keys in the first mobile experience, and then progressively taught how to use features such as voice input etc.

The use of physical keys is also optimized in apps such as Browser to make up for the hardware limitations.

Flexibility can be seen throughout the interface design, even in the apps menu, where three designs are provided. From the simplest single view to the more advanced list view or grid view, users can decide what works best for them.

Stage 2 – Onboarding tools and features 

The thoughtfully designed home screen is enhanced with a carousel design which provides direct access to apps that can be selected simply by pressing the keypad. This streamlined experience makes it easier for users to find the apps they use most frequently.  

Cards design on the home screen is another useful feature. It provides step-by-step guides to users on how to connect to the internet with contextual information that can effectively assist users in discovering what the internet has to offer. 

Get Connected UI is created as a friendly prompt to remind users when an internet connection is needed. It motivates them to engage with digital content regularly to help them develop the habit of making the best use of the internet.  

Stage 3 – Useful content in KaiStore 

Having an interface and onboarding tools that allow the user to browse, navigate, and search effectively and efficiently, now it’s about providing useful and relevant content. KaiStore, a store of apps with a wide variety of app titles, is now possible on feature phones. There are the world’s most popular apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Google Maps, etc., and also locally relevant content including some in-house apps such as KaiLife, with a directory of curated content in categories, from agriculture, digital skills, financial inclusion, to the most up-to-date health topics such as COVID-19. 

Not only focused on developing in-house apps, the UX team continues fine-tuning the KaiStore experience that ultimately improves usability. For example, making it easier to find good content with related apps in search, or creating loading animations to make them visually intrigued while waiting for an app to load. 

Publication of the award-winning products

There are many more to it. Be sure to head over to The Red Dot online exhibition and learn more about our winning project. 

Exhibition duration: 13 November 2021 – 9 January 2022

Want to meet the masterminds who build this intuitive ecosystem? Check out our design journey and explore with us the UX design for the next billion → Design at Kai Medium. 

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26 August 2021 – Singapore-based gaming startup Storms and KaiOS Technologies, maker of the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones, today announced their partnership to bring the instantly playable version of mobile hit games – “Fruit Ninja” and “Jetpack Joyride” – to over 150 million KaiOS-powered smart feature phones globally, offering iconic and exciting gaming experience for new internet users for all ages.

Smart feature phones running on KaiOS are a hybrid of feature phones and smartphones  that require limited memory and are optimised for the non-touch interface. While these phones have a similar look and feel compared to 2G basic phones, they offer smartphone functionalities such as access to the internet, essential apps, and multimedia resources.

Since the first KaiOS-enabled device was introduced to the market in 2017, KaiOS has gained widespread popularity. More than 150 million devices have been shipped worldwide, with their unique mix of capability and affordability that breaks new ground for mobile devices. KaiOS is now the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones that brings mobile connectivity to underserved communities in over 150 countries. 

Sebastien Codeville, CEO of KaiOS Technologies, said, “Storms and KaiOS share the same mission, which is to empower all people – especially the underserved markets – with quality content. We have seen how Storms’ gaming content is being appreciated by KaiOS phone users. Over the last eight months, Storms’ games have been downloaded more than one million times via the KaiStore, with markets such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Tanzania experiencing the highest number of installs.”

Codeville added, “Seeing how arcade games such as Shoot and Fish are topping the list when it comes to game installs, we are thrilled to welcome the well-loved Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride which fall under the same game category to our KaiOS ecosystem.”

Quality gaming experience on smart feature phones made possible
Fruit Ninja is the number one most downloaded iOS gaming app across 141 countries in the Casual category, while Jetpack Joyride was awarded for the Best Action/Arcade game, Best Overall Game on PocketGamer and Apple Design Award during WWDC 2012.

Storms owns the exclusive rights to convert “Fruit Ninja” and “Jetpack Joyride” into instant games’ format with original core gameplay and assets.

David Yin, CEO of Storms, commented, “While it’s exciting to see how the increasing range of devices and platforms on which games can be played is transforming the gaming industry, we need to be mindful that over three billion people are still left out of the digital revolution. KaiOS is an industry leader that has made the Internet more accessible through light, affordable technology, and we are delighted to partner with them in connecting over 150 million users with 40 game titles across different genres.”

The technology behind the games
Storms worked closely with Halfbrick Studios to specially design the two well-loved game titles for KaiOS devices, taking into account the classic keypad interface of smart feature phones and pared down the 3D graphics into 2D without compromising on user experience.

Designed to run on low-spec hardware, KaiOS is a light operating system leveraging open, web-based technologies such as HTML5 to create a rich, intuitive user experience and enable access to essential apps and other internet-based resources. In addition, the open architecture of KaiOS allows developers to easily create apps for KaiOS, reaching a previously untapped audience on smart feature phones. 

Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride are now available for download from the KaiStore here and here in more than 150 countries with active KaiOS users.

About Storms Social Instant Games
Storms is a Singapore-based gaming startup invested in by Singtel, AIS, SK Telecom and EDB New Ventures, with a focus on strategic initiatives ranging from social instant-play games to hyper-casual mobile games development and publishing. 

Storms Social Instant Games is Storms’ key business line that is committed to making quality games more accessible to two billion users in the emerging markets through our social instant gaming page (web), Storms Instant Games mobile app and the region’s leading superapps.

For more information, visit https://storms.com/instant-gaming/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

About KaiOS Technologies  
KaiOS Technologies powers an ecosystem of affordable digital products and services, and exists to empower people around the world through technology. Its flagship product, KaiOS, is the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones with more than 150 million devices shipped in over 150 countries. Kai’s mission is to open up new possibilities for individuals, organizations, and societies by bringing mobile connectivity to the billions of people without internet in emerging markets, as well as providing those in established markets with an alternative to smartphones. KaiOS is based on HTML5 and other open web technologies. Devices running on the platform require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and many more.  

For more information about KaiOS, please visit www.kaiostech.com and www.twitter.com/kaiOSTech.

Press Contact:
Storms Media Contact
Margareta Anastasia
+65 8436 4978
anastasia@storms.com

KaiOS Media Contact
Eletta Leung
eletta.leung@kaiostech.com

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Launching in the United States and Nigeria in the first phase, the SivooTV app will then be rolled out globally via KaiStore. It offers a wide range of entertainment programming from third-party content providers. SIVOO is responsible for video content licensing, video encoding and transcoding as well as video streaming. News, Sports, Music, Lifestyle, and Kids’ video programming are some of the core content verticals with selected titles offered in 15 high-demand languages, including English, French, Spanish, Hindi, and Arabic. This is particularly essential to KaiOS users with limited literacy. There will also be premier content packages available for users to choose from on SivooTV.

“SIVOO is focused on the same objective as we are: to bring quality content and information to a wider audience segment, including those impacted by the digital divide globally,” said Mathieu Boyer, Senior Director, Ecosystem & Partnerships of KaiOS Technologies. “Here in KaiOS, we see a rising trend in video app usage on our platform, with a growing demand for streaming content in general and a higher mobile internet penetration. Our partnership comes right in time to address our users’ needs and desires with access to live video streams – in a wide range of languages and on affordable devices.”

“KaiOS represents one of the fastest-growing mobile platforms in the world with presence in more than 150 countries,” said Dr. Burhan Fatah, SIVOO’s Chief Executive Officer. “SIVOO is thrilled to be working with KaiOS to serve under-represented populations in emerging markets, allowing all KaiOS users to benefit from the affordable entertainment at their fingertips via the SivooTV network. The programming will be available in multiple local and high demand languages, making SivooTV a more attractive venue for viewers and advertisers alike.”

About KaiOS Technologies
KaiOS Technologies powers an ecosystem of affordable digital products and services, and exists to empower people around the world through technology. Its flagship product, KaiOS, is the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones with more than 150 million devices shipped in over 150 countries. Kai’s mission is to open up new possibilities for individuals, organizations, and societies by bringing mobile connectivity to the billions of people without internet in emerging markets, as well as providing those in established markets with an alternative to smartphones. KaiOS is based on HTML5 and other open web technologies. Devices running on the platform require limited memory, while still offering a rich user experience through access to apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, and many more.  

For more information about KaiOS, please visit www.kaiostech.com 

About SIVOO
Founded in 2000, SIVOO, Inc. operates the first Internet TV network of multicultural on-demand entertainment. It serves telcos and mobile operators across the world with thousands of hours of quality on-demand content that is delivered through to PCs, televisions, portable devices and mobile phones. Only SIVOO gives consumers the choice of watching ad-supported on-demand multicultural entertainment for free or without ads for a nominal fee. SIVOO’s proprietary system currently serves all major mobile platform as well OTT type of services.

SIVOO is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

SIVOO is a trademark of SIVOO Holdings, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements based on current expectations of future events that involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks associated with the inherent uncertainty of the timing and success of high technology hardware and software research; new product development; the market pricing of media content and related products and services; changes in consumer demand for Internet access to media content, commercialization of new products and services; Internet or network outages or failures; breaches of internet, network, or system security; changes in network infrastructure, transmission methods and broadband technologies; adoption of new broadband Internet access technologies; economic conditions including interest and currency exchange rate fluctuations; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; the impact of competitive products or services; trade buying patterns; wars or terrorist acts; product liability and other types of lawsuits; the impact of legislation and regulatory compliance; and patent, licensing, and other intellectual property risks and uncertainties. Actual results may vary materially from the forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. When used in this release and documents referenced, the words “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “should,” “seeks,” or “anticipates,” and similar expressions as they relate to SIVOO or its management are intended to identify such forward- looking statements.

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First developed in February 2017 for Android devices, the Taleemabad Learning App features animated content, assessments and games that cover the Pakistani National Curriculum for Grades Nursery until Grade 6.  A huge problem in Pakistani children is the issue of learning poverty, where children who are enrolled in schools aren’t learning at their level. The Taleemabad Learning App through adaptive learning gauges the current performance level and then adjusts the student accordingly. 

All these exciting features are now available for KaiOS where they can be accessed by an even greater audience.

The goal

Girls in rural areas and children from the lowest-income households have been most likely to go without education in Pakistan. Large numbers of schools have been regularly closed because of either COVID or poor teaching facilities with high rates of teacher absenteeism. To tackle this range of barriers affecting children’s access to education, Taleemabad and KaiOS have partnered together to bring forth an affordable solution for the individuals in the marginalized under-resourced communities all over the nation.

The partnership has allowed students from underprivileged communities with no or limited access to education to engage in smaller chunks of learning and tackle the basics of numeracy and literacy before committing to more advanced learning. 

The technology

Taleembad’s pioneering work is to ensure that everyone – regardless of whether you’re near or far from any major city – can access learning opportunities when it matters most: from early childhood to fifth grade.

With this in mind, Taleemabad is leveraging emerging technologies to effectively adapt users’ preferences to increase their access to education and extend its reach beyond classroom walls.  It has empowered online learning all over Pakistan and provided students with the freedom to learn from the comforts of their homes. 

The app’s user-friendly experience has helped students in the transition and enter an unfamiliar online learning educational environment – new to many all over the country.

Why KaiOS?

In Pakistan, the smartphone penetration rate was forecasted at 51% for 2020, five times higher than in 2014 – an assumption based on the consistent decline in mobile device prices and increasing shipment numbers of smartphones across developing countries like Pakistan. Nevertheless, smartphone penetration is still low in many small cities and villages in the country. 

Designed to run on low-spec hardware, KaiOS is a light operating system leveraging open, web-based technologies such as HTML5 to create a rich, intuitive user experience and enable access to essential apps and other internet-based resources. These highly affordable KaiOS-enabled devices are being used by a considerable portion of the population in Pakistan. They have also become quite popular in many places with little to no smartphone access.

Available for download in the KaiStore, the Taleemabad app will provide access to meaningful education all over the nation. Orenda Project aims to be scaled up by developing it into a KaiOS-compatible program while offering more diverse educational opportunities for those living outside major cities.

Sharing a similar, purposeful mission to use technology to close the digital divide, Orenda and KaiOS continue to work closely together to bridge the educational gap by creating access to free, engaging, high-quality digital content to the masses of many deserving children.

Acknowledgment

GSMA Innovation Fund is currently funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and supported by GSMA and its members.

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The new version of Life app can reach millions of new users across Africa, Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and beyond

With Life, first-time internet users in emerging markets can learn about the world through tips, advice, and information on these core topics:

• Upskilling
• Kids Learning
• Women Empowerment
• Health
• Digital Literacy
• Agriculture
• COVID-19

Content for these topics comes from selected companies and non-profit organizations such as Audiopedia, Worldreader, Justdiggit, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Girl Effect, wikiHow, Mosabi, GSMA, and many more! Thanks to these partnerships, the original Life app has steadily been in the top 5 apps on the KaiStore. In this new version, we’re delighted to welcome even more partners to join us, providing engaging and easy-to-follow content in various local languages to accommodate different needs and literacy levels.

Feature Details

The second version of Life brings these four new features.

• Dynamic feed with daily new content: We’ve changed how we display information in the app to resemble KaiNews, our news app. This approach with daily updates keeps readers engaged and ensures all content is topical and relevant at all times.
• In-app web browsing and multimedia support: With in-app web browsing, Life users enjoy a seamless experience when viewing our partners’ content. The newly integrated video and audio player also ensures uninterrupted browsing.
• Search and save posts: Life v2 includes a search function based on keywords so that users can quickly find the topics they want to learn about. You can now also save content for later reference.
• Regionalized content: Partners can tailor their content per region to address local needs, cultural differences, and other localization requirements.

How to download the new version of Life?

It is available on KaiOS devices in 30 countries with:

• Both 256 and 512MB RAM
• The latest Life version 3.1.0

Partnerships

We believe in enabling communities around the world through mobile technology with trusted, life-changing resources. If you’d like to help us provide content to Life users, please fill out this form to suggest content, and we’ll be in touch shortly.

*Check the countries/regions with Life app supported: https://www.kaiostech.com/explore/life-app/

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