CNBC host, Honor CEO Fred Zhou, Google Android partnerships Vinod Nenwani and Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes. Picture: The Citizen
The smartphone is no longer just a phone, as the demand grows for devices to become more intuitive and smarter.
This formed part of a fireside discussion hosted by Honor at the Africa Tech Festival at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) in the mother city on Tuesday which was also broadcast live on CNBC Africa.
The premier event for tech professionals brought together over 15,000 attendees, 400 speakers and 300 exhibitors.
While almost everyone carries a smartphone in their pockets, Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes said the demand for tech-laden feature phones is growing.
“A phone is any shape and size these days whether it’s a tablet, or phablet or whatever the words are. But, they just keep on evolving.
“The sheer thought of phones of foldable glass sometime back would be just unheard of, I mean just unheard of.
“So, we are literally in an era where it’s almost sci-fi. If you can watch something in a movie, we can bring it to life and the possibilities exist,” Mendes said.
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With more smartphones carrying artificial intelligence (AI) technology, companies are including more sophisticated models to make devices more personal.
Honor CEO Fred Zhou said this is becoming more apparent with the latest devices being unveiled.
“Right now, with AI, it can learn from your behaviours and your daily life and make you much more responsive.
“Before, AI was only found in flagship phones. Right now, AI functions can be found in mid-range phones and even entry-level phones,” Zhou said.
Head of Android Partnerships for North and South Africa at Google Vinod Nenwani said tech companies are just unearthing the potential of smartphones and AI.
He noted how AI is being used for flood forecasting, the eradication of cancer, supporting maternal health, and farming efficiencies exhibited in Ghana recently which The Citizen attended.
“This is the AI era. It’s a generation of a journey. Eventually, on the device, this is just going to supercharge every single feature or aspect which we are now used to seeing.
“We have already seen capabilities like a real tone or imaging depicting the correct skin tone for people of colour. I think we are just unearthing the surface.
“From our end-user perspective, you also have gen AI which is our most capable model and that is something we looking to democratise,” Nenwani said.
The panellists agreed that the young generation lives on their devices and people are ignorant of what the youngsters do on their smartphones and the information that they are sharing.
They said parents, tech companies and mobile operators have a role to play to ensure the right level of education is shared with youngsters when a smartphone is bought for them.
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