Samsung is hard at work these days in Africa, where the South Korean giant is holding a conference about technological innovation on the continent, of course focusing on what they can bring up to the table. The event in Kenya comprised many presentations of tablets, computers and other electronics, most of them already introduced by Samsung in other major events, earlier this year.
We’re talking about Android based smart phones and tablets, of course, namely those from the Galaxy line, but also the ultra thin, 13.3 inch Series 9 laptop. But Samsung also tried to go local with their offerings and introduced the concept for a solar energy powered netbook that would address the growing need for cheap and portable technology in developing countries, such as Kenya and continents such as Africa.
The NC 215 S, as it’s called (with S certainly coming from “solar”), will probably be a 10 inch netbook with a very basic configuration, something in the likes of Atom N450 processors and low res screens. The computer would be aimed at users in those regions of Africa where electrical energy is hard to find or is completely unavailable and the solar chargeable unit would give them some reasonable autonomy. Also, my guess is that the computers will be offered through some sort of scheme, with governments and foreign organizations subsidizing the distribution of this type of device.
Samsung is in the middle of a massive event in Kenya
This project is part of a larger Samsung move, as the company wants to have the same success in Africa as it had and has in China. Samsung, through the words of Kwang Kee Park, the boss of the African branch, said that they want to be the lead electronics provider for the continent, aiming a 63% growth in 2011.
Samsung has several plants in Africa and intends to build a few more, as well as offering menthorship and guidance for future African leaders through some educational programs such as Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy. During the same event, Samsung demonstrated their new line of smart HD TVs, that can browse the web and let users search for their favorite types of content.
For now, this is all we have about the solar powered NC 215 S, but we’ll let you know more as we find out more. Hopefully we’ll see this breakthrough device also in other territories, as this type of power management would unleash even more autonomy for users worldwide.
