A telecom recycles smartphones to improve accessibility and reduce e-waste
CategoriesSustainable News

A telecom recycles smartphones to improve accessibility and reduce e-waste

Spotted: As just about everyone is aware, owning a smartphone is now a necessity. Smartphones are vital not only for communication, but for conducting business, farming, shopping, and banking. Yet new smartphones can be expensive, pushing them out of reach for many. According to some reports, the global average cost of a smartphone is around 26 per cent of the average monthly income, and in some regions, the average person would have to spend over half of their monthly income to buy a smartphone.

South African telecomms company Vodacom is hoping to make smartphones accessible to everyone with their ‘Good as New’ programme. Good as New offers used Apple iphones for sale at a fraction of the cost of a new model. The phones come complete with a standard 12-month warranty, and the devices are approved for resale. The programme involves the refurbishment and recycling of 200,000 phones by 2025, reducing e-waste as well as cost.

Vodacom also plans to expand the number and type of phones it revamps and resells, bringing in additional pre-owned products at lower price points. The company points out that the COVID-19 pandemic forced individuals to find creative ways to continue working and learning, making affordable access to smartphones even more vital. Digital access is also a particularly important issue in South Africa, which has some of the least affordable mobile phone prices in the world.

Smartphones are a lifeline for many – especially those in regions that are poorly served by land-based communications. Springwise has seen some exciting innovations in the use of mobile technology, including an app that lets micro-merchants turn their phone into a point-of-sale system, and a platform that connects smallholder farmers with the marketplace, helping them earn more. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Website: vodacom.co.za

Contact: vodacom.co.za/ContactUs

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A platform makes it easy to turn smartphones into multimedia museum guides
CategoriesSustainable News

A platform makes it easy to turn smartphones into multimedia museum guides

Spotted: Almost anyone who has been to a museum will be familiar with audio or multimedia guides – devices that provide still images, video clips, sound effects, music, and spoken commentary to accompany an exhibition. The first of these devices was developed in 1952 at the Stedlijik Museum in Amsterdam, and, over time, they have developed into the familiar iPod-like device still in use today. These bespoke devices can be cumbersome for users and expensive for smaller exhibitions. Now, startup Shoutr Labs has developed a system that is both easy to use and easy to develop.

Shoutr’s platform not only turns visitor’s smartphones into multimedia guides – it also makes it easy for museums and other attractions to develop those guides without programming expertise. It includes a content management system (CMS) with a drag and drop app builder, multilingual content, and the ability to easily manage content. Visitors can access the system on their smartphones without downloading an app.

The system is used together with the shoutr.Boxx, which saves all content in a local storage location. By allowing users to retrieve the data on the attractions’ local wireless network, the shoutr.Boxx removes the need for visitors to use mobile data (a potential issue for holidaymakers with high roaming charges or a poor connection). Shoutr also makes it possible for attractions to incorporate advanced features into their presentation, such as Augmented Reality.

Springwise has spotted several innovations that aim to make the arts more broadly accessible. These include a foundation using digital technology and a floating museum to bring contemporary art to the masses, and an AR art exhibition in the London skyline.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Website: shoutrlabs.com

Contact: shoutrlabs.com/en/contact

Reference