First smart phone from KZN

TWO Pietermaritzburg entrepreneurs are set to take the telecommunications industry by storm as they gear up for the launch of their first innovative smartphone this month.

Lifa Bekwa from Imbali and Lwazi Ndlela from Chasevalley own Flip Page Communications, a company behind the design and development of the first smartphone from KwaZulu-Natal.

Their market entry device called Emerge, was manufactured in China and is expected to be available to consumers in April.

Ndlela said they met in 2012 and had both created music streaming services before they met, and that they realised they could do more together than as opponents, after which teamed up to start the company.

Bekwa said the company develops integrated hardware and software services, provides a platform for seamless access to information including email, voice and internet-based applications and browsing.

Ndlela said building their own product meant being able to accommodate all the features other smart phones do not have, and that their product was created with a South African consumer in mind.