One of the apps I’m most excited about that we’re working on at Appfrica Labs is a mobile midlet we’re calling OhmSMS. The project targets homeowners, small business owners and companies that need to be aware of when their power is out and when it’s on. In Kampala, a city that was build for a fourth the number of people that are here for the day, your power being out is really bummer. Either you work without power, or more likely, you go into town to do something else. But since you don’t know when your power is back on, you have to either call around to people in your area to see if it’s back, or if you have to sped an hour or two in traffic just for the off-chance that the power might be back when you get there. I can’t relate the frustration you feel here when it isn’t. That’s a huge cost as I explained in “How to Save Money as an African Startup“.
Our solution is OhmSMS, developed by Appfrica Labs Mobile Apps developer Dennis Senyonjo. Dennis, a 22 year old senior computer science student at Makerere University. Dennis built the app using Java and Symbian so as to offer the app to virtually any mobile user. It works by logging when a phone’s charge is interrupted. So you purchase a cheap phone, give it a sim with a few shillings credit and then plug it into an outlet at your home or office. It works on various level of phones from twenty dollar disposables to $400 dollar smart phones. But the real value in this service is purchasing a cheap phone just to leave charging, (I can’t imagine anyone buying a Nokia N95, solely to run this app!) The actual software he plans to open source, but he’ll sell handsets with the software pre-installed locally.
What I like about what Dennis is doing is that it’s got a practical use that everyone can appreciate. Beyond that, he’s a self starter. The local mobile operators are resistant to working with an unknown entrepreneur and even young companies like Appfrica Labs, so he’s simply gone around them and formed a unique business plan.
One of the critical aspects of getting around the hurdles Dennis faced is his communication with Nathan Eagle from TxtEagle and our good friend Glen Mehn. Nathan has really been supportive of our development and has offered Dennis some technical advice while Glen Mehn has been offering tips on Java use and best-practices. When it came to figuring out how to get an operators licenses for authenticating midlet access to lower level functions like measuring energy use and automating smses, our research hit a wall.
If anyone can help with this particular area, acquiring a valid Operator Manufacturer Domain Certificate to sign our midlet, we could use the support!
Dennis Senyonjo, Mobile Applications Developer, Appfrica Labs
Discolsure: OhmSMS is a project that Appfrica Labs is funding as part of our incubator. Appfrica Labs owns an equity stake in the startups launched out of it’s incubator.
About the author: Jonathan Gosier is a software developer, writer and social entrepreneur. He currently lives in Kampala, Uganda where he incubates and invests in East African entrepreneurs as the CEO of Appfrica Labs. He's also a TED Fellow.
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Deploying OhmSMS in Uganda
One of the apps I’m most excited about that we’re working on at Appfrica Labs is a mobile midlet we’re calling OhmSMS. The project targets homeowners, small business owners and companies that need to be aware of when their power is out and when it’s on. In Kampala, a city that was build for a fourth the number of people that are here for the day, your power being out is really bummer. Either you work without power, or more likely, you go into town to do something else. But since you don’t know when your power is back on, you have to either call around to people in your area to see if it’s back, or if you have to sped an hour or two in traffic just for the off-chance that the power might be back when you get there. I can’t relate the frustration you feel here when it isn’t. That’s a huge cost as I explained in “How to Save Money as an African Startup“.
Our solution is OhmSMS, developed by Appfrica Labs Mobile Apps developer Dennis Senyonjo. Dennis, a 22 year old senior computer science student at Makerere University. Dennis built the app using Java and Symbian so as to offer the app to virtually any mobile user. It works by logging when a phone’s charge is interrupted. So you purchase a cheap phone, give it a sim with a few shillings credit and then plug it into an outlet at your home or office. It works on various level of phones from twenty dollar disposables to $400 dollar smart phones. But the real value in this service is purchasing a cheap phone just to leave charging, (I can’t imagine anyone buying a Nokia N95, solely to run this app!) The actual software he plans to open source, but he’ll sell handsets with the software pre-installed locally.
What I like about what Dennis is doing is that it’s got a practical use that everyone can appreciate. Beyond that, he’s a self starter. The local mobile operators are resistant to working with an unknown entrepreneur and even young companies like Appfrica Labs, so he’s simply gone around them and formed a unique business plan.
One of the critical aspects of getting around the hurdles Dennis faced is his communication with Nathan Eagle from TxtEagle and our good friend Glen Mehn. Nathan has really been supportive of our development and has offered Dennis some technical advice while Glen Mehn has been offering tips on Java use and best-practices. When it came to figuring out how to get an operators licenses for authenticating midlet access to lower level functions like measuring energy use and automating smses, our research hit a wall.
If anyone can help with this particular area, acquiring a valid Operator Manufacturer Domain Certificate to sign our midlet, we could use the support!
Dennis Senyonjo, Mobile Applications Developer, Appfrica Labs
Discolsure: OhmSMS is a project that Appfrica Labs is funding as part of our incubator. Appfrica Labs owns an equity stake in the startups launched out of it’s incubator.