Sherif Abdala and Tumi Tsukudu are the two young entrepreneurs behind Live Android TV, a device that gives you access to the content on the XBox Media Centre. They met at Africa 2.0 and came together to work on Live Android TV.
Sherif Abdala is actually not a South African:”I’m Egyptian and I arrived in South Africa 6 years ago, It’s not easy to find Arabic streams and clouds so I started doing some research.” Out of this research came the germ of the idea for Live AndroidTv which started as a project in November 2009.
So how do you get Live AndroidTv?:”All you need is to download the app which is available in Android 4.2 or Windows 8 and buy a device from us from between R1200-3,599 and you can start streaming content from the XBox Media Centre. And you’ll need a 1 mbps ADSL uncapped line. It’s plug and play.” The more expensive of the devices quoted here can stream full HD and supports a 3D engine.
XBox Media center is a free and open source platform which has many plug-ins and add-ons that provide access to a host of free and subscription based streaming services. They are provided and hosted by third party service provider and Live AdroidTv allows you to access some of them. You can also browse the web and play video games.
Moving out from the content on the XBox Media Centre, they are beginning to tackle the task of getting more local content:”We have some local South African content and we’re in the process of getting more. We want to do deals with people like Buni TV.”
So what’s the business model?:”It’s device driven. We’re trying to sell these as cheaply as possible to penetrate the market before anyone else does. Then we’ll switch over to an advertising funded model.”
It’s currently selling the devices on South African classifieds site Gumtree and when I spoke to them in May they had sold 500 of the devices:”We’re going to be going to local retailers and distributors, like the dish and network installers. Once we’ve got a network like this, we’ll approach the larger retailers. We also want to partner with local ISPS and local radio stations.”
Tumi Tsukudu has a background in the film industry and has experience of distributing films:”It’s an opportunity to get money back to the producers.”
There are a number of these device-driven models beginning to appear on the continent and one of them will succeed. Kahenya Kamunyu’s Able Wireless (using a Raspberry Pi) in Kenya has been delayed by licensing issues but is expected to launch in August.
SOURCE: http://smartmonkeytv.com
https://theblacklist.net/
Replies
This is excellent! I'm proud of this company for building something. It's a spirit that other Entrepreneurs should embrace. Africa holds a lot of promise for Black African Americans with the courage to travel back to Africa to collaborate with African Entreperneurs. It's the wave of the future.
Charles E. Campbell, Fouder & CEO
Allen Hydro Energy Corproation (AHEC)
http://www.ahecEnergy.com