Unveiled this week at the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh, the BRCK device is the brainchild of the Kenyan tech firm Ushahidi. Combining a rugged design with a range of connectivity options, switching between wi-fi, 3G and fixed broadband, BRCK came about as a result of a strong desire to move away from hardware that was never designed to cope with the specific issues faced in Africa.
The BRCK works like a mobile phone, switching between wi-fi and 3G when a fixed line network is down. Users can also plug in a SIM card to offer a network anywhere in reach of a mobile tower. Boasting an eight-hour battery life it also has cloud-based software which means it can be accessed from anywhere to see how wi-fi and electricity are performing or to manage alerts and applications. For remote villages where even a mobile signal is hard to find, there is also an antenna to boost signal strength.
Ushahidi is hoping to set up a Kenyan-based Makerspace to allow more hardware to be developed specifically for the African market. The BRCK will go on sale in November with a price tag of $199 (£130).
