World’s leading technology giant Google Inc, holds the second edition of ” Google For Nigeria ” event in Lagos yesterday. The event had the presence of Nigeria’s Vice-President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who deliver the keynote address where he highlighted on the opportunities that abound.
“Nigeria will be the 3rd most populous nation by 2050, and with this number, there are a lot of crisis and technology is the tool we have to the rescue. It will also be impossible to use classrooms alone to teach this number, so technology is also invaluable in this and other cases,” he said.
In an interesting bid for the technology giant Google, to made Nigeria an accessible internet friendly nation, they goes as far as introducing new product called Google Station for Nigeria: a program to provide high quality, high-speed Wi-Fi hotspots in partnership with 21st Century, one of the largest fibre network providers in Nigeria.
“Google Station will be rolling out in 200 locations in five cities across Nigeria by the end of 2019, bringing Wi-Fi to millions of people,” says Google Nigeria Country Director, Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor.
According to Anjali Joshi, VP Product Management at Google, the program will fix connectivity challenges in the country. Google Station for Nigeria was launched in partnership with 21st Century Technologies; a Nigerian fibre network provider.
Anjali Joshi. VP, Product Management @ Google talks about our access journey in Nigeria. We are building our apps to make sure users with limited internet access can use them and get the same experience without the data stress. #GoogleforNigeria pic.twitter.com/WS7HZLntmo
— Google in Africa (@googleafrica) July 26, 2018
According to further information which was disclosed during the event yesterday, indicate that the Google Station is a free Wi-Fi hotspots are currently available at the Landmark Centre, The Palms Mall, Ikeja Mall, MMA2 Domestic Airport Terminal, all in Lagos State. Anjali said Google Station for Nigeria is expected to reach 200 locations across 5 cities by the end of 2019.
The Africa’s most popular nation Nigeria, becomes fifth country in the world after India, Indonesia, Thailand and Mexico to have access to the Google Station. The company’s country-manager further says that the rollout sites will include markets, transport hubs, shopping malls, universities, and more.
Additionally, Google announced the update of several products from its “Go” initiative, which were launched in the past year. The Go product suite aims to give people with low-bandwidth connections and low-RAM devices the best possible Google experience. These new features include:
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Google Go: will soon read web pages out loud and highlight each word so users can follow along.
- StreetView: Streetview’s Discover Nigeria gallery has been expanded to include the National Museum in Lagos, Olumo Rock in Abeokuta, Millenium Park in Abuja, and Lekki Conservation Centre. There were also updates to several products from the “Go” initiative launched last year and aimed at users with low-bandwidth and low-RAM devices.
YouTube Go: users will be able to browse downloaded YouTube Go videos, saved as .yt files, right from the gallery on their phones.
https://twitter.com/googleafrica/status/1022424024247357440
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Google Maps Go: will now provide users with turn-by-turn directions, whether they’re travelling by car, by bus or on foot.
https://twitter.com/googleafrica/status/1022417266812563456
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Android Go: Launched in Nigeria and 29 other African countries earlier this year, the Go OS gives people coming online for the first time a powerful and reliable smartphone experience. Across Africa, Transsion, Nokia, Huawei, and Mobicel have launched various devices, starting at just over 17,000 Naira.
https://twitter.com/googleafrica/status/1022427770683617280