Codeville said his company now has almost 200 employees, with offices set up around the world. KaiOS Technologies originally started as a project at TCL Corporation, but founder and Chief Executive Officer Sebastien Codeville told Digital Trends he pitched the idea of separating it as a new company so KaiOS could work with different manufacturers. KaiOS is present in the U.S., and its software is available on feature phones sold on Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Access to email, calendar, contacts, as well as apps like Facebook and Google Maps, give you all the essentials you might want on a phone to use, say, on your next hiking trip. The Nokia 8110 4G, for example, can act as a 4G hotspot for your smartphone, or as a backup phone thanks to its 17-day battery life. Since KaiOS doesn’t need to use much data, it’s likely a cheaper option than going for an Android Go smartphone it also doesn’t require as much of a learning curve for someone who has never used a smartphone before.īut the software doesn’t just work well for emerging markets - it also works for people with smartphones. 4G feature phones are becoming essential in countries where data is expensive, and where there’s a wide gap in digital literacy. As mobile operators look for ways to replace revenue earned from voice and text, they are increasingly looking at a data and services business model. Google Assistant lets you tap a button to ask it a question, such as a query about the weather, but we weren’t able to do further testing due to congested cell phone coverage at Mobile World Congress.Īll of this is possible because new feature phones are launching with support for 4G networks, largely because carriers are dropping 2G and 3G to make way for 4G LTE expansion as well as 5G. We tested Google Maps on the Nokia 8110 4G, and while we had to take a few minutes to get used to a non-touch screen phone, we were able to look around on the map and find nearby places - just like on a smartphone. JioPhone 4G phone owners, for example, already have access to JioTV’s video-streaming service - meaning they can watch shows and movies on their feature phones. What’s even more impressive is how the company is bringing modern smartphone apps and experiences to these affordable devices, thanks to entry-level processors in feature phones from chipmakers like Qualcomm.Ī partnership with Google, Facebook, and Twitter also means people who use feature phones running KaiOS will soon have access to an app store, as well as web apps including Google Maps, Google Assistant, Facebook, Twitter, and more.

KaiOS Technologies now has its software on phones from Doro, Reliance Jio, HMD, Alcatel, and soon, Bullitt (with a Cat phone) and Micromax.

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