his week, Google released the Google Go app in South Africa, with upcoming launches in other African countries. The modified search app circumvents the continent’s slow internet connections. Charles Murito, Google’s country head for Kenya, which also hosts the company’s sub-Saharan African headquarters, states that the launch of Google Go was driven by the large number of smartphone users on the continent with small phone memories, and unreliable and expensive data connections. The app aims to reduce the amount of time needed to produce search results by 40 percent. Downloading the Google Go app is relatively faster than the full Google app, and this new version is designed to take up less space on the phone: It is only 5 MB in size. Google is presently working with local telecommunication companies—such as MTN and Vodacom—to ensure that the app can work on internet connections that are as basic as 2G networks. Moreover, the app will allow users to access previous search results when offline. In this version of the search app, the voice feature, in which users to search using only a voice command, will allow users to switch between languages, including Swahili. The app will be available in 26 African countries, and Google plans on expanding it to other emerging markets, notably India, Brazil, and Indonesia.
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