Saheed
Adepoju, 28, is co-founder and chief visionary of the Encipher Group, a Nigerian-based technology
company that has produced the country’s first tablet computer, ‘Inye’. The word
Inye is derived from Nigeria’s Igala language and means ‘Number 1’. Here
is an interview
What
inspired your passion for personal computers?
My
love affair started back when I was a mere 13 year-old in high school. I was
fascinated by computer games. During my school days I met Anibe Agamah, who
would later on become my co-founder at Encipher. We shared floppy disk drives
with various games, and after our high school leaving exams we both set out to
learn computer programming. We learnt how to code in C-language and Assembl.
Anibe had a more artistic inclination and his web skills picked up and mapped
out a year later. He also went on to study computer science and acquired an Msc
in technology management while I ventured into software engineering.
What’s
the story behind Encipher Group, and what was the inspiration for the INYE tablet
computer?
Encipher
was set up originally in the UK as a company which combined both strengths of
the founders: Web application development and software development. This was
back in June 2008. We actually set up shop when we got our first web application
development job. As time went on, we decided to expand into new territories,
hence our decision to branch out to making personal computers. The real
inspiration for Encipher INYE is the Apple iPad. With the nature of the
operating system the iPad had and its portability, we felt we had an entry
point within the Nigerian market with a tablet. I had been having a look at the
Android OS [operating system] since its launch in 2008 and I felt that a tablet
PC running on Android OS with its open nature provided us an opportunity to get
Nigerian developers building applications for it and also provided an
alternative product for indigenous consumers.
Tell
us about your flagship product-the Inye Tablet Computer.
The
Inye tablet comes in 2 specs: INYE-1 was unveiled April 2010 and is a 7-inch
resistive screen tablet. It runs android 2.1 and allows a user to connect to
the internet using its inbuilt WIFI card and allows a user to also use an
external 3G modem from GSM networks. It offers about 3hrs of battery life and
allows HDMI output to HDMI capable devices (e.g. TV). It also allows a user to
plug USB devices such as external flash drives and keyboards.
INYE-2,
which was unveiled in May 2011, is an 8-inch capacitive screen tablet. It runs
Android 2.2 and allows a user to connect to the internet using its inbuilt
Wi-Fi card as well as using inbuilt SIM [card]. It offers about 8 hours of
battery life. It also offers connection to other USB devices such as external
flash drives, keyboard and mouse.
What’s
your comparative advantage? Are there any special features Encipher tablets
have that the iPad, Playbook or other tablets do not possess?
The
comparative advantage to the iPad and Playbook is the nature of [operating
system] our devices run. The Android OS is seen to be the fastest growing
platform currently within the mobile space. The open nature of the OS allows
third party developers to build relevant applications for vertical markets
which are still relatively untapped at the moment.
How
much do your tablets cost, and how many tablets have you sold so far?
Our
tablets cost upward of $200 and we have sold close to 100 units of INYE-1.
INYE-2 is yet to go into full production. Once we can clinch a funding deal, we
will commence sales.
What
are your future plans for the Encipher Group?
We
are currently building applications for vertical markets as we believe strongly
that the next scramble would be in this space for tablets. We are also working
on Encipher TV, which is a setup box to allow broadcast of locally inclined
programs over the internet.
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