article by Hadassah Egdebi via venturesafrica.com
The invention of a secondary school student has gotten Namibia’s social media abuzz for the right reasons. Simon Petrus has created a mobile phone that works with radio frequencies, no sim card nor airtime credit required. Calls can be made to anyone, anywhere, without interruptions, as long as they are done in an area with radio frequency.
The invention, which took two years for him to complete, was put together using scraps of old television and mobile phones, and required over $2,000 funding from his unemployed parents who sacrificed a lot to ensure their son’s project was successful.
Other than the sim-less phone, Petrus’ invention is a whole unit comprising of a working radio, television, a light bulb, a fan, and a socket. According to reports, the phone is not Petrus’ first invention, just his latest.
Last year, the young man won first place at a competition for young innovators in Namibia for creating a machine that doubles as a seed drier and a cooler. Going by the looks of things, this young man is set to clinch another gold medal in the forthcoming competition, having already won first place at the regional level for his “free-to-call” phone last Friday. “When he won last year, some judges were of the opinion that there was an engineer at home who was helping him. But the only help he has is from us the teachers here at school. He came up with his own project,” Taimi Vatileni, Petrus’s science teacher told New Era.
To read more, go to: A teenager from Namibia invents a “sim-less” and “airtime-free” phone – Ventures Africa
Simon Petrus, a Teen from Namibia, Invents "Sim-less" and "Free-to-Call" Phone
Published in Awards/Honors, Commemorations, Community, International, News, Technology and Teens
[…] nublaxity — August 10, 2016 […]
Excellent work! There are great people in every country in this world and if the powers that oppressive and control would get off everyone’s back, people everywhere would thrive and be free to produce enough of everything for themselves.
I’d like to send money to Petrus(US Currency) to help finance his projects, how can this be arranged?
This is probably the Nicholas Tesla of Africa! He needs to be protected apart from being encouraged. Though a beginner, it’s high time his inventions are patented; the World is full of cases of intellectual pilferage.
Especially because his invention may rob the establishments of $s, he may be perceived as a threat! Being white did not save Tesla from being blindly cheated, but he ended up very poor as well; the worst of the humiliation was that he didn’t get credit for many of his Inventions which were ahead of his time and we are using them till date.
Personally, I will appreciate if you can link me up with him or his mentor (/s) if you have such information. The rise of every Youth should be considered our collective responsibility!