MediaTek, KaiOS collaborate to deliver affordable 3G/4G smart feature phones

MediaTek Inc and KaiOS Technologies, has announced their collaboration to integrate a series of the chipset to power 3G and 4G devices.

As part of this cooperation, the KaiOS mobile operating system will now run on the 3G MT6572 platform, and MT6731, a newly announced platform that can support dual-4G SIM cards in mobile devices.

The first KaiOS-powered MT6572 and MT6731 3G/4G smart feature phones are expected to be launched in Q2 2019.

"With KaiOS' support for MediaTek entry-segment 3G/4G chipsets, we can deliver more affordable and reliable devices, longer battery life and improve the overall user experience when compared with the old-school 2G/3G feature phones," said TL Lee, General Manager of MediaTek's wireless business unit.

"KaiOS is putting digital services in the hands of populations that need them the most which align with MediaTek's mission to make great technology accessible to everyone," Lee added.

KaiOS claims to have shipped more than 80 million devices in over 100 countries. The operating system is based on the HTML5 platform and other open web technologies. It supports 3G and 4G/LTE, as well as Wi-Fi, GPS, and NFC.

By adding KaiOS support to MediaTek chipsets, more feature phones will be equipped with 3G and 4G capabilities, while requiring very little memory, starting at 512MB of RAM and as low as 256MB on certain lite devices.

MediaTek's newest MT6731 platform is optimized to provide a great smart-feature phone experience by bringing modern technologies like quad-core 64-bit processing and dual 4G SIM technology to the entry-segment mobile phone market. It offers a highly cost-optimized platform for device makers in both carrier and open markets.

"Because of our work with MediaTek, we'll be able to connect more people in important markets where MediaTek has a strong presence, such as India, Southeastern Asia, and Africa," said KaiOS Technologies CEO Sebastien Codeville.

"Through collaborative efforts like this, we can finally offer a broad range of affordable devices capable of supporting advanced applications and functionality in these markets," Codeville said further.