South African rapper Cassper Nyovest has collaborated with AG Mobile to launch a new mobile phone called the AG#Hashtag. The phone was named after Cassper’s love for social media. Here’s what you need to know about the AG#Hashtag –
Geek stuff
AG Mobile is a provider of cost effective mobile cellphone devices on the African continent. They’ve designed the AG#Hashtag as a 4G LTE mobile device, which means users will be able to browse the internet at greater speeds. The phone is fitted with a 13MP back camera and 5MP front camera for clearer picture quality and a 5.5” Corning Gorilla 3 glass screen, so you know it’s built to last. Inside, it’s run by a 1.5GHz octa-core processor which will allow apps run faster.
Exclusives
The phone comes with some exclusive Cassper Nyovest content including wallpapers and the rapper’s own mobile app pre-installed. The phone is available in “funky red” which is said to be the rapper’s best colors. According to Cassper –
To put it simply, the #Hashtag is dope! It was designed for someone who loves music, being in the mix, and socialising with their crew. Basically it has everything I would want in a phone…
How much is it?
The device will cost R229 monthly (over 24 months) on a local MTN MyChoice contract and retails at R3, 499 on pre-paid lines. That’s around ?3,300 per month for those on the contract and about ?50,000 for pre-paid customers.
Will it be available in Nigeria?
MTN Nigeria has began to play in the 4G LTE space of late, while AG Mobile launched in Lagos early in 2016 but neither company has said anything about the AG#Hashtag landing in Nigeria just yet. At either rate, Cassper’s brand is one that Nigerians are just getting used to, it might be too early for companies to leverage his popularity in the Nigerian marketplace. That said, if you’re a big fan of the “Doc Shebeleza” rapper and you do go on to buy the AG#Hashtag the next time you’re in South Africa, please bear in mind that it could be “network locked”.
Is he the first African artiste to have their own mobile phone?
AG Mobile say this is the first time they’ll be co-developing a phone with an artiste but Cassper isn’t the first African artiste to co-develop a phone with a mobile phone company. D’banj, for one, launched a feature phone in 2010 called Koko mobile but the phone had limited distribution. I remember seeing one for sale at Silverbird, Lagos and I can’t remember the exact amount but I doubt it was for more than ?15,000. I never saw another Koko mobile phone in stores or in people’s hands after that. Hopefully AG Mobile has studied the Koko mobile model to find out where that phone failed and where it succeeded.
