An Taxi-Hailing Apps Launches In Johannesburg

歌曲 An Taxi-Hailing Apps Launches In Johannesburg
歌手 英语听力
专辑 VOA慢速英语:科技报道

歌词

[00:00.10] From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.23] this is the Technology Report.
[00:05.96] Getting a taxi ride in New York city
[00:09.22] is as easy as standing along a street
[00:12.05] and raising your hand high in the air.
[00:15.15] In Johannesburg,
[00:17.56] getting a taxi ride just got even easier,
[00:20.78] thanks to a new software application.
[00:23.99] SnappCab lets users call a taxi
[00:28.66] simple by touching the screen of their smartphone.
[00:32.18] Anton van Metzinger is the managing director of SnappCab.
[00:37.43] He and two partners launched their smartphone app in September.
[00:43.30] He explains how it works.
[00:46.16] "You open the app.
[00:47.57] And you literally with two clicks of a button
[00:50.18] you can order a cab.
[00:51.14] Using your GPS, you click the button,
[00:53.49] you electronically hail the cab,
[00:55.07] it connects you to the closest cabs in the area.
[00:57.54] So I get the cab driver's name,
[00:59.94] I get the cab driver's company ID he or she works for,
[01:03.52] their vehicle registration details and the vehicle description.
[01:06.89] So I know, as the passenger
[01:08.24] I know exactly which cab is coming to me
[01:10.26] and I can now track it on my smartphone," said van Metzinger.
[01:12.51] When the vehicle arrives,
[01:14.09] the app sends a message to the passenger.
[01:17.46] When the ride is done,
[01:19.34] He or she can either pay the driver directly,
[01:22.76] or pay using the smartphone.
[01:25.79] "We've been in the market only for about a month now
[01:28.41] and we already see that the credit card payment option is very popular,
[01:32.89] in fact more popular than we expected initially...
[01:35.46] People are getting used to the idea of online shopping,
[01:39.08] they're getting used to the idea of mobile.
[01:40.68] We predict that a year down the line,
[01:43.71] the majority of our transactions will be by credit card," said van Metzinger.
[01:47.53] But critics say the move to financial transaction
[01:50.79] through mobile apps has been slow.
[01:53.36] Arthur Goldstuck is managing director of World Wide Worx,
[01:58.43] he also marks as a writer who specializes in South African technology.
[02:04.67] He says many South Africans are not get ready
[02:09.75] to make online purchases by telephone.
[02:12.91] He says they lack trust in the technology.
[02:17.58] "There's a phenomenon in this country and probably across Africa,
[02:20.90] that we call the digital participation curve.
[02:23.63] And it shows that the average Internet user
[02:26.78] needs to have been online for five years or more
[02:28.99] before they're ready to start transacting online," said Goldstuck.
[02:33.06] But there have been success stories.
[02:36.38] An app called Powertime was launched in 2009,
[02:41.11] it sells pre-paid, or pay-as-you-go electricity.
[02:46.45] Before Powertime, power users would have to
[02:50.46] go to a fueling station or store to buy pre-paid electricity.
[02:56.14] "What I find that is working in South Africa,
[02:58.61] is if you build an app that is relevant to the country
[03:03.63] because it solves a local problem.
[03:05.61] Kind of a local app for a local problem.
[03:07.87] And I think that was part of the success of Powertime.
[03:10.72] It was a very, very significant issue in South Africa
[03:14.24] to buy pre-paid electricity,"said Lacour.
[03:16.10] With the group of dependable customers,
[03:18.71] Powertime has now moved into paying for other services,
[03:22.64] like water bills and airtime for mobile phones.
[03:26.91] There are an estimated 14.7 million smartphones registered
[03:33.69] with South African telecom networks.
[03:35.70] That number is sure to grow
[03:38.72] as local smartphone prices drop below $100
[03:43.30] and as South African technology companies
[03:47.27] began launching smartphones of their own.
[03:50.58] And that is the Technology Report from VOA Special English.
[03:56.47] I'm June Simms.