Get live weather updates on Mxit thanks to Kazazoom

Kazazoom, a Johannesburg-based technology startup that develops content and services for Mxit, has unveiled updates to the live weather service that it operates for AfricaWeather Ltd.

The new service, which the company claims is the first of its kind to be made available on Mxit, is meant to enhance the existing AfricaWeather offering on the instant messaging platform, and will apparently reach more than 300 000 registered users.

“This service will allow users to get live weather updates sent directly to their mobile phones, and represents a major upgrade for what is already a very popular service,” says Kazazoom’s founder and Technology Lead, Eric Clements.

Users can choose to receive updates for 30 days or 7 days, depending on their needs and budgets. They can also choose to receive Daily Weather Forecast notifications or Storm Alerts, which is a storm alert sent 30 minutes before the storm hits.

“The AfricaWeather service on Mxit is an example of how users are increasingly using their mobile phones to guide and assist them in their daily activities, and we look forward to developing similarly practical and innovative applications for the Mxit community in the coming months,” Clements adds.

AfricaWeather Ltd is one of several Mxit portals that Kazazoom operates for its clients. Other services the company operates for its clients on Mxit include those built for a retail bank, a radio program monitoring app for an NGO, a political platform service, a soccer magazine and campaign apps for digital agencies and brands.

Last year, the company released mxPress, a WordPress plugin that “turns any WordPress site into a Mxit Mobi Portal app”. The plugin is fully integrated with Google Analytics tracking and following Mxit’s new open policy the plugin is open source (under the BSD-3 license). Developers can use it for free and contribute to it.