AfricaCast 2011: SouthTel wows the crowd with its VOD:TV decoder and a double-sided remote control with a full keyboard at the back.

I will break the news that SouthTel's brand-new VOD:TV video-on-demand (VOD) service it plans to launch in 2012 is going to be massive - partly because of all the little secrets starting to leak out ...

Like SouthTel's double sided remote control for VOD:TV that contains a full keyboard at the back.

SouthTel just wowed the crowd when Oscar Dube, CEO and founder of SouthTel, held up the VOD:TV remote control ... and turned it around. The back is a full keyboard. He smiled. ''Exciting opportunities,'' he said.

Oscar Dube talked about VOD.TV and unveiled the decoder and remote control at the AfricaCast 2011 TV summit in Cape Town that is part of the 14th AfricaCom conference. Delegates looked stunned. His presentation drew loud applause.

''For the very first time in Africa and South Africa we're looking at true convergence,'' he said. ''As a user you will no longer just be using your TV to watch TV. You can Facebook, you can do anything you want. You can access anything via your TV.

SouthTel plans to roll out VOD:TV in 2012 in South Africa which will make over 400 hours of standard definition (SD) television and 200 hours of high definition (HD) content per month available to subscribers through already signed international content deals with all the major Hollywood studios.

''We're looking for partnerships with broadcasters and telecoms,'' Oscar Dube said, ''because in every country we're looking for local content''.