India Develops World’s Cheapest Tablet

[Invisible]

July 23, 2010

In another attempt to bring a usable computer to the masses at an extremely affordable price point, India has developed a touchscreen computing device which will cost only $35. According to a press release by India’s Press Information Bureau, the price is expected to drop even further, first to $20 and ultimately to a mere $10.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal unveils the low cost computing-cum-access device in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: V. Sudershan

The reports about the device’s hardware vary greatly; all we can say for sure is that it’s portable and has a touchscreen, which pretty much makes it a tablet (confirmed by the image above).

According to Indian Express, it has a 5/7/9 inch touchscreen (we don’t know whether that means there will be several versions of the device or they’re simply unsure what the actual size is, but it looks like a 7-incher to us), and on the software side, it sports a web browser, PDF reader, office software, media player as well as multimedia input/output capabilities, video conferencing (it must have a camera, then) and remote device management capability – all of it open-source and Linux-based.

Whatever hardware is running this thing, it’s ready for production, according to India’s human resource development minister Kapil Sibal. “We have reached a (developmental) stage that today; the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around $35, including memory, display, everything,” he said at a news conference in New Delhi.

The device, Sibal said, should be available to consumers sometime in 2011.

 

[Invisible]

I like this:

Mumbai Cheap, or frugal, and India are synonymous.

Take a look at the Nano car and now the tablet PC. It looks like an iPad, only it's 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011.

If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of "world's cheapest" innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the 100,000 rupee ($2,127) compact Nano car, the 749 rupees ($16) water purifier and the $2,000 open-heart surgery.

The tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing. It has a solar power option too - important for India's energy-starved hinterlands - though that add-on costs extra.

"This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer," human resource development minister Kapil Sibal said when he unveiled the device Thursday.

In 2005, Nicholas Negroponte - cofounder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab - unveiled a prototype of a $100 laptop for children in the developing world. India rejected that as too expensive and embarked on a multiyear effort to develop a cheaper option of its own.

Negroponte's laptop ended up costing about $200, but in May his nonprofit association, One Laptop Per Child, said it plans to launch a basic tablet computer for $99.

Sibal turned to students and professors at India's elite technical universities to develop the $35 tablet after receiving a "lukewarm" response from private sector players. He hopes to get the cost down to $10 eventually.

Mamta Varma, a ministry spokeswoman, said falling hardware costs and intelligent design make the price tag plausible. The tablet doesn't have a hard disk, but instead uses a memory card, much like a mobile phone. The tablet design cuts hardware costs, and the use of open-source software also adds to savings, she said.

Varma said several global manufacturers, including at least one from Taiwan, have shown interest in making the low-cost device, but no manufacturing or distribution deals have been finalized. She declined to name any of the companies.

India plans to subsidize the cost of the tablet for its students, bringing the purchase price down to around $20.

The project is part of an ambitious education technology initiative, which also aims to bring broadband connectivity to India's 25,000 colleges and 504 universities and make study materials available online.

So far nearly 8,500 colleges have been connected and nearly 500 web and video-based courses have been uploaded on YouTube and other portals, the Ministry said.

Source: India Express - July 23, 2010

 

[Kamaka]

THAT WILL help TANZANIA a LOT UKIZINGATIA TUNA BHARTI HAPA.

 

[Invisible]

THAT WILL help TANZANIA a LOT UKIZINGATIA TUNA BHARTI HAPA.

Wahindi nowadays wamejitahidi kwenye Technology, waafrika wanawekeza kwenye siasa na ufisadi lol

 

[Mau]

Tunaikaribisha kwetu bongo itufikie manake wengi wetu hatuna uwezo wa kununua iPAD na wenzake wa bei za juu

 

[Amoeba]

Hii kitu itawafaa sana madenti. Lkn sidhanii kama ndy itakuwa iPAD substitute!

 

[Invisible]

Hii kitu itawafaa sana madenti. Lkn sidhanii kama ndy itakuwa iPAD substitute!

The more watu wanazidi kufunguka basi iPad inaweza kupata mpinzani karibuni. Hii haiwezi kuwa iPad killer ha ha ha

 

[Gaijin]

kuna amazon kindle ambayo inauzwa kwa bei rahisi ya ipad ...........lakini ipad bado inaendelea kutesa kwa wenye pesa zao.

India sasa italishika soko la nchi maskini kama hizi za kwetu kwa sababu wateja hawajali sana mambo ya interface na makorokoro mengine ambayo cunsumer wa nje (wenye pesa) wanajali zaidi