India on Thursday unveiled a Rs.1,500 (around $30) laptop designed specifically for students. "If more companies decide to manufacture a similar device, prices will come down automatically," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after unveiling the low cost-access-cum computing device here. The device would be made available to students in 2011. When the ministry floated the concept of a low cost laptop some years ago, officials said it would cost Rs.500 ($10). It will now cost about three times the initial projections. The ministry expects the prices to drop to Rs.1,000 ($20) and reach Rs.500($10) as innovations are introduced. The device, no bigger than a conventional laptop, is a single unit system with a touch screen and a built in key board along with a 2 GB RAM memory, wi-fi connectivity, USB port and powered by a 2-watt system to suit poor power supply areas. "This is real and tangible and we will take it forward. Sun will rise for the Indian students in 2011," he said. The ministry also invited private players to produce similar low cost computers. "When we started the project, the response from the private sector was lukewarm. Now many are willing to join the innovation," Sibal said. The low cost laptops will be distributed in institutions by the HRD ministry. The final price will depend on the transportation cost. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com...dia-unveils-30-laptop/articleshow/6201876.cms
The Linux-based computer at first glance resembles an Apple iPad and features basic functions you'd expect to see in a tablet--a Web browser, multimedia player, PDF reader, Wi-Fi, and video conferencing ability. It has 2GB of RAM (but no hard disk, instead using a memory card) and USB ports and could be available to kids from primary school up to the university level as early as next year. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20011536-1.html
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/education/indias-35-tablet-vaporware-or-the-real-deal/4136 India's $35 tablet - vaporware or the real deal? By Christopher Dawson | July 23, 2010, 10:21am PDT The Indian government unveiled a working prototype today of a small tablet computer that it says will initially sell for $35. The same organization within the government, however, also announced a prototype $10 laptop last year amid initiatives to connect all of Indiaâs college-age students to learning resources. Obviously, $10 netbooks arenât flying off the shelves or in the hands of Bangaloreâs next generation of IT workers. So is this the real deal? Thereâs actually a fair amount of evidence to suggest that this one will see the light of day, although one has to wonder if $35 is reasonable outside of India where government subsidies could keep costs down. Given rapidly falling equipment costs, though, $35-50 isnât outlandish, particularly with recent advances from Pixel Qi and potential ODM interest in Taiwan to manufacture these devices at scale. Further examination of the specs and video of a working prototype inspire a bit more confidence in this iteration as well: [Youtube video] Again, while Nicholas Negroponte is known for his accuracy in predicting prices for OLPC products, he is seeing $75 as a price point for a proposed tablet-based iteration of the OLPC XO. Clearly, $75 is the price to beat for schools and education ministries to roll out any sort of tablet on truly large scales, but the $35 tablet, with no internal storage, also presumes a set of cloud applications to support learning efforts. These web applications will need to leverage emerging mobile technologies to ensure that they are touch optimized, fast, and rich in ways that HTML 5 continues to promise. No word on which version of Linux will power the device, assuming it comes to market, or how it will cultivate a developer ecosystem, but it seems pretty likely that 2011 will see a host of inexpensive tablet devices that could be quickly deployed in educational settings if the software and apps are there to support it. Hey, what was that I was saying about living in an app world? ---------------------------------- Looks like vaporware, smells like vaporware, oh wait, I think I actually want one...
http://www.digitaltrends.com/arcade/worst-vaporware-and-high-tech-hoaxes/ Worst Vaporware and High-Tech Hoaxes . . . Sakshat, the $10 Laptop On the 23rd of September 2006, the Times of India reported on a story that left many shaking their heads. Apparently, Indian officials had grown despondent over the low-but-apparently-not-quite-low-enough price point of the laptops being devised by the One Laptop Per Child project. While many in the real world were astounded that a $100-$200 laptop was even conceivable, Indian officials had a better idea â a $10 laptop named Sakshat. [Insert off-color pun here.] In any case, what were you thinking? A laptop with 2GB of RAM, Wi-Fi, and other desirable qualities for just ten bucks? Ridiculed by many as utterly impossible, the Sakshat was finally revealed in February of this year. And to say the cynicism was proven correct may be the understatement of the century. There sat a computer peripheral of sorts, sprouting cables like tentacles and featuring what looked to be a tiny LCD in the middle. Apparently the production cost had grown as the years went by, thus forcing the development team into cost-cutting measures â such as removing a keyboard, a true display screen, and virtually everything else youâd find in a real notebook.
I love this, Wi-fi compatible, that is just great but show me where wi-fi widespread is in India? There is just not too many villages, exactly where this gizmo would serve a good purpose, that has electricity let alone wi-fi. That reminds me of solar suitcases distributed in the 3rd world where they serve a purpose of providing electricity for charging cell phones etc. This toy would be great with a solar suitcase which is about $1000....
India develops solar powered touchscreen laptop at less than $35 http://www.ecosensorium.org/2010/07/india-develops-solar-powered.html http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent..._pc_is_the_future_of_computing.html?tk=hp_pop
This is totally a joke. There is ABSOLUTELY NO way that they can make such computer at $35 in NEAR future. The LCD panel, 2G Ram, wifi chip,cpu, solar parts will cost several times of $35. I am just shocked how shameful that sibal guy is.