Indian Tablet Computer Unveiled, to be sold for $35 retail!
It looks like the iPad, acts like the iPad, only it costs 1/4th of the price! What is it?! A prototype of a basic touchscreen tablet was unveiled in Mumbai, India aimed to student. They hope to launch into production by 2011.
All they need to do if a find a manufacturer. The Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of “world’s cheapest” inventions to hit the market ouf of India. India is the home to 100,000 rupee, which is $2127 USD Nao car, the 749 rupee water purifier, and $2000 open-heart surgery.
The tablet is designed for functions like word processing, web browsing, and video-conferencing. An important factor is the solar power option it has, which is crucial for India’s energy starved hinterlands.
The human resource development minister Kapil Sibal told the Economic Times;
"This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer,"
Back in 2005 a $100 laptop prototype was invented in Massachusetts Institute of technology’s Media Lab by Nicholas Negroponte. However, India rejected the prototype as it was too expensive and then proceeded to develop a cheaper option of its own.
After receiving a “lukewarm” response from private sector players, Sibal turned to students and professors at India’s elite technical universities to develop the $35 tablet. His high hope is that eventually the pricing will get down to $10.
According to Mamta Varma, falling hardware costs and intelligent design is what makes the price tag plausible. The purpose of the tablet is that instead is uses a memory card, much like a mobile phone, it cuts hardware costs, and the use of open-source software also adds to savings.
According to Huffingtonpost:
“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… ”
As for the Ministry, they gathered that 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. India plans to cut down the cost of the tablet for its students and eventually landing around $20.
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by Mila Braz
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