The Mobilis, Encore's inexpensive mobile PC
A Bangalore-based company is the latest to get in on the recent trend of cheap computers, following Nicholas Negroponte's $100 PC, VIA's $250 PC, and AMD's cheap Personal Internet Communicator. Encore Software, with the backing of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, has developed three different PCs ranging in price from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 20,000 (between $230 and $460US). The basic model is the Softcom, a desktop with a 15-inch monitor, moving up a bit is the Mobilis, a Linux-based mobile desktop with a 7.4-inch LCD screen, and at the top of the heap is the Mobilis Wireless, which adds a built-in GPS receiver and GPRS wireless modem. None of the systems apparently come with a hard drive, with storage instead being handled through memory cards. Despite that, the company says they'll be able to handle regular applications like word processing, spreadsheets, personal information managers, e-mail and web-browsers, and even play movies and music. They'll also have text-to-speech conversion and built-in local-language support. Look for them to hit the market in about three months.
[Via Slashdot]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Charles @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
Hey look, here's a PIII 700MHz selling for just over $200 (w/ 17" monitor & peripherals)...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51119&item=5193864019&rd=1
Looks like dealsdepot-auctions has Mobilis beat out!
Morgon @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
Where's the touch-screen lovin'?
appleEmployee @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
#1 : Interesting side note ...
Shipping costs: US $79.99
bomber @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
charles, you are completely missing the point. devices like the mobilis are trying to make a sustainable business model work for the 3rd world. offloading 2nd hand PCs on them is not a sustainable business model. additionally these devices are designed with 3rd world usage scenarios in mind. open your eyes a bit.
Phil @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
Newsflash: The sub-$250 PC has been available in Africa for years: Ex-corporate PCs are exported from the US to South Africa by the thousands and sold for less than half the retail price of a new entry-level PC. Ideal material for Linux-powered school labs and rural community projects.
Anonymous Coward @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
Doom to fail. I lived in the Philippines for 2 years and they have internet cafes on every street corner. A good PC cost around 300 usd. That's a pc with a good GPU, 256 meg of ram and a 40 gig hd. Sure the screen is CRT 14" and windows is pirated, but it's good enough to play Half Life 2 or the more popular 'moebius' online games.
To assume that '3rd world' countries need computer with no hard drive and shitty on board components is belittling. To sell such POS platforms for 300 bucks is downright theft.
People in the third world need the same stuff as we do. They like the same games. They want to use MS word to do their assigments/work. I'll enjoy watching this 'initiative' crash and burn.
thirdworlder @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
the absence of a HDD is a real bummer. A year from now, midrange mobile phones will be coming with 3GB drives. anyone who can afford this would rather buy a multi-function phone instead.
As of now I do not see a compelling mobile application that would drive the sales of this unit. It is also too large for its display size. They could have done a little more to the plastic design, and improved the interface to be more like the miniature VAIOs (laptop hinged configuration). That is something that people, who have value for such devices, will both want and buy.
On a side note, why not concentrate on a wireless communication AND computing platform that is really useful to people? If this company is so big in software and local apps, they should have tried doing something more like the Nokia communicators. They are smaller, smarter looking, and oh yes, they display spreadsheets too. The mobilis looks like another discarded Taiwan exercise gone wrong, but has made its way into India. Too little too late.
Seun Osewa @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
I agree with previous commenters; this company has a history of designing hardware that nobody wants.
I live in the 'developing world' and I'd definitely prefer a second-hand PC with good specs to this one.
THe use of second-hand PCs is a sustainable model because people in the 'developed' world upgrade their PCS all the time and we have reached a point where a 3 year old PC can run all the software you really need.
Second hand PC's do the job just fine, thank you, and they are much cheaper than $220.
Kanwar @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
To Anonymous Coward from Phillipines --
This mobile computer is specifically designed keeping the needs of a diverse country such as India in mind. Probably phillipines is not as diverse and hence your speculation.
Also, commend the effort by someone rather than shoot it down. How many times have you thought of doing anything different? Rather than walking blindly on someone else's beaten path?
Anonymous Coward @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
#9 - why would I 'commend' this 'initiative'? It's not a charity program, it's a corporation out to make a profit.
Clayton Hallmark @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
The Mobilis will be a winner, if not in the third world then in the US.
Even grade school students could have their own laptop, if this is imported to the US. There are many advantages to that.
Don't compare this to used computers -- ridiculous.
SURRAS @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM
Why there is fuss about 3rd world and 2st world?
Second hand Vs. First hand.
I worked in both the developed as well as devloping contries.
There are always going to be diffrent market segments and different price points.
And Mobilis may fill the gap. In my opinion it is still a platform and not yet a complete product. So it will compete with existing PCs only after it runs most if not all applications that we use every day at a price far cheaper than today's lowest end PC.
Cursing the project is no use.
Let the market decide what's right?
If it servs the purpose of satifying all those who are on the other side of digital divide,
then all the good luck to Mobilis and efforts like these. I'm sure big brothers like Intel Microsoft and HP are watiching this space. And this experience will come to them very handy and suddenly one day a device will be announced that is cheaper than even Mobilis .....