We've seen some janky tablets over the years, and to be honest this latest one out of India hardly looks posh. But, for the price, it could be pretty amazing: $35. That's what India's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal, is saying this device will cost at retail. It's a sort of tablet and, while we don't know full specs, is said to have 2GB of
RAM memory, run
Linux, be able to connect to the internet over WiFi, open PDFs, and even play YouTube videos, meaning you can watch Shahrukh Khan tribute videos wherever you want. Confusingly, two separate devices were shown and we're not sure which is the final design (if, indeed, either is), but the Indian government plans to subsidize their sale to students such that they'll cost only $20. The goal is to have them selling for as little as $10 in the future. Exciting? Yes, but let's just say we've had our hearts broken by
supposed $10 Indian laptops before. Video of the thing in action after the break.
Update: As a few eagle-eyed commenters pointed out, if you look closely at around the 20 second mark of the video you'll spot the familiar
Android notification bar at the top of one of these prototypes. Also, it's a little unclear whether that 2GB figure is storage or RAM.
posted July 23rd 2010 10:02AM
@Narao
Most of the parts are not done in India, so the cost must be high even inside India.
So, apparently they are hidden some costs, may be subsidizing the price.
@magallanes
My dad pays $4/mo for his Iphone data plan in India while I pay Verizon 30/mo
@rgz175
how much it cost a iphone in India?. for a $8/mo you can bet that you can't "buy" a iphone for $100.
@magallanes Who cares?
The great part is that you can easily switch carrier, as 90% of GSM phones in India are sold unlocked.
This increases competition, and is precisely the reason why wireless in India is so darn cheap.
Simputer, anyone? Simpsons' Computer. :-)
Very nice but what about the poor people who are working for
What kind of hardisk does it use? if you buy a separate ssd, the price could quadruple, so if sd cards, what is the maximum can it support? What could make it more exiting is if it would be designed to be customizable, hackable, upgradable. I'm sure kids and teens could learn a lot, even adults, because then everybody is involve in its development,
something apple and microsoft hates.
Just remember the difference in standard of living. At $2 a day living and $35 cost, this unit would be comparaity $489 for $10,000 per year salary here person.
(10000 / 365 ) / 2 ) * 35 = $480
for 52 5 day work weeks - it even a worst deal
(10000 / ( 52*5) ) / 2 ) * 35 = $654
hey all! my first engadget comment although a very old reader(through RSS)
See this for little info about the tech specs
http://tech2.in.com/india/topstuff/tablets/just-rs-1600-really/134672/0
Suitable motherboard/system on chip to provide the mentioned expected functionalities.
QWERTY keyboard, a mouse and, a minimum display size of 7-inch color LCD/TFT (the touch interface is optional). Also, an all-in-one projection system is optional.
Minimum 2 USB (2.0) ports and USB hosts
RF, Certification – all “CE Certificate” (according to FCC guidelines)
Minimum three hours battery life
Battery charger with adapter or a hybrid super capacitor quick charger
SD card slot with support for minimum 8 GB
RGB / HDMI display options to enable connectivity with a projector
Support for an external hard drive (minimum 32 GB)
Ethernet port
WLAN card (Wi-Fi a/b/g/n)
Alternate battery support: Via solar cell / Hybrid capacitor
Webcam
Adequate RAM and hard drive / NAND flash
Shock resistant casing of suitable form factor for the device
Operating temperature: Zero to 48 degrees. Max humidity – 80%
ROHS compliant
Operating system: Linux
I don't think it is 2 devices as the article believes. I think it is same device, one with webcam or phone (?) open, the first one is in closed position. While I am proud of what has been done in Bangalore, main problem with Indian manufacturing is quality. With $35.00 list price or around 1650 Rs., what level of quality can be expected remains to be seen. But a good start never the less. Remember entire world pooh poohed the idea of a RS1,00,000.00 or $2500.00 Car !!!! It is on the road today .... Things are changing .. We US gave up the technology big time when Bush was in power. This is but one small example of things to come !!!
Is this another "$10 Indian laptop" joke? Indians are funny.
Kapil Sibal reminds me of Boss Nass.
Wow that thing is cheap! Should be showing up in the impulse buy section of your grocery store any day now, right next to the Reese's pieces!
Way less expensive than your date to the Regal for tonight!
http://www.styrofoamsoup.com/less-expensive-than-the-regal/tablet-computers-from-india-less-expensive-than-the-regal/
They clearly reported 2GB of RAM.
Can we blend it ?
http://www.cricketdictionary.com/
This is not real, lol.
just like the Xo never became real, and the 10 dollar laptop, and the 100 dollar car, and all the other BS these guys always say.
cmon, if they could make it, a private company would and get subsidies from all the stupid socialists all over the world. The fact that this is not massively exploited means it doesn't exist.
@IhatewhitepeopleandAmericaSOUNIQ
I think you hate everybody. What a miserable person you are!
@IhatewhitepeopleandAmericaSOUNIQ
It was a $1800 car and its real.
@krishansy
So true
I like the idea beyond what we believe vice versa.
Not really impossible (even though it's hard) to achieve that price tag (maybe $50 sound possible. subsidy?) since there are $27 brand new phone in Asia, low quality but workable phone ( + video, mp3, ebook, memory slot, dual sim card). With a cheap labor and low quality components, it maybe possible. Not really a tablet but a device that can do internet, ebook and video.
After all, it's for the poorer to have a bit of technology that 'belong' to rich man. :-/
35$ for pure awesomeness?
This is great news!
Is this thing a made-in Bollywood fantasy toy? Does it come with head shaking Indian dancers and background music too?
Its so cheap is because 1 usa dollar is worth around 40 rupees. And 40 rupees is worth alot.
1400 rupees for the tablet is man like buying a hd tv here to them.
@Nerdguru
For 1400 INR, you cant even buy a CRT TV in India.
HDTV's start at about 30,000 INR (The locally manufactured ones)
So cool! I want one! I want 50 of them! put them all over my place and I'll feel like a commander in a command center @.@....I have been watching too much sci-fi....
but can it Facebook?
This is awesome. But, we need to wait and see the outcome. We will get to know the quality of the product only once its released for public use. http://www.webdesignseoglobal.com/
this is amazing news.......
anyway I was dreaming of a 100$ Google Chrome OS netbook for India.
After looking at video and understanding what he actually said, I have few comments to make
1. This is a prototype shown by a politician with misleading words. As with any politician, we need to take those words with grain of salt. What he said was the cost of components is $35. As we all know prototypes are not actual products and the cost to consumer involves much more than cost of components.
2. Unlike in US, there is very little collaboration between academic institutions and private enterprises. So this product developed by academic people may never reach masses unless govt produces them and subsides them. Public run companies are notoriously inefficient and cost of production is much higher than what it needs to be.
3.As one person in autoblog said, most commentors here humorously ignorant about india because they make comments based on very little information available. to them. Assuming that more than half the population of india makes less than $ 2 is funny. only uneducated manual labor living in rural communities might be making this money. India has very big and growing middle class population which makes much more than $ 2.
4. I do wish this product comes to light with reliable quality may be around $50-$60.
It seems unfair that the United States, as other countries in the World, should have to compete with others elsewhere where very cheap labor is their primary advantage. Yet complaining about our house getting flooded won’t make it any drier. Only our hard work will do that, and only the ingenuity and savvy of the American people will see us through.
In facing the challenge, let us not forget that we still excel in the important areas of education, technology, individual freedoms, the arts, entertainment, elective government, our courts, natural resources, and yes, even our health care. Moreover, labor costs should eventually reach an equilibrium across the globe, since people and their needs are the same across the globe.
Yet, an even greater challenge lies ahead, and with far greater consequences than cheap computer technology: This is the abundant energy from the sun, and our constantly improving ways to capture it and store it the form of hydrogen. Thus while the sun for centuries had dried-up huge lands, it is about to make them vibrant with cheap electricity for industry and living.
By the time we take notice, the geopolitical implications will be beyond anybody’s control. For those of us who are accustomed to having our way, times may get a lot rougher ahead. But there ain't no going back to the world of yesterday. The sooner we accept this, the sooner we can roll up our sleeves to compete on the global stage -- the only forum left.
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see the link below to see the content being shared
http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
this is the best of engineering education available online
The same is available on youtube in the /iit channel
W.o.w! The PADD is here.
Scott me up, Beamy, set course for Bangalore!
"Western hemisphere tablet R&D self destruct sequence activated. Economic collapse in 2 years and counting. Abort sequence deactivated."
"Let's get outta here!!"
@srinivas
That's more like it. I'm proposing to send a letter to NIST:
Dear Sirs, Madams,
You knew this was coming, you've had your chance. Now other nations on this planet are taking over your leading role in the advancement of science and technology.
If you wish, you can apply for a fast-track schedule implementing the Preservation of Artifacts of Ancient Civilizations Program at the Smithsonian Institute (soon to be relocated to New Delhi), which will try to preserve your achievements for posterity.
Kind regards, and thanks for all the fish.
Courtesy of the wonderful Wolfram Alpha:
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=education+enrollment+India+%2F+population+India%2C+education+enrollment+United+States+%2F+population+United+States
Do your own trend analysis, you be the judge.
If im not wrong one of the devices, the $35 tablet, the indian gov shown belongs to skytone, think it's the alpha 700... I remember seeing in some forums... lol at the indian gov trying to pass that product as their own.