$35 Tablet makes an appearance on Indian TV (video)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted August 11th 2010 2:37PM
posted August 11th 2010 2:37PM
The Gadget Gurus, the Subcontinent's answer to The Engadget Show, got a special hands-on with that $35 Tablet PC the world's been buzzing about -- delivered by none other than India's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal himself. While constantly referring to "the $35 laptop" (we guess you could hold it in your lap) Mr. Sibal gave us the following info: it sports 2GB RAM, WiFI and 3G, microSD storage, and it runs the Android OS. Additionally, it rocks video out and a webcam -- in short, it's an Android tablet. Don't expect to see this bad boy hit retail channels soon: the government plans on making it available to students and universities in mid-2011, with no plans yet for sales to the general public. To watch the man himself (as well as some wild and wonderful Indian television) check out the video after the break -- fast-forward two and a half minutes to get to the main attraction.
@max3000 Back to history 101 for you, why do you think India is the new home for call centers ?
All I see is a VW commercial.
What time in the video is it?
@iPhoneOrAndroid
You probably should have read the entire post first...
It's roughly 2:30 minutes in by the way.
@BharatiJanta I'm an idiot, read everything but the last line. Thanks.
Surely parts alone would cost more than $35!? Yes please!
--- === BUT!! Will it Blend ??? === ---
Here's what I'd like to understand - how is this device going to be supported, and who is going to pay for support?
people remember that its subsidized, not like the cost of materials is $35, it would be like a $600 tablet w/o subsidization
@JS Yeah, I was trying to make a point. But, if everyone starts getting an education, then who will farm, pick up my trash, clean my house, pump my gas, etc? We Americans are very fortunate right now that a lot of what we want we can easily afford. But once the demand for what we need increases, prices will rise. For example, there is only a small percentage of the world population that can take a weeks vacation in Paris. But once those billions of people start earning and and booking travel on their $35 tablets, Paris is going to be come a very expensive place to go.
@chubby
There will be new Parises, other cities that rival in attractiveness for tourists. And there will be automation and robots to take out your trash and do farming. There are already farming/harvesting robots in the works even for complex tasks like orange picking using a combination of 3D image recognition and robotics. Yes some things may be lost, but overall quality of life will be better.
Indian Government saw my video filmed a couple months ago which triggered their project: http://armdevices.net/2010/07/23/indias-35-tablet-is-based-on-my-video/
The Bill Of Material is approximately as following:
ARM9 Processor: $5 (Freescale i.MX233)
Memory: $3
WiFi B/G: $4
Other discret components: $3
Battery: $5
7″ 800×480 resistive touch screen: $15
Total bill of material: $35
Main difference between this and OLPC's $75 ARM Powered tablet and $100 laptop projects due early next year as well, OLPC uses a much faster ARMv7 processor (perhaps 4x faster), OLPC uses Pixel Qi screen which is crucial makes it usable for reading and makes it usable for not having to charge the battery every few hours (not usable for a market like India), and OLPC's tablet screen is to be made of plastic thus be unbreakable which also is a very important feature.
People in US, stop complaining about costs of gadgets made in other countries, instead look at how can you get world's best gadgets for free here in US. For example, you can get the best COMPACT smartphone ever designed yet, Palm(now HP) Pre-Plus, running on world's BEST MOBILE operating system called webOS, for free or for under $50 from Verizon, the best mobile carrier in USA. Nothing can beat this combo. of synergies. Period.
I am seeing a VW commercial and not the $35 tablet.
@Ameen:
i agree with BharatiJanta, you really don't know what you're talking about! you've probably gone to all those countries as a 'jolly tourist'.. if not, you're either blind (as in seriously blind!), or you chose not to see what's in front of you! every country has its dark side buddy!
you're saying there's no corruption in Singapore?! i've done my masters in Singapore, and believe me, things there are a lot worse than they look! live there for a couple of years, and you'll know!
and you're seriously comparing Indonesia to India?! lol.. you are way off track! i can tell you for sure i've been to a lot more countries than you have, while being a student! and i've seen and studied how horrible things really are in places like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, the Middle East, Europe, UK, Latin America, Sri-Lanka, Maldives, Vietnam, Cambodia, and a lot more places! i'm not being racist or anything.. i love all the countries i've lived in.. they're awesome in their own special way, but so is India..
now i know why people around the world dislike Indians so much.. its because people like you still exist, and portray a bad image of India!
grow up and open your eyes you ignorant dumb-ass!
iPad is still better than this