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India's $35 tablet delay dashes hopes, destroys dreams
College students eagerly awaiting India's ambitious $35 tablet are going to have to put their dreams on hold -- there's been a delay. Earlier this week, the Times of India reported that the Indian government dropped HCL Technologies, the company responsible for manufacturing the great democratic tablet, for failing to follow through on the 600 million rupee (or $13,198,416) guarantee -- apparently a disagreement over production costs is to blame. Last summer, the country's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal, made a number of appearances toting a mockup of the Android-based tablet, and promising a launch date of January 15th. Officials say the project is still on track and should be ready this summer. However, while the government seeks a replacement for HCL, skeptics continue to sound warnings that parts alone will cost more than $35. We'd like to chalk this up to haters hating, but we can't seem to forget what became of the $10 laptop.
India's $10 laptop is not a laptop
You know what was missing from the so-call "unveiling" of India's $10 laptop yesterday? Photos. Now we think we know why. The $10 laptop is not a laptop at all, the display-less and keyboard-less prototype device demonstrated is just a 10 x 5-inch wide slab that stores (and apparently prints) distributed learning materials which can later be retrieved by an impoverished child... using a laptop and paper he can't afford to purchase. It's also said to cost $30 and could be a component to a low cost laptop in the future; a claim that is fiercely disputed by Taiwanese component makers. Still, without any official photos of the device or specs posted to one of the many government agencies involved in the project, well, we still can't say we're 100% confident saying what this device is. Not that chest-thumping rhetoric and purposeful misinformation should be a surprise from politicians seeking re-election. Update: Added that image to the right of what's purported to be the non-laptop prototype by The Hindu (and we're not going to argue with the Hindu).[Via OnlyGizmos, Thanks Shrikanth G.]Read -- Not a laptop 1Read -- Not a laptop 2Read -- Taiwan's laptop industry skeptical
India's $10 laptop coming February 3rd, take that Negroponte
Get ready, India's $10 laptop is set for its first unveiling on February 3rd. Ok, so it's not quite $10... $20 actually, but that's far better than the $100 some were estimating. It's also much better than the $200 per OLPC XO deal that Negroponte wanted to reportedly charge the Indian government more than 2 years ago -- an offer rejected by officials with a promise to young Indians to do it better and for less. According to some reports (we can't find anything official), the laptop will feature 2GB of memory, WiFi, fixed Ethernet, expandable memory, and consume just 2 watts of power. The Devil's in the details, they say, but with any luck, India will be swimming in cheap silicon within the next 6 months if the project can keep to schedule... that's a big IF.[Via TechTicker, image courtesy of FMCKids]Read -- Unofficial specsRead -- February 3rd unveiling
$10 Indian laptop to actually cost $100, anyone surprised?
Come on, you didn't really believe that a $10 laptop was even remotely possible, did you? Yeah, didn't think so -- and unsurprisingly, that project sponsored by the Indian government to develop a low-cost laptop actually has a price target of $100, not $10. Chalk another one up to bad transcription, we suppose, although getting the price of a reasonable machine down to $100 won't be all that easy, either -- any bets on where the final price of this thing ends up?
