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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.
$35 Tablet makes an appearance on Indian TV (video)
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.
OLPC's Negroponte offers India help in realizing $35 tablet dream, probably has a few other motives
The late Joker said it best: "If you're good at something, never do it for free." The truth ingrained in that very statement makes the bold words of OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte all the more curious here. In an open letter to the Indian government published in the Times of India, Nik Neg has seemingly eased up on his apparent grudge against the nation, but there's a decent chance that something's in it for him. Largely, no one with any link to reality believes that India will indeed deliver $35 laptops -- their $10 laptop eventually soared to $100 before evaporating completely. But in the letter, Negroponte offers the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development "full access to all of [OLPC's] technology, cost free," further urging them to "send a team to MIT and OLPC at your earliest convenience" in order to talk about world domination, the latest Cricket happenings and janky PCs that may or may not ever land in the classroom. Of course, some are surmising that the scheme will enable the MHRD to easily give up their own aspirations, buy a truckload of XO-3s and save face in the process, but hey -- so long as the children win, it's all good. Right?
$35 tablet from India looks to be worth every paisa (video)
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.
