India Unveils Prototype of $35 Tablet Computer

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India has developer an iPad-like tablet for only $35? And it has a solar power option too? I’ll believe it when I see it.

The tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing. It has a solar power option too — important for India's energy-starved hinterlands — though that add-on costs extra. "This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer," human resource development minister Kapil Sibal told the Economic Times when he unveiled the device Thursday.
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Thank god for Child labor and slavery. How would we get cheap hardware otherwise?
 
if that thing comes here and is truly that cheap, it'll be nice, but for 35 bones it might just be a pile. :confused:
 
He wants to get it down to 10 somday...

I can't image how cheap the thing would be, but for 10-35 bucks I would get it just to mess around with it.

Go sit next to all the iPad users...:D
 
^^ ya

This Rs 1,500 tablet is expected to first hit higher education institution starting 2011 — but the government could subsidise 50 per cent of this cost, bringing down the price.

“The price of the device is expected to be around $35 (Rs. 1,500), gradually dropping down to $20 and ultimately $10 per piece,” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said.
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Pretty incredible they can make it or sell it for $35. I'd buy one at 2x that price.
 
Obviously the goal for this device is to put a device in every home in low-income areas. Knowledge is power. This in conjunction with government funded free wireless grids offered. This means, that children will be able to soak up as much knowledge as they can...
Thumbs up.
 
TheTyrant said:
Obviously the goal for this device is to put a device in every home in low-income areas. Knowledge is power. This in conjunction with government funded free wireless grids offered. This means, that children will be able to soak up as much knowledge as they can...
Thumbs up.
Click to expand...

Their kids are already smarter than ours. :p
 
My sis is a teacher. I'll buy atleast two of these as soon as they are released :p
I guess when you have those cheap chinese make cheap touchscreen phones with those big 4" resistive screens, it ain't at all difficult contemplating a mass produced device such as this with 2 gis of flash memory running a barebones linux distro.
Would atleast make a great ebook reader if not a netbook.
 
it'll be $35 because it'll be a cheap touchscreen with 320x200 resolution, 200 mhz cpu, and low quality lcd. Mark my words.
 
Well, I am sure it won't be $35 on release. From the article it sounds like the government hasn't officially made it so. I am sure it will be $99 cost for retail, which is still very cheap. Regardless of specs, that is cheap for what they are aiming for, function and audience.
 
Zellio2010 said:
it'll be $35 because it'll be a cheap touchscreen with 320x200 resolution, 200 mhz cpu, and low quality lcd. Mark my words.
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No, REALLY? Well damn, I expected at least an i5 in it, minimum 1080p res.

Durr, what the hell do you expect for $35?
 
Zellio2010 said:
it'll be $35 because it'll be a cheap touchscreen with 320x200 resolution, 200 mhz cpu, and low quality lcd. Mark my words.
Click to expand...

I think it'll be better than what you're expecting. I'd expect it to at least be able to navigate the internet with some comfort. 800x600 or 1024x768 would be good enough.
 
Zellio2010 said:
it'll be $35 because it'll be a cheap touchscreen with 320x200 resolution, 200 mhz cpu, and low quality lcd. Mark my words.
Click to expand...
I posted a picture of the tablet in a link above. My pixel counting on the 5" LCD version gives an estimated resolution of about 480x272, which is the same as the PSP.

The official specs from the maker say it has 2GB memory (probably flash storage), a touch screen and WiFi. Another story says it has a USB port and some kind of manual charger(?) for places that don't have reliable power. The processor isn't mentioned. It's not being released until 2011 so that might not be final yet.
 
Hey a significant proportion of our population may be living in their own shit and piss, disease may be rife and rats may eat our feet while we sleep but at least I can "twit" my every mundane daily activity now!
 
Wow, I thought [H] was much better than this, the level of apathy and ignorance in here just makes me sick. I hope all of you are being facetious.
 
Nicholas Negroponte just called a press conference to announce the $19.99 XO-2.71828. :D
 
Anyway, I'd have to get this. I recently got a $50 eee pc 701 2g surf to use as a dedicated... aim box under my 6 monitor setup :O
 
encore2097 said:
Wow, I thought [H] was much better than this, the level of apathy and ignorance in here just makes me sick. I hope all of you are being facetious.
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i for one dont care at all about this. but i will be buying the $10 version just to play with it. not really expecting any functionality or reliability, but hey, for $10, who cares?
 
encore2097 said:
Wow, I thought [H] was much better than this, the level of apathy and ignorance in here just makes me sick. I hope all of you are being facetious.
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Yeah, I would have to agree with you-there are some really ignorant people in this thread.

TheTyrant said:
Obviously the goal for this device is to put a device in every home in low-income areas. Knowledge is power. This in conjunction with government funded free wireless grids offered. This means, that children will be able to soak up as much knowledge as they can...
Thumbs up.
Click to expand...

Summed it up perfectly.
 
TheTyrant said:
Obviously the goal for this device is to put a device in every home in low-income areas.
Click to expand...
The articles mention that this will only be going to 20 million school children. There don't seem to be any plans for what you mention, at least as far as the maker of the device has told Indian or foreign press. It could have a wider scope, but pretty unlikely outside of urban areas, at least as a general information device. It's awesome to dream that Internet service will pop up as needed. That just doesn't happen without a very large push to improve infrastructure.
 
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