The Indian HRD minister, Kapil Sibal has unveiled plans to launch a low cost “computing-cum-access” device – a tablet PC in other words, whose prices will begin at a modest $35. The government has indicated that with bulk production, the prices can drop to as low as $10 a piece.
Of course, the prices seem to low to be taken seriously for the moment. Rs.400 for a tablet computer looks atrociously low. Even regular sized calculators cost much more than that. Nevertheless, the ministry has indicated that the intentions are serious and it plans to make it available to students across the country. Here are the minimum functionalities that could be made available
- Support for video web Conferencing facility
- Multimedia content viewer for example .pdf, docx, .ods, adp, .doc, .xls, .jpeg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .odt, .zip, AVCHD, AVI, AC3, etc.
- Searchable Pdf reader
- Unzip tool for unzipping zip files.
- Possibility of installing suitable firmware upgradation.
- Computing capabilities such as Open Office , SciLab , cups (for printing support)
- Media player capable of playing streamed as well as stored media files.
- Internet browsing with flash plug-in, JavaScript, pdf plug-in java.
- Wireless communication for Audio/video I/O.
- Cloud computing option.
- Remote device management capability.
- Multimedia input output interface option (for allowing DTV, IPTv, DTH, streaming etc.)
Do you think this is a possibility?