India Unveils Sakshat, the $20 Laptop

[seiko]

India Unveils Sakshat, the $20 Laptop - Promises to reduce price to just $10 - Softpedia

As expected, India’s $20 laptop was officially unveiled yesterday, despite ongoing worries that the device won’t become available at that price point. Officials responsible for what is now known as the “Sakshat” laptop have declared that this portable system will be priced at $10. Availability is slated for six months after the laptop goes into mass production.

The Sakshat, which is the fruit of a project that was meant to provide an alternative to OLPC’s XO laptop, is expected to come with 2GB of memory, which can be expanded. The system is said to boast Wi-Fi and fixed Ethernet capability and consume no less than 2 watts of power. As mentioned in previous articles, the laptop was designed as an educational tool and is the result of a project that involved the cooperative effort of the Indian government and academic institutions.

“A lot of testing has to be done to ensure that the technology works properly,” said R.P. Agrawal, India's Higher Education Secretary, according to Indian media sources. “Once the testing is over, the computers will be made available on commercial basis. The target is to make it available in six months' time.” he added.

Currently, there are no available details on the processor or RAM memory of the Sakshat, but it is expected that it will provide a simple version of a Linux-based open source operating system. There are still questions regarding the financial details on said laptop, given that the price tag of an LCD could easily top the price point of the overall system. In addition, there are claims that the laptop is just part of an electoral campaign, as India will soon see some important elections.

OLPC’s XO laptop started the media buzz around the low-cost system designed for educational purposes. It was this project that led to the announcement of the Sakshat, which will likely compete with OLPC’s product.

[A1Kaid]

This got a lot of laugh over the international forums where the news was posted by international members...

[A1Kaid]

It does sakhshat you guys are right.

[Lady Macbeth]

The news dates to '4th of February 2009, 07:30 GMT', a bit too late dont you think?

The internet has been swamped with news of this $10/$20/$35 computer since september 2006.

Remember the infamous Dr Jhunjhunwala from IIT, Chennai???
Where the bl**dy hell is it? Whats taking so long?

Last year, one of the ministry's officials announced it was about to unveil a $10 laptop, triggering worldwide media interest.

But there was disappointment after the "Sakshat" turned out to be a prototype of a handheld device, with an unspecified price tag, that never materialised.

BBC News - India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer


India is fast becoming disreputable pulling these little stunts every now and then "worlds cheapest whatchamacallit"!!! Most of these thingamajigs wouldnt get approved in the west due to health and safety issues.
Why else would it be so cheap.

Congrats anyway, India!!!

[Interceptor]

Thanks lady thats what I was thinking long time ago in a previous forum I remember reading similar news that India was unveiling $10 laptop but turned out to be a hoax. But may I intrude in this accomplishment by saying that China has been doing this for quite some time with much success and I wonder has India tried to capitalize on that idea?

[A1Kaid]

Originally Posted by Lady Macbeth

The news dates to '4th of February 2009, 07:30 GMT', a bit too late dont you think?

The internet has been swamped with news of this $10/$20/$35 computer since september 2006.

Remember the infamous Dr Jhunjhunwala from IIT, Chennai???
Where the bl**dy hell is it? Whats taking so long?


BBC News - India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer


India is fast becoming disreputable pulling these little stunts every now and then "worlds cheapest whatchamacallit"!!! Most of these thingamajigs wouldnt get approved in the west due to health and safety issues.
Why else would it be so cheap.

Congrats anyway, India!!!

Customers would not buy such a hideous and degenerate low quality laptop, if you can even call it one.

The US specifically MIT ( I think it was them) has actually created what is called the "$100 laptop" it's a laptop that can do basic things such as web browsing, emailing, word processor, and a few other things. They also launched an international program to distribute them around the world especially in poor countries like India, African countries, etc. Check the links...it's clear which laptop is better.

One Laptop per Child (OLPC): Laptop

[vinod2070]

Originally Posted by Lady Macbeth

The news dates to '4th of February 2009, 07:30 GMT', a bit too late dont you think?

The internet has been swamped with news of this $10/$20/$35 computer since september 2006.

There was a new report lately. It may or may not materialize.

Your enthusiasm for it to succeed (???) is laudable though.

Remember the infamous Dr Jhunjhunwala from IIT, Chennai???
Where the bl**dy hell is it? Whats taking so long?

You impressed me here. You know of Professor Jhunjhunwala!

Not sure if he in infamous in India. He has several patents to his credit in telecommunications and IT, started several companies with his students (many are doing well AFAIK). Some of his ambitious projects may not have done as expected and that is quite normal. Only people who try ever fail.

Not everyone has as clean and spotless a record of no failures as our neighbors who fly the missiles over their cities the first time and have never faced a failure! It is another matter that except missiles, they have not been able to create even a car wiper (or even a needle if some Pakistani writers are to be believed).

BBC News - India unveils prototype for $35 touch-screen computer

India is fast becoming disreputable pulling these little stunts every now and then "worlds cheapest whatchamacallit"!!! Most of these thingamajigs wouldnt get approved in the west due to health and safety issues.
Why else would it be so cheap.

Oh, so you are an IT expert and safety expert as well! If you noticed, the prices of computers and electronics has been going down and there is no reason why we can't have a still cheaper product. Naysayers who have never achieved anything will keep on naysaying and the world will keep on making progress, not going back to a 7th century desert.

We are becoming disreputable and at the same time have a $60 billion (and growing) IT industry. Companies that are competing with global marquee names like IBM, HP and Accenture on equal terms and many times stealing their thunder!

While our neighbor is claiming to better us for decades and has a $50 million one! Strange isn't it?

Congrats anyway, India!!!

You are always welcome.

I do hope millions of poor students get access to cheap computers in India (and the whole world). It may come from anywhere, India, China, USA or Pakistan. It doesn't matter, what matter is that the poor get benefitted.

[vinod2070]

BTW, the Pentium chip that is powering your computer, the internet mail that you use, the operating systems that are powering your laptops and much else around you has a lot of Indian contribution.

[vinod2070]

I recently read some statistics about the religious breakup of global IT industry manpower, the industry that is powering our future.

Christians were closely followed by Hindus (More than 30% each) and Chinese. Muslims were in low single digits, at the fringes.

I see why. You guys are busy criticizing while enjoying the fruits of the innovations and hard work of kaffirs. At the same time cursing them at every opportunity.