Simputer for the masses set for takeoff

[Irfan Khan <nahknafri@yahoo.com>]

Simputer for the masses set for takeoff
Reuters
March 6, 2002, 5:05 AM PT





BANGALORE--A low-cost handheld computer developed by 
seven Indian engineers to take the Internet to rural
masses will start rolling out in May, the head of a
firm pioneering the project said.

The "Simputer," short for Simple, Inexpensive,
Multilingual, is championed by its followers as a
friend of the poor, but some of its supporters add
that its features match cool and trendy handhelds like
those built by Palm. (see Simputer details
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-808267.html )

Originally expected to cost $200, it would now cost
$50 more, Vinay Deshpande, chief executive of
Bangalore-based Encore Software, told Reuters on
Wednesday.


The color screen version is priced at $300. 

"We hope to produce 50,000 Simputers in the first 12
months and take it to 300,000-500,000 in two years,"
Deshpande said. 

Built by the non-profit Simputer Trust, the device is
slightly larger than a regular handheld PC, and uses
the free-to-use Linux operating system. 

Its software is expected to aid farmers seeking to
know commodity prices and beat middlemen and also
provide speech recognition in regional languages to
help illiterate rural folk. 

At $250, the Simputer will be three times cheaper than
a PC, and cost about the same as a color TV set, a
price level which is expected to help spread computers
to the corners of India, two-thirds of whose one
billion people live in rural areas. 

India's current installed base of computers is around
six million. 

"We have orders for 1,000 Simputers from firms in
healthcare and co-operative banking including few
state governments," said Deshpande, whose firm is one
of the two key license holders of the Simputer. 

Deshpande and two of Encore's other co-founders are
part of the Simputer Trust, which developed the device
with a group of computer scientists from Bangalore's
prestigious Indian Institute of Science. 

The Simputer hooks up to the Internet and accommodates
individual smart cards which store personal data to
allow it be shared by many users. The software also
translates English and regional language text into
speech. 

Encore is initially targeting the institutional and
corporate market instead of tapping retail users which
requires large marketing investments, Deshpande said. 

"We are currently working to make enhancements like
giving it an international style, greater memory and
stronger battery power," he said. The device was first
unveiled last April. 

Encore has given contracts to two Bangalore-based
companies to manufacture the Simputer and formed a
joint venture with a Singapore-based company to market
the device in Asia. 


source: 
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-852805.html

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email!
http://mail.yahoo.com/