India Made Cheapest Laptop

India has developed the world's cheapest laptop – a touchscreen device. The seven and nine inch Linux-based touchscreen gadget can also be run on solar power, besides the battery operated system.

The prototype was unveiled by Kapil Sibal, the country's human resource development minister, who said 110 million Indian schoolchildren would be the first recipients.

Sibal said the Linux based computing device was expected to be introduced to higher education institutions from 2011 but the aim was to drop the price further to $20 and ultimately to $10.

The tablet computer, developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengalooru, will eventually be made available to the public. It will run on an open source Linux operating system with Open Office software and can be powered by solar panel or batteries as well as mains electricity. It will have no hard drive but users will have access to a USB port, 2GB of memory and a video-conferencing facility, internet browsing.

"The interesting thing is that slate devices are expected to come into the market and cut into sales of laptops and netbooks. The predictions are that slate devices will do to netbooks and laptops what netbooks and laptops did to desktop PCs. It gives people mobility.

More than 62m PCs are expected to be sold in India this year and the figure is predicted to top 100m in 2013. The first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010 saw a 72% growth in netbook sales.

The device unveiled has no hard disk, using a memory card instead, like a mobile phone, and can run on solar power, according to reports. Mr Sibal said the Indian tablet, said to run the Linux operating system, was expected to be introduced to higher education institutions next year.

India Made Cheapest Laptop

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