<p>“Our target is to bring it (the price) down to $ 10 a piece and our research teams are engaged in that project. In the meanwhile, we have developed this low cost access-cum-computing device,” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters.<br />However, it might take another five/six months to actually make it available to students as issues relating to manufacture and distribution are yet to be sorted out.<br /><br />“Our learners should get it in 2011 and the government will provide a 50 per cent subsidy per computer,” the minister said.<br /><br />The computer, developed by a research team comprising IIT professors and experts from IISc, does not have a hard disc and uses Linux. But it has every function, which a normal computer has, the minister claimed.<br /><br />Elaborating the functions, Sibal said the device has support for video web conferencing facility, multimedia content viewer for example pdf, jpeg, zip, etc, and computing capabilities such as Open Office, SciLab and internet browsing with flash plug-in, JavaScript. It also has wireless communication for Audio/Video, Cloud computing option, remote device management capability, multi-media input output interface option.<br />“Since there is no hard disc, the computers have lesser memory, but one can use add-on memories. There are solar panels also with the computers,” Sibal said.<br /><br />The government has already launched the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) to provide high quality high definition interactive video courses and e-content for various undergraduate and postgraduate courses.<br /><br />Under the NMEICT, connectivity is proposed to be provided to 504 universities and 25,000 colleges across the country. It is part of this mission that the government has come out with the low-cost computers.<br /></p>
<p>“Our target is to bring it (the price) down to $ 10 a piece and our research teams are engaged in that project. In the meanwhile, we have developed this low cost access-cum-computing device,” Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters.<br />However, it might take another five/six months to actually make it available to students as issues relating to manufacture and distribution are yet to be sorted out.<br /><br />“Our learners should get it in 2011 and the government will provide a 50 per cent subsidy per computer,” the minister said.<br /><br />The computer, developed by a research team comprising IIT professors and experts from IISc, does not have a hard disc and uses Linux. But it has every function, which a normal computer has, the minister claimed.<br /><br />Elaborating the functions, Sibal said the device has support for video web conferencing facility, multimedia content viewer for example pdf, jpeg, zip, etc, and computing capabilities such as Open Office, SciLab and internet browsing with flash plug-in, JavaScript. It also has wireless communication for Audio/Video, Cloud computing option, remote device management capability, multi-media input output interface option.<br />“Since there is no hard disc, the computers have lesser memory, but one can use add-on memories. There are solar panels also with the computers,” Sibal said.<br /><br />The government has already launched the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) to provide high quality high definition interactive video courses and e-content for various undergraduate and postgraduate courses.<br /><br />Under the NMEICT, connectivity is proposed to be provided to 504 universities and 25,000 colleges across the country. It is part of this mission that the government has come out with the low-cost computers.<br /></p>
