India develops world's cheapest "laptop" at $35

2010-07-23 11:50:00

India has come up with the world's cheapest "laptop," a touch-screen computing device that costs $35.

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal this week unveiled the low-cost computing device that is designed for students, saying his department had started talks with global manufacturers to start mass production.

"We have reached a (developmental) stage that today, the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around $35, including memory, display, everything," he told a news conference.

He said the touchscreen gadget was packed with Internet browers, PDF reader and video conferencing facilities but its hardware was created with sufficient flexibility to incorporate new components according to user requirement.

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 device was developed by research teams at India's premier technological institutes, the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science.

India spends about three percent of its annual budget on school education and has improved its literacy rates to over 64 percent of its 1.2 billion population but studies have shown many students can barely read or write and most state-run schools have inadequate facilities.

India's Rs.1,500 laptop a godsend for students

2010-07-23 18:00:00

An Indian laptop priced at just Rs.1,500 ($30) and touted as the world's cheapest will come as a godsend for students for whom it has been specifically designed.

The laptop, unveiled Thursday by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal, has all the basic features, including a built-in key board, a 2 GB RAM memory, Wi-Fi connectivity, USB ports and is powered by a 2-watt system for use in power deficit areas. The device is likely to be available next year.

India develops world's cheapest 'laptop'

The seven and nine inch Linux-based touchscreen gadget can also be run on solar power, besides the battery operated system.

The computing device will support functions like video web conferencing facility, and multimedia content viewing.

The HRD ministry, under whose initiative the computer was designed and developed, hopes to bring down the price to $10 after the device is mass produced.

Accordingly, the ministry is reported to be in discussions with entrepreneurs, private firms and industries.

'If more companies decide to manufacture a similar device, prices will come down automatically,' Sibal said after unveiling the device.

Teams of experts, students and professors drawn from the Indian Institutes of Technology at Kharagpur, Kanpur, Chennai and Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, offered their skills and expertise to bring out the device with the HRD ministry.

Why India's Rs 1500 laptop might not prove to be a rage

The low-cost computer fulfils a mission of the union government to provide e-content free to learners under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology.

The HRD ministry undertook the initiative to develop the computer after meeting with lukewarm response from corporates, by crystallising the concept with the help of a group of IIT professors.

One motherboard was reportedly designed by a student of Vellore Institute of Technology under his B.Tech project and was fabricated at IIT Kanpur. The cost had worked out to Rs.2,209.

Thereafter, the processes of customisation helped reduce the price of the computing device.

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Web browser

India gets its own web-browser: Epic

Thursday, July 15, 2010

BANGALORE, INDA: Bangalore-based Hidden Reflex today launched Epic, the first web-browser targeting Indian audience powered by Mozilla platform. The browser has been created by a team of Indian engineers.
Addressing the press conference, Alok Bhardwaj, CEO and founder, Hidden Reflex, said, "We’re excited to introduce a unique Indian browsing experience that we hope will reach and resonate with every citizen in the country. As an organization, we foresee huge growth in Internet usage in India. Our aim with Epic is to make it easy even for the first time web users and at the same time powerful enough to be important for advanced users."
One of the features of Epic’s India sidebar, which supports Indian content, is to provide users access to latest national and regional news from popular publications, live television channels, videos, stock quotes, live cricket scores, top music albums, and local events.
Users can also choose from 1500+ customized Indian themes and wallpapers. It also enables user to write in twelve Indian languages on any webpage or on Write, Epic’s free built-in word processor.
R Rajalakshmi, director, STPI, said, "At STPI, we encourage small and start-up companies to use our infrastructure to build new and innovative applications.”
She added, "We must utilize the large talent pool available in India and develop our own innovative products. I hope to see more technologists catch up to the entrepreneurial spirit"
Epic also incorporates free antivirus scanning and healing, the only browser to offer this service.
Epic is the first browser to have a suite of sidebar applications to improve multi-tasking and productivity. Pre-installed applications include communication apps for Facebook, Orkut, Gmail, entertainment apps such as a Picture-in-Picture Video Sidebar and Games, and utilities such as File Backup, My Computer, a To-Do list, and Maps.
Internet user can now download the browser for free by logging onto the company website.

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Hacking smart phones is easy: experts

Just one number can unlock your personal information, your private conversations and even your whereabouts to smart-phone hackers

Monday, July 05, 2010

LOS ANGELES, USA: Security researchers Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey have discovered a seven-digit numerical code that can unlock all kinds of secrets about you, according to Los Angeles Times report.
According to the report, using relatively simple techniques, the experts can use your cellphone number to figure out your name, where you live and work, where you travel and when you sleep. The experts have demonstrated that they can even listen to your voice messages and personal phone calls.
Also read: India needs to step up cyber offensive
DePetrillo and Bailey are part of a busy community of security researchers — some of whom are known as "white hat" hackers — investigating and exposing the many security holes that have yet to be plugged by smart-phone makers and their wireless carriers.
The world has come a long distance from old-style telephones, which were little more than a speaker, a bell and a microphone connected to a wire.
Also read: Bad guys want your money, ID/resources
But as smart phones become more powerful and widely used, they also become busy hubs for data, packed with a user's digital Rolodex, e-mails and credit card details. Most phones are also fitted with a global positioning device that beams its location far and wide.
Once they have a phone number — yours for instance — they can easily determine your name by taking advantage of a vulnerability in the Caller ID system. Using special software, they can "spoof" a call — that is, make a call that appears to the phone company as though it's coming from your number. They can then call themselves using your number and watch as their Caller ID device lights up with your name.
Attackers could theoretically do this with thousands of numbers to create their own personal mobile phone book, the report said.

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