India Unveils World’s Cheapest $10 Laptop

India has developed and released the world’s cheapest laptop today which will cost merely around $10 to $20 (Rs 500 to Rs 1,000) and is much cheaper than any other notebook available in the world.

Rediff news reports that the world cheapest laptop was unveiled by Union Minister for Human Resources Development Arjun Singh at the Tirupati temple on Tuesday evening. The laptop, jointly developed by University Grants Commission, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras, and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, will be priced at around $10 to $20 (about Rs 500 to Rs 1,000). They say the laptop is expected to reach the market in about six months.

Information week reveals that The Sakshat model scheduled for display in the city of Tirupati Tuesday has 2 GB of memory, which is expandable. It has Wi-Fi and fixed Ethernet capability and will consume just 2 watts of power.

The high cost of laptops and computer has blocked the spread to computers to the large rural community and student population in India. This is India’s answer to the OLPC’s low cost XO laptops priced much over $100, but sold worldwide through an aggressive marketing campaign. This $10 laptop once available in the market will revolutionize the way the world uses laptops.

Update: More conflicting Indian press reports are indicating that the $10 laptop might not be a laptop at all, and the price may be higher at $30. Times of India reports

The so-called laptop actually turned out to be a storage device containing megabytes of data info which can be accessed by a user by connecting this device to a laptop. It meant that unlike the internet, this device can display that information that has already been stored.

The Hindu newspaper says

The 10” long and 5” wide hand-held device, resembling a palmtop or a modem, helps e-learners access the Web easily. Priced versions of e-content available on the Net can be accessed through this device. The cost of the device shot up to between $20 and $30 against the initial plan to peg it at $10, forcing the department to resort to a cost-cutting exercise.