(PhysOrg.com) -- On February 3, the Indian government will display a prototype of the Rs 500, a $10 laptop that will hopefully give more young people the opportunity to learn and help increase the country's school enrollment.

UPDATE (February 4, 2009):

On Tuesday, February 3, India's national Mission on Education Program clarified that the $10 laptop is actually not a laptop, but a storage device. The storage device contains megabytes of data that can be accessed by a user by connecting the device to a laptop. The 5-inch by 10-inch Rs 500 storage device is now priced at $30. Joint Secretary N. K. Sinha, who made the announcement, did not explain why the device was being called a laptop when it was not. via: Times of India



The $10 laptop project is the product of a collaboration among institutions including the Vellore Institute of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, and IIT-Madras. The project began about three years ago in response to the proposed $100 laptop (the "One Laptop Per Child" project), an idea from MIT's Nicholas Negroponte, which was going to cost $200. Currently, the $10 laptop is projected to cost $20, but India's secretary of higher education R. P. Agarwal hopes that price will come down with mass production.

The $10 laptop will be equipped with 2 GB of memory, WiFi, fixed Ethernet, expandable memory, and consume just 2 watts of power.

The unveiling of the laptop will occur at the government's launch of the National Mission on Education through Information and Technology, held next Tuesday in Tirupati. The Indian government is working with publishers to provide e-content on educational subjects which will be available free of cost. The government is also considering a plan to subsidize internet connections for schools.

Currently, the government is consulting with different production agencies, and hopes to make the computers commercially available in the next six months.

via: Engadget

© 2009 PhysOrg.com

Explore further Fad or future? Telehealth expansion eyed beyond pandemic