Indian Government Unveils Powerful $10 Tablet - Believe it when we see it

The Indian government held a press conference to show off the prototype(s) of a new tablet that they claim will be available for students in 2011. The base price of $35 and subsidized for as low as $10 for students in India would make this an amazing breakthrough that would put the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project to shame.

A superficial analysis (given the dearth of details provided) so far indicates that the necessary hardware can be sourced for under $35, and an open source Linux platform with government/university subsidized software development makes it look like a feasible project.

Its more likely, however, that some politicians are trying to score some points with the announcement of a project that will never bear fruit. According to the Wired article "In February 2009, Indian government officials announced a $10 laptop that ultimately proved to be vaporware."

The best case scenario is that the project is real and, ultimately, the technology shows up in Walmart for $19.99 in the near future. A more likely scenario is that the project reinvigorates multiple OLPC-type projects.


Why India’s $35 Tablet May Be Just a Dream | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Here’s a tablet from India that costs just $35 | Good E-Reader Blog - Electronic Reader and Slate PC News
Indian Government Unveils Quite Powerful $10 Tablet - Device dubbed Sakshat, developed by IIT students - Softpedia
Indian $35 tablet treated with some skepticism in India itself | TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home