What is Inside India's $35 PC?

It is a PC, not a toy. And it works quite fine. But the actual cost once it is commercially produced could be a little more...

It is not without reason that Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn called India the land from where he could learn some frugal engineering. While Ghosn may have had Tata Nano on his mind, the case, it seems, is no different when it comes to the PCs.

India's $35 PC—that has evoked extreme reactions from different sections—may not be a market ready product yet like Nano, but it is certainly not a toy. Dataquest managed to lay its hands on one of the devices and found that despite a few shortcomings, it is actually a working tablet with fairly smooth functionality.

First things first. It is actually an Android-based tablet, not Linux-based, as reported by a section of the media. The processor is an ARM 9 (Freescale i.MX233). It is encased in a rubber frame, and the look and feel is quite good. Since the PC has not been named yet, the shiny encryption on the rubberized cover is Android.

The tablet has  Wi-Fi connectivity, a bulit-in camera and has everything that one can expect from an Android Tablet: calendar, i-reader and other apps. It has a touch screen panel with a stylus and a virtual keyboard. On the left, there is a mini SD card slot, SIM card slot, two mini USB ports, a video out and a headphone jack too. It has internal memory of 2 GB. And the fact that there two USB ports available, one can easily fit in a USB keyboard and mouse if desired. It has a solar power option too, which though may not be an invention, is good enough if comes within the $35.

That is all about specs...

So then, what all can the little master essentially do? Already developed within the IIT systems, the tablet has preloaded educational software and most of the lectures are aimed to be delivered with it. Videos of lectures can be loaded to the tablet and students won’t necessarily have to miss one anymore. This writer had the opportunity to watch one by Prof T S Navarauan.

In the two hour long involvement with the device, besides getting a feel of it and trying hard to understand Prof Navarauan, this writer also managed to look at its other functions like the media player, open office, multiple content viewer, check mails and located CyberMedia office on Google Map, even greeted a friend on Skype and read few paragraphs using PDF reader. That is really a long list. And at one time one felt that one was probably overloading it with too many commands, but the good thing is it didn’t give up. It did not hang.

What, however, was a little difficult to deal with was that it doesn’t have a hard-drive. Another drawback is that  the webcam is on the back panel. Also, its 7″ 800×480 touchscreen was quite resistive – not bad but resistive. This is supposedly to bring down the cost, as a classy touchscreen is sure to bring up the cost largely. Android being the console, the software for it can be from anywhere. The device will always be dependent on open-source software, which I feel if used on a regular basis, would need some access to regular technical support. Microsoft has apprently already offered its Windows CE Software for the tablet.

What is $35 in $35 PC?

While the device passed the test, the story gets a little diluted when one comes to calculating the cost. The $35 that has got the world make notice, Dataquest learns, is broadly the material cost and not the total cost of the finished product. That means the production cost and other indirect costs are not included in this. Of course, the price will still be $35 because of subsidies, but the cost would be a little more. But considering the facts, it will be 20% to 40% extra, not 100% extra, if it comes to the commercial market.

This is how the cost break-up looks like: the ARM9 Processor costs $5, memory costs for $3, WiFi for $4, other discrete components for $3, battery for $5, and the 7″ 800×480 touchscreen for $15. That makes it $35.

The Story Behind the PC

The inspiration to make this tablet ,of course came from the MIT’s $100 Laptop, informs two people who have been closely associated with the project. In fact, unlike what has been reported by media, it did not come out of student projects. It was Kapil Sibal who was personally involved in ensuring that it happens. And his initial target was making a PC for $10. He apparently approached a few Indian companies but got lukewarm experience. It is then that he approached the institutes. Research scholars in four IITs—Bomaby, Madras, Kharagpur, and Kanpur—and IISc Bangalore—were put together for the project. It was all done centrally as many of the people who worked on teams at each of the locations, in fact, did not even know who was working in another institute. The motherboard design actually came from a student in VIT Vellore and the PCB was made by IIT Kanpur on the design. The idea was to make it at $10. But finally, it could go down to $35.

However, the research team members are hopeful that if the hardware price-drop continues, in future it could go down further.

About 8,500 colleges are expected to sign up for the first phase of roll-out. Reportedly, the Manipur Government has already announced its order of 75,000 tablets for the students of its state. The production is expected to start in next three months overseas but will be shifted back to the country after sometime.

It is learnt that the Chief of ‘One Laptop Per Child’ (OLPC), Nicholas Negroponte has invited the HRD ministry officials to visit Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and asked the Indian Government to make the laptop open for the students of other countries too. And you thought our calling it frugal engineering was just some journalistic excess?