Introducing solar powered 'iSlate' tablet for Indian kids

Bangalore: After the $35 tablet, and government's Rent-a-PC scheme, here comes one more ray of 'sunshine' for rural India, quite literally. Introducing the iSlate, the solar powered tablet PC, aimed for the rural students of India. Currently being developed by researchers at the Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU), along with partnership of Houston's Rice University and Villages for Development and Learning Foundation (ViDAL), an NGO in India, the iSlate's price and specifications are not known yet. In a country where electricity is a dream for many, the iSlate can prove to be a boon for Indians, specially the rural people. The chips of the iSlate, being designed by NTU in collaboration with Switzerland's Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology, use a fraction of electricity used by today's processors. The first of the iSlates will be tested in Mohd. Hussainpalli village, near Hyderabad. Rajeswari Pingali, President, ViDAL said, "The iSlate can help bring the marvels of technology into thousands of rural schools and contribute to an improved learning experience." Although the whole concept of the iSlate looks very promising and well suited to Indian conditions, the final verdict can only be given once the price and full specs of the tablet PC is out.