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Intel developing community PC for India
By agencies
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Friday, 07 October 2005, 19:30 IST
BANGALORE: In order to provide wireless Internet access to village communities in remote areas the chipmaker Intel is planning the role out community-based personal computers (PC).
Announcing this at the Intel Developer Forum, Patrick P Gelsinger, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Digital Enterprise group said that the company had already launched the pilot project in 10 locations across the country. Strategy for the project would be decided based on the pilots result.
Amar Babu, Director for South Asia (sales and Marketing) said: Specifications for the low-cost PC that could withstand high temperatures and tough conditions would be announced by the year-end so that computer makers in India and elsewhere could manufacture them.
The computer can work on a car battery as its back-up energy supply, since supply of electricity in the rural areas was a problem, Gelsinger said. It could be useful to be used in schools and educational initiatives in rural areas, though it was still in a conceptual stage, said Babu. The company was looking to launch WiMax pilot projects.
Besides, Intel had launched the second phase of its India operations with an investment of about $43 million. The company currently employs 2,700 people, and the headcount is expected to go up to 3,000 by the year-end. New capabilities have been planned for the company's next-generation mobile platform, code-named Napa.