http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,44642,00.html
The Simputer looks and feels like a bulkier Palm. It uses three AAA batteries and an Intel strong-arm chip. It has 32MB of RAM and 16MB of Flash memory and runs on the free Linux operating system. It also features a gif-image touch screen, e-mail and Net access when connected to a working telephone line. And most importantly, it has a smartcard reader that enables the machine to be used on a shared basis.
Getting rural areas networked and connected has been a goal since before the project began two years ago. Manohar is hoping the Indian government will buy and distribute these machines at the village and district levels so that each small community has at least five Simputers.
"We are actually giving away the technology," said Shashank Garg, co-creator and VP at Encore Software. "One of the reasons the device is coming out at such a low price is because we have not added intellectual property costs of the several engineers who have been working on it for the past two years."
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