Hi Sameer,

Could you explain the following: 1. Gif-image touch screen 2. How a measely handheld computing device can benefit a rural area

Remember, do not believe everything you read :-)

~Mayuresh

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."

http://www.simputer.org/

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