The Indian government has unveiled a tablet prototype that should cost only $35 upon entering the market next year, without sacrificing standard functionality. The Linux-based slate is said to have 2GB of memory (whether that's RAM or storage is unclear), features Wi-Fi connectivity, it can handle PDFs and other documents, play YouTube videos, browse the web, supports video-conferencing, and it even has a solar power option - though that comes at an extra (undisclosed) fee.
Full hardware specs haven't been shared yet so we don't know what kind of muscle is under the hood, but various news outfits say the nameless device has a touchscreen. As if $35 weren't a bold enough prospect, India supposedly plans to gradually reduce the price to $20, and eventually even $10 - but don't get too excited yet.
A bit back, India drummed up anticipation over a $10 educational laptop in response to the OLPC project. As it turned out, the device was a display-less, keyboard-less brick that basically amounted to networked storage. A spokesperson said the $35 tablet is feasible because of falling hardware costs, open source software, and an intelligent design, but we'll believe it when we see it.