India has come up with the world's cheapest “laptop,” a touch-screen computing device that costs $35. India's Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal this week unveiled the low-cost computing device that is designed for students, saying his department had started talks with global manufacturers to start mass production. “We have reached a (developmental) stage that today, the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around $35, including memory, display, everything,” he told a news conference. He said the touchscreen gadget was packed with Internet browers, PDF reader and video conferencing facilities but its hardware was created with sufficient flexibility to incorporate new components according to user requirement. Sibal said the Linux based computing device was expected to be introduced to higher education institutions from 2011 but the aim was to drop the price further to $20 and ultimately to $10. The device was developed by research teams at India's premier technological institutes, the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science. It has a solar power option too – important for India's energy-starved hinterlands – though that add-on costs extra. The tablet doesn't have a hard disk, but instead uses a memory card, much like a mobile phone. The tablet design cuts hardware costs, and the use of open-source software also adds to savings. – Agencies If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of “world's cheapest” innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the Rs100,000 ($2,127) compact Nano car, the Rs749 ($16) water purifier and the $2,000 open
