Some of the world's brightest technologists hail from this south Indian city, burnishing Bangalore's reputation as the Silicon Valley of the East.
Yet for most Indians, whose average income is US$450 a year, a computer is a foreign word. Ownership is a distant dream.
PHOTO: AP
A group of seven Indian computer scientists think they can help.
They've built a simple, inexpensive handheld computer -- they call it the Simputer -- that in the words of co-developer Vinay Deshpande "could truly take the benefits of information technology to the underserved of the world."
Fewer than 1 percent of India's more than 1 billion people have personal computers.
More than 40 percent of the population is illiterate, and one in four Indians lives in abject poverty.
The idea for the Simputer, which is slated for launch by year's end, emerged from the India Institute of Science and Encore Software Ltd after both were asked by the government to devise ways to deliver information technology's benefits to rural India, where some 75 percent of the country's population lives.
Inspired by the transistor radio, which opened an information spigot to India's villages in the 1970s, the team designed a 7.5cm by 12.5cm telecommunications-ready machine.
They envision Indian farmers using it to get on the Internet via public telephones and check produce prices, government tax and land records.
Although it was designed with Indians in mind, the hope is that the Simputer will be attractive to governments, banks, relief agencies and schools in other developing countries.
"It is a big boost for Indian pride," said Deshpande, the chairman of Encore Software, one of two companies that hold the manufacturing license.
"It proves what we've been saying all along: That we can do it here. This is 100 percent India."
Swami Manohar, another of the developers and a computer science professor at IIS, said the Simputer's initial price would be around US$320. Eventually, they intend to sell it in volume at US$190.
That's still expensive for most Indians.
So the Simputer would accommodate smart cards, which each cost about US$4.25. That would enable farmers, villages or schools to share a single device, and use individual smart cards to store data.
The Simputer runs on a version of the Linux operating system, whose source code is free on the Internet. It has a 320-by-240-pixel monochrome display, is powered by a 200Mhz StrongArm processor and has a hard polymer shell.
The current prototype has 32MB of random access memory, runs on three AAA nickel metal hydride batteries, includes a built-in speaker, a microphone and a telephone jack, and USB and smart card connectors. Into the software bundle are a built-in Internet browser, e-mail program, MP3 player and a modem.
Because it runs on Linux, programmers working through the nonprofit Simputer Trust can improve on the machine's codes and capabilities. On their Web site, the developers say the trust aims to promote the Simputer "as an evolving platform for social change.''
Since many of its users would be illiterate, the Simputer has text-to-speech capability and voicemail.
It is designed to break down written words into basic sounds, then put them back together and speak out in English, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada.
Users can also enter text on a soft screen keyboard, one character at a time, or with a stylus using a handwriting recognition program the designers call "Tapatap"' -- (akin to Graffiti in the Palm OS).
The Simputer Trust does not intend to manufacture the device, only license its design. It plans to charge US$25,000 to commercial producers in developing countries and US$250,000 to manufacturers in developed nations.
"This is a world-class product, ahead of anything being done anywhere else in the world," said Kenneth Keniston, director of the India Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Simputer is not, however, the only cheap computer out there.
In Brazil, computer scientists at Federal University of Minas Gerais have developed a prototype of a PC for the people -- dubbed the Volkscomputer -- which they envision will sell for US$300.
But it's not portable, making it more difficult to share among communities.
The Simputer's developers scrounged for grants and credit the university for giving them lab space and research and development time.
And they don't pretend they don't hope to get rich off the Simputer one day.
The men who built the handheld put in much of their own time and money, and the four computer scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, considered the MIT of the East, earn some US640 monthly and have put most of their other research on hold.
"Not to mention that we haven't seen our families," said V. Vinay, one of the professors. "We're not looking at the retail market, but we're not going to ignore it either."
Deshpande, the software and marketing man of Simputer, agrees: "We hope to make money in the long run."
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in