$100 PC soon to be reality from Chennai
Novatium Solutions Systems Ltd (NSSL) will be launching a home computing device on a large scale beginning in Chennai in a month’s time, but its pilot programme is already making global headlines for introducing a full function Personal Computer for about Rs.4500.
Managing director and CEO Alok Singh said that the technology, developed in partnership with IIT Chennai, had enabled NSSL to offer a full function personal computer that worked on Internet Protocol. The Personal Computer works like this. A consumer buys a package called Novatium NetPC that consists of a color monitor, keyboard and a small computing box, essentially a link to the hard drive or CPU, which is based in the server farm of the company connected by either by copper wire, fibre optic cable, or telephone line or even by a wireless connection.
Once connected users can work in the Personal Computer in the usual fashion and save all their work on dedicated space on the server which is available like any other standalone computer all the time. Customers can also use any software like Windows or Linux.
The Personal Computer can also double as an IPTV, which will stream all the normal TV programmes that are available on the cable. NSSL is the brainchild of Rahesh Jain, a technocrat based in Silicon Valley, which was given wings by the team of Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a professor in IIT, Chennai.
Singh said that Jain was approached by Prof.Jhunjhunwala when he saw his NetPC presentation at a 2003 conference in Bangalore. Jhunjhunwala runs a research lab and business incubator at IIT Chennai, much like MIT’s Media lab. Very soon the technology for developing a low-cost computing device was developed at IIT and early this year we went in for a pilot project with about 300 connections in KK Nagar.
Jhunjhunwala is also a director in NSSL, which will soon launch the NetPC on a commercial basis beginning in Chennai from next month. Singh said that the company has finalised networking partners and distributors in Chennai and will launch a full size commercial service early next month. He added that they would be going in for a nationwide, after a few months.
