Looks like Indian market is going to see a lot of low-cost Tablet PC’s! A few weeks back Indian HRD Minister announced a $35 Tablet which they are planning to launch in 2011; but the $35 price tag is for restricted for students & educational institutions only.
Now a Bangalore based company has built a prototype of Tablet PC codenamed “STAMP” running Linux O.S and the Android O.S which they claim will cost $50, again a cheap Tablet PC as compared with the other options currently available in the market like the OlivePad which costs around $550.
Founder of Allgo Embedded System, K. Srinivasan. said “We have developed the prototype for which the material costs are $35 and are currently in talks with manufacturers,” he said. “If we make 10,000 units, it will cost about $50. If we make a lakh units, it can be priced around $45 and costs can be as low as $ 40 if a million units are manufactured”.
Highlights of Android on STAMP:
- Android 2.1 (Eclair) ported on i.MX233 STAMP platform
- Port available on Freescale i.MX233 EVK also
- Support for upto WVGA LCD
- Touchscreen / keypad support
- Audio playback from internal flash memory and
- SD-card
- MPEG-4 / H.264 Video playback
- Android USB gadget (Mass storage) support
- SDIO based WiFi connectivity
- Web browsing over WiFi network
- Boot from NAND or SD-card.
Highlights of Linux on STAMP:
- Freescale i.MX233 ARM9 CPU 450 MHz
- Low cost BOM optimized design
- Linux OS & BSP supported by AllGo
- Display: Upto 800×480, with touch screen
- HMI: QT and GTK support
- Connectivity: SDIO WiFi / USB WiFi/ Ethernet
- UART ports to interface to ZigBee module
- Battery or mains powered, Support for battery charging
- Available as Dev Kit.
This Tablet was showcased by Allgo Embedded System, at the Freescale Technology Forum in Orlando last month. It has a 7 inch and can be used run basic applications, browse the internet, play audio and videos and has wireless capabilities too.
