India's $35 7-Inch Android Tablet To Hit In January

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India's $35 7-Inch Android Tablet To Hit In January

Posted by samzenpus on Saturday September 11, 2010 @11:57PM from the little-machine-little-price dept.

indogiree writes "Engadget reports that India has just awarded the manufacturing contract to HCL Technologies. The first shipment will supposedly only contain the 7-inch model and is set to arrive on January 10. It's unclear if the $35 price has stuck or whether India's been successful in plans to drive the price down to $10 eventually with the help of large orders and government subsidies. HCL Technologies plans to initially produce 100,000 units. Among the key features of this India-based tablet include 2GB of RAM, web-conferencing, PDF reader, unzip, WiFi, camera and USB connectivity."

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2GB Ram? by drerwk · 2010-09-12 00:07 · Score: 2, Informative

I can not find 2GB RAM retail for less than $35. So the summary is truly amazing, or RAM is not a global market.
1. Re:2GB Ram? by lxt · 2010-09-12 00:10 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  The submission is wrong. It's flash memory, not RAM. The TFA even says so.
2. Re:2GB Ram? by bfree · 2010-09-12 00:14 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Any Android tablet with 2GB of ram would be very interesting, but of course this this has 2GB of storage not ram.
  
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3. Re:2GB Ram? by mprinkey · 2010-09-12 00:27 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  1 Gb is 1 gigaBIT. 2 GB is 2 gigaBYTES. So, to make 2 GBs, you need 16 of those $2 chips, not two. So, ~$32 for 2 GB of RAM, just for the chips. 2 GB DIMMs/SoDIMMs are in $35-$40 range on the site you posted.
4. Re:2GB Ram? by Goaway · 2010-09-12 00:45 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Flash most definitely is not "RAM". It can not be arbitrarily written.
5. Re:2GB Ram? by james_a_craig · 2010-09-12 00:54 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Actually, no it's not. Flash can't be written to randomly; it needs a block erase cycle first (and generally a block is fairly large; we're not talking one or two bytes here). Technically you can zero bits without an erase, but not set them to 1 (erasing sets everything to 1).
  This is why there's a distinction between EEPROM, FLASH, and RAM.
6. Re:2GB Ram? by wayward_bruce · 2010-09-12 02:46 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Thanks for clarifying and setting me straight on the meaning of "random" in RAM.
Re:Production cost by mehrotra.akash · 2010-09-12 00:17 · Score: 3, Informative

The base model is $3000, its only if you want the model with AC,Airbags,etc that you pay $6000
The Truth about $35 Android Tablet from Indian Gov by jigsawhacker · 2010-09-12 00:44 · Score: 5, Informative

http://androidos.in/2010/09/the-truth-about-35-android-tablet-from-indian-government/
Re:Production cost by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · 2010-09-12 00:54 · Score: 2, Informative

I believe the prices set by these chinese (post-)shanzai shops show what's practically possible...
What would you say to a 7" touchscreen android with wifi & 2GB RAM for under $100 delivered to your door.
I don't see any reason that price can't be halved for a large enough order & then you're only looking at a $15/unit subsidy.

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Re:Sometimes Apple is cheaper by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-12 01:11 · Score: 3, Informative

You are comparing an mp3 player to a phone.
Re:Production cost by Jeff+DeMaagd · 2010-09-12 01:14 · Score: 2, Informative

OK, maybe it's real, but maybe not necessarily in the way the Indian government claims, unless they bought/stole the design. It also looks like the Indian government is also subsidizing 25% of the manufacturing cost:
http://androidos.in/2010/09/the-truth-about-35-android-tablet-from-indian-government/
Someone else pointed out that it's a resistive touch screen, which is a technology that's at least a couple decades old. I wouldn't be surprised if they used the cheapest TN display they could find.
Re:Production cost by CharlyFoxtrot · 2010-09-12 01:21 · Score: 2, Informative

If you watch the video of the guy you'll notice he doesn't say it costs $35 to produce but rather he has a contract to buy a million of them at $35. He goes on to empathically say that this wouldn't be a retail price but this is the price at which it would be delivered to educational institutions. That makes me think it's more heavily subsidized (by all parties involved) than they are letting on. It could make financial sense for the company to get these tablets in the hands of students even at a loss, like Apple also does iPod giveaways from time to time.

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If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Re:Production cost by yakatz · 2010-09-12 01:56 · Score: 4, Informative

Wasn't a problem with the brakes. Was a problem with the floor mats.
Wasn't a problem with either. Was a problem with the driver

As anyone in computer support knows, the most common error code is "ID-10T".
If you prefer, a "layer-8" problem.
Could be known in this case as "PICNIC" (here meaning Problem In Chair, Not In Car).
The automotive technician version: "loose nut between the steering wheel and the seat"
I could almost go on about this all day.
Re:The Truth about $35 Android Tablet from Indian by notaspy · 2010-09-12 02:29 · Score: 2, Informative

and
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/jaimonjoseph/326/62006/is-indias--35-laptop-really-indian.html

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Re:Sometimes Apple is cheaper by cmdr_tofu · 2010-09-12 03:07 · Score: 2, Informative

KMart is still advertising these as having full access to Android market:
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_020W023705190001P?keyword=tablet&prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1
And other reviews say 2-3 hours video playback:
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_020W023705190001P?keyword=tablet&prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1#reviewsWrap
I'm not saying you're wrong. Some javascript can be wasteful of CPU and power (although not less than bad Flash!). But if they took away Android Market, KMART should stop advertising it a device which has Android Market access.
Re:Sometimes Apple is cheaper by Idiomatick · 2010-09-12 03:18 · Score: 2, Informative

Apple has an mp3 player cheaper than any Android phone that I'm aware of + an arbitrary app store limitation.

Colour me unimpressed.
Re:Outship It to Me by Anonymous Coward · 2010-09-12 03:40 · Score: 1, Informative

Seriously, how will India stop me from buying a dozen of these there and shipping them back here
There exists such a thing as 'Customs' in Indian airports. So, you ask how will India stop you? Simply by detaining you at the airport when the X-ray finds those dozens of tablets in your suitcase, and probably throwing you into the nearest cell till your lawyer bails you out and then, to top it all, imposing a life ban on your re-entering the country.
Re:Production cost by laederkeps · 2010-09-12 06:19 · Score: 2, Informative

I believe the prices set by these chinese (post-)shanzai shops show what's practically possible...
What would you say to a 7" touchscreen android with wifi & 2GB RAM for under $100 delivered to your door.
I don't see any reason that price can't be halved for a large enough order & then you're only looking at a $15/unit subsidy.
No, it's got 2GB of NAND flash, only 128MB of RAM. Whoever modded you insightful apparently didn't bother clicking that link.

The $35 tablet described in TFS supposedly comes with 2GB of RAM.
Re:Production cost by freedom_india · 2010-09-12 16:14 · Score: 3, Informative

It actually passed the EU standards http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/video-nano-passes-european-crash-test/ which are slightly more stringent than US standards. Oh BTW, the Yugo did pass those pesky US standards, LOL

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