Goa students to get tablets, notebooks for Rs 25

Students in Goa can now get a tablet PC or a notebook for just Rs 25.

The digital largesse is a part of the Goa government education department's initiative to familiarise Class V and VII students with computers in order to "prepare them for the life ahead and get them curious about the e-systems", according to additional director education Anil Powar.

"General category students will have to pay only Rs.25 while SC and ST students will have to pay Rs.10 to register for the scheme," Powar told reporters here Tuesday.

The official said that the state government was making arrangements for purchasing nearly 50,000 notebooks and tablet PCs for distribution.

"All the computers will have a special e-learning packages. After a day in class, the students will now be able to revise their tutions at home over the tablets," Powar said, adding that a provision of Rs.95 crore had already been made for the purchase of the computers in the last budget presented by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

All the systems will have inbuilt security systems installed to ensure that the computers are not misused for pornographic purposes and other controversial web applications, but the education department will also take an undertaking from the student's parents before handing over the computers.

"It is a no objection certificate saying they are OK with us giving them the computers. The parents should also be in a position to both goad the students to logging onto the right websites," he said.

The Goa government was the first state government in the country to give out free laptops to students over a decade ago.

Read more »

Eduwise: A Sub-$400 Notebook PC by Intel

At the on going fall Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in San Francisco, Intel CEO Paul Otellini introduced a sub-$400 “Classmate PC” code named Eduwise for the emerging markets.
The notebooks are ear marked for volume production from the first quarter of 2007.

The Eduwise features Intel Celeron M CPU paired with 915 GMS chipsets and a 7-inch WVXGA (800 X 480 LCD display. The model has 1 GB flash memory instead of HDD because Intel felt that in the hands of children’s the HDDs will not be able to survive the impacts and rough handlings. A 6-cell standard Lithium Ion battery is the power source.

The system will adopt the Windows XP embedded OS. As a threat deterrent, the notebook will come with asset-control software, so if it is out of the classroom for too many days, the notebook disables itself.

The Classmate will also sport a special version of Windows so as to prevent kids from accessing Internet sites programs that have not been designated by parents or teachers as off-limits.

The first batch of the notebooks will be distributed in Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and India. The machine ranges in price from US$220 to US$300 most of the price variation will depend on the taxes in the individual country.

Source:-http://www.finalsense.com/news/it/notebook_pocketpc/eduwise_intel_notebook.htm

Read more »