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Global launch of Simputer in Singapore next month

Simputer, the hand-held computer, developed by a group of scientists of the Indian Institute of Science, is all set for global launch next month.

"We are having global launch of Simputer in Singapore on October 29 and 30", chairman of Simputer Trust, Vinay L Deshpande said on Wednesday.

Deshpande said some 300 developers representing 37 countries are expected to attend the launch.

The Simputer -- short for simple, inexpensive and multilingual computer -- was launched in April 2001 by the non-profit Simputer Trust, formed by officials at Encore and professors from Bangalore's IISc to license designs of the device.

On why Singapore was chosen for the launch, Deshpande said the city-state has a very good image in international market, especially in hardware, which India does not have yet.

In addition, he said Singapore has been taking a lot of initiatives and countries around it are going to be a good market for Simputer.

In Singapore, Encore Software has floated a joint venture in partnership with Singapore Economic Development Board and a company called 'Time To Talk', he said.

The Simputer, which has been delayed by funding problems and marketing concerns, aims to help India's poor and rural folk who cannot read or write, but high-end users and overseas buyers have also been wowed by its features.

Resembling trendy handhelds such as those built by Palm Inc, the Simputer has easy-to-use applications including voicemail, text-to-speech capabilities and Internet access.

Powered by an Intel StrongARM processor, the Simputer runs on two 'AA'-size pencil batteries and comes equipped with 32 megabytes (MB) or 64 MB of random-access memory.

Deshpande said Simputer would create a new market internationally, noting that "there is no existing product like this".

"Like when Sony Walkman was first introduced...it created a new market. I dare say Simputer is creating a new market something similar to that", he said.

After the global launch in Singapore, Simputer is planned to be rolled out in several countries in Africa, Latin America and South America and nations of the far-east, he said.

"Surprisingly, there is substantial requirement from the US", Deshpande said but hastened to add that its foray into the market there would have to wait for some time as certification by Federal Communication Commission would be mandatory.

He said Simputer is being put through various tests and added that it would get certification in two to three months.

Simputer, Deshpande said, is a range of products with price tag of Rs 10,500 to Rs 24,000 (inclusive of tax).

Simputer has already been introduced in small numbers on a pilot basis and response by users has been "tremendous", he said, it is now being manufactured in an electronics company in Bangalore. "We may also manufacture at TVS", he said.

Presently, only Encore and PicoPeta Simputer Ltd have the licence to manufacture Simputer.

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