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The Simputer is a self-contained, handheld computer, designed for use in environments where computing devices such as Personal Computers are deemed inappropriate. Due to the low cost, it was also deemed appropriate to bring computing power to the masses of India and other developing countries. Image File history File links Simputer browsing Wikipedia entry on the Simputer. ...
Handheld devices (also known as handhelds) are pocket-sized computing devices that are rapidly gaining popularity as the access to information in every walk of life becomes more and more mission critical. ...
Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than visible light, but shorter than microwave radiation. ...
Note: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. ...
An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. ...
Linux refers to any Unix-like computer operating system which uses the Linux kernel. ...
Smart card used for health insurance in France. ...
Note: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. ...
A depiction of an accelerometer designed at Sandia National Laboratories. ...
It has been suggested that Touch panel be merged into this article or section. ...
Lithium ion batteries (sometimes abbreviated Li-Ion or Li-On) are a type of rechargeable battery commonly used in consumer electronics. ...
DEC StrongARM SA-110 Microprocessor The StrongARM microprocessor is a faster version of the Advanced RISC Machines ARM design. ...
Handheld devices (also known as handhelds) are pocket-sized computing devices that are rapidly gaining popularity as the access to information in every walk of life becomes more and more mission critical. ...
A developing country is a country with low average income compared to the world average. ...
Design
The device was designed by the Simputer Trust, a non-profit organization formed in November 1999. The word "Simputer" is an acronym for "simple, inexpensive and multilingual people's computer", and is a trademark of the Simputer Trust. It includes text-to-speech software and runs the GNU/Linux operating system. Similar in appearance to the Palm Pilot class of handheld computers, the touch sensitive screen is operated on with a stylus; simple handwriting recognition software is provided by the program Tapatap. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
A trademark, trade mark, ™ or ®[1] is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by an organization to uniquely identify itself and its products and services to consumers, and to distinguish the organization and its products or services from those of other organizations. ...
Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ...
GNU (pronounced ) is a free operating system consisting of a kernel, libraries, system utilities, compilers, and end-user applications. ...
Linux refers to any Unix-like computer operating system which uses the Linux kernel. ...
An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. ...
An early model - the Pilot 5000 The Palm m130 was one of the first Palms with a colour screen Pilot was the name given to the first generation of personal digital assistants manufactured by Palm Computing in 1996 (then a division of U.S. Robotics and later 3Com). ...
Handheld devices (also known as handhelds) are pocket-sized computing devices that are rapidly gaining popularity as the access to information in every walk of life becomes more and more mission critical. ...
Modern stylus, used for touch-screen enabled devices such as the Nintendo DS and personal digital assistants Styli used in writing in the Fourteenth Century. ...
It has been suggested that on-line handwriting recognition be merged into this article or section. ...
License The Simputer specifications are released under an open distribution license called the Simputer General Public License or the SGPL. Free software developers are being actively encouraged to port their applications to the Simputer. It has been suggested that Licensing (strategic alliance) be merged into this article or section. ...
The Simputer General Public License, or the SGPL is an open source hardware distribution license drafted specifically for the purpose of distributing Simputers. ...
This article is about free software as defined by the sociopolitical free software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ...
Licensees The Simputer Trust has licensed two manufacturers to create devices based on the Simputer specifications: - PicoPeta Simputers (commercially released as the Amida Simputer)
- Encore Technologies
Deployments In the year 2004, Simputers were extensively used by the government of Karnataka to automate the process of land records procurement. Prior to this large scale deployment, Simputers were also used in an ambitious project in Chattisgarh for the purpose of e-education. In 2005 these powerful and flexible devices were used in a variety of innovative and interesting applications, such as automobile engine diagnostics (Mahindra & Mahindra in Mumbai), tracking of iron-ore movement from mine pithead to shipping point (Dempo, Goa), Microcredit (Sanghamitra, Mysore), Electronic Money Transfer between UK and Ghana (XK8 Systems, Kenya), and others. In recent times, the Simputer has seen deployment by the police force to track traffic offenders and issue traffic tickets. KarnÄtakÄ (Kannada: ಕನಾ೯ಟಕ) (IPA: ) is one of the four southern states of India. ...
Chhattisgarh (छत्तीसगढ़), a state in central India, formed when the sixteen southeastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained statehood on November 1, 2000. ...
For the magazine called automobile, see Automobile Magazine. ...
An engine is something that produces some effect from a given input. ...
Mumbai (Marathi: मà¥à¤‚बई, IPA: ), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most populous city of India, also it is by some measures the most populous city in the world with an estimated population of about 50 billion (as of 2006). ...
This article is about mineral extraction. ...
Dempo is a prominent mining firm from the western Indian state of Goa; football club linked to the mining firm is also called Dempo. ...
For other uses, see Goa (disambiguation). ...
// Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to the unemployed, to poor entrepreneurs and to others living in poverty who are not bankable. ...
Mysore or MaisÅ«ru in Kannada (Kannada: ಮೈಸೂರà³) is the second largest city in the Indian state of Karnataka. ...
Interfaces Reflective twisted nematic liquid crystal display. ...
Note: USB may also mean upper sideband in radio. ...
The Infrared Data Association (IrDA) defines physical specifications communications protocol standards for the short range exchange of data over infrared light, for uses such as personal area networks (PANs). ...
A thin film transistor (TFT) is a special kind of field effect transistor made by depositing thin films for the metallic contacts, semiconductor active layer, and dielectric layer. ...
Bundled Software The Simputer uses the Linux operating system (2.4.18 Kernel as of July 2005), and the Alchemy™ Window Manager (only the Amida Simputer). Software packages included provide: Linux refers to any Unix-like computer operating system which uses the Linux kernel. ...
An operating system (OS) is a computer program that manages the hardware and software resources of a computer. ...
Computer software (or simply software) refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of a computer for some purpose. ...
In addition, both licensees developed custom vertical applications for microbanking, traffic police, medical applications, etc. Look up scheduling in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72. ...
Screenshot of a spreadsheet made with OpenOffice. ...
A web browser is a software package that enables a user to display and interact with documents hosted by web servers. ...
Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players that is played both recreationally and competitively. ...
A depiction of an accelerometer designed at Sandia National Laboratories. ...
Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition, or J2ME, is a collection of Java APIs targeting embedded consumer products such as PDAs, cell phones and other consumer appliances. ...
DotGNU is a part of the GNU Project that aims to provide a free software replacement for the Microsoft . ...
This article is about free software as defined by the sociopolitical free software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ...
Alchemy user interface used by the Amida Simputer has been released under the GPL with the name "OpenAlchemy".
Commercial production Pilot production of the Simputer started in September 2002. In 2004, the Amida Simputer became commercially available for $240 and up. Recently, prices have shrunk due to higher production volumes, to between $130 and $260, depending on screen size and type (monochrome or colour) and other configuration options. For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ...
2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Success Inhibitors By 2005, sales of Simputers failed to live up to the ambitious goal of selling 50,000 units: only 4000 Simputers were sold ([1]). 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
"Poor man's computer" A reason often stated is that the poor have no need of computers before their basic needs (such as electricity) are met. However, the Simputer was never designed to be a "poor man's computer" (a position often used by the media)- it was a device designed to help bridge the digital divide. While most people tended to look at the cost of the Simputer as a factor, they ignored the fact that the "cost of ownership" for the end-user of the device in villages was not the cost of the device, but the cost of the Smart card used to store the user's data. The device itself should be considered shared infrastructure for the village. The digital divide is the gap between those with regular, effective access to digital technologies and those without. ...
Smart card used for health insurance in France. ...
Lack of support from Government and NGOs Another reason may be that lack of purchasing by the Indian government and NGOs (as earlier committed) led to lack of adoption in the field.
License cost The SGPL, the license under which simputer is marketed, asks for a license fee of 1 Million Indian Rupees (US$1=INR 45 at the time of writing) to commercially exploit the Simputer design. This was perceived to be a high entry point for small scale organizations wishing to license the Simputer design
Comparison with PDAs While the Simputer is not cheap when compared to PDAs available in the market at the time, this point is largely irrelevant, as it was not designed to be a PDA (which are used as PC companions) but as a standalone computer. The comparison with PDAs was a natural outcome because of the form-factor (and to some degree reports by the media), but was factually wrong.
Cost of laptops The decrease of prices of laptop computers may have reduced the Simputer's price competitiveness. Laptop with touchpad. ...
Current Status Both licensees have stopped actively marketing their Simputer devices, though both are known to be developing newer devices based on Simputer technologies. While Encore has developed an XScale-based device for use by the Indian Military, PicoPeta has continued development of an as yet un-released device, and is actively encouraging Free software developers to port their applications to the Simputer platform, and to the Alchemy interface. PicoPeta was acquired by Geodesic Information Systems (a developer of communication and collaboration systems) in 2005. XScale is Intels name for their line of StrongARM-based RISC microprocessors and microcontrollers, which they aquired from DECs Digital Semiconductor division as the side-effect of a lawsuit between the two companies. ...
This article is about free software as defined by the sociopolitical free software movement; for information on software distributed without charge, see freeware. ...
References - "Indian handheld to tackle digital divide". (July 18, 2001).
- Srinivasan, S. (Apr. 3, 2005). "Handheld Computer Yet to Reach the Masses". Associated Press.
- Swami Manohar (Nov. 2005) High Return Computing
- BBC News, 10 September, 2001 Computer deal for India's poor
- Outlook India, September 22, 2002: Pilot production of Simputer begins
- BBC News, 1 August, 2005 - Woe for traffic offenders in Sim city
- Reuters, January 8, 2004 Simputers for Bhutan
The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ...
See also - 2B1, being developed by Nicholas Negroponte and his One Laptop Per Child non-profit organization.
- Longmeng or Dragon Dream is a Chinese low-cost computer being designed to cost €100
- Wizzy Digital Courier: Internet access for rural schools via USB stick
- VIA pc-1 Initiative
The Childrens Machine, or 2B1, is a proposed inexpensive laptop computer intended to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. ...
Nicholas Negroponte Nicholas Negroponte (born 1943) is an architect and computer scientist best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technologys Media Lab. ...
Longmeng (Chinese for Dragon Dream) is a Chinese low-cost computer being designed to cost €100. ...
Wizzy Digital Courier is a project to distribute useful data to places with no internet connection. ...
The VIA pc-1 Initiative is a project of VIA Technologies to help bridge the digital divide by developing innovative and sustainable information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to benefit one billion people who currently do not have access to computers or the Internet. ...
External links - Official website
- PicoPeta Simputers
- PicoPeta's "Amida Simputer"
- OpenAlchemy
- Encore
- Encore's Simputer
- Simputer at the Open Directory Project
- Indian Computer in Guyana - The Simputer's First Day., July 22, 2005
- Recursion: The Simputer And The Wikipedia, July 23, 2005 - Shows a Simputer being used for editing this Wikipedia entry.
Rural computers Designs: Children's Machine | Eduwise | OpenBook | Simputer| Sinomanic
Stock products: PIC | Longmeng (Municator)
The Open Directory Project (ODP), also known as dmoz (from directory. ...
OLPC redirects here. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Childrens Machine. ...
OpenBook is an open source hardware and software project which goal is to start a light tablet movement by designing a computer tablet that suits most users needs and design an all-round (probably Linux powered) tablet. ...
A Loongson based laptop,designed by Sinomanic. ...
AMDs Personal Internet Communicator with monitor, keyboard and mouse The Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) is a simple and affordable consumer device designed by AMD in 2004 to allow people from the emerging countries like India, Mexico or the Caribbean to allow access to the internet. ...
Longmeng (Chinese for Dragon Dream) is a Chinese low-cost computer being designed to cost €100. ...
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