Amida, answer to PDA?

Some say it is India's answer to a PDA, while some call it the poor man's Tablet PC. Whatever the comparison be, this is India's maiden venture in the world of mobile computing. z have unveiled the country's first sub-Rs 10,000 handheld device.

Termed as the Amida Simputer (i.e. simple computer), this product is the brainchild of the professors at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Derived from the word Amita, which means "unbounded", this Simputer will work on Linux operating system.

As the team from IISc and BEL showcased their launch to the nation, the event was made momentous by the President of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, who telephoned to greet the team. Even as the audience got their first glimpse of a "Made in India" handheld device, the President advised PicoPeta and BEL to constantly upgrade the device to cater to the changing needs of people.

"The teachers at IISc are turning into entrepreneurs. In order to stay competitive, you must be cost effective, quality conscious and just-in-time to market," the president said.

The chief architects of the Amida are Prof. V. Vinay, a Ph D in the IISc and Prof. Swami Manohar who have put in five years of research.

PicoPeta Simputers Pvt Ltd was formed by these professors to build products to realise its vision-be digital wherever. Though the team at PicoPeta has promised more such products, Amida will be the flagship product for the company. The Simputer was actually co-invented in 2001 by four professors from IISc with the aim of bridging the digital divide.

The product's appeal lies in the fact that it resembles a Tablet PC and does not have a key board. The 3.8 inch touchscreen with a backlit display allows the user to scribble anything, irrespective of the language, and store or mail the same. Hence the slogan-it's time to rewrite.

Amida will include key features like handwriting (in any language) and doodling on every screen, mailing these scribbles with a single tap, gesture technologies that allow changing page or zooming of any image, games, music player, organiser, e-mail, messaging and an Internet browser. The user can also record and send his voice as an e-mail.

Key technical specifications of this device include 206 Mhz processor, 32 MB permanent storage, 64 MB RAM, internal/external speaker, internal/external microphone, 4.2 V re-chargeable Li-Ion battery with a battery life of 6-8 hours under normal usage.

PicoPeta entered into a production and marketing agreement with BEL about 18 months ago. According Y. Gopala Rao, CMD, BEL, the initial production capacity would be 10,000 pieces per month. "We can scale up capacity to any volume. Existing manpower will be used for manufacturing Amida. We plan to sell 50,000 pieces in the first year and double the sales next year."

BEL will be paid royalty, a sum which was undisclosed, for every piece that is sold. The Amida Simputer will be available in three models.

Premium colour 4200 will be priced at Rs 19,950, Greyscale 1600 will cost Rs 12,450 and Greyscale 1200 will cost Rs 9950. Amida is designed to be a full-fledged device on its own. It is one of the first handhelds in the world to have two USB ports, ensuring that it can work well with a range of devices like printers and digital cameras.

The team at PicoPeta and BEL intend to first introduce the product in Bangalore through special stores before national sales or exports.