The much-discussed “$10 notebook” does not appear to be a not appear to be a notebook at all: the Sakshat is a device that can store information and access the Internet using various means, but it does not have a screen or keyboard, thus, requires a normal personal computer to work.

The Sakshat device contains 2GB of storage as well as wired and wireless networks controllers to access the Internet. The product can access special web-site with education-oriented material. The device is 10” in length and 5” in width. Currently the device costs from $20 to $30 to make, a rather high price for a 2GB of flash memory card with network controllers, but its creators claim that once it is mass produced, the cost will drop to around $10.

Image by The Hindu

The “computing device”, as the developers from India call it, requires a normal desktop or laptop to function and cannot substitute even a simplistic OLPC XO laptop that still has a 7.5” screen and a keyboard and which still costs from $100 to $188 to build.

According to MediaNama web-site, the Sakshat storage device is projected to play a key role in a new government program called the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technologies. The project involves creation electronic classrooms and making online textbooks freely available for download across 18 thousand colleges and 4 thousand universities across India. Four publishers have been hired to publish textbooks and content for students.

According to technology developers from India, the Sakshat “computing device” will help them to build an inexpensive notebook aimed at education segment.

Tags: Sakshat