Intel to launch smartphones starting at Rs 7,000

 Intel to launch smartphones starting at Rs 7,000

 

US-based chipmaker Intel said it would develop smartphones with its chips, priced Rs 7,000 onwards, in India in partnership with handset makers.

The touchscreen-based smartphones, based on Google's Android operating system, would be available in the market by the middle of 2013, Intel South Asia Managing Director, Sales and Marketing Debjani Ghosh said on the sidelines of INFOCOM 2012 here.

In India at present, Intel has a partnership with Lava. 'Lava Xolo', which features Intel's mobile chip, was launched early this year.

"The first handset with Lava that we launched was a premium one. We learnt that it was important to have a portfolio and offer choice to the user. We will not have entry-level handsets but our smartphone range will be priced upwards of Rs 7,000," she said.

Ghosh, however, did not divulge whether the partnerships would be with homegrown or International equipment makers.

Wishtel to launch sub-Rs 3,000 tablet

Mumbai-based Wishtel said it will launch computing devices, tablets and netbooks, starting at $50 later this month. The company has developed a Linux-based platform PrithV, which will be used for the tablets and netbooks, PCs, it said in a statement.

"Our objective as a technology and manufacturing company is to create affordable range of products that can contribute to society by extending education for free and without boundaries," Wishtel CEO Milind Shah said in a statement.

The platform, developed jointly by Wishtel and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, supports 85 global languages which include 23 Indian languages. It also comes loaded with educational suite to offer self learning software for pre-primary, tertiary and higher education, it said.

Shah said that tablet PC will be available for $50 while the netbooks will cost $120.

Wishtel, which lost out to Datawind in securing a contract for manufacturing low-cost tablet Aakash, said "it will participate in the bidding for second round when the government floats a tender."

"We intend to offer our solutions to universities and schools worldwide and empower every student with a PC enabling them to learn and educate themselves beyond textbooks, access and create their own knowledge," Shah said.