From fred@bytesforall.org Sun Dec 14 14:11:02 2003
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 10:46:23 +0530
From: "Frederick Noronha (FN)"
Reply-To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Subject: [GKD] Simputer May be Built in Singapore, for Indian Market
Simputer, taxed back home, tries a Singaporean foothold
>From Frederick Noronha
SINGAPORE: They're held up as an example of Indian ingenuity, but get
heavily taxed by their own government. Now, the technological potential
of the Simputer is getting pinned on a financial pact that might make it
more affordable for this long-awaited device to be built in Singapore
and imported into India.
Over the past one year, the Simputer team has been strengthening its
business links with the distant hardware paradise and tiny city-state.
Ravi Desiraju is the 'Singapore' face of these endeavours.
Formerly from IIM-Bangalore, Desiraju (40) has been colleagues with
others in the Simputer team -- Vinay, Mark, Shashank and others. Says
he: "Prior to this, I've been the founder of a Silicon Valley start-up
that was trying to develop a voice-based access platform for the
Internet. Something that overlaps with the Simputer. Just about
everybody in the world knows how to use a telephone."
But the firm was taken over by the angel-investor, and that's another
story.
("It's not easy for young companies to break into service providers like
telephone operators. Ours was an interesting technology, but we had no
platform. Telephone companies are offering their clients services which
are behind their times, and holding them to ransom.")
Through 2001, he kept tracking various kinds of developments -- right
from hand-helds to service providers. Then he ran into the Simputer. It
was being developed by people whom he knew "very well" from his
Bangalore days.
Desiraju, who has been for a dozen years in Singapore, is now CEO of the
Singapore-based Encore Technologies (S) Pte Ltd.
In February 2002, a joint-venture was signed with the Bangalore-based
Encore Technologies. "Encore is the largest shareholder of my company.
That makes for a continual commitment to this product, and a share in
the fruits."
This electronics engineer with management training concedes that it
might not be true to believe that the Simputer would be simply accepted
"by the masses" once put out on the market. "We feel the device would
first need to be adopted as a platform by various application and
solution providers. These applications and services are what the
end-user needs, not the device itself," says he.
Desiraju sees the Simputer having a "global appeal".
But, first, some very strong reasons need to be found for using it. This
is what he has, says he. Simputers have potential in six different
vertical or industry segments. E-governance (including kiosk-based
solutions), e-learning (as a learning-aid for the student or an
admin-tool for teachers and administrators), for retail and payment
solutions (right from small-shop automation for the village trader, to
point-of-sales tasks, or for wireless self-help checkout in a
supermarket), and for 'corporate generic' purposes (sales-force
automation). It can also be used for 'corporate verticals' (in
insurance, banking, logistics), or in the embedded field (where the
technology of the Simputer could be built into formats other than where
a computer is used).
"These requirements exist not just in India and the 'developing world',
but also in the 'developed world'," Desiraju says.
Singapore was chosen as of a year ago, as the international launch-pad
for the Indian Simputer. This was done for three reasons -- the global
acceptability of a made-in-Singapore brand, the commitments from the
authorities there, and the reputation of that island nation as a
hardware hub.
"(In terms of production), we are still in an evolutionary stage. Our
first responsibility is to make sure that the platform is perfect to the
level where it can work reliably in the hands of the users," he told
this correspondent.
So far, some 2000 Simputers have been sold globally. Prices range from
US$200 for a monochrome model, to US$350 for one with a coloured screen.
Have there been stumbling blocks so far? "We've surmounted quite a few
challenges," says Desiraju, without getting caught in details. He hints
that this includes rationalising the design of the Simputer, and looking
closely at areas which need to improve or where cost reduction could
come in.
By early December, the Simputer hopes to go into its third generation
product. A potential name for these could be Sethu (a bridge, for the
digital divide in this case) or Sadhana (meaning, an implement).
Recent changes include the capability to implement wireless networking
(with a wireless attachment), and connectivity to a VGA screen, which
would help linking up to a bigger screen or projector. Linking to a
bigger screen was found to be particularly helpful in schools, for
instructor-led activity or for students to share their work.
"We're also probably the first product to implement both Norflash and
Nandflash in a single product. The first is fast in terms of rewrite
capability, and is used to implement an Operating System onto a
handheld. The latter is used for storage. The price difference is
substantial. Unlike PDAs, the Simputer does have a file system.
Everything is not just one folder," says he. The Simputer also comes
with a built-in CF card slot and a USB slot.
Desiraju points out: "The Simputer's application is to be used in places
where a computer is. The PDA is an accessory to the computer."
Inspite of the Government of India taking credit for this much-awaited
product of Indian ingenuity, pressures on it are not being reduced.
"Duty impact on the product is about 42%. Even when manufactured in
India, certain components attract duty," says Desiraju.
Prices of components are 20% lower in Singapore. So, ironically, whether
the Simputer is produced in India or Singapore, it makes little
difference to the end price, even if it's to be sold back in India.
Desiraju and his Simputer colleagues are now looking forward to a
Indo-Singapore free trade agreement, which they expect to be signed in
April 2004. This could make goods manufactured in Singapore free of
duties back in India.
One of the new products is a Simputer device-controller server. This
embedded product has a potential use in equipment maintenance. "If you
has a reliable and automated way, an engineer can run diagnostics on
equipment from a remote office. Ingredients for this were already there
in the Simputer. So (we created the product using) a slightly different
software implementation," he says pointed to the one-inch thick box that
spreads roughly eight by three inches. There are links for a serial port
(to link the equipment) and an ethernet port or telephone line (for the
network).
The idea is that the Simputer holds on to this server, remotely. Logs
are downloaded, and from a distance itself, the diagnositcs are run.
Desiraju claims this product has completed "successful trials" with a US
Fortune 500 multinational and "commercial deployments will commence very
soon".
Since there's no LCD screen or power management, it's priced
"attractively". Costing US$200 now, he believes it can be produced for
as little as US$100, if produced in bulk.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
How it works: The Simputer embedded device networking and remote
maintenance server:
* Outward and incoming connectivity provided using the built-in modem,
PPP server, mgetty, dial-in server, and Apache webserver.
* FTP server for file transfer and Apache webserver for remote access
via the Internet
* Device is permanently connected to equipment, on mains power. Battery
support and power management not required.
* Device is remotely accessed in terminal mode, so no LCD or
touch-screen or GUI elements needed.
* Rugged and well-ventilated metal casing to ensure heat dissipation.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Today, the Simputer's business model is looking at two parallel streams.
Firstly, the Simputer itself, as a product with various applications.
(Currently, he says, 40 application partners have signed up, including
21 in India.) Secondly, the idea is to use the same technology to come
up with embedded solutions, and also original design and manufacture
(ODM) solutions.
They've got their eyes on many companies, to possibly develop products
for them. Says Desiraju: "The seed that was planted in the Simputer is
now potentially flowering in many blooms."
The dream for a commonman's computing device is still alive. Desiraju
points to Vinay "Mr Simputer" Deshpande's repeated reminders for
building a Junior Simputer, priced lower and even more affordably.
But the end is not to give the commonman just a device, but an effective
and useful service through that device. Desiraju sees hope in spreading
the benefits of the Simputer through India's widely scattered PCOs
(Public Call Offices) or the Wartels in Indonesia (telephone booths) and
likewise in the Philippines.
Desiraju reflects the impatient face of the intelligent young Indian,
ham-strung by the realities of the global market. Says he: "Out of every
dollar or rupee spent on IT, 70% goes to the product owners -- the
Intels, the Microsofts, the Ciscos and the Oracles. 15% goes to those
who define what IT the customer gets -- primarily large consulting firms
like IBM Global Services, or PriceWaterHouse Coopers. 15% goes to those
developing the product or implementing it. India's IT is placed in the
last slice of the pie. There too, we have just a 20% share of the
market. Or a three per cent share of the global IT pie."
Can a new drive in technology change this? Nobody could say the Simputer
guys haven't tried...
--
Frederick Noronha : http://www.fredericknoronha.net : When we speak of
Freelance Journalist : http://www.bytesforall.org : free software we
Ph 0091.832.2409490 : Cell 0 9822 122436 : refer to freedom,
: not price.
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