Chip Maker Via and IIT Mumbai To Work Together

Chip Maker Via and IIT Mumbai To Work Together On Affordable And Less Power Consuming Computers For Rural India

Mumbai January 27, 2005 Chip maker VIA Technologies and Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology (KReSIT), IIT Bombay will work jointly to develop rugged low power consuming personal computers for the rural India and other countries.

Mr Wenchi Chen, president and CEO, VIA Technologies while delivering the keynote address on ‘Information Technology for masses’ at KReSIT today said that for reaching 70 per cent of India which lives in India it is necessary to develop affordable computers that consume much less electricity and are designed to withstand heat, dust and power problems, common in rural India.
“Computing and the Internet have so far benefited about one billion people worldwide and the next one billion has to be reached in next few years which is only possible by developing variety of new computing platforms,” Mr Chen said . “The computing device should be more like a community device than personally owned, he added..

VIA has couple of years back had set up an affordable computing lab at IIT, Mumbai which has developed low cost computers which can work on low power consumption suited to Indian rugged conditions.
Mr Chen said that the company has drawn a long term plan for development of Personal Computers and advanced server appliances under its PC-1 initiative. This will include developing mesh networking technologies which will enable cost effective last mile bandwidth in both rural and urban markets.
He said that VIA has also introduced a PC reference design for a computing appliance called the VIA pc-1 which will be Power Heat Dust (PHD) Appliance which will not require a fan, and is designed for use in conditions where there is dust and heat, and where the power supply is poor, “We have tested it to run up to 30 hours on a 12 volt car battery,” , Mr Chen added.

Prof. Deepak Pathak, head, Faculty Research, Kresit, speaking on the occasion said that IIT Mumbai is already working on simpler and affordable computing devices including affordable lap tops. He said that affordable computing does not mean compromise on quality as using TFT or LCD monitor which is more costlier than normal monitor makes computing affordable in long term as it consumes less power.
He said that IIT will work together with VIA for the masses and suited to local needs.