Qualcomm Kayak, $200 ComputerIf you find the starting price of a Netbook too high, come 2010, Qualcomm may offer you a cheaper option in Kayak – a $200 (Rs. 10000/-) personal computer. That is if you are in India. The San Diego based wireless technology company is said to be in talks with India’s leading telecom service providers, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, and Tata Teleservices, to bring Kayak a 3G capable low cost computer to Indian market. Qualcomm believes that Kayak would make broadband internet access more affordable and widely available in developing markets like that of India. Kayak may not give the mobility of a Netbook however it will be designed to make internet and computing available at almost 50% of the Netbook price. The computer is still a concept, if materializes, it will be available in the second half of 2010. If Qualcomm succeeds in commercializing Kayak, it will be a huge milestone for the chip maker. A personal computer with a display, standard keyboard, and a mouse at less than Rs. 10,000/- will give a good competition to Netbooks that are hailed as cheap mobile internet and computing devices. A standard Netbook price starts from Rs. 18000/- so Kayak will be quite an attractive alternative computer for price conscious consumers in the developing markets. Kayak will use Qualcomm’s dual-core Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipset. It will come with a full featured web2.0 capable Opera browser, music player, and 3D gaming console functionality. The device will support both a Television as well as a computer monitor for the display. And, it will be compatible with standard keyboard and mouse for the input. The company had announced Kayak back in 2008 end and it intends to make it as a reference device for other manufacturers. Therefore, the success of Kayak may also lead to widespread manufacturing of similar low cost wireless computing and connectivity platforms by other computer makers. And if that happens, we’ll see Netbook prices go down even more. (View complete Qualcomm Press Release)
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