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Philips launches global initiative to develop solutions for ultra low-cost mobile phones
Sets out roadmap for sub-$5 hardware and software platform to drive handset costs below $20 Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced a global initiative to develop ultra low-cost mobile phones to bring the benefits of the technology to an untapped global customer base of 3.3 billion people. The first product from the project will be a sub-$5 system solution ? an integrated hardware and software platform constituting all the electronics needed in a m...
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A Tool to Tackle Poverty
A country with overwhelming agrarian population, 80 percent of whom have no access to formal credit, the microcredit lending has come up as a slowly but steadily growing viable alternative in rural Nepal . Around 800,000 rural population in the country ? mostly representing the women and poorest section of society ? are currently benefiting from microcredit service provided by various institutions and NGOs. Around Rs 20 billion...
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Mobile sales contribute to poverty reduction: GrupoNueva?s Amanco
Story found here. AMANCO is a Latin American leader in the production and marketing of integrated solutions for the construction, infrastructure and irrigation industries. AMANCO is part of GrupoNueva, a holding company operating throughout Latin America for more than 60 years, with more than 30 firms and factories located in 13 countries and...
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- WBCSD
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New medical screening beneficial to Third World
Plastronics pioneer, Plastic Logic has hit upon a new application for its technology that could vastly improve access to medical screening in the developing world. The Cambridge Science Park based company is developing a digital X-ray system, more robust, more portable and most importantly cheaper than any existing technology. Plastic Logic is predicting fast adoption in developing economies of its plastic electronic X-ray sensors. Currently two thirds of the world?s popul...
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- Business Weekly
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The great rural goldrush
A COMPANY wanted to market its toothpaste in rural areas. The minty, foaming product didn’t find favour with the paan-/tobacco-chewing populace. Moreover, they questioned, when the company said sweet stuff was supposed to be bad for teeth, why was the paste sweet? The rural communications specialist the company took on did a trial project by getting the same market to sample a version of the toothpaste with less mint, less sugar, less foam and instead of a tube, put it into a box this time ...
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- The Hindu Business Line
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Mobile phones for ordinary folk
?Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid? is a compelling idea whose time has come. CK Prahalad, the renowned management guru, has articulated this idea in his award-winning book with the same title (The New York Times best-seller of 2004). The crux of the message is a fresh attempt by leading edge technology companies to make products targeted at the bottom of the pyramid?the four billion people who live in Africa, China, India and South America?whose purchasing power is individually low, but col...
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Radioactive: The next billion mobile users, by Stewart Baines
Last month, the GSM Association announced the second phase of its Ultra-Low Cost (ULC) mobile phone initiative, aimed at making cellular more affordable in the developing world. The first phase, announced at the 3GSM Congress in Cannes, saw Motorola scoop the prize of producing six million handsets at the sub-$40 level. The majority of these handsets have now been delivered to the operators backing the GSM Association initiative, including BSNL and Bharti from India, GrameenPhone fro...
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- silicon.com
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HCL unveils PC for Rs 9,990
HCL Infosystems Ltd on Monday unveiled a fully functional low-cost personal computer at Rs 9,990. Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology, launched the Linux-based PC at a press meet. The low-cost PC comes with a 1 GHz processor from Taiwan-based VIA Technologies, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB hard disk, 15 inch digital colour monitor, 52X optical drive, keyboard and scroll mouse. It will support applications such as word processing, spreadshee...
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- The Hindu Business Line
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