NextBillion - A WDI Publication

How about a PC for Rs 5,000? It may sound startling, but that is what Nova netPC from Chennai-based Novatium is all about. The company is doing a pilot of its netPC that adopts the cable television model. The netPC is a simple computer that works in a network and does not have local hard disks. All the software and applications are set up in a remote central server located at the premises of the operator (cable operator or telecom company). A c...

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The Hindu Business Line (link opens in a new window)

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28 ? Here in the Swiss mountains at the World Economic Forum, the annual conclave of world leaders, concerns over a growing digital divide this year have taken a back seat to the challenge of climate change. Being out of the limelight, however, has not dimmed passions over what the best way is to deploy computers in the developing world. The controversy boiled over on Saturday at a breakfast meeting here where Craig R. Barrett, the chairman of Intel, squar...

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New York Times (link opens in a new window)

Sir, John Gapper’s column Anyone can become the CEO of You Inc (January 22) relating to the Shifting Power Equation under discussion at Davos focuses on the newly distributed power to achieve celebrity. Potentially more interesting is the newly distributed power to create change. Along these lines, the event of the week may have been the 2007 Schwab Social Entrepreneurs Summit that just concluded in Zurich. What is a social entrepreneur? Anyone who takes...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

India’s great leap forward in telecommunications is heralded as one of the country’s success stories. But big initiatives in rural expansion and evolution of government policy must gain momentum for rapid growth to continue. Getting to the very bottom of the pyramid has to be through transformative change, says Kunal Bajaj, director of BDA India, a telecoms consultancy in New Delhi. India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has a target of 50...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

A Light Bulb Goes on, and China Starts Thinking ?Alternative Energy?

Mr. Li said that within six months, he expected to have a database of some 300 Chinese start-ups seeking investment partners. One of them will be a company called Ruikang, based in Jiangsu Province, near Shanghai, that handles organic tea, honey and Chinese traditional medicines. Another start-up that he said was seeking investors is Shenwu, based in Beijing, which makes equipment to capture heat from a heating unit and redirect it for other uses. Mr. Li said the big challenge facing Ame...

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New York Times (link opens in a new window)

It’s super-phone!

For instance, it can help you transfer money, withdraw it, keep a ready balance on tap (ie go shopping), and so on. In other words, it can be like a credit/debit card, or a bank. It is easy to use because all that is required is to swipe it close to another attachment. It is cheap because the cost of a transaction is the price of a short message on the mobile network. It is presumably safe because of the encryption technologies that are used. And it can be near universal in its reach because, ve...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

One of Four Handsets Shipped in 2011 Will Cost Less Than $20

The global market for sub-$20 ultra low cost handsets (UCLH) will be over 330 million units in 2011. A new study from ABI Research finds that over 50% of these handsets will be shipped in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific and the remainder in markets of Africa, Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. According to research analyst Shailendra Pandey, ?The growing demand for ultra low cost handsets has provided mobile operators and handset vendors with a quick route to a great...

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ABI Research (link opens in a new window)

Remittances from workers overseas amounted to $21bn this fiscal year. Overall foreign institutional investment is growing and funds from overseas Indians are likely to make up a significant portion, JPMorgan says in a report on the Indian diaspora. Real estate is seeing significant overseas Indian investment, both via commercial purchases through funds as well as the buying of second homes. He was born in Thailand, lives in South Africa and carries a UK passport. But Jag Jo...

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Financial Times (link opens in a new window)