The Hindu Business Line reports that there is a new full-featured mobile device for web surfing that costs less than US$50:
Datawind is working on a device `Surfer box’ in association with Nasscom Foundation, which will cost below Rs 2,000.”
The trials for the interface box device are on and it will be available in the country by March 2007.
[…]“Users now have the power to access the Web anywhere and anytime, using the technology they desire based on cost and device needs and the `PocketSurfer’ does all of this while offering a desktop-quality Web experience in a device small enough for a breast pocket or purse,” Mr Tuli added.
Unlike mobile devices such as PDAs and cell phones, the PocketSurfer displays fully functional Web pages complete with images, scripts, colours, and plug-ins.
Sounds great, other than the fact that the Pocketsurfer can’t print or play music (I don’t know, is that desktop-quality?) and the fact that many PDAs and cell phones offer fully function web pages…
A little digging on the Datawind site provides a feature comparison between their PocketSurfer and other mobile devices, along with some pretty bold claims on the marketing pages:
A unique wireless web access solution that boosts wireless throughput by a factor of more than 10X.
Wow, 10X the speed from a device using your cell phone as a modem, compared with using the cell phone itself? Unusual. Not much info on how that is accomplished or what it looks like. Demo please?
What’s also missing is any discussion or page on security of this device and the Surfer Box. How do you tie these things to the identity of the individual user, or is it designed to be used by whole villages, like a kiosk? Seems like they might be using a proprietary uplink and IDs on the hardware. Is it capable of multiple users? Can you trust it? Apparently these are not frequently asked questions. And comments like this one make me suspicious:
What OS (Operating System) does the PocketSurfer? Use?
The Web is the OS for the Pocket Surfer.
Yeah, ok. Did these guys work for Sun marketing? Let’s see the protocol and cache.