back to article HP builds touchscreen Linux PC for India

HP will this month begin selling an 18.5in touchscreen all-in-one PC running what it almost certainly Linux. The snag: it's only available in India. The DreamScreen 400 was "developed in India for India", HP said, adding that the custom UI and spec was inspired by interviews with 2,600 Indians. The company put 200 prototypes …

COMMENTS

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  1. Neil Greatorex

    Why only India?

    At that price they could sell a shed-load here in Blighty. I'd buy one.

    1. Cameron Colley

      Microsoft probably don't care enough about India.

      If they released this worldwide I think HP would find their "special deal" on Windows pricing suddenly fading away. seems odd that MS don't worry about India enough to make threats though.

    2. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Pint

      Obvious!

      'Cos they are planning an 'iPad killer' that will have an absolute shite spec, run Windows and cost about 900 sovs!

      When it comes to pukka, well priced gadgets in Europe, we just drop our draws and bend over!

  2. Tim Parker
    Happy

    User interface paradigm shift

    "The UI appears on the 18.5in screen"

    Noooo - geddaway..

  3. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Coat

    Information Appliance

    That's an iPad isn't it?

  4. Tom 7

    Anyone for a takeway?

    Think I might just pop over on a business trip, get a steak and kidney pie takeaway and a suitcase full of these to cover the cost, Even after tax they'll still go like snow off a shovel.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Happy

      I was just thinking...

      that it was about time for me to visit my team in Chennai. Completely unrelated to this, ahem... *completely*

  5. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Fail

    They still don't understand the price conscious Indian market. At that price, which might seem reasonable to most Westerners, Indians would rather have a full fledged PC running Windows which will cost around the same.

    I would be surprised if HP even manages to sell it in 6 digit figures.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    small flaw

    If the Indians are writing all the software now, we want them using the same sort of UI as we do!

  7. BristolBachelor Gold badge
    Joke

    User support

    So when a user phones up for support, will their call be routed through to the UK, to someone who doesn't really understand what the problem is and doesn't know the product because it's not sold in their home country?

    1. Cameron Colley

      He'll probably call himself "Sanjay"...

      ... then remark upon the weather in Hyderabad before launching into his scripted troubleshooting.

      1. Neil Greatorex
        Happy

        Aah yes, but you'd then be able to say:

        "Please do the needful"

        1. Cameron Colley

          "... and advice the same..."

          That would be fun.

  8. bill 36

    very clever

    launch it in a tech savvy country, they probably don't care what the os is, iron out the bugs, make improvements, and then flog it back in Europe and the US when it has gained traction.

    If i was MS i would be seriously worried about this.

    1. Darryl

      one change though

      When it gets to Europe/N.A. you can bet it'll have Win7 on it and we'll pay more because of it

  9. maclovinz
    FAIL

    New Headline

    "American Company ships not only jobs overseas!!!!"

    "Says FU to US"

    (My oh my, Corporations at their best!)

  10. dollyknot

    Dollyknot

    Go into your local computer store, checkout the PCs on sale, they will all be running Microsoft's closed source operating system, I was led to believe that Monopolies were bad for the economy and illegal.

    If Windows was such a brilliant operating system, why did the London Stock Exchange ditch it recently for Linux? (well advised, by their mates at the New York Stock Exchange)

    Why don't Google, Facebook, Amazon and many other companies use Windows.

    Our National Health system, Education system, Police service and local government have given Microsoft millions and millions of pounds, when a free and better operating system exits, the only reason I can think of is, that the people who run our country are corrupt.

    When the government keep telling us we are massively in debt, what they really mean is, we have a massive balance of trade deficit.

    One way to make quite large dent in this deficit is to stop paying the Windows tax.

    The BBC could do an immense amount to promote open source, but it hardly mentions it, this suggests to me that the BBC is corrupt also.

    The fact that the BBC made a program about Linux and it was shown abroad but not here, is a dead give away.

    What is now called chemistry, used to be called alchemy, this happened around the time of Issac Newton, a contemporary of Newton's was Robert Hooke and apparently they were enemies, after Newton's remarkable insights into physics, he turned his powerful intellect towards alchemy, here is the kicker, he kept his research a secret.

    Hooke realised that Newton did this, because he wanted to be the only beneficiary.

    Amongst others Hooke realised, that if alchemists published their results then other alchemists could build on their discoveries and the science of chemistry was born.

    Why should computer science be any different?

    OK I can hear all the programmers out there complaining, how do we get paid, this is like asking Astronomers Physicists Geologists Mathematicians, people in the armed sevices ETC. how they get paid, rather silly question, if you ask me.

    Closed source software, only makes the people who issue the binaries richer, it makes most of the rest of us poorer.

    I will give you an instance, last August I bought a 1 x NNB-831 Xplora 15.6" - AMD Athlon X2 TK42 Ati Graphics 2GB DDR2 250GB SATA HDD DVDRW from Novatech not paying the Windoze tax, saved me around £70, I put Ubuntu on it and have not looked back since.

    All we need is an exec with Assange sized balls on the Beeb, and the UK could make a good sized hole in its balance of trade deficit.

    Would not take much, just a few programs showing how easy Ubuntu is to install and use.

    And if people think I only advocate Ubuntu, I actually run Mandriva on my PC.

    1. LaeMing
      Unhappy

      Good rant

      And I wholely agree with what you are saying, but it is a little lacking in relevance to the parent article?

  11. JaitcH
    Alert

    Is this the 'All Indian' solution?

    The government trumpeted an 'All Indian' solution.

    Question: Where is it being built?

    Windows OS, at least hot copies, are very popular - both in and out of government so the real 'savings' in using open software is a bit of a fantasy.

    There are many emerging markets where computers at this price break would be welcomed.

  12. rahul
    Stop

    I don't think it will be linux...

    ...it's more likely to be WebOS.

    And for those who consider 20K INR to be cheap, you can pick up a full Core2Duo w/ 18.5" LCD monitor for that price here. Add it about 5K for Windows Ultimate (or, nothing in most cases, since piracy is rampant).

  13. Steve X

    developed in india for india?

    And none of those 2600 interviewees suggested that it use Hindi instead of English?

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