Thanks to CSIR, mobile computer for Rs 10,000

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) funded indigenous mobile computer Mobilis, developed by a start-up company Encore Software solutions is all set to be supplied to the Wal-Mart chain of companies located in Europe, the United States and Egypt.Mobilis is a Linux based mobile desktop system and two of its variants have been developed by Indian scientists. It is really compact and user-friendly and can snugly fit into an user’s palm. Incidentally, Encore Software is the same company which came out with the concept of the Simputer in India.

Talking from the sidelines of the 93rd Indian National Science Congress, director-general of CSIR R.A. Mashalkar said that about 3,000 Mobilis computers have been manufactured in collaboration with CSIR and soon these will be sent to markets in the US, Europe and Egypt."A Mobilis costs about Rs 10,000 and the price is likely to go down if the manufacturing orders touch 50,000 units. Once these machines are tested in the Western market we will be able to launch in India. That should take another six months," said Mr Mashalkar.

Even companies like Airtel and TCS have shown keen interest in manufacturing these computers, he added. "It is a mobile computer without a huge CPU and that is why is has been named Mobilis. If independent entrepreneurs have more such bright ideas then CSIR will support them like in the case of Encore software," said the CSRI director-general.