Well this was almost a pleasant surprise for me. India’s HRD Minister Kapil Sibal appeared today at Gadget Guru of NDTV and showed off his $35 baby and guess what? Unlike the previous claims of $10 laptop by Gov. of India this thing is real and it works! [video embedded below] The Gadget Guru team gave a thumbs up to the device after reviewing it. Here are the features

1). Android OS (not Linux as rumoured earlier)

2). Camera (front facing)

3). Wi-Fi

4). Resistive touch screen (can not be capacitative of course and part of the reason of its low-cost)

5). SMS Slot

6). USB Port

So looking at the features, this can be more or less dubbed as an Android Tablet. Mr. Sibal pointed out a few important things to clear the air on $35 price point. Each tablet will cost $35 to the HRD Ministry (if they order for a million units, which looks likely). $35 is not the retail cost of the device and whether or not this device will ever be sold directly is still unclear. As of now the HRD Ministry plans to directly deliver these devices to higher education institutions for their students. The device might come pre loaded with the necessary educational softwares and materials for students.

Here goes of Video of Today’s Gadget Guru.

At the first look, I am impressed. Will have to wait and see when the device actually rolls out (hopefully) early next year.