Thursday, October 6 2005 20:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Chip-maker Intel today (Oct 6, 2005) announced it is developing a 'community PC' to meet the requirements of rural and farming communities in India and expects to launch it by the year end.

The Community PC, designed to provide Internet access in rural and remote areas, where the company hopes to tap a large market, is currently being piloted in 10 locations in India.

Intel's initiative was unveiled by Intel Corporation Senior Vice-President Patrick P Gelsinger at the Intel Developer Forum meet to over 1,500 engineers, developers and other technology industry leaders from India and South Asia.

He said the community PC can function through the use of a car battery as its back-up energy supply, as electricity supply was sporadic in many rural parts of India.

In addition, to meet the conditions of rural environs, the computer contains special screens and filters to reduce the amount of dust and insects that can enter the box and impact reliability.

The computer has also been designed to handle extreme heat conditions, more than 38 degrees Celsius, Gelsinger said.

Gelsinger said Intel's platform definition centres in Bangalore, Cairo, Sao Paulo and Shanghai were working on a number of local technology and platform initiatives throughout several countries.

On innovations in the area of mobility, he said Intel was involved in several trial deployments around the world to test the feasibility of WiMAX.

Each of these deployments had shown how the promise of standards-based wireless broadband could impact the way that businesses and Government work, commerce is conducted and students learn.

Amar Babu, Intel South Asia Director, Marketing, said Intel was in talks with the Governments of Karnataka and Uttaranchal to launch pilot projects on WiMAX, the technology which enables internet access over a 50 km radius.

"We are building the wireless infrastructure so as to be ready when the community PC hits the market", he said.

On Intel technology innovations in redefining home entertainment, Gelsinger said technology innovation, new online services and industry specifications were helping to make digital content easier to access and enjoy both inside the home and on the go.

PCs based on Intel Viiv technology would premier in homes early next year when Intel introduces such technology, he said. It would be easy to use with a remote control, powered by a suite of Intel technologies, and surrounded by a number of verified consumer electronic devices, software and online services, including movies, music, photos and games, he said.

Intel, he said, was also working with local OEMs to bring out Entertainment PCs for the value-end of the market segment.