In another attempt to bring a usable computer to the masses at an extremely affordable price point, India has developed a touchscreen-computing device, which will cost only $35.

India`s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal this week unveiled the low-cost computing device that is designed for students, saying his department had started talks with global manufacturers to start mass production.

Whatever hardware is running this thing, it’s ready for production, according to Kapil Sibal. “We have reached a (developmental) stage that today; the motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around $35, including memory, display, everything,” he said at a news conference in New Delhi.

Research teams at India’s premier technological institutes, the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science, developed the device.

Sibal said the Linux based computing device was expected to be introduced to higher education institutions from 2011 but the aim was to drop the price further to $20 and ultimately to $10.

BDST: 1755 HRS, 23 July 2010