Intel Joins Race for Low-Cost PC

Intel CEO Paul Otellini introduced a new initiative Friday that will aim to supply governments and telecommunications companies with a full-featured PC at an affordable price. The company's first partner is Telmex, a Mexican telecommunications company.

The "Discover the PC" initiative comes after the MIT One Laptop Per Child program rebuffed Intel when the decision was made to use AMD processors. The company's chairman has also publicly criticized the MIT program, saying consumers were looking for a full-featured device.

Microsoft has echoed this attitude; Chairman Bill Gates said in a speech in mid-March that the device's small screen, along with its lack of a hard drive and applications are serious flaws. Intel did not say if Microsoft was a partner in the new program.

But the Discover the PC device will be more expensive. Intel's version would cost about $300, which is $100 more than a commercial version of MIT's laptop. However, Intel believes the extra cost is worth it, as the user receives a fully functioning, Internet-connected computer.

"The Discover the PC initiative is part of Intel's longstanding and comprehensive approach toward sharing the benefits of personal computing with those who have traditionally had neither the access nor the means to use technology," Otellini said. "Intel is proud to be part of the effort to deliver the benefits of computing more broadly to people."

The unit would be made available by Telmex to state governments in the second half of this year, which in tern would distribute them to their poor.

Intel's plans are quite similar to AMD's 50x15 initiative, which aims to have half of the world's population connected to the Internet by 2015. AMD's system, called the Personal Internet Communicator, is sold by utilities for about $180.

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