Wishtel to launch tablet running on Linux-based platform for $50

The company has developed a Linux-based platform PrithV, which will be used for the tablet and net book PCs, it said in a statement.

"Our objective as a technology and manufacturing company is to create affordable range of products that can contribute to society by extending education for free and without boundaries," Wishtel CEO Milind Shah said in a statement.

The platform, developed jointly by Wishtel and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, supports 85 global languages which include 23 Indian languages. It also comes loaded with educational suite to offer self learning software for pre-primary, tertiary and higher education, it said.

Shah said that tablet PC will be available for $50 while the net books will cost $120.

Wishtel, which lost out to Datawind in securing a contract for manufacturing low-cost tablet Aakash, said "it will participate in the bidding for second round when the government floats a tender."

"We intend to offer our solutions to universities and schools worldwide and empower every student with a PC enabling them to learn and educate themselves beyond textbooks, access and create their own knowledge," Shah said.