Corporate Diary | Product Launch Microsoft Unveils Unlimited Potential
Launches IQ PC and MSN IQ Beta Education Portal In India, a country of population of over a billion, access to IT is available to only a 100 million people. Microsoft India with the objective to enable access for the vast majority of Indians announced the launch of ‘Unlimited Potential’ in the country, close to the global launch of the Microsoft Unlimited Potential by Bill Gates in Beijing China.
Orlando Ayala, Senior Vice President, Emerging Segments Market Development Group, Microsoft
“Our founding Vision of ‘computer on every desk and in every home’ has reached the first billion people and with ‘Unlimited Potential’, we are determined to reach the next billion by 2015. India is one of the most exciting and important markets in the world. In addition to being a growth sector of the Indian economy, IT is also the key enabler of social development.
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Microsoft will both scale up the existing initiatives and broaden the opportunity beyond institutions and enable access for individuals under a ‘Connected Learning Framework’ called IQ. IQ is essentially a combination of online and offline content tied to all aspects of a student’s learning process and growth. A key offering announced included a pilot programme for the IQ PC. Aimed at school going children from Kindergarten to class 12, the PC will be built on AMD hardware in partnership with Zenith as the designated OEM (Oroginal 34
Equipment Manufacturer). It is likely to be priced at about Indian Rupees 21,000 (US$513). Additionally, Microsoft and AMD are also working towards collaborating with WIPRO to deliver IQ-PC on Wipro’s ultra-value. Microsoft also announced the launch of the MSN IQ Beta education Channel, which will be a repository of educational as well as edutainment content. Students access curriculum for classes Kindergarten to 12th class, avail of online tutoring; competitive exam coaching;online entertainment; referencing and online counseling. Initially, Microsoft will launch IQ offerings - both the PC and the education Channel – in Bangalore and Pune, starting 1st July and will roll out to the rest of the country by November. The programme focus is to create innovative ways for deploying technology to transform education, foster local innovation, and enable jobs and opportunities to sustain a continuous cycle of social and economic growth for everyone. The IQ offerings are supported by a host of partners, both hardware and software, having extensive experience and expertise and leadership in their areas of operations. For content, the partners include, Brilliant Tutorials, Junior Achievement, Pacsoft, Karadi Tales, Gurujiworld, Edurite and Tutorvista. For hardware, Microsoft is supported by Intel and AMD, and for accessibility, a strategic partnership was announced with Sify Corporation. The Sify iWay countrywide chain of Internet cafes will have provision for enabling access to Microsoft’s initiatives for students, job seekers and entrepreneurs.
Microsoft Research in Bangalore is also working on technologies that will make computers more accessible and affordable to students, and has developed a technology called MultiPoint that allows several computer mice to be used with a
Ravi Ventakesan Chairman, Microsoft India
“Affordable solutions must
account for individuals needs and means and use creative ways to deliver technology, through different devices, access models or financing options. It is imperative for technology to be relevant and accessible. Only when we meet these criteria will the adoption of technology grow exponentially. And this is exactly what we seek to deliver through ‘Microsoft Unlimited Potential’. ” PC simultaneously. This technology is targeted at schools in India and other countries that cannot afford to give each student a PC. The other independent research project Digital StudyHall (DSH) supported by Microsoft Research, aims to overcome both the problems of staff shortage and availability of standardised study materials among underserved communities. It records and distributes DVDs of subject classes led by Indian grassroots teachers. July 2007 | www.digitalLearning.in