Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Airtel launches NetPC


Bharti Airtel has launched NetPC which works with an Airtel broadband connection. It comes as a package of 15 inch LCD monitor, keyboard and a mouse. The package costs Rs. 7,999(4999 without LCD monitor) which is a one time investment. Including tax and installation charges, it'll be around 9000 Rs. There will be no costs for upgrades or maintenance. Airtel provides home pack over Rs.699 monthly broadband scheme, Professional pack(MS office standard with admin rights) over Rs.899 monthly broadband scheme and Business pack(MS office premium with admin rights) over Rs. 1199 monthly broadband scheme. All the packs offer 256 kbps speed and 3GB data transfer cap. Last year in November, Novatium had launched its network PC in collaboration with BSNL costing Rs. 2999(excluding tax and installation charges). But it didn't offer any LCD monitor. Airtel NetPCs will be available in Airtel and Next stores after 23rd MAy in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida.

NetPCs are meant for internet usage and small businesses. NetPC is a computer without disks. It employs internet booting to load its operating system from the server. There are no softwares stored on NetPC and the server takes care of it. Thus we need not worry about software upgrades. NetPC works on the concept of cloud computing technology based on shared infrastructure in internet wherein a large number of systems are linked. Cloud servers fulfill storage purposes. Thus the software and data are stored in centralized servers instead of the user end PC. This approach results in lower cost as it eliminates the need to install software or hardware.This also gives the advantage of access to genuine softwares by users. Also, just like email, we can access our internet based NetPC anywhere around the world with our login account and perform any task.

Airtel NetPC is powered by Nivio Companion which connects PC to a backend Linux server for storage and applications. Nivio provides the necessary hardware and software(genuine Windows XP) while Airtel provides broadband services. Airtel NetPC is featured with 10 GB online storage.

Advantages of this PC are low costs, low power consumption (5-10 Watt), regular software upgrades(genuine), 100% data security and privacy, no virus, no crashes. Disadvantages: due to the absence of optical media, playing games will be cumbersome; we can't download any software, no hardware upgrades, no CD-ROM drives or hardware expansion slots.

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