New low cost desktop joins Community PC platform

Intel chief Paul Otellini at a company event in Mexico has unveiled a " Discover the PC" initiative that aims to increase the market for computers in developing nations.

The initiative follows one day after Intel made published the specifications of the Community PC platform which targets computers that are rented in villages in rural India.

As a second platform that was designed under the new programme, Otellini unveiled a new, as of yet unnamed, low cost desktop PC platform that initially will be available to consumers in Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Mexico and Nigeria. Targetting users that otherwise don't have access to computers, it will be made available through local government agencies or telecommunication providers such as Telmex in Mexico.

"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,” said Otellini.

The platform offers a fully featured system using low cost components and runs either Linux or Windows XP Starter Edition. Similar to the Community PC, Intel provides specifications but relies on local manufacturers to make and sell the units.

The Discover the PC initiative is the result of four platform definition centres that Intel opened last year in August. The programme is part of an initiative to expand the market for Intel's chips into new geographies.

Intel furthermore touted the WiMAX wireless networking technology that can bring wireless broadband internet to rural areas that lack the infrastructure for wired connections. The chipmaker is one of the main backers of the wireless technology.