This week, Vodacom has unveiled the Linkbook, which is now available through selected South African Vodacom retail outlets at R199 per month for 24 months (R202 SIM and connect) and includes 300MB of data per month.
The Linkbook was developed by South African entrepreneurs Mark Levy and Neil Watson, in the hope that they will be able to put computing (and the internet) into the hands of those who couldn’t previously afford it.
"Linkbook is an idea whose time has come," says Mark. “It's compact and highly intuitive and will bring easy-to-use wireless internet to millions. The cost of the actual computer to the consumer over the two-year contract period comes in at R40.00 per month. It is a massive step in the direction of the $100 computer.”
In order to keep the costs down, the Linkbook doesn’t come with Windows pre-installed. Instead, it runs a customised Linux operating system which is based on Ubuntu, called Link OS. This operating system comes with OpenOffice, a few games, and other applications. The Linkbook itself contains embedded WiFi, an integrated 3G modem, 16GB of embedded flash storage, an 8.9” LCD display screen, two USB ports, a webcam, a microphone, 256MB of RAM, and it is powered by a Motorola PowerPC processor.
Via Simon Dingle
