Endless : PC that makes Internet Offline

Endless : PC that makes Internet Offline

           San Francisco start-up Endless has an unusual business plan in this age of the smartphone and tablet.Where everyone is trying to be connected all the time , Endless is a company which is thinking about where countries have very little or no connectivity at all. Endless is aiming for that percent of people who have less access to the connected world to at least do the basics stuff that the net provides.

            The company unveiled a grapefruit-sized spherical desktop this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Called the Endless Mini, the device's true innovation may be the way it holds key websites on its hard drive even when there is no Internet connection - as well as its rock-bottom price of $79, which might finally get modern technology into the hands of the world's poorest citizens.

            Endless conducted extensive research of developing markets and found that consumers want more affordable computers, not just smartphones. The Endless Mini comes preloaded with 650 megabytes of content, such as Wikipedia articles or educational materials from the Khan Academy, that could be searched and used without a connection. The idea is to give people the benefits of the Internet without having to pay the expense of a robust data plan.If the computer ever is connected to the Web, it will download the latest versions of the articles that have updated.

             So the Endless Mini is just a PC without the monitor,keyboard or even the mouse. So the company is saying that, it's selling the CPU at no-profit and is aiming to have a profit in seeling the accessories like monitors, keyboards, mouse etc.

              The base model comes with 24 gigabytes of storage, is powered by an ARM Cortex-A processor and includes over 100 applications, including options for word processing, making spreadsheets and playing games. The operated system is based on Linux.

                 Endless is targeting Guatemala as its first market and plans to grow to Mexico and China. It estimates that the global market for a $79 (roughly Rs. 5,200) computer is about 2 billion. Endless has arranged financing that allows Guatemalans to pay off the device for $3 (roughly Rs. 200) a month.

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