Intel’s new Community PC bundle of chips is designed to deal with the environmental conditions often faced by rural Indian villages. Heat, dust, humidity and unreliable power are among them.
The new platform features ruggedized chassis to withstand dusty conditions, varying temperatures and high humidity, Intel said. It has a removable dust filter and an air fan to regulate the temperature of the motherboard. The PC would be resistant to humidity levels of 70 to 80 RH, or relative humidity, while the motherboard would remain cool at temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius.
Also, the PC has a customized power supply unit, which allows the PC to maintain continuous load power in the event of a power outage. And the total power consumption of all peripherals is less than 100 watts.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel said it expects many of its chips will be used in Internet kiosks common in Indian villages. They usually are operated by local entrepreneurs and are used by locals and neighboring communities.
Our experience shows that ICT adoption in developing nations requires much more than providing a standard PC; the technology often needs to be adapted to the local usage and environment of a particular country or region, said William Siu, general manager of Intel’s channel platforms group, in a statement.
Intel also said it was working with local hardware, software and service companies to build machines with its new platform.
