singapore simputer the simple computer developed by the indian institute of science bangalore will be launched in singapore in june this year encore technologies a singaporebased technology company will utilise the services of simputer as a mobile computing platform enabling the user to access many applications and services anywhere anytime while on the movethe simputer according to the company with its multitasking environment and multiprotocol support can be the most flexible computing platform cellular phones pdas and laptops fall short on one or more elements of mobile computing namely mobility instant access computing and communications as a result most mobile professionals carry all three devicesencore will promote the use of simputer as a single multitasking device targetted for use on the move in singapore the company will promote simputers in government and educational institutions banks and among mobile workforcessays encore technologies ceo ravi desiraju in the first year of operations we want to testbed simputers applications in the institutional corporate and lifestyle segmentsthe company in the first year will implement pilot applications which will showcase the concept and approach of the project elaborating on the companys marketing initiatives desiraju said that several local governments in india asia pacific and africa have expressed interest in the simputer projectamong the target applications are a simputer for the visually challenged simputerbased applications for elearning in rural india and indonesia a healthcare application and a crop information system for indian farmersthe company also wants to form a consortium with other players in the market to develop a lifestyle solution targetted at tourists visiting singapore we have already formed partnerships and identified pilot customers in the institutional and corporate sectosin the area of internet or application connectivity todays world offers multiple choices the wired connection through pstn networks cellular connectivity such as gsmgprs3g and wireless connectivity mobile computing solutions today offer any one of such connectionsthe user is best served if he can seamlessly switch to the best available connection from the same mobile computing device says desiraju this is where simputer can make the differencewhen quizzed why he chose singapore as the launchpad desiraju said the nation offered 99 per cent connectivity and high bandwidth links ranging from 45 mbps to 1 gbps singapore offers a ready market and a well developed platform for testing and deploying interactive multimedia applicationsthis correspondent was in singapore at the invitation of the infocomm development authority ida singapore