INDIA, July, 17, 2001: Using the simple computer, or Simputer, and software that reads webpages aloud in native Indian languages, a group of Indian scientists and engineers has developed a handheld computer to help the poor and illiterate find out about aid projects targeted at them. The team has developed its own version of the web’s formatting language to turn text into understandable Hindi, Kannada and Tamil speech. Trials of the Simputer should begin in August, and it could be widely used by early 2002.
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