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Kamal Narang

Mr Alok Singh, CEO, Novatium, launching Novatium Nova Navigator-family computing experience, in the Capital on Tuesday. –

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Sept. 30 Consumers can now look to pick-and-choose computing applications and pay for the usage through a subscription model, with Novatium Solutions on Tuesday unveiling the Nova Navigator, largely targeting the home users.

The service gets delivered over a broadband connection – 256 kbps and above – through an access device called the Nova Navigator which uses Intel’s Atom processor.

Navigator is a multi-Operating System managed computing service that also delivers entertainment, communication and education on a single window.

“The Navigator hardware box through a broadband connection allows the user to access applications residing on our servers and pay for just those applications. The product can be used even outside India as it is a plug-and-play device and just needs a broadband connectivity,” Mr Alok Singh, CEO of Novatium, said at a conference.

The Navigator is priced at Rs 5,999 plus taxes, while subscription charges for the services start at Rs 100 per month. The hardware price does not include a monitor which has to be bought separately. Using the Navigator, the user can opt for various desktop options including SUSE Linux, Microsoft or Macintosh. The device does not come with built-in hard disk drive and users looking to locally store files can do so by using a USB stick to view files saved as documents, spreadsheet or presentations. Users can also store their files remotely. “We provide 50GB storage space on services which is expandable to terabytes,” he added.

Mr Singh said, “We do not compete on being the cheapest computing device, but offer value for money and convenience. There are no maintenance hassles, and it is free from upgrades and viruses.”

While the basic services (Skype, radio, firefox, chat, photoframe, paintbrush and media player) come at Rs 100 per month, consumers have shell out extra for desktop usage. For instance, using the full Linux desktop would be another Rs 100 over the basic service. The company is yet to finalise the pricing on Microsoft Windows.

While the service is already available in Delhi, Novatium plans to launch the services in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata in November; and in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, and Ahmedabad in December 2008.

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