Citizens in India will soon be able to send emails using a pen, paper and mobile phone camera. HP Labs based in Bangalore are in the final stages of developing new technology that would enable any mobile phone with a camera to become an emailing device.

Simply write out the email text on a piece of paper and include the email address of the recipient, photograph the text using the mobile phone camera and the HP application software will send the message to the addressee as an email.

If successful, this could be a major technological milestone for India – a country with the second largest population in the world, but with an internet penetration of only seven per cent. There are fewer than three PCs and only seven internet users for every 100 inhabitants in India, and these numbers are even lower in rural areas.

“Usually, six villages have to share one cyber cafe, which means that villagers have to travel five to six kilometres just to use the computer. With this new technology, they would be able to send emails from where they are with their mobile phones,” said Jacob Victor, former Joint Director of e-governance, Information Technology and Communications in the Government of Andhra Pradesh. Each email will cost approximately 10 rupees (US$0.22).

HP Labs hopes that innovating with a device that already exists would help decrease the aversion less tech-savvy citizens – like housewives and the elderly – have towards new technology. With more than half a billion mobile phone users in India, the government also hopes that this invention will not only bridge the digital divide, but improve the quality of communication throughout the country.

Another benefit of this new technology is that it allows emails to be sent in any language. There are several hundred languages in India, and computers may not be equipped with the software which allows people to type emails in their own language.

“Take the language Telugu, for example. Computers which allow you to type in that language are very rare. If you write the message on a piece of paper, take a photograph of it and send it as an email, you will be able to send the email in the desired language, and the recipient will be able to read it in the same language,” said Jacob Victor.

However, the technology has its drawbacks. One challenge would be ensuring the quality of the pictures taken. Without high quality pictures, the message may be misinterpreted by the software when the application compresses the picture. A second challenge, said Jacob Victor, is that most of the handsets in India do not have the storage capacity for the application to be installed.

“Around 80 per cent of the population do not have such advanced handsets. However, extra memory is slowly increasing as new models enter the market,” he said.

By Serene Leow | 3 August 2010
http://www.futuregov.asia/articles/2010/aug/03/send-email-paper-and-mobile-phone/