It's a generally accepted fact that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, but we're working hard to suppress our doubts because we really want to believe the news that an Indian project intends to produce laptops costing around $10 each. No; that's not missing a zero.

The project is in response to the One Laptop per Child initiative, a similar program for providing low-cost laptops aimed at schoolchildren in the developing world. The OLPC ended up only able to offer a $200 model (pictured), still cheaper than many full-fledged laptops, but not much of a price break off some lower-end nettops.

Our first thought was that this $10 tag is after some pretty aggressive government subsidies, but that may not be the case. Sources describe the current prototypes as only costing $20 to manufacture, naming $10 as a target once mass production kicks in. Something still doesn't seem to add up, though. The laptops are supposed to have 2GB of RAM each; 2GB of laptop memory retails for $20 by itself, let alone all the other components needed to build a computer.

We're cautiously optimistic for now. The super-cheap laptop should be launched on February 3rd, when India's National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology kicks off, so we don't have long to wait before a chance to see and confirm these reports.

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