— Photo: Anand Parthasarathy

NEW PLATFORM: Vu Technologies' CEO Devita Saraf with the tube-shaped digital home system.

Bangalore: Invitees who turned up at the `Gadget Bar' in Mumbai's CR2 Mall soon after its opening last month might be forgiven for wondering if they had strayed into a wrong place. The PC line-up on display at the Vu Technologies outlet, on the day of the global launch of Microsoft's new Windows platform Vista, was like nothing one had seen at home or office. Display screens nestled in large teakwood frames and hung on the wall like paintings; computing units which looked like large glass cylinders; other PCs that popped open like juicy apples...

"We are aiming at customers for whom the PC is part of a larger digital home experience," said Vu Technologies CEO Devita Saraf.

"These are stylish lifestyle statements for those who want to do their computing — and their TV viewing, DVD or music playing — all from the same device... and do it in a relaxed way rather than leaning forward, hunched over a desktop."

Prices

Vu Technologies, with a California presence, is a new company floated by Zenith Computers, one of the pioneering Indian PC makers whose motto has been `MNC quality, Indian prices.'

The Vu Tech models are not exactly budget PCs, but the aggressive Zenith price policy is apparent even here. The models start at Rs. 35,000 for a full fledged Vista-PC with a 19-inch LCD TV screen, and include models priced all the way from Rs. 75,000 for a 32-inch LCD screen and Dolby 5.1 wall speakers to the top-of-the-line Vu Vista Digital Home with a 37-inch screen and five tall, standing speakers.

People looking for the complete home theatre experience would have to pay over Rs. 1 lakh for these large TV screens.

For a little more, Vu Technologies seems to be throwing in a full Vista PC functionality and an in-your-face fashion statement.

Convergence

Many industry watchers see 2007 as the year when PC, TV and DVD would converge in India in a sangam of `on-demand' infotainment.

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