Microsoft is looking at ways to hook smartphones up to TVs to use the computing power and connectivity of the handset with the larger screen of the TV for a better, and cheaper, Internet experience in the developing world. The company began working on Fone+ a few years ago, and has tested prototypes proving such devices can lower the cost of computing for the poor.

The company still says ultra-low-cost laptop PCs (ULCPCs) have an important role to play, but such devices are still expensive for developing nations, according to Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, and the head of its Unlimited Potential Group, which works on projects for the poor.

"We would love to see an environment where every kid has their own laptop, and that is the long-term outcome that you ultimately want to strive for," he said in a recent interview. "But we're also realistic, given the number of kids that don't have anything today, that it's going to be a big lift for governments around the world to figure out how they'd buy even a [US]$200 device for every kid."

That's why the company is working on projects such as Fone+ and MultiPoint, a technology where each student has his or her own mouse and unique cursor to use the same computer. That drops the price of computing dramatically, to one PC, a projector and 30 computer mice per classroom, instead of US$200 per laptop.

"You have the opportunity to introduce the computer into the curriculum for every class there," he said. "Now that's not as good as every kid having their own laptop, and they don't get to take it home with them, which is a big loss, but it gets them started."

The idea of using ULCPCs as a way to bring computing to students in developing countries began with the One Laptop Per Child Foundation's (OLPC) $188 notebook. The XO originally started with an Open Source OS, but OLPC has worked with Microsoft on using XP, and Microsoft has dropped the price of a suite of Office software for such devices.

The fact that Microsoft and so many other organizations are concerned about bringing computing to the developing world is comforting to some people. The fear is that modern countries with access to IT and the Internet will continue to expand the gap in technological know-how over developing nations, a conundrum commonly referred to as the digital divide.

"With ICT, we now have the most potent weapon of all to break the vicious cycle of poverty and ignorance," said Yudhoyono, adding a warning: "Whether we like it or not, there is a digital divide. The gap is widening between the information technology 'haves' and 'have-nots.' There is a real danger that the world's poor will be virtually excluded from the emerging knowledge-based global economy -- with dire consequences to global peace and security."