India’s $35 tablet launched

The "Aakash" and not Sakshat as told earlier has been launched by the Minister of Communications and Information technology, Mr Kapil Sibal, who also revealed the new name and price on the tablet.

Once dubbed the cheapest tablet launched, the Aakash with is new price tag is not the cheapest one anymore since a VIA tablet from Shenzhen is available for a similar price. The Aakash is manufactured by the Canadian company Datawind in Hyderabad.

Kapil Sibal said that the Indian government will buy 100,000 units on a pilot basis at $47 and give it to post-secondary students for a discounted price of $35. The Government intends to deliver 10 million tablets to secondary students across the country. The tablets will be distributed state-wise - each state will get 3000 units to begin with.

Two months later, it will be commercially available under the name 'Ubislate' and will retail at $60.

Specs:

7" Resistive touch screen

CPU: 366MHz

Memory: 256MB RAM

Storage: 2GB Flash memory + 2GB Micro SD card

Android 2.2 OS but has Getjar marketplace instead of Android market

Connections: Wi-fi only. Later models will be GPRS and SIM enabled.

Connectivity: 2 USB ports

Battery: 2100mAh (2-3 hours usage)

Weight 350 gram

Dimensions: 190.5x118.5x15.7mm

The Aakash tablet has been five and a half years in the making. In terms of educational apps, it seems the ecosystem has been in place since 2003 when the NPTEL (National Programme of Technology Enabled Learning) was put into place. All the video lectures along with animations, simulations, notes and tests are available to students free of cost