Indian government’s ultra low-cost tablet ‘
Aakash’
is finally in front of us. The official launch comes after nearly one
year telecom minister Kapil Sibal flaunted a prototype of the device.
Previously nicknamed as ‘
Sakshat’,
the Aakash is being touted as the “world’s cheapest tablet”. The
tablet is considered to be a significant accomplishment for the
government, which believes the device will bridge the gap between the
rural India and the ongoing technology boom in the country. Of late we
have got several queries regarding the new Aakash tablet, so we’ve
decided to give you a Facts post, which will help you find answers to
most of your queries.
Availability: The government will roll out 100,000 units
of the Aakash tablet initially. The details of the availability of the
device are bit sketchy. The government says it will distribute the
device to students through the institutions they are studying. So, best
way to find out exact availability of Aakash tablet is to contact your
concerned department of your college/institution.
Commercially, the device will be
launched in November. Pre-booking for the Aakash tablet (retail version
is known as UbiSlate) has already started. For more info on pre-booking
click here.
Price: Well, the Aakash
tablet will be available for students at a subsidised price of nearly
Rs. 1,730. However, the exact price of the Aakash is nearly Rs. 2,276,
which the government paid for its procurement. As per the official
website, the Aakash tablet a.k.a UbiSlate will be commercially available
at Rs. 2,999.
Plans: As per official website, UbiSlate will come with an unlimited mobile Internet at Rs.98/month.
Specs: The Aakash tablet
comes with a seven-inch 800x400 resistive touchscreen. It runs on
Android 2.2 Froyo OS and is powered by 366 MHz + HD video co-processor.
For connectivity, it has an inbuilt WiFI support and can connect a
datacard for 3G and GPRS connectivity. The device comes with a 2GB of
storage memory, which can be extended up to 32GB via microSD. It has a
256 MB RAM. The device supports document formats: DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP and can run PDF
viewer, Text editor. It has a 2,100 mAh battery which is promised to
give 3 hours of backup depending upon usage.Check out more spec details
here.
Versions: Yes, there are
two versions of the Aakash tablet. The subsidised Aakash tablet will
miss few features such as inbuilt cellular modem and SIM to access
Internet. The retail version is likely to sport full-fledged specs as
announced by the government.
Developed by: The Aakash
tablet is designed, developed and manufactured by a Canada-based firm
called DataWind in co-ordination with IIT Rajasthan. According to
reports, DataWind plans to launch a high end version of the device in
less price sensitive markets such as the UK and US.
Is Aakash really world’s cheapest tablet?
Media seems to love tagging India
as the “cheapest market”, especially after the launch of Tata Nano.
However, it’s not same for the Aakash. After some search on Internet, we
found out that there are a number of tablets available in the same
price range and that too with better specs.
We already have a seven-inch
tablet running Android 2.2 OS with an 800 MHZ Cortex-A8 processor, 256
MB RAM and 2GB hard drive, built-in camera at a price of $ 39.71. Check
out the product here. And if you slightly go up, you have Maxtouuch 7inch Tablet PC.
Similarly, there a number of
Chinese companies offering tablets running various Android versions with
better processors between the price range of $40-50. The Aakash tablet
offers nothing extraordinary other than its ultra low price. If it is
overhauled on the specs front with a slight price hike, the Aakash could
catch up with other high end but affordable tablets in the market.
So,
if the retail price for a single unit from an Indian retailer for a
more powerful tablet is Rs 5,000 ($100). We are almost sure that the
same tablet can be ordered in bulk to get the pricing down to the range
of $50. The point is, perhaps the specifications and technology for the
Aakash tablet could have been better, especially when you count the
exemptions of duty and other benefits that would have been applied to
the $35 project. Going by the specifications and the fact that the
tablet with run Android 2.2, it's performance might just be below
acceptable levels. Unless the Google Android 2.2 OS on the Aakash tablet
is heavily modified for performance boost on slower processors, the lag
and response of the tablet with a resistive screen can result in a
frustrating experience. We hope to get our hands on the $35 gadget soon,
we will reserve our final verdict for the detailed review.