Aakash, a Made in India sub-$50 Tablet

For a long time, the $35 tablet - Sakshat - looked like a myth. However, after multiple delays and grumbles from several quarters (some mocking in the international blogs too), Minister of Communications and IT, Kapil Sibal, under whose aegis the project has been nurtured, finally unveiled the$35 
tablet device.

With a new name - Aakash - the device overshoots the earlier widely quoted $35 price tag, but has the potential to reach out to masses and is worth the latest price. The manufacturing cost of the device is $37.98, while adding up transportation, warranty, and other costs, the price bumps up to $49.98. That's just Rs.2276! Add to it the Government subsidy that would let institutes to offer their students these tablets at half that price.

Aakash has been designed, developed, and manufactured by DataWind, a British company, in collaboration with IIT Rajasthan under the HRD Ministry's National Mission on Education through Information & Communication Technology (NME-ICT). The HRD Ministry is buying 100,000 tablets from DataWind for Rs 2250 per unit inclusive of taxes and freight charges.

The Android 2.2 based device features a 7-inch resistive touchscreen and only one face button. There are no volume or back buttons. The device has support for two USB ports and a micro SD card slot along with a 3.5mm headphone jack and the DC in port. Under the hood, Aakash runs on a 366MHz Connexant processor and 256MB RAM with a dedicated HD video processor and 2GB on board flash storage. The device runs full HD videos at 1080p smoothly. The battery life of the device is a bit of a let-down and at 2100mAh; it would last for a maximum 3 hours.The overall build quality is good and there is a rubberized finish to it.

Aakash comes bundled with DataWind's UbiSurfer browser and Nimbuzz app for social networking and instant messaging. For installing other Android apps, the tablet is GetJar enabled but does not support the Android Marketplace. Also, the National Programme of Technology Enabled Learning (NPTEL) has already put up an ecosystem of web-enabled course content and all the video lectures, animations, simulations, notes, and tests are available to students free of cost at http://nptel.iitm.ac.in.

A Review to it 

Features

• Unbeatable Price:
  • Only Rs.2,999 for the UbiSlate
  • Monthly internet charges: Rs.98 / 2GB
• High Quality Web Anytime & Anywhere:
  • Connect via GPRS or WiFi
  • GPRS: Embedded modem eliminates the need for external dongles and allows Internet access everywhere
  • WiFi: Allows fast Youtube videos at hotspots
  • Fast web access even on GPRS networks, across the country using DataWind’s patented acceleration technology
  • Web, Email, Facebook, Twitter and much much more!
• Multimedia Powerhouse:
  • HD Quality Video
• Watching movies in the palm of your hand on a 7” screen
  • Audio library software helps manage your full collection of songs
• Applications Galore with Android 2.2:
  • Games
  • Productivity software: Office suite
  • Educational software
  • Over 150,000 apps!
• Full sized-USB port & Micro-SD slot:
  • Expand memory to 32GB
  • Use any ordinary pen-drive
  • Even plug-in a 3G dongle
• And It’s a Phone!

Configuration

• Hardware:
  • Processor: Connexant with Graphics accelerator and HD Video processor
  • Memory (RAM): 256MB RAM / Storage (Internal): 2GB Flash
  • Storage (External): 2GB to 32GB Supported
  • Peripherals (USB2.0 ports, number): 1 Standard USB port
  • Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audio in: 3.5mm jack
  • Display and Resolution: 7” display with 800x480 pixel resolution
  • Input Devices: Resistive touch screen
  • Connectivity and Networking: GPRS and WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g
  • Power and Battery: Up to 180 minutes on battery. AC adapter 200-240 volt range.
• Software:
  • OS: Android 2.2
  • Document Rendering
• Supported Document formats: DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP
• PDF viewer, Text editor

• Multimedia and Image Display
  • Image viewer supported formats: PNG, JPG, BMP and GIF
  • Supported audio formats: MP3, AAC, AC3, WAV, WMA
  • Supported video formats: MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, FLV
• Communication and Internet
  • Web browser - Standards Compliance: xHTML 1.1 compliant, JavaScript 1.8 compliant
  • Separate application for online YouTube video
  • Safety and other standards compliance
• CE certification / RoHS certification
  • Other: Additional Web Browser: UbiSurfer-Browser with compression/acceleration and IE8 rendering.

Accessories

• Full set of accessory options:
  • Car charger
  • External antenna
  • Keyboard case
• Convert it into a laptop!

Like Never Before!

• There is no other touch-pad tablet or computing device anywhere near the price of the UbiSlate
• At only Rs.2,999, you get:
  • A 7” Android 2.2 tablet
  • With an embedded GPRS modem and WiFi
  • Unlimited Mobile Internet at only Rs.98/month
  • HD Quality Video and Multimedia
• 150,000 Android Apps

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