India's 35$ Tablet finally announced. Named Aakash

Indian government's venture to create the cheapest tablet for students has finally been released. The much anticipated tablet is being manufactured by DataWind Ltd..

Government aims to provide 10000 tablets to students of India. Cost of each tablet is announced as Rs.2250 and is said to decrease in the coming days when Indian Government places an order for mass production of this. DataWind's Aakash is only for students and the price is subsidized. DataWind plans to release another version of Aakash, called UbiSlate which will be priced slightly higher than Aakash. DataWind claims to deliver UbiSlate by the end of November.

Ever since the announcement of 35$ Tablet, the processor speed was kept undisclosed. The processor speed turned out to be only 366Mhz. Considering the price of the tablet, this must not be disappointing as it is a value for money tablet. Here is a list of specifications to wrap up.

Aakash features -

a 7" display with resolution 800 x 480 pixels

a 366Mhz Processor

256 MB of RAM

2GB of internal

expandable up to 32 GB through microSD slot

1 standard USB 2.0 Port

Wifi Capability

Battery that lasts 3 hours and

runs Android 2.2 Froyo

Evidently, the tablet will not support HD graphics but the product is quite good for what it is aimed at. May be a disappointment to few people, but this is what you get for what you want to pay.

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35$ tablet to be available from October 5th

Kapil Sibal, the Union resource minister of Human Resource unveiled the 35$ tablet on 22nd July 2010. Since then, techspace has been keeping track of the latest happenings regarding this cheapest 35$ tablet. The Government also announced a subsidized rate of Rs.1100 for students.



The 35$ tablet will be launched officially on October 5th. The device features a 7"  Touch screen, 2 USB Ports, 32 GB Hard Disk, 2 GB RAM with Video conferencing and multimedia capabilities. The tablet runs Android OS but the version is unknown. There has been no news on the processor speed and continues to remain a mystery until October 5th. The name of the tablet will be revealed on the day of launch. The tablet was supposed to release in the month of June but the tender with Manufacturers, HCL was cancelled causing the delay.

There are a few expectations on this tablet. If proven good, then this may bring lot of changes in the Indian education system.

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India's 35$ Laptop finally out!

India's much awaited 35$ tablet is finally being released. The challenge the IITians took to build this cheapest tablet has been fruitful. Indian government has decided to provide this tablet to Students at a subsidized rate of Rs.1100 and for the general public for a cost of Rs.2200. It is cheaper anyway.

Called as Sakshat Tablet, it features -

7 inch touch screen
2 GB RAM
Wifi and USB Connectivity
32 GB HD space
Android OS
VGA Camera to support video calling
Multimedia capability

Even though the release is close, the company has not disclosed any information regarding the processor speed or the version of Android it will support. The tablets will be distributed by the HRD ministry through institutions.

A 7 inch tablet for a price of Rs.2200 looks very reasonable and worth buying if you are looking for a cheap handy tool to keep your notes. A low price will have its take. But since it is built by the IITians who have amazed indians for decades, you cannot really predict anything until the tablets are out for sale.

I just wish this move by the HRD ministry really help the technology & education sectors in India.

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