Low-cost Aakash 2 tablet launched in India at Rs 1,130

[SajeevJino]

Low-cost Aakash 2 tablet launched in India at Rs 1,130​

Datawind in association with the HRD Ministry has launched Aakash 2 - the new version of India's low-cost tablet Aakash, which was trashed by both users and reviewers for its poor performance. The new Aakash 2 tablet is available at a subsidised price of Rs 1,130 for Indian students, while Datawind is delivering the tablet to the HRD Ministry at Rs 2,263.

Compared to the previous version of the Aakash tablet, which proved to be a dud, the company has now upgraded some of the key features to enhance the user experience.

The new Aakash 2 tablet comes engineered with a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, while the original Aaaksh tablet was powered by a 366 MHz processor. The Aakash 2 tablet has a 7-inch capacitive display with four multi-touch points. The screen has a resolution of 800x480 pixels. The previous version of Aakash had a 7-inch resistive touch screen.

Besides, the upgraded Aakash runs Android 4.0 operating system, whereas its predecessor had Android 2.2 OS. The Aakash 2 sports a front-facing VGA camera, and has built in Wi-Fi connectivity. The new tablet has 512 MB RAM and internal memory of 4GB, which is expandable up to 32GB using a micro SD card. The tablet is said to offer around four hours of battery time.

The commercial version of the Aakash 2 unit is branded as UbiSlate 7Ci, and is available for purchase on DataWind's website at Rs 3,500.

The tablet 'Aakash' was launched in October last year by the government to make available computing devices to students at subsidised rates. However, the project ran into controversy following IIT Rajasthan rejecting the devices manufactured by Datawind. Datawind had won the tender for making and supplying one lakh Aakash tablets for price of around $49 per unit.

1. Key specifications:
2. 7-inch multi-touch capacitive screen
3. 512 MB RAM
4. 4GB (internal) flash memory, which is expandable up to 32GB using a micro SD card
5. USB port
6. 1 GHz Cortex A8 processor
7. Front facing camera
8. WiFi

It has been developed under the aegis of IIT Bombay with the active support of C- DAC. Datawind is rolling out the device. "The price is Rs. 2,263 at which the government purchases the device from us. The government subsidises it by 50 per cent and it will be distributed to students at Rs. 1,130" said Datawind CEO Suneet Tuli.

He said the government is also trying to encourage the state governments to chip in by subsidising it further so that the device can eventually be available to students free of cost.

The first one lakh devices will be provided to students of engineering colleges and universities and subsequently these will be distributed to others.

About 22 crore students will get the device across the country in the next five to six years. By coming Monday alone, 20,000 devices are expected to reach out to the students.

The device, which can also run on Linux operating system, do Aadhar authentication and control a robot from a distant place, said HRD Ministry officials.

Over 15,000 teachers at 250 colleges have been trained on the use of Aakash for education. It will be used for classroom teaching.

According to a statement by IIT Bombay, students will be trained to develop applications and content through team projects.

"We will especially focus on application in Indian languages. Economically disadvantaged children from rural areas will receive the same good quality education like the others," the statement said.

The first version of Aakash called Aakash 1 as launched by the government in October 2011. However, it was marked by testing problems and other specifications.

The advanced version thereafter was sent to the Union Ministers and the state chief ministers for their feedback.

"The response from them was very good with Defence Minister A. K. Antony describing it as a game changer for education. The Labour Ministry wanted the device to be distributed among ITI students," said HRD Ministry officials.

Low-cost Aakash 2 tablet launched in India at Rs 1,130 - Tech - IBNLive

Review aakash, aakash 2, ubislate, android, tablet, engineering, csvtu , student, noteskart, apple, friendkart, notes, college, college art, education education keywords, online education online education keywords, education department education department

 

[drkrn]

any reviews?

 

[Blackwater]

Two Indian-Americans in Forbes' education innovators list

creater of akash tab



Two Indian-Americans in Forbes' education innovators list - Yahoo! News India

 

[VIP]

Meh....Students will use it to watch blue films and movies.Our teachers can't follow the technology properly than how can they teach students ?? Hope something good happen through this.

 

[SajeevJino]

Meh....Students will use it to watch blue films and movies.Our teachers can't follow the technology properly than how can they teach students ?? Hope something good happen through this.

hey did you Know In Tamil Nadu all of the H.Sc students gots free Laptop by the election offer announced by TN CM Jayalalitha...


Think about it...How these students uses the Laptop...

 

[roma]

i would go with AK Antony's statement - this is a really good development - bthe outcome will not be immediately visible though

even at the un-subsidised price of perhaps about 60 euros or so , the product can find some large makes in europe - have they tried , any info on export organization to be contacted ?

 

[VIP]

hey did you Know In Tamil Nadu all of the H.Sc students gots free Laptop by the election offer announced by TN CM Jayalalitha..."¨"¨"¨Think about it...How these students uses the Laptop...

"¨"¨"©Congress is playing same tactics but 1 step ahead and fooling people by giving promises that they'll provide free laptops, houses,plots,etc.

 

[VIP]

i would go with AK Antony's statement - this is a really good development - bthe outcome will not be immediately visible though"¨"¨even at the un-subsidised price of perhaps about 60 euros or so , the product can find some large makes in europe - have they tried , any info on export organization to be contacted ?

"¨"¨"©Microsoft is subsidizing their windows8 devices for students in UK and claiming that company is providing win8 devices to around 26 m students in whole world. There will be a seperate govt's subsidy for it.So who's gonna buy such POS in europe instead of this awesome full functional Windows 8.

 

[roma]

"¨"¨"©Microsoft is subsidizing their windows8 devices for students in UK and claiming that company is providing win8 devices to around 26 m students in whole world. There will be a seperate govt's subsidy for it.So who's gonna buy such POS in europe instead of this awesome full functional Windows 8.

the many millions who dont qualify as students and who are satisfied with the basic comms functions that akash provides - of course first akash will have to become known and slowly accepted before it gets into high gear

 

[Godless-Kafir]

Wow..Small tablet to watch porn on for the poor. What other use is there for this? Seriously?

Do professors allow students to keep the phone on his desk to record the seminar? No..They think your lazy..

 

[VIP]

the many millions who dont qualify as students and who are satisfied with the basic comms functions that akash provides - of course first akash will have to become known and slowly accepted before it gets into high gear

"¨"¨"©You're not getting the point. You can't even run Angry Bird Space properly on A8 with 512 ram.Efficiency is much lower than you need to do real study stuffs.Without Office, they can't do anything which isn't available for android."©"©Raspberry Pie is great for study purpose if you really want Linux kernel based system on it. And windows RT for ARM is also there, hope MS works with it and make something compatible to it.

 

[roma]

"¨"¨"©You're not getting the point. You can't even run Angry Bird Space properly on A8 with 512 ram.Efficiency is much lower than you need to do real study stuffs.Without Office, they can't do anything which isn't available for android."©"©Raspberry Pie is great for study purpose if you really want Linux kernel based system on it. And windows RT for ARM is also there, hope MS works with it and make something compatible to it.

we are on diff wavelengths - youre talking student stuff

if you read my post i was referring to the general population - in the past Hwelett Pckard had a device called the journada - just wordprocessor with intrnet connection - it didnt catch on bcos internet facility on it was weak ( i too had a similar palm top from HP - same prob )

even if the akash cant do all you said - it still could be pretty useful for a lot of people WHO DONT NEED all that sutdent's programs

and there are at least hudreds of thousands of folks who would like a low cost word processor with an internet connection

but of course if the marketing dept at akash has a ONE-TRACK mind and not willing to innovate and think outside the box - then they should appreciate your opinion !

 

[Defcon 1]

The government seems to have put a lot of effort and money in this tablet. A shame that a similar effort far not put in creating the educational content suitable for this tablet. The government seems to have hard time grasping the idea that the children who cannot even some basic books, how will they be able to get all the content required to study(without internet connection). Another populist scheme.