Aakash Tablet Version 2.0

Aakash Tablet $35 tablet by Indian Government

By February 2012, an improved and more competent Aakash-2, world’s most affordable tablet PC, is expected to be launched at the same price as its previous version. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Rajasthan has confirmed the improvements made in Aakash-1, which was launched on October 5. HRD minister Kapil Sibal said that new version of Aakash will be launched during January-February, 2012.
Aakash has got an ample response internationally, when exhibited at a recent United Nations conference in Paris. Aakash has shown so much of interest among several international organizations and world leaders. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said. “Several prime ministers and ministers have evinced interest in Aakash who want it for their country in thousands,” he told media correspondents without elaborating.

The Aakash-2, based on response from more than 500 users of Aakash-1 in IITs and many other institutions, will include microprocessor of 800MHz instead of 366MHz processor. It will improve the speed of the tablet and will enable downloading videos from internet.
The RAM (Random Access Memory) of the Aakash-2 will be enhanced to 1GB from 256 MB in Aakash-1 that restricted multi-tasking.
A senior professor at IIT Rajasthan, who is leading the Aakash team, said that changes would increase the performance of the tablet and would be more competent to the existing tablet PCs in the market.
In order to make Aakash-2 smarter, the IIT Rajasthan has decided to include a built-in camera to it, to ensure video chatting facility to its users. It also will include a seven-inch touch screen for a better look.
This version is a result of feedback from IIT students, who tested Aakash-1, and claimed some of the problems of the current version, which include frequent hanging, overheating within 30 minutes, not supporting all formats, poor sound quality, and lack of ability to install software available online.
Though the Aakash-2 will be available by February 2012, to meet the government’s target of supplying it to 2 million students is still a challenge.
“We have to evolve an eco-system of several vendors and its testing by IITs and other institutes to provide an Aakash to each child by 2017 (end of 12th plan),” a senior HRD ministry official said.
As in case of Aakash-1, where companies like London based DataWind, India based Quad came together, the government believes that Aakash-2 will make a bigger collaboration
As the HRD Minister Sibal said that several international organizations and world ministers have shown interest to purchase Aakash for the children world-wide, this collaboration will be very essential. The minister, who has been marketing Aakash since its launch, also said. “There is a lot of global buzz about Aakash and we have to meet the global expectation”
The Aakash tablet is the world’s cheapest computing device. It is ideal for use by students at whom the machine is actually targeted. The design of the tablet has been maintained simple and basic; but is a little bulkier when compared to the other similar devices. The high point of the Aakash Tablet is its competitive price which is within means of the masses. The tablet was developed keeping in mind the general public in India, especially the student community spread out in far flung places. The tablet was developed under the aegis of Shri.Kapil Sibal.
The tablet that made headlines across the world as being an innovative computing device is developed with big goals towards improving the education standard even in rural townships. The (NME-ICT) National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology has plans of linking Universities and Colleges across the country so the students can benefit from a higher standard of education. It is proposed that a total of 416 Universities and 20,000 colleges in the country will be initially linked through this system. NME-ICT proposes at least 18 separate line items for the benefit of content creation.

 
The specifics of the line content which are required to fit the bill have already been decided upon by the NME-ICT. The required criteria that has been made public is as under –

• The content must be linked with education and aim at delivering a high standard of education.
• Faculty from various institutions across the country must be involved so that a quality program can be prepared.
• All projects that are developed in this scheme under the funding of the NME-ICT, will be the Intellectual Property of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development.
• The content developed would need to use open source software.
• The content developed under the NME-ICT can be accessed free of cost; the Mission or any other source will not put a fee for accessing the data.
                                                   The Salient Features of the Tablet
  
• The tablet is the cheapest in the world
• The tablet can also be used as a mobile phone as it has facility for inserting SIM card and headphones
• The device is Wi-Fi and GPRS enabled
• It can also function as a 3G if dongle is enabled
• The formats supported by the image viewer are –JPG, PNG, GIF and BMP
• The audio formats the device supports are – WMA, AAC,MP3, WAV and AC3
• The tablet supports the following video formats – MPEG2, MPE4, FLV and AVI
• Document formats supported by the system are – DOCX, DOC, PPTX,PPT,XLSX,XLS,ODP and ODT
• The web browser is of standard compliance, JavaScript 1.8 complaint, xHTML 1.1 compliant
• It also has a Text editor and a PDF viewer

Though the Aakash Tablet may not have a high speed processor or all the features required by the technical savvy, it is still a good device and an upgrade is expected soon.

                                       Unbelievable Price of Aakash Tablet 
Aakash Tablet Price for Students – Expected to be Rs.1500-1750 (After Rs.750 subsidy by the government, only for students)
Aakash Tablet Price in Retail Market – Rs. 3000 (inclusive of all taxes)
Note: Aakash Tablet in the retail market is called as Datawind Ubislate and it will have added features when compared to the student’s version.
Cost Breakup
The Aakash Tablet is priced at an unbelievably affordable price, which is just Rs 2,276 when converted in to Indian money. The price is inclusive of all the taxes that are levied on such products by the Government of India. Though the Aakash Tablet exceeds the originally quoted price of $35, it is still priced low and within the means of the masses.
The device is the result of the arduous efforts by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development which decided on developing a computing device which could be used by students across the country. Their initiative paid dividends and the result is the world’s cheapest Tablet.
The breakdown price of the device is as follows –

• Originally quoted price – $ 35
• Cost of manufacturing the device – $ 37.98
• Cost of warranty, transportation and miscellaneous costs $ 12

The total adds up to $ 49.98, which is the final cost of the computing device. The Government of India will provide subsidy to institutions which will enable them to distribute the computing device to the students at half the cost.
The computing device was designed and manufactured by DataWind, a British firm in alliance with IIT with the support of (NME-ICT) National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology that comes under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development.
DataWind is supplying the HRD ministry 100,000 tablets for only Rs 2,250 per component, and the price is inclusive of freight charges and taxes. Further, after the successful launching of the computing device in India, the (OLPC) One Laptop per Child chairman Mr. Nicholas Negroponte has extended an offer of giving India the access to all the OLPC technology free of cost for all future innovations and products
The computing device is compact and it is 25.5 cm long and 12.5 cm wide. The device has been examined by leading analyst and found to be working as good as any other computing device.
The specifications of Aakash Tablet are as under

• Screen – 7” resistive
• Operating System – Android 2.2
• Processor  - 366 MHz in addition to Graphics Accelerator and HD Video Co-processor
• Storage – 2GB Flash Memory with 2GB Micro SD card which is expandable up to 32GB
• Memory -256 MB RAM
• Network – Wi-Fi Enabled
• Connectivity – 2 USB ports
• Battery – 2100mAh
• Web Browser – DataWind Accelerated Browser
• Modem – Inbuilt cellular and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

To sum it up the configuration of Aakash is perfect for students. At the price at which it is being made available to students it will be possible for every student in India to own a computing device and become computer literate.
                                 

     Specifications of Aakash Tablet – The Cheapest Tablet Yet

The Indian made Aakash LCAD Tablet was launched on 5th October 2011! It has been called ‘Aakash’ which literally translates to ‘Sky’. The tablet has basically been developed for students and keeping this in mind the price of the tablet has been kept affordable. The tablet was developed as an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development under Government of India. The basic version would cost a student only Rs 1,500 which is around $35. This is because of the subsidies that will be offered to students and institutions using the tablet. These would be available through government organizations to students and educational institutions. The commercial version which would have a few more features than the basic version would be marginally costlier. However, the Aakash LCAD Tablet still holds the distinction of being the world’s cheapest computing device.
When we talk of the specifications provided in the tablet experts feel that they are good but could have been better. The PC tablet is not meant for gaming purpose, it has in fact been developed especially for students, and it would be right to say it meets that purpose. To understand this we must first take a look at the general specifications of the tablet.
Price Factor
The tablet is priced at a $50, which when converted in to Indian money amounts to just Rs. 2,276. However, for students the tablet is priced much cheaper at just Rs 1,500 which comes to just over $30. The tablet is the result of an initiative by the Government of India to make computers affordable and available to all its citizens, especially to the young student community.
Features of Aakash Tablet
The tablet is small and compact and its external dimensions are 190.5×118.5×15.7mm. At 350gms it is light weight and portable and can easily fit in to a school bag or handbag.
The fully loaded tablet has all the essentials required in a computing device. It is built using the latest technology and has a 7” resistive touch screen, with a picture resolution of 800×400 pixel. The tablet has 2 USB ports for connectivity. Since the model that has been launched is basic, it is only Wi-Fi enabled. The advanced models which will be launched at a later date are proposed to be Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) enabled. They would be priced slightly higher because of these extra features, but would still be highly affordable.
Tablet Hardware
The tablet is backed by a 366MHz processor and a graphic accelerator. It also has a HD video processor that enables viewing better quality videos. The 256 MB RAM provides ample memory and for its size the storage capacity of the tablet is impressive. It has 2GB Flash memory in addition to a 2GB Micro SD card which can be expanded to 32 GB. This storage capacity is enough to store a lot of data
The battery of this device is powerful and is supposed to run for long when fully charged. The 2100Ah battery is capable of lasting 3 hours during normal use and up to a maximum of 2 hours when High Definition videos are played.



                                      Specifications of Aakash LCAD Tablet

                                                       

• Developed by – Datawind
• Cost – Rs 2,276 (approximately $50) – Approximately Rs. 1500 for students
• Size – 190.5×118.5×15.7mm
• Screen size – 7” resistive
• Weight – 350gms
• Operating System – Android 2.2(Android Marketplace is missing, instead Getjar is installed)
• Processor -366 MHz, plus Graphics Accelerator and HD Video Co-processor
• Memory -256 MB RAM
• Storage –2GB Micro SD card expandable up to 32GB
• Connectivity – 2 USB ports (full sized)
• Battery – 2100mAh
• Camera – External USB
• Network – Wi-Fi Enabled
• Web Browser – DataWind Accelerated Browser
• Modem – Inbuilt cellular and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)

The number of computer users in the world has grown manifold. In India however the percentage is less. Majority of school children do not have access to a computer. This little device will enable all students to own a computer and it can aid in improving the educational levels especially in rural areas. The tablet is affordable and is developed for the masses, yet it has everything a tablet computer must be. The small size and light weight make it convenient to carry the device around and this is just the beginning of its advantages.
                                                             Advantages of the Tablet

• It coalesces access to available data in one device
• It provides different learning styles
• Has inimitable capabilities

The one big advantage is the touch screen, which can be used to write notes directly on the tablet using the stylus. This is of immense help to students who can store the notes and access them later for reviewing and compiling the notes. The flat surface enables the tablet to be placed on a desk or any other working surface for easy use. Overall it is a good device with some incredible features and specifications

                                    How to buy Aakash tablet ?
Aakash Tablet is not yet sold to public or distributed to students. Circulation to students is expected in one or two months.
For students, it will be distributed through universities. So, get in touch with your university officials if you are keen to get it.
Students Version Price: Rs.1500-Rs.1750 (without SIM and GPRS facility)
Students version has a wifi connection to access internet.
Retail Price: Rs.3000 inclusive of taxes (With SIM and GPRS facility)
Retail launch expected in two months.

Finally..
Computers and internet have taken over the world. The low priced Aakash Tablet will help close the great divide between those who can afford a computer and those who cannot. With its low price the affordability factor is taken care of and the functionality of the device is at par with the other computers.