India’s finally got its much hyped ultra-low-cost tablet named “ Aakash”. The tablet runs onAndroid 2.2 (Froyo) and comes with a 7 inch resistive touch screen with 800×480 reolution and weighs 350 gm.
Aakash is a collaboration between the government and a British-based company DataWind. The tablet has a 256 MB of RAM, a 32 GB expandable memory slot and two USB ports.
The tablet comes with a 12-month replacement warranty and supports formats like DOC, DOCX, PDF and PPTX etc. Aakash has standard 3.5 mm headphones jack.
The tablet has a 2100mAh battery which can reportedly last for 2-3 hours depending on the usage. The device is also said to be completely made in India, as according to a review, a sticker at the back emphasises the fact. Aakash also reportedly packs some preloaded apps, however, lacks the Android Market Place.
The tablet will be commercially available from November for Rs 2999. The commercial version of the tablet would have no duty waivers or subsidy, as in the government’s version and come with added features like an inbuilt cellular modem and SIM to access internet.
The government will be acquiring the tablet for Rs 2250 from DataWind which will be supplied to the students across the country. The device will initially be made available to post-secondary students.
India lags behind fellow BRIC nations Brazil, Russia and China in the drive to get its 1.2 billion population connected to technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones, according to a report by risk analysis firm Maplecroft.
The number of Internet users grew 15-fold between 2000 and 2010, according to another recent report. Still, just 8 percent of Indians have access. That compares with nearly 40 percent in China.
Some 19 million people subscribe to mobile phones every month, making India the world’s fastest growing market, but most are from the wealthier segment of the population in towns.
Source: http://www.edusutra.com/india-debuts-worlds-cheapest-tablet-today/1195