Launch of Aakash Tablet

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Hottest Economic Deal - 2011

Aakash Tablet is the student version of Ubislate 7 that has been launched in India by DataWind, a British organization. The Launch of the tablet is one of the major economic reform in Indian Economy took place in 2011. It was amongst the hottest deals that took place in India last year. The tablet is exceptionally economical and was introduced on October 5, 2011. The Union Human Resource Development Ministry of India is expected to come up with Aakash 2; an upgraded version, during April 2012.

The tablet has achieved popularity all across the world and offers students the ideal opportunity to receive interactive and quality information and knowledge from the World Wide Web.

Suneet Singh Tuli, the CEO of DataWind has stated that the product has been created specifically keeping India in mind and has expressed his gratitude at being able to market the product over here. He has further stated that the main aims behind the creating the tablets are:

  • Providing similar features at lesser costs
  • Providing improved functionality and features at the same cost
Kapil Sibal, the Union Telecom and Education Minister, stated at Aakash's launch that the tablet will be able to reduce the digital divide between the economically affluent class and the others. The tablet is available at all retail stores.

Tuli has further stated that the maximum suggested retail price of INR 3000 will be for the commercial version of the tablet that will include embedded SIMs and cellular modems.

These facilities though are absent in the student versions. Tuli has stated that the price of 2999 rupees has been decided in order to earn profits.

Technology and Features Provided in Aakash Tablet

Both the versions will be operated on the Android platform, have cloud storage facilities and offer WiFi connection access. The two versions will also have the following features in common:

  • RAM of 256 MB
  • 2 USB ports
  • Expandable memory slot of 32 GB
However, the commercial version will not have any duty waiver or subsidy as in the student version – the added price is because of the inbuilt SIM card and cellular modem. The commercial version was supposed to be launched within 60 days of the original student version.

DataWind has said that they are planning on providing these tablets to the Union Government at 35 dollars each. This price will include replacement warranty and sales tax and help them generate good profits but only if the sales are substantial.

Aakash Tablet and the technology scenario in India

India is behind BRIC members Brazil, China, and Russia when it comes to giving its population access to cell phones and internet facilities. The volume of internet users in India has gone up by 15 times within 2000 and 2010.

Still, approximately 8% of the Indians have access to internet, which is much lesser than countries such as China that has achieved a 40% penetration rate.

The monthly subscription volume for cellular connections in India is approximately 19 million. However, the consumers are mainly limited to the economically well off people in the cities and towns across India.

Bharat Mehra, who is an expert on using communications technologies for developmental purposes, has stated that the tablet could play a critical role in providing distance learning in rural locations.

Ubislate 7+

Ubislate 7+, an upgraded version of the Aakash Tablet will be introduced in late January by the engineers at DataWind. This product will be available everywhere at a commercial basis.

At present, Aakash and Ubislate 7+ are among the most economic computing devices and pad tablets available in India. The product specifications of both may be mentioned as below:

Aakash (Ubislate 7)
  • It is available at INR 2500.
  • It has an operating system of Android 2.2.
  • It has a microprocessor of Arm 11 - 366 MHz
  • It is WiFi enabled.
  • It has a battery of 2100 mAh.
Ubislate 7+
  • It is priced at 2999 rupees.
  • Its operating system is Android 2.3.
  • It has a Cortex A8 – 700 MHz microprocessor
  • It is WiFi enabled and has GPRS facilities. It also has phone and SIM functionality.
  • Its battery is 3200 mAh
(Last Updated on 2/13/2012)