Mumbai university to students to get Aakash tablet for just over Rs.1100!

MUMBAI: City college students will now be able to purchase the Aakash computer tablet, which was launched in October, at just Rs 1,138. While the market price of the low-cost tablet is Rs 2,500, students will get it a much lower price.

Union minister Kapil Sibal launched the tablet for students across the country in October. It will now be made available to 100 varsities, including Mumbai University.

Rajpal Hande, director, board of college and university development, said, "We have issued circulars to all affiliated colleges and departments. They have to get back to us with their requirements. We are hoping that students will avail of the facility as they are getting it at almost a 50% discount. I am also told an improved version of the tablet will be launched in February, so the students might get an upgraded version."

Students will also be able to access all the online content for undergraduate and postgraduate courses that is being developed under the human resources development ministry free of cost. Students can place an order with their colleges or their departments.

The device will also enable students and teachers in the university to access the e-content anytime and anywhere, added Hande.

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Aakash tablet: World's cheapest tablet goes on sale for Rs 2500 online

 

Read more on »world's cheapest tablet|Indian Government|faster processor|Datawind|Aakash tablet on sale

A student poses with the supercheap Aakash tablet computer which she received during its launch in New Delhi on Wednesday, Oct 5, 2011. The $35 basic touch screen tablet aimed at students can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video conferencing. (AP)

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NEW DELHI: Datawind, the maker of the world's cheapest tablet has put up for sale about 30,000 tablets online at a price of Rs 2500 each, with a delivery period of seven days.

The seven inch tablet with Android 2.2 is now available through its portal aakashtablet.com. "We have put up on sale about 30,000 tablets online, which will have a cash on delivery of 7 days. We have achieved pre-sale orders of about 400,000 tablets from individuals and corporates. But current supplies will only be limited for individual buyers," Datawind CEO and founder Suneet Singh Tuli told ET.

Aakash's next commercial version called the Ubislate 7, which has a faster processor, is slated to be launched late January. Ubislate 7 is set to have a 700 Mhz processor compared to the 366 MHz processor in Aakash. Ubislate 7 will be priced at Rs 3000 for sale online.

Datawind though seems to be struggling with customer service issues for online retail, even though the sale is only for a limited number of tablets.

According to sources, the Indian government is also planning to provide a new specification for Aakash, which may come with a faster processor and better battery life. The current version of Aakash has a battery life of about 1.5 hours. An email to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, which is supplying the tablets to schools and colleges remained unanswered.

The government till now procured only 10,000 tablets. It has still not procured the remaining 90,000 tablets for distribution in schools and colleges, even as other nations have expressed interest to the government for similar low cost computing initiatives.