Is the early version of Aakash disappointing?!

New Delhi: Montreal-based DataWind, the makers of the world's cheapest computer tablet, agreed to upgrade the tablet without increasing the cost, a day after reports of the HRD Ministry deciding to put its agreement with the company on hold.

After the deal, college students will be able to get an enhanced version of Aakash tablet without paying extra cost.

As per reports, the company was initially reluctant to upgrade the tablet without increasing the cost. However, the company agreed when ministry officials threatened to cancel the order, a daily newspaper reported.

The after-sales reports of the Aakash Tablet are extremely disappointing and those who have bought the low cost gadget have only one reason to be happy- they are the privileged early users of the gadget.

According to experts, the new version will have a look similar to the Chinese tablets and have the SIM card option.

The upgraded version of Aakash, Ubislate 7+ tab will be available in the Indian market by last week of January, 2012.

Specifications of Aakash LCAD Tablet

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)

Aakash Tablet To Be Available On Rent in Colleges

Dear all,

Here is another useful and informative news article I found on the web which I am pasting for you all.

Kanchi

Aakash Tablet To Be Available On Rent in Colleges

The world’s cheapest tablet PC, Aakash, will soon be available to the students on rent in their college libraries. The rented Aakash will have preloaded video tutorials on all disciplines including Science, Engineering and many more.
According to the sources, the Ministry of Human Resource Development is offering Aakash tablet at half the price to the state governments. Main goal of this progress is to encourage the state governments to issue Aakash tablets to the college libraries for free, thus the colleges can offer them on rent to the students.
On an anonymous condition, a government official has revealed that the duration of Aakash rental will be finalized by the college authorities. The ultimate target of the government is that the tablet should reach all 220 million college and school students. Until then, the officials are looking for alternate ways for the optimum usage of the tablet.

Since Aakash launch in 2010, the government has dispersed approximately 10,000 devices. The devices are in the test stage and have been offered to the students on a task that they should return the devices after utilizing them for a few months.
The research centre is now functioning on version 2.0 of Aakash tabletn which will include a high speed processor of 800 MHz to 1 GHz and a high capacitive touchscreen similar to the one present in Apple iPad.
Aakash version 2.0 prototype has already been developed and a tender was released inviting vendors for the upcoming version which is likely to be released in the market soon.