World's cheapest tablet PC 'Aakash'
A subsidised model of this tablet, made by UK-based Datawind, is already being distributed free in schools and colleges. Aakash's retail bookings exceed India's estimated 250,000 tablet PC market, dominated by Apple, Samsungand Reliance.
"The bookings have been done without any money received in advance. We have identified an operator for a data plan at Rs 99 a month," said Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli, who claimed the data streaming technology offered by his company could make internet access costs virtually free. "We hope to make internet free on our devices with that technology." Tuli is experimenting with a technology that can stream a 700MB file compressed into a 25MB on a tablet. Aircel could be the likely operator, said executives of the two companies, requesting anonymity.
Datawind has supplied about 10,000 tablets to the government's National Mission for Education at a price of Rs 2,250. The devices are being used by students from colleges such as the IITs, RECs, BITS Pilani, Teri University and others.
Aakash, in its next version, will be upgraded with a capacitive touch screen and a processor with double the speed. Datawind plans to supply an attachable Rs 400 keyboard, turning the device into PC-lookalike at Rs 3,400.
The government is also considering a proposal to procure the next lot, called Aakash 2, with a faster 700 MHz processor, albeit at the same price. Tuli says there have been invitations from other nations for their digital inclusion programs, seeing India's success. "The governments of Mexico, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Thailand, Brazil, Bangladesh have requested us to participate in programs similar to India. None, though have come out with tenders for supply of low cost devices as of now," Tuli said. KPMG's telecom head Jaideep Ghosh, however, says that the low-cost tablet success might not be as specatcular as that of the mobile handsets.
"About 185 million new handsets being sold in India this year. But the number of tablets to be sold in a year would be in the range of 250,000 to 500,000 units." The low price is attractive only for students and the youth, who are aspiring to buy new products, he said.
The Aakash is an Android tablet computer jointly developed by the London-based company DataWind with the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan and manufactured by the India-based company Quad, at a new production centre in Hyderabad under a trial run of 100,000 units. The tablet was officially launched as the Aakash in New Delhi on Oct 5, 2011. A substantially revised second generation model is projected for manufacture beginning in early 2012.
The seven-inch touch screen tablet features 256 megabytes of RAM, uses an ARM 11 processor with the Android 2.2 operating system, has two USB port and delivers HD-quality video. For applications, the Aakash will have access to Getjar, a proprietary market, rather than the Android Market.
As a multi-media platform, the Aakash project was beset by delays and setbacks. The device was developed as part of the country's aim to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in an e-learning program. Original projected as a "$35 laptop", the device will be sold to the Government of India at $50 and will be distributed at a government subsidized price of $35. A commercial version will be marketed as the UbiSlate 7 at a projected price of $60.
The name Aakash derives from the Hindi word for sky
Aspiration to create a "made in India" computer was first reflected in a prototype "Simputer" that did not go into production. Four years later, Kapil Sibal (by then the Minister for Human Resource Development MHRD (the Indian Education Minister)) announced an anticipated low-cost computing device to compete with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) — though intended for urban college students rather than the OLPC's rural, underprivileged students.
The device was projected to be designed by the students of Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan – at the time uncredentialed in research or product development. The announced computer had been purchased off the shelf. The project remained dormant for about a year.
A year later, the MHRD announced that the low cost computer would be launched in 6 weeks. Nine weeks later the MHRD showcased a tablet named "Aaakash", not nearly what had been projected and at $60 rather than the projected $35. Arguably its greatest champion, India's TV channel "NDTV" said that the new low cost tablet was not a patch that was shown as a prototype and was going to cost about twice as much.
While it was once projected as a laptop computer, the design has evolved into a tablet computer. At the inauguration of the national Mission on Education Programme organized by the Union HRD Ministry in 2009, joint secretary N. K. Sinha had said that the computing device is 10 inches (which is around 25.5 cm) long and 5 inches (12.5 cm) wide and priced at around $30.
India's Human Resource Development Minister, Kapil Sibal unveiled a prototype on 22 July 2010. The price of the device exhibited was projected at $35, eventually to drop to $20 and ultimately to $10. After the device was unveiled, OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte offered full access to OLPC technology at no cost to the Indian team.
Doubts about the tablet were dismissed in a television program "Gadget Guru" aired on NDTV in August 2010, when it was shown to have 256 MB RAM and 2 GB of internal flash-memory storage and demonstrated running the Android operating system featuring video playback, internal Wi-Fi and cellular data via an external 3G modem.
“The rich have access to the digital world, the poor and ordinary have been excluded. Aakash will end that digital divide,” telecoms and education minister Kapil Sibal said at the launch of Akash Tablet PC.
A pilot run of 100,000 units will be given to students for free, with the first 500 handed out at the launch to a mixed response. It supports video conferencing, has two USB ports and a three-hour battery life but some users said it was slow. India has a reputation for creating affordable products that are easy to use and sturdy enough to handle its rugged environment – from Tata Motors’ $2,000 Nano car to generic versions of pharmaceuticals.
Two years in development, the paperback book-sized Aakash may help the government’s goal of incorporating information technology in education, although critics were doubtful of its mass appeal. Despite being a leader in software and IT services, India trails fellow BRIC nations Brazil, Russia and China in the drive to get the masses connected to the internet and mobile phones, a report by risk analysis firm Maplecroft said this year.
The number of internet users grew 15-fold between 2000 and 2010 in India, according to another recent report. Still, just 8 per cent of Indians have access. That compares with nearly 40 per cent in China. The Aakash is aimed at university students for digital learning via a government platform that distributes electronic books and courses.
Testing included running video for two hours in temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius to mimic a northern Indian summer. Rajat Agrawal, executive editor of gadget reviewers BGR India, said the 660 mhz processor from US company Conexant Systems was “decent” for the price, but warned the machine seemed slow and the touch screen not very agile. “Because of the price there is a lot of excitement,” he said. “People might use it initially but if it is not user friendly they will give up within a week.”
The launch last week of Amazon’s Kindle Fire shook up the global tablet market, with its $199 price tag and slick browser a serious threat to Apple’s iPad. Like the Kindle Fire, the Aakash uses the Google Android operating system. Some of the mainly middle-class technology department students at the event said it needed refinement but was a good option for the poor. “It could be better,” said Nikant Vohra, an electrical engineering student. “If you see it from the price only, it’s okay, but we have laptops and have used iPads, so we know the difference.” 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.
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