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First, the cheapest car of the world – Tata Nano – came from India and then now its time for the cheapest PC of the World. Well, its time to visit the Indian market and economy along with its technical advancements for sure.
The technology is only helpful to the layman when it is affordable. We saw the proofs in last few decades. Take the example of Computers or Mobile phones. Tablet PC is one such thing. There are so many varieties hitting the market now a days and so many will be in the coming future.
We must let you know the briefing about the cheapest of them all. Aakash – the Tablet PC from Datawind Ubislate is not only affordable but is bundled with good processing power and other features too. Which puts itself few step ahead then others. Now you will be hearing that people from the regional areas of India are also using their Tablet PC, and without doubt Aakash would be in majority.
Features
- High quality video and Web anywhere
- WiFi and GPRS connectivity
- Games, Full Office Suite, Educational software, Over 1,50,000 apps.
- Expandable memory to 32GB
- USB slots to use pen drive
- And of course, it is a Phone too…
Specifications
- OS: Android OS 2.2
- RAM: 256MB RAM/Storage (Internal) : 2 GB Flash
- Processor: Graphics Accelarator and HD Video Processor
- Peripherals: 1 standar USB 2.0 port
- Multimedia: Audio out 3.5 mm jack / Audio in : 3.5 mm jack
- Display: 7″ Display with 800X480 pixel resolution
- Supported File Formats: DOC/DOCX/PPT/PPTX/XLS/XLSX/ODT/ODP and more…
- Input: Touch Screen
- Connectivity: GPRS and WiFi IEEE802.11 a/b/g c
- Battery: Upto 180 minutes on. AC Adapter 200-240 volt range
The current version is available at around USD 35 or INR 2500, the next, more powerful (and armed with more features) version is scheduled to launch at the end of January 2012.
You can prebook it at http://www.ubislate.com/index.html
Seems that Aakash tablets are made to be in talks!
Now there was a clash between IIT JODHPUR and DATAWIND (the manufacturer of Aakash) which lead to a point – Now Aakash Tablets will be tested by C-DAC rather than IITs!
Read more at: http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/iit-jodhpur-datawind-clash-aakash-4-will-tested-iits-216727.html
An update!!!!
Finally the wait for this tablet is over. I have received my Ubislate C+ (aka Aakash 3).
Already curious enough to review it and update you all.
Finally the executives are calling the customers who prebooked it. Now Ubislate C+ is available for the customers (according to team DataWind). They confirm you that it is ready to reach you within 7 days of order confirmation. Especially if you pay online you will be INR 400 discount. So as their shipping cost within India is INR 200, you will be getting that waived off, in addition to get INR 200 discount on the actual product.
However don’t expect to get your dream fulfilled on time. It may take longer to be delivered to you than you may expect. Also their support Email may not be as responsive as you can expect, based on our personal experience.
However we are still looking forward to see, if they can succeed. If not, then there are a remarkable number of competitors waiting to woo the customers.
Another setback for the cheapest tablet – Aakash. It will be delayed a couple of more months and will be available in May (possibly) 2012.
Let us see how it goes then…
Another set of competitors for Aakash Tablet are arming up, Read more details at https://www.thinkerviews.com/assorted/bsnl-and-pantel-india-launched-3-tablets-aakash-tablet-competitors-news/.
Seems Aaksh – the cheapest tablet of the world would be in the news, whether it will be launched or not. Aakash-PC would be all certain to have Made In India Tag. As per Minister of Communication, India’s recent statement, the production base of Aakash tablet will be diversify and the end-to-end development process will be take place at India itself. IITs and ITIs will support the manufacturers in the way needed (and could possibly be provided). It is even referred at Aadhar – the unique ID allotment to every citizen of India will also boost the Aakash’ future in the consumer market. Let us hope that the stuff become reality soon.
Government of India is looking beyond Datawind in order to make Aakash – the cheapest tablet of the world, actually available to the people. As per the various news articles including this one, the complaints about the quality of Aakash are reached to the government it is thinking to add additional manufacturers to be part of Aakash production team. Now it is so much hyped that making it available asap became the necessity. The officials are hopeful to make the revised version of Aakash available in April 2012.
If all goes well, it is true that Aakash – the cheapest tablet of the World made in India has the ability to enhance the quality of education and way of learning, at least for the Indian students.
This must be taken into note to use all the features of the same at the maximux extent:
According to a statement released (during Goa Think Fest Conclave); the govt.of India want to make this tablet PC available to the children around the world and not only restricted to India. IBM and Intel reportedly shown interest in collaborating with India for further development of the product. We can see the bright future there.
Seems tough times will be there for Datawind – the company producing Aakash – the cheapest tablet of the world! As they are about to loose the favor from government. Government of India feels that the company have violated the terms “providing the tablets first to the government before selling it in open market”.
There doesn’t seem any hope for the regular buyers though, to have it available to them (for their pre-orders) till March or April – 2012 as per the current conditions.
Ref: http://in.news.yahoo.com/aakash-loses-government-edge.html
Aakash – the chepest tablet of the world, which is in the news since long but failed to deliver any unit to the real customers so far. According an Indian magazine article already 14 lakh units are booked for this device. This is great to hear and in fact the future seems great for this tablet. But there are people who have ordered since long and they haven’t got any confirmation about their orders since then! If you visit Ubislate website, you can see the status for Dec/Jan/Feb as prebooked and you can book tablet to get delivered then after.
If to follow the process, you can prebook the device and they claim you will receive the confirmation in your email account specified when booking. Keen to test and review the details I already tried my luck in the second half of the last month by placing an order an I am still waiting for any confirmation from the company! This carelessness can harm them in keeping their reputation and it even raises question about their ability to deliver the stuff as claimed.
The newer version is quite interesting as per the specifications but until delivered and got to know real people’s real reviews, it is not worth talking about.
In a little disappointing news, Datawind seems failing to deliver Aakash Tablet as per the schedule and it will be delayed till early February 2012. Also the production of the Tablet seems not picking up with the demand. For example government of India have ordered around 1 lakh tablets for students, from which the company seems eligible to provide only 10000 as of now. Anyway, we look forward to see the product live up to the expectations and its merely a delay of a few weeks only!
The students are really happy for having a tablet PC in such affordable price (and the elders too of course). But, there are more reasons given to the students of Mumbai’s City College to be happier!! Well, the Aakash tablet will be available to them for only Rs. 1,138. A circular is already passed to inform the affiliated colleges from the university to inform the same and asked for the requirements they have. It is really a nice chance for the students to posses it at around 50% discount. We are really happy for them in advance 🙂 Those who get it are welcome to share their reviews and experiences here.