Aakash: At $50 (Rs 2250) The World's Cheapest Tablet

Aakash: At $50, The World's Cheapest Tablet

NewDelhi: The much awaited India'sultra-low-cost tablet is finally here. The much talked-about $35 tablethas been branded Aakash, and not Sakshat as reported earlier.

Theinitial cost at which thegovernment is acquiring one lakh units the tablet PC from DataWind is Rs 2250 per unit. The target price at which the government intends toacquire an additional 1 crore units is the previously publicised Rs1750 per unit.

Poweredby Android 2.2 (Froyo)and a 366 Mhz processor the 7-inch tablet has a resistive touch screen.The Aakash tablet is in fact DataWind's UBISlate 7 tablet. Weighing 350grams the tablet has 256MB RAM and an internal storage of 2GB Flashmemory.

Thetablet will also becommercially available from November at a price of Rs 2999. A cellularmodem will be the additional feature in the commercial model. Someunits of the tablet PC were also distributed to the students present atthe launch event in New Delhi. The device will initially be madeavailable to post-secondary students.

(The device supports a 3.5mmheadphones port but no loud speaker.)

TheAakash tablet also hassupport for Wi-Fi connectivity and includes a microphone and stereoearphones. The tablet also comes with a 12-month replacement warranty.The device was first showcased in back in July 2010. The tabletsupports additional external memory up to 32 GB and includes an USBport.

(You will only be able tocharge the device through a dedicated DC in. The 2100mAh battery willlast for two or three hours depending on use.)

Akeyboard portfolio case forthe tablet will also be made available during the commercial launch atan additional cost of Rs 300.

(You do have the option topurchase a carrying case for the device that also supports a keyboard.This will cost you an additional Rs. 300 in the retail market.)

Specifications:

Hardware:

-Processor: 366 Mhz. Connexantwith Graphics accelerator and HD Video processor

-Memory (RAM): 256MB RAM /Storage (Internal): 2GB Flash

-Storage (External): 2GB to32GB Supported

-Peripherals (USB2.0 ports,number): 1 Standard USB port

-Audio out: 3.5mm jack / Audioin: 3.5mm jack

-Display and Resolution: 7"display with 800x480 pixel resolution

-Input Devices: Resistivetouch screen

-Connectivity and Networking:GPRS and WiFi IEEE 802.11 a/b/g

-Power and Battery: Up to 180minutes on battery. AC adapter 200-240 volt range.

Software:

-OS: Android 2.2

-Document Rendering

*Supported Document formats:DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP

*PDF viewer, Text editor

-Multimedia and Image Display

*Image viewer supportedformats: PNG, JPG, BMP and GIF

*Supported audio formats: MP3,AAC, AC3, WAV, WMA

*Supported video formats:MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, FLV

-Communication and Internet

*Web browser - StandardsCompliance: xHTML 1.1 compliant, JavaScript 1.8 compliant

* Separateapplication foronline YouTube video

- Safety and otherstandardscompliance

* CE certification /RoHScertification