Almost an year back, the Indian Communications Minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal cracked the biggest joke in the history of computer hardware history by telling that they are on the verge of making a $35 tablet. Market analysts and tech pundits rubbished the claim stating that it is nothing but a political gimmick and it will never be possible because of the rising benchmarks being set by other tablet manufacturers. But, what the so called pundits missed out is, not everyone needs a tablet which can make a NASA space shuttle fly, unmanned. Basic needs like accessing internet, opening and working on multiple documents, reading pdfs and other digital content is quite enough to a certain sect of people, namely students. Indian government found out the exact recipe and made it possible for more than a million students to handle a tablet which runs on Android Froyo.
Lets get to know the specs under the hood which makes this little monster christened as ‘Aakash’ run without a hitch.
The 7-inch resistive touch screen needs a little time to adjust to and the WiFi connects without a hitch. Aimed at students from rural sections and having their own textbooks in electronic format would make this tablet a instant hit because of its low price. Priced at less than Rs.2276 for commoners and less than that to students, the only factor stopping this handy device from reaching the hands of students is, the commitment of mass producing such an exclusive piece.
Indian government is aiming at a mammoth figure of 8 million pieces to be made and shipped in this fiscal year, that’s a huge challenge that they have laid in front of them and I sincerely pray that they can vouch for it and prove themselves. The price that they have quoted earlier was $38 which in turn increased to $49.98 because of exchange rates and transportation costs. But, anyway that too is a sweet deal.
Aakash is being manufactured by a UK based company DataWind.
Specs are supposed to increase in the next releases. The upgrades would be shifting from resistive to capacitative touch screen, more memory and support of textbooks in electronic format.
I hope it’s not a political gimmick and I pray it does not let out another cat in the bag with a multi million dollar scam which will haunt several other politicians who are already so close to their graves.
