The world's cheapest tablet, Aakash, was launched on Wednesday by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and it will be available to students as part of the government's programme to expand education through information technology.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash Price in India :
The world's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash costs Rs. 2276 Only.
"The price includes taxes and cost of transportation. The government will provide subsidy of 50 per cent to institutes buying it. It will cost around Rs 1,100-Rs 1,200 to institutes," he said.
The government has also set an ambitious target of bringing down the cost of such device to as low as $10 (around Rs 500), the minister said.
"As we will scale up manufacturing capacity, the prices will fall. My target is to provide tablet for $10 to our children in coming years," Sibal added.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Target Students :
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Manufacturer :
An initial order of 1 lakh devices has been placed with device maker Datawind, the minister said. The procurement order will be scaled up later with an aim to bringing down prices further, he added.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Price Reduction :
"If 10 lakh pieces are ordered, then it will be priced at Rs 1,750 (cost to the government) which will include transportation cost and vendor's profit as well. So, I have fulfilled my promise of $35 tablet," he said.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Technical Specifications :
Aakash is a 7-inch touch screen tablet PC based on Google's Andorid 2.2 operating system with 366 Mhz processor and 256 MB RAM.
It has 2GB Flash internal storage capacity and can support data storage of up to 32 GB through on an external disk. This tablet will have battery back-up of 180 minutes.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Warranty Period :
Aakash will carry one-year free replacement warranty from the manufacturer.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Network connectivity :
Datawind has said that it will integrate 3G and GPRS connectivity in the next shipment to the government without any additional cost.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Open Market Price :
The company has plans to sell these devices through open market from November at a price of Rs 2,999.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash Producer Datawind CEO's Speech :
"The upgraded version of the tablet will allow its users to make calls as well and have connectivity within and outside their premises," Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli said.
He said the tablet is built using nearly 800 components and most of it has been imported from various countries.
"On the basis of component cost, 31 per cent has been imported from Korea, 24 per cent from China, 16 per cent from the US, 5 per cent from other part of the world and 16 per cent cost has been incurred in India," Tuli said.
World's Cheapest Tablet - Aakash - Tie up with Aircel for 3G :
Senior company officials told IANS that the base version of the device for students will come in partnership with telecommunication service provider Aircel which would provide SIM cards which can then be used for accessing the internet through the 3G network.
"We have tied-up with Aircel for the product. They will provide the network to access the 3G-internet service.
