The Aakash is an Android tablet computer jointly developed by the London-based company DataWind with the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan. It is manufactured by the India-based company Quad, at a new production centre in Hyderabad, with a trial run of 100,000 units. The tablet was officially launched as the Aakash in New Delhi on October 5, 2011. A substantially upgraded second-generation model called UbiSlate 7+ is projected for manufacture starting in early 2012.
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. Originally projected as a "$35 laptop", the device will be sold to the Government of India at US$50 and will be distributed at a government subsidized price of $35. A commercial version of Aakash is currently marketed as UbiSlate 7+ at a price of $60.
By January 3, 2012 1.4 million online orders for the Aakash had been received.
As released on 5 October 2011, the Aakash features an overall size of 190.5 x 118.5 x 15.7mm with a 7 inches (180 mm) resistive touchscreen, a weight of 350 grams (12 oz) and using the Android 2.2 operating system with access to the proprietary marketplace Getjar (not the Android Market), developed by DataWind.
The processor runs at 366 MHz; there is a graphics accelerator and HD video coprocessor. The tablet has 256 MB RAM, a micro SD slot with a 2 GB Micro SD card (expandable to 32 GB), two USB ports, a 3.5 mm audio output and input jack, a 2100 mAh battery, Wi-fi capability, a browser developed by DataWind, and an internal cellular and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) modem. Power consumption is 2 watts, and there is a solar charging option.
The Aakash domar is designed to support various document (DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP,PDF), image (PNG, JPG, BMP and GIF), audio (MP3, AAC, AC3, WAV, WMA) and video (MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, FLV) file formats and includes an application for access to YouTube video content.
| Specifications | Aakash (Ubislate7) | Ubislate7+ (The upgraded version of Aakash) |
| Availability | NOW! | Late January |
| Pricing | Rs.2,500 | Rs.2,999 |
| Microprocessor | Arm11 – 366Mhz | Cortex A8 – 700 Mhz |
| Battery | 2100 mAh | 3200 mAh |
| OS | Android 2.2 | Android 2.3 |
| Network | WiFi | WiFi & GPRS (SIM & Phone functionality) |
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. Originally projected as a "$35 laptop", the device will be sold to the Government of India at US$50 and will be distributed at a government subsidized price of $35. A commercial version of Aakash is currently marketed as UbiSlate 7+ at a price of $60.
By January 3, 2012 1.4 million online orders for the Aakash had been received.
As released on 5 October 2011, the Aakash features an overall size of 190.5 x 118.5 x 15.7mm with a 7 inches (180 mm) resistive touchscreen, a weight of 350 grams (12 oz) and using the Android 2.2 operating system with access to the proprietary marketplace Getjar (not the Android Market), developed by DataWind.
The processor runs at 366 MHz; there is a graphics accelerator and HD video coprocessor. The tablet has 256 MB RAM, a micro SD slot with a 2 GB Micro SD card (expandable to 32 GB), two USB ports, a 3.5 mm audio output and input jack, a 2100 mAh battery, Wi-fi capability, a browser developed by DataWind, and an internal cellular and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) modem. Power consumption is 2 watts, and there is a solar charging option.
The Aakash domar is designed to support various document (DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODP,PDF), image (PNG, JPG, BMP and GIF), audio (MP3, AAC, AC3, WAV, WMA) and video (MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, FLV) file formats and includes an application for access to YouTube video content.
