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Indian Babus Are No Steve Jobs
By siliconindia
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Friday, 21 October 2011, 00:51 IST
Bangalore: Will "Aakash" become the Tata Nano of the mobile world? If we can believe the words of Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal who said the low cost tablet is generating a lot of enthusiasm in U.S., the answer is certainly "No". The initial hype and expected mass acceptance of Nano proved to be wrong and many wonder if the much-talked about Aakash will meet with the same fate. However, Sibal went on to say that several companies in the U.S. have evinced interest to associate with the project to further raise its efficiency and productivity.
"This is dedicated to all of you who are disempowered, living in the fringes of the society," he said when he unveiled the $35 tablet, the cheapest touch-screen tablet of India, without making any ostentatious statements in the element of Ratan Tata's iconic staement "A promise is a promise."
The ultra-cheap tablet launched by Indian government for secondary school students is priced just at $35. Datawind, a company owned by an Indian-Canadian designed "Akash". Sibal proclaims this will take low-priced computing to the masses, "The poorest of students and the most deprived of youths will be accessing world class lectures, the best of the technological world".
The tablet costs $46, but the government subsidized the difference of $11. It offers high-quality web, social networking, instant messaging, multimedia and gaming experience. It has a 7-inch touch screen and runs on Android 2.2. There is a high definition video co-processor for a high-quality multimedia experience and core graphics accelerator for faster application support. The specially created browser, UbiSurfer, accelerates web pages by factors of 10x to 30x. The device is equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity and supports optional 3G modems. Two USB ports allow pen drives, external keyboards and other peripherals to be attached.
