15th Nov 2012
By Staff on November 15, 2012
The Aakash 2 price has been declared, and it will been made available to students from all walks of life at a reasonably affordable cost. DataWind has designed, developed and manufactured the device, under the HRD ministry’s National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, and will be supplying it to students of IIT Bombay.
Before the gadget was launched, a two-day workshop was conducted by representatives of IIT Bombay for the teaching faculties of various engineering colleges in India. The Mumbai-based institute used the slate, which runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich, as a platform for developing applications that revolve around 3D-modelling, C++ programming, remote and collaborative training applications, robotic control and live assessment tools.
As compared to the resistive screen of its predecessor, the latest version of the tablet carries on it a 7-inch multi-touch capacitive display, sporting a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor that delivers better performance as compared to the original slate.
Besides providing an internal memory of 4GB that is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card, the Aakash 2 also offers 512MB of RAM. The tablet exhibits a front-facing VGA camera for face to face calling and possesses in-built Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing instant Internet access. The battery of this slab allows up to 3 hours of usage on a single charge, the company claims.
With an ultimate goal to enable all 220 million students across India access to low cost devices, the company intends to supply 100,000 units of the gadget to IIT Bombay, which in turn will distribute them to university, college and engineering students.
Students can purchase the Aakash 2 at a price of Rs. 1,130. On the other hand, DataWind’s website is selling it commercially in the form of the UbiSlate 7Ci for a higher price. The company looks forward to introducing in the market, many more affordable Internet devices that will be accessible to people hailing from every corner of society.
Below is a sneak peak at the specifications:
CPU: 1GHz Cortex A8 processor
Operating System: Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Display: 7-inch multi-touch capacitive screen
Resolution: 800 x 480
Camera: VGA front-facing camera
Memory: 4GB flash memory and 512MB RAM
Network: Wi-Fi b/g/n
Battery Life: Up to 180 minutes (claimed)
Operating System: Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Display: 7-inch multi-touch capacitive screen
Resolution: 800 x 480
Camera: VGA front-facing camera
Memory: 4GB flash memory and 512MB RAM
Network: Wi-Fi b/g/n
Battery Life: Up to 180 minutes (claimed)
