12th April 2012
Thursday, Apr 12, 2012, 15:48 IST | Place: Pune | Agency: DNA
Aakash tablet is the dream project of Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay are busy in carrying out research and development on Aakash tablet, the dream project of human resource development minister Kapil Sibal.
The project was officially handed over to C-DAC and IIT after Congress governments in Rajasthan and Manipur junked Aakash, the much-hyped tablet PC, for XO laptops, made by US non-profit organisation One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) which turned out to be a far more expensive alternative.
The price of these laptops was Rs11,700 and Sibal wanted to hand over PCs at a price of Rs2,500.
Talking to DNA, director general of C-DAC Rajat Moona said, “This is an ambitious project for us and we are working on it with full zeal. We got the project officially in mid March but the discussions were on since long. At present, we have been assigned the task of R&D and testing.’’
Aakash was hit by technical glitches, poor battery life, overheating and poor screen quality and hence, alternatives were searched.
Although, Sibal said in Parliament last month that the upgraded version — Aakash II with a longer battery life and better screen — would be launched sometime in April, Moona refused to divulge the details regarding the date of the launch.
At present, C-DAC and IIT has been sanctioned Rs40 crore funds, said Moona.
Aakash is a low-cost tablet computer with a 7-inch touch screen, ARM 11 processor and 256 MB RAM.
