V.A Kulkarni 03:18, 6 Aug 2013
KYMI rounds up everything that is known and speculated about the low-cost yet highly functional Aakash 4 tablet
The Aakash series of Indian tablets have long been in the news, thought not always for the right reasons. With so many down turns haunting the production of the slate till now, enthusiasts and critics alike are hoping that the new iteration of the tablet, Aakash 4, will take off smoothly and offer its users all the functionality of Android at a very affordable price point.
Aakash 4 may well release in India by the year end. Though the tablet is likely to be priced at around Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000, users like students who are entitled to the slate at a subsidized price might just be able to get their hands on it for as little as Rs. 2,000. If Aakash 4 works releases and works without a glitch, it will give some serious competition to popular low-cost Android tablets in the sub-continent.
Aakash 4 will reportedly run on a quad-core processor, a 4,000 mAh battery and a RAM of 1 GB. It will be powered by Android's 4.2.1 build of the Jelly Bean operating system and pack in 4 GB of internal memory that is externally expandable by up to another 32 GB. Tech enthusiasts are most looking forward to the feature of the slate whereby it can dual-boot Android and Linux (through a microSD card).The latter is to be touch-optimized on the slate.
The latest Aakash tablet is believed to sport a 7-inch LCD display that comes with 5 point multitouch, a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and a colour depth of 16 bits. The tablet supposedly comes equipped with a 2-megapixel primary rear facing sensor and a secondary front facing 0.3-megapixel snapper with a VGA resolution as well.
Besides Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Aakash 4 apparently offers users 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity. It might come with two USB ports too. The tablet is estimated to weigh in at around 500g and sport a thickness somewhere in the range of 0.75-inch. The slate is believe to pack in 5 hours of web browsing and 6 hours of e-reading on a single charge. Ideally, the Government of India wants the tablet to be able to bring its charge up from 10 percent to 80 percent in a time span of two hours. The battery should be rated good for 3 hours of 720p video playback as well.
Some of the features of the Aakash 4 like its 4G connectivity are likely to be downsized for the base model of the tablet, the one that is designed for students. In fact, a write-up in the Hindu reveals that a 10-inch version of the slate is also in the works, with the aim to aid students in presentations and readings.
We will be on the lookout for more news about the Aakash 4 tablet - stay with us on KYMI.
