245 - Aakash 4 project: Dell, Intel, HP, Micromax among 17 companies in fray - Financial Express

Aakash 4 project: Dell, Intel, HP, Micromax among 17 companies in fray

Kirtika Suneja | New Delhi | Updated: Jan 20 2014, 08:34 IST

SUMMARY

Govt is not waiving off duties for Aakash 4 due to which price of the tablet may breach Rs 2,500 mark.

Aakash 1 got off to a poor start as it was promised to be made available to students at a subsidised rate of Rs 1,130, but got embroiled in a controversy regarding specifications. (AP)

Dell, Acer, HCL Infosystems, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Intel are among 17 companies that have shown interest in developing the next version of the government's ambitious low-cost tablet Aakash-4 whose tender will close on January 28.

Canada-based Datawind, which supplied the first 1 lakh Aakash tablets in India, too, is in the race and is competing with other players, including domestic manufacturers like Micromax, WishTel and ITI , in two areas: Price and sourcing norms under the tendering process.

Unlike in the past, the government this time is looking for multiple vendors and, hence, many bidders are planning to form consortia to jointly manufacture these devices. Moreover, to promote local manufacturing, the government has mandated that Aakash be manufactured here with 30% value addition by March 2014 and 35% after that.

Besides, the government is not waiving off customs duties for Aakash 4 due to which the price of the tablet may breach the Rs 2,500 mark. “The government wants an open source operating system so that it does not depend on the intellectual property of others. All participants are talking to each other for their expertise and getting together to produce Aakash 4,” said Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind. Datawind has a manufacturing facility in Amritsar with a capacity to produce 5 lakh units per month.

Tuli added that his firm manufactures LCD and touchscreens in India, which is more than half the cost of the devices, due to which he makes profits despite running on tight margins.

The Aakash 4 tablet has one gigahertz of RAM, Bluetooth, a dual-core processor and second-generation phone calling facility -- specifications decided by a 12-member committee comprising representatives of department of electronics and information technology, C-DAC, IIT Bombay and directorate general of supplies and disposal, which has floated the tender. The tablet will also support WiFi, 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity and come with 4GB of internal storage, external memory card slot with storage capacity of up to 32 GB, bluetooth and front camera.

Aakash 1 got off to a poor start as it was promised to be made available to students at a subsidised

244 - VIDEO: 5 Questions With Suneet Singh Tuli, $38 Tablet Maker

VIDEO: 5 Questions With Suneet Singh Tuli, $38 Tablet Maker

Datawind has sold nearly a million ultra-low-cost Android tablets in India. We sit down with the company's CEO to ask how he'll get the next billion people online.

By Sascha Segan

January 8, 2014 12:08pm EST

Forty bucks may not seem like a lot to you. But in India, it's more than an average week's wages. When the Indian government wanted to get millions of Internet-connected tablets into the hands of students nationwide, it turned to a small Canadian company with a history of hacking the Internet into inexpensive devices: Datawind.

The official Aakash tablet project in India has had its ups and downs, with unrealistically high expectations, missed deadlines, and frustrated customers. Now Datawind is bringing its super-cheap tablet expertise to a broader market, unencumbered by the expectations and demands of the very many Indian government departments.

Don't underestimate the power of connectivity in rural areas of developing countries. An Web connection can help farmers compare crop prices or get advice. It can help children learn to read and get educated in a way that their local schools don't have the expertise for, and it can connect families sundered by the need to find work elsewhere.

Will a $38 Android tablet make a difference in the U.S., the U.K., and other places where that's more of a day's wage than a month's? And how can it improve the lives of the global poor? I sat down with Datawind CEO, Suneet Singh Tuli, to ask him five questions about the Datawind Ubislate tablet and how the concept might succeed globally. 

243 - Rate contract for Aakash tablets - Deccan Herald

Rate contract for Aakash tablets

NEW DELHI, Jan 8, 2014, DHNS:

Even as Kapil Sibal’s Communication and Information Technology Ministry is working out rate contract for the Union minister’s pet project “Aakash”, his successor in the Human Resource Development Ministry M M Pallam Raju is yet to firm up on buying his idea to provide low cost access-cum-computation devices to students.

The HRD minister, however, has favoured research and development work on Aakash, originally touted as a $35 tablet PC by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay.

“The ministry, however, is yet to decide how much and when it should procure the Aakash tablets. How much subsidy should be given to students,” top sources in the ministry said.

The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals, in consultation with the Ministry of Communications and IT, is in the process of finalising the rate contracts, they added.

242 - Datawind's Suneet Singh Tuli vies for Aakash 4 project - Business Today

Datawind's Suneet Singh Tuli vies for Aakash 4 project

Manu Kaushik 

Suneet Singh Tuli shies away from acknowledging that the Aakash projects have not been profitable for Datawind , a company he founded and which received the first contract from the Indian government to supply one lakh low-cost Aakash 1 tablets to students nearly two years ago.

But he has a reason to be coy: Tuli is now bidding for Aakash 4, a project that aims to take cheap tablets beyond schools into the hands of various central and state government departments.

Tuli says that, once the tendering process is over, it is likely the government will ask the bidders to match the lowest bid. At the moment, the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals, part of the Department of Commerce, is accepting bids from interested companies. It is believed that companies such as Micromax, Acer, Intel, Microsoft, Simmtronics, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and HCL Infosystems have shown initial interest in Aakash 4.

Datawind, which has supplied about 12 lakh tablets in India (one lakh Aakash 2 and 3 devices and 11 lakh under its UbiSlate brand), is competing with other players in two areas: price and sourcing norms under the tendering process.

Tuli is confident his company can make tablets at the lowest rate. "Our product, with the same specifications, is almost 40 per cent cheaper than the next cheapest model in the market. Above all, we have the scale to produce as many tablets as the government wants," he says.

In order to promote local manufacturing, the government has mandated that 30 per cent components for Aakash 4 have to be sourced locally.

Tuli says while many of his competitors may find it difficult, he is comfortable with this clause. "We are already making some components (like touch screen) in India," he says, adding that his company is running neck-and-neck with Samsung and outsells Apple iPad every quarter. Of the estimated 50 lakh tablets sold in 2013, Datawind sold about 10 lakh units.

The Aakash 4 tablet has one gigahertz of RAM, Bluetooth, a dual-core processor and second-generation phone calling facility.

Analysts caution the device should not suffer the same fate as Aakash 1, which was scrapped a few months after its launch due to issues between the Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan, and Datawind over specifications.

For Aakash 4, the government has put out a pricing system under which rates are sought from manufacturers for different lot sizes over the next one year.

Tuli says a significant part of tablet components will be imported. "There are expectations that the rupee will depreciate [against the dollar] because the US economy is showing strong signs of revival," he says. "It would be difficult to deliver tablets at low prices in such a situation."

241- Very much in race for Akash 4 tablets, Datawind CEO -

Very much in race for Akash 4 tablets, Datawind CEO

Ludhiana | January 12, 2014 12:51

240 - "Aakash IV will be a 100% made in India product" -Governance Now

"Aakash IV will be a 100% made in India product"

PRATAP VIKRAM SINGH | JANUARY 06 2014

Professor Rajat Moona is a graduate in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur and holds a PhD degree in computer science and automation from IISc Bangalore. He is a teacher and a scientist with several patents and research papers to his credit. As the director general of the centre for development of advanced computing (C-DAC), he has been instrumental in finalising the specifications for Aakash IV. In an email interaction with Pratap Vikram Singh, Moona talks about the much awaited low-cost tablet and the change in the distribution strategy.

Has there been any further modifications in Aakash IV tablets? Can you tell us briefly about the key specifications?

The upcoming Aakash IV will have a built-in support for mobile 2G networking and 3G/4G through external dongles. The tablet is expected to run on latest stable Android version and dual bootable GNU/Linux distribution powered by a processor with 1GB Ram, 4GB memory expandable up to 32GB. It offers 7-inch LCD display with at least 800x480 resolutions with 16 bit or higher colour depth or more sporting video/photo camera (front-facing) with a resolution of 0.3 M pixel (VGA) or higher and weighs less than 500 gm. The width, height and thickness would be less than 7.5 X 5 X 0.6 inches. It offers good battery life with minimum five hours on web browsing and comes with one-year warranty.

How is it going to be distributed? Are you decentralising the supply system?

Aakash IV will be distributed by the respective state authorities, who will procure the tablets directly through directorate general of supplies and disposals (DGS&D) rate contract. Any indenter can directly place order through the approved vendors.

There are reports that the government is going to come up with a tender for procurement of 22 lakh tablets valuing over 300 crore. When and how are you going to do the procurement?

As per the preliminary enquiry and the development of various e-governance applications in education, health and citizen centric services, it is estimated that about two million users would require tablet. In order to create a healthy competition among the vendors, it is proposed that multiple vendors are empanelled through a process under the DGS&D rate contract. The potential users for Aakash IV would directly place orders through respective departments.

Who all are the target audience?

The proposed Aakash IV would be a useful gadget for the school children for browsing educational contents, such as text books, lab experiments, and small programming exercises also. College students use such gadgets for browsing the internet for various academic resources and e-books, and also programming in C++, Java, etc. languages. This device will also be useful to most of the school children, college students and other citizens for browsing e-governance services.

Will Aakash IV be a made in India product?

Aakash IV will be made in India product and the DeitY notification for the Preferential Market Access policy (PMA) for Tablet PC shall be applicable in this regard.

What will be the final price?

The actual price would be decided through a competitive bidding process and notified by the DGS&D rate contract process. The subsidy, if any, on the price thus notified could be provided by the respective schools, colleges, government departments, as per their schemes for specific purpose.

What all apps the tablet will have? Will it vary according to the user? Are you adding some apps specifically for the student community?

The apps will be specific to the end users. A special app store is proposed to be developed for student community which will allow students to download and use the app as per their requirements and interest.

Please elaborate on the roles of C-DAC, IIT Mumbai and Chennai and DGS&D?

C-DAC, IIT Mumbai and IIT Chennai along with experts from HRD ministry has drafted the technical specifications of Aakash IV. C-DAC is also responsible for testing the Aakash IV tablets submitted by prospective vendors and issue certification. DGS&D is responsible for vendor empanelment; state authorities can directly approach them.

Will it also be available for anyone who wants to buy it and at what price?

Any individual can also directly procure from the vendor as per the prevailing market determined prices.

(This story appeared in January 1-15, 2014 issue of the magazine.)

239 - DataWind faces uphill climb in India's smartphone market -ZD Net

DataWind faces uphill climb in India's smartphone market

Summary: DataWind's recently launched smartphones could usher a new era of connectivity in India--but not if it garners the kind of reputation the hardware maker's erstwhile Aakash tablet did.

By Rajiv Rao for New Tech for Old India | January 2, 2014 -- 09:18 GMT (20:18 AEST)

DataWind could usher a new era of connectivity in India with its recently launched smartphones, but it will first need to shake off the bad rep its Aakash tablet generated.

DataWind has its work cut out for it, if it hopes to dominate India's smartphone market.

The Indian tablet and cell phone manufacturer recently launched three potentially revolutionary smartphones in one of the world's hottest consumer electronics markets. Its PocketSurfer smartphones range from around US$55 to US$105 and are outfitted with 5-inch screens, which generally are not available at those price points in India. The devices come with Linux and Android platforms.

It's easy to see why this could turn out to be such an important development. After all, the Indian market has exhibited an insatiable appetite for smartphones, growing at a sizzling 250 percent annual growth rate and primarily in the medium-low price range that caters to notoriously price-sensitive Indian consumers.

Moreover, most phones in this category generally are not as generously equipped with the kind of screens and up-to-date OSes that DataWind's devices are. In other words, if the company plays its cards right, it could become a giant in this segment, out-muscling stalwarts like Samsung and Micromax. 

But there lies the rub. DataWind is a company that, in India, has more often been synonymous for disappointment or disaster, depending on whom you ask. Its name is inextricably entwined with the low-cost US$$35 (subsidized from its US$65 retail pricetag) Aakash 1 tablet, a massive project led by the Indian government for distribution to rural school-going children. The initiative was initially destined to become another product that would alter the way we communicate and live, much like the now-infamous Nano small car designed by Tata Motors.

The Aakash tender was awarded to DataWind, which is a British and Canadian outfit, but was somehow dubbed Indian--perhaps because it was founded by Sikh brothers Suneet and Raja Tuli, both of whom grew up in Canada's Northern Alberta province and thereafter established their base in Montreal.

The first two versions of the low-cost tablets DataWind produced turned out to be "poorly made, poorly assembled, and cumbersome to use, testing a user's patience", according to an entertaining takedown by Fast Company that tried to unearth the story behind the product's failure.

The manufacturer, for its part, said the government kept changing its specifications and pointed to "significant efforts made by some" to derail the project through "nonsensical made-up controversies".

Whichever side of the Aakash controversy you may find yourself on, the fact is DataWind commanded 12.5 percent of tablet sales in the second quarter of 2013, behind Samsung's 21.2 percent, and ahead of Micromax's 9.7 percent. This is an impressive feat, although analysts say a further look at the country's tablet sales this year shows an unusually volatile landscape, with leading players frequently knocked off their ascendant perches from quarter to quarter. In the September-ending quarter, Lenovo pushed DataWind to the number three spot with 13.4 percent share versus 12.4 percent.

So what should we make of Datawind's new smartphones? While the devices have some very attractive features, players in this market are constantly upping the ante on form factors and price points, especially indigenous stalwarts like Micromax and Lava.

The real challenge, analysts say, is to crack the retail and telco distribution game through savvy tieups--without which Datawind will be unable to get the kind of volumes it needs to justify its price points. Then, there are other areas such as after-sales service, which phone users in this space are increasingly particular about.

In other words, DataWind has its work cut out for it, if it hopes to dominate India's smartphone market in the years ahead.

Topics: Smartphones, Tablets, India

About Rajiv Rao

Rajiv is a journalist and filmmaker based out of New Delhi who is interested in how new technologies, innovation, and disruptive business forces are shaking things up in India.

238 - Aakash IV gets the Go ahead by Prof. Kannan Moudgalya

I am glad to inform you that the Indian Government has decided to go ahead with Aakash IV, please see the tender notice by DGS&D (sorry about the long link - could not locate a shorter one):

Tender Notice

The specs of Aakash IV are an improved version of what we had for Aakash II.  The new specifications have been arrived at after fixing the shortcomings of the previous version and keeping in mind the current technology offerings.

According to unofficial sources, quite a few vendors seem to have expressed an interest in participating in this inquiry.  We expect to have many vendors and many models through this offering.  The overall size of the order is also expected to be much larger than before.

This should allow interested buyers to choose a model of their choice and order the required numbers.  Although the cost may be more than what is possible in a centralised system of procurement, it is easier to manage.  This system also has the potential to let only the vendors with good offerings to flourish.  Adherence to the specifications by the hardware vendors will hopefully allow the applications that are being

developed by the Aakash enthusiasts all over to be able to run on all devices, irrespective of the vendor and the model type.

This ends once and for all the controversies surrounding the Aakash project in favour of the team that developed it.  We have summarised some of the Aakash development work taking place at IIT Bombay in a brochure with two pages, the links for which are given below:

http://aakashlabs.org/builds/Aakash_brochure_inside_20_11_2013.pdf

http://aakashlabs.org/builds/Aakash_brochure_outside_20_11_2013.pdf

A half of the applications shown in this brochure run in the Android OS, while the rest run on Ubuntu 12.0.  I am now personally interested in exploring the netbook version of Aakash, a model with a fixed keyboard, and the GNU/Linux OS.

Regards,

Kannan Moudgalya

Prof IIT Bombay

237 - INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCH £14 TABLET - CBR Online

INDIAN GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCH £14 TABLET

Mobile & tablets

by Ben Sullivan| 30 December 2013

Seven-inch Aakash 4 will support 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi.

The Indian government has announced a tablet will be launched in 2014 costing just £14.

In a move to expand the government's scheme to bring affordable computing to the education sector in India, the Aakash 4 tablet will be built from January, and will eventually be sold on the market for around 1500 Rupees (£14), but with an original price of 2500 Rupees (£24.50).

The Aakash 4 will feature a screen size of seven inches, support Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G connectivity, and will have 4GB of internal storage, with an external memory card slot which can boost storage to 32GB.

India's Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said that modern devices are changing the way students are learning, and that "the teacher is no longer the sole repository of knowledge. Children get knowledge from all sorts of sites."

India's government previously had a partnership with UK-based Datawind, which built the previous Aakash tablets, including the Ubislate 7Ci. The UbiSlate 7Ci is priced at £30, which is £70 cheaper than Argos's MyTablet and less than Tesco's Hudl at £119 and Carphone Warehouse's £49 Avoca 7.

DataWind said it could afford to sell the device at £30 after the cost of the hardware was offset by the revenue from content and advertising.

According to Gartner, "basic" tablets are expected to account for almost 45% of the total market by 2017. Other research from IDC shows that tablet computers are set to overtake PC sales this year, growing to 229.4m units, driven by lower cost devices.

236 - Holy Cow , India is bringing A$38 Tablet Computer to US

Holy Cow , India is bringing A$38 Tablet Computer to US

London-based company Datawind surprised us by releasing a $35 tablet computer manufactured in India. That computer was for students in India. Now they’re bringing a $38 tablet computer (and two other models costing less than $150) to the US market

The $35 version, called the Aakash, was subsidized by the Indian government to drop the price down from $50. The version Datawind will be selling in the US is the UbiSlate 7Ci tablet, a modified Aakash-2 which costs $38 (partially subsidized by advertisements in the web browser).

The UbiSlate 7Ci has a 1 GHz single-core processor (similar to 2010′s first-generation iPad), 512MB of RAM, 4 GB of storage (and an SD card slot), a 0.3 megapixel camera, and WiFi connectivity. It also has a SIM card slot so it can be used as a phone, and it runs on the Google Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS. The 7-inch display only has 800 x 480 resolution, but, hey, it’s $38.

Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli told the Wall Street Journal their goal is to bring affordable access to the internet to people currently priced out of owning a computer. “The power of the Internet is frankly essential in taking societies to the next level, in equipping young people to be able to even make it in the work force. [...] We can’t afford to have people who grow up without the Internet.”

Fifteen percent of American adults don’t use the internet, with nineteen percent of them citing price as the reason. So, about 3% of American adults cited price as their reason for not using the internet, in other words. I still love this idea for reasons besides giving more people access. A $35 tablet can be used for a single function or thrown in a backpack like it’s no big deal or given to a kid to play with or even bundled with a digital magazine subscription.

Datawind has a long-term goal of dropping the price below $20. With cheap tablet computers like these, who would have to grow up without the internet and, by extension, all of those memes kids need to know to keep up in today’s fast-paced economy? Much savings. Such internet. Wow.

Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/technology/2013/12/cheap-tablet-computers-coming-to-usa/#ixzz2pFFVFp5i 

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235 - Aakash tablet remains my unfulfilled dream: Sibal - TOI

Aakash tablet remains my unfulfilled dream: Sibal

PTI Dec 24, 2013, 02.57PM IST

NEW DELHI: Calling low-cost tablet Aakash his unfulfilled dream, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said he has pursued the project despite not getting support from some government departments and that the tender for manufacturing the latest version will be finalized in January.

"Aakash was my dream but it was not fulfilled, I tried hard... some departments of my government did not support me... despite that I continued to strive and then I brought the project in my ministry and now specifications for Aakash 4 have been completed," Sibal said at the launch of 'e-inclusion' project here.

"Some departments did not support me but despite that we are bringing the Aakash," Sibal said.

The Aakash project was Sibal's brainchild when he was the HRD Minister. The idea was to provide low-cost computing device at subsidized rate to students to enable them access internet for educational purposes.

Canadian company Datawind had bagged the contract to produce the first and second versions of the Aakash tablet.

"The specifications of Aakash 4 has been finalized. DGSD has floated a tender, which will be finalized sometime in January. All those entities which will meet the tender conditions will be entitled to manufacture the Aakash and depending on the volume of production, it will be available to anybody who wants to buy it," Sibal said.

The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGSD) procures products for government supplies.

Asked about the price of the tablet, Sibal said: "We will see what the price is. Originally what we wanted was around Rs 2,500 but that is without excise, without any of the other transportation costs and other things. So once you add those on I don't know what it may come to," he said.

He, however, added those who can afford it can buy and those who cannot, the government departments like Human Resource Development Ministry and Rural Development Ministry can provide subsidy if they wish to.

"Those who can afford it can buy, those who cannot afford it, if government departments intend to buy it and give subsidies they can give it," he added.

Did not receive enough support for Aakash tablet project: Kapil Sibal Daily News & Analysis All those entities which will meet the tender conditions will be entitled to manufacture the tablet,” he said. “The Aakash tablet will be manufactured by ... See all stories on this topic »	Daily News & Analysis
Did not receive enough support for Aakash tablet project: Sibal Business Standard "The Aakash tablet will be manufactured by entities. Depending on the volume of production, it will be available to anybody who wants to buy it," he ... See all stories on this topic »

Web	1 new result for Aakash Tablet, Aakash,

Aakash tablet my unfulfilled dream: Sibal | Business Line Calling low-cost tablet PC Aakash his unfulfilled dream, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today said he has pursued the project despite not getting support ... www.thehindubusinessline.com/.../article5497158.ece

234 - Aakash 4 tablet production to start in January : Kapil Sibal - Truthdive

Aakash 4 tablet production to start in January : Kapil Sibal

Posted by Saravanan Jawahar on December 22, 2013 in Exclusive, News, Sci-Tech · 0 Comments

New Delhi, Dec 22 (TruthDive): The production of the Aakash 4 tablet will begin in India in January 2014 and the price of the device is set to be reduced later in the year from £24 (INR 2,500) to £15 (INR 1,500), India’s telecoms minister, Kapil Singh, announced while addressing students at Modern School in New Delhi.

Sibal said that Aakash 4 had been tendered for manufacturing. He said starting from January 2014, Aakash 4, the device which is similar to any other modern tablets in the country, would be manufactured by several players. As many as 18 people had actually participated in the tender, he added.

The minister said that enough number of Aakash devices will be available after 5 to 7 years for every school going children in the country.

The Aakash 4 will feature a 7-inch scratch resistant touchscreen, bluetooth and front camera. It will support Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G connectivity and will have 4GB of internal storage. The users will be able to increase external memory cards with storage capacity of up to 32GB.

The Minister said that devices like Aakash will change the way students will learn in coming days.

The Aakash tablet is the ambitious ultra-low-cost device of the Indian government. The device is aimed at connecting the digital divide in the country.

The device was appreciated highly by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, when it was presented by India at the United Nations. Ban said, “India is a critical player on security issues … but you are also a leader on development and technology. Indeed, India is a superpower on the information superhighway. There is a reason places like Hyderabad are called “Cyberabad”. We need to do more to help all children and young people make the most of the opportunities provided by information and communications technology – especially all those who are still unconnected from the digital revolution.”

233 - World's cheapest tablet just got CHEAPER

World's cheapest tablet just got CHEAPER

India's subsidised Aakash 4 will cost just £14/$US23

By Phil Muncaster, 20th December 2013

The world’s cheapest tablet is about to get even cheaper after Indian telecoms minister Kapil Sibal announced the subsidised Aakash 4 will eventually ship for just Rs.1,500 (£14).

The Aakash project was originally conceived by New Delhi in 2011 as a way to get computing devices in the hands of millions of students across the sub-continent.

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However, it has been plagued by a series of delays – many of which were laid squarely at the door of UK company Datawind, which was responsible for delivering the devices.

After several false starts that saw precious few tablets shipped, Sibal is now claiming the Aakash 4 will go on sale from January 2014, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

Datawind has apparently lost the exclusive contract for the devices, which will now be manufactured by “several players”.

Sibal is quoted as saying 18 manufacturers have tendered for the lucrative contract, although formal bids open on Friday.

The 7-incher will initially cost Rs.2,500 (£24.60) although that price will eventually drop to Rs.1,500, according to Sibal.

Specs-wise the 4G-enabled tablet will apparently come with 4GB of internal storage which can be expanded by up to 32GB with an SD card.

According to details released in July, the device should be no more than 500g in weight and 0.75in thick, with a minimum of 1 GB DDR3 SDRAM. Battery capacity should be enough to support at least three hours of 720p video playback and five hours of web browsing.

Despite numerous misfires, the Indian government is still aiming for an ambitious target with the project – to put an Aakash in the hands of every school kid in the country in 5-7 years, according to PTI. ®

232 - Aakash 4 to be cheaper, production starts in Jan: Kapil Sibal Dec 19, 2013 - First Post

Aakash 4 to be cheaper, production starts in Jan: Kapil Sibal Dec 19, 2013

New Delhi: The next version of world's cheapest tablet PC Aakash 4 will start in January and the price of the devices are expected to further come down by Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 in a year, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said today. "Aakash 4 now has been tendered for manufacturing. From January 2014, Aakash 4 which is like any other modern tablets in the country, is going to be manufactured by several players. (As many as) 18 people have actually participated in the tender," Sibal said while addressing students at Modern School here.

The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals, which procures product for government supplies, has floated tender for Aakash 4 tablet for which bids will be opened tomorrow. The Minister said that after 5 to 7 years enough number of Aakash devices will be available for every school going children in the country. Sibal said he expects the price of this cheapest tablet to further fall by about Rs 1,000 next year. "The cost of that (Aakash tablet) at the moment we say is Rs 2,500 but its going to come down to Rs 1,500," he said. Aakash 4 will have 7 inch capacitative touch screen which will be also scratch resistant. The tablet will support wifi, 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity, come with 4GB of internal storage, external memory card slot with storage capacity of up to 32 GB, bluetooth and front camera. 

The Minister said that modern technology and devices like Aakash will change the way students will learn in coming days. "... No longer teacher is sole repository of knowledge. Children get knowledge from all sorts of network site," Sibal said. 

Citing transformation in education sector, the Minister touched upon concept of Meta-University floated by him when he was Human Resource and Development Minister. "The concept (Meta University) is 3-4 University can get together and actually create a course which is not provided by syllabi of any particular university...this will happen in years to come not only between universities but between nations and universities around world," Sibal said. He said students will be able to combine two courses and get degree from respective universities. PTI

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/tech/aakash-4-to-be-cheaper-production-starts-in-jan-kapil-sibal-1296971.html?utm_source=ref_article

231 - Aakash 4 tablet production to start in January ZD Net

Aakash 4 tablet production to start in January

Summary: The Indian government is opening tenders for production of the fourth generation of its educational Aakash tablet.

By Nitin Puri for Mobile India | December 20, 2013 -- 00:47 GMT (11:47 AEST)

The Aakash tablet will be most likely be manufactured by several players in India, slated for a production start date in January 2014, according to reports from The Times of India. 

Furthermore, the price of the new devices is expected to come down even further, by 1,000 to 1,500 Indian rupees within one year.

The fourth generation of the Aakash tablet will have a 7-inch touchscreen that will also be scratch resistant. It will support 2G, 3G, and 4G connectivity, with 4GB of internal storage and an external memory card slot with storage capacity of up to 32GB. It will also have a front-mounted camera and Bluetooth facilities.

While the original concept and design was conceived by Datawind, it now appears that the Indian government has taken over the Aakash series and is pursuing further development on its own accord. Previous iterations faced delays and shortages, and as such, the Indian government wants to get the program back on track in order to provide the Aakash tablet to students across India.

For the price, the Aakash tablet is indeed a remarkable device. I have a first-generation device, and what I've realized is that for education, the Aakash tablet serves its purpose. It's educational in the sense of showing people how to go online and check email, which may be trivial for some, but still a challenge for others. From this perspective, the Aakash tablet can be utilized further as a teaching aid within the classroom.

From a learning perspective, it's simply more fun and interactive to follow along with a device, versus the traditional pen-and-paper approach. And the best way to expose children to technology at a young age is to introduce devices such as the Aakash tablet in the classroom at an early age.

Topics: Tablets, Government, India

About Nitin Puri

Originally from Canada, Nitin has been residing and working in India since 2009. He has worked in different ICT industries in countries such as India, Canada, and Tanzania. He is an avid follower and application developer within the growing mobile phone sector in India.

230 - Datawind's low cost Aakash tab comes to UK, US £30 7-incher already sold out in UK, will land Stateside in 2014

Datawind's low cost Aakash tab comes to UK, US

£30 7-incher already sold out in UK, will land Stateside in 2014

By Phil Muncaster, 19th December 2013 

Customer experience strategy

Datawind, the British company behind India’s low-cost Aakash tablet, is spreading its wings with the launch of the device in the UK this week and plans to sell in bricks and mortar stores in the US early next year.

The firm’s UbiSlate 7Ci, the commercial name for the Aakash 2 tablet created to meet the needs of Indian students, was made available to UK punters from Datawind’s web site for just £29.99.

However, in a story that will be familiar to the Indian government, Datawind has already found itself unable to meet demand.

A message on the site on Thursday read “Due to overwhelming demand pre-Christmas stock is sold out. Orders placed now will be received after Christmas.”

More expensive versions, the UbiSlate 3G7 and 7C+, were still available at the time of writing.

The 7-in tablet, which was designed by Datawind and assembled in India from mainly Chinese parts, was at the centre of New Delhi’s ambitious 2011 project to put computing devices in the hands of over 50 million students across the sub-continent.

However, the project has been beset by delays.

The first generation Aakash tab received terrible reviews from the few who got their hands on it, then manufacturing problems hit its successor.

After a falling out between regional Indian government and Datawind was patched up things seemed to be back on track in November 2012, but in July this year the London-based firm seemed to be losing its grip on the contract.

That may explain its readiness to enter the UK retail market.

Despite poor reviews and low specs, the UbiSlate 7Ci could still appeal to low income families for whom even rival 7-inchers the Tesco Hudl (£119) and Aldi Medion Lifetab (£80) are too pricey.

Datawind has also set its sights on selling through unnamed retailers in the USA early next year, with prices ranging from $38 to $149 for a variety of devices.

In fact, it’s already being piloted in isolated pockets of the States in projects designed to help disadvantaged kids.

For the record, the Aakash 2/UbiSlate 7Ci features a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor processor and a 7in, capacitive, 800x480 display. The Android 4.0-based device packs in 512MB RAM and internal memory of 4GB, which is expandable up to 32GB using a micro SD card. ®

Customer experience strategy

229 - DataWind, makers of low-cost Aakash tablet, to launch new devices for US school kids - Economic Times

DataWind, makers of low-cost Aakash tablet, to launch new devices for US school kids

ET Bureau Dec 17, 2013, 04.35AM IST

BANGALORE: Canada-based DataWind, best-known as the maker of low-cost Aakash tablet, is launching a range of new devices aimed at schoolchildren in the United Sates.

This week, the company released three new tablets as well as phablets (phone and tablet combined) and aims to manufacture the product in the United States from next year.

Priced at $37.99 ( Rs 2,350) at the entry level, its UbiSlate will compete with other low-cost devices which retail at less than $50 (Rs 3,100).

"Although we're not ready at the current time to deliver an American-made product, we continue to work hard to set up production in the United States," said DataWind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli. "We expect to be able to deliver locally made devices in the first or second quarter of the New Year."

The company's range of 3G-enabled tablets will sell at a higher price point in the US, starting at $130, compared with Rs 7,000 ($114) in India.

Tuli believes the development of the tablet stemmed from the realisation that lack of internet adoption in many parts of the world was mainly an affordability issue. "We're working to bring affordable technology to the many millions of households who are currently excluded from benefiting from the digital revolution."

Vivek Wadhwa, vice president of research and innovation at Singularity University, who is trying to introduce the tablets in some schools in the Silicon Valley, said it is possible that next year the first "Made in US" phablets retailing for less than $100 (about 600) will be launched.

He said the tablets were tested at Palo Alto High, a school in Silicon Valley. "They gave it the thumbs up with some reservations about its speed."

228 - Updated Urdu software tools, BOSS 5.0, children's stories for Aakash released - Net Indian

Updated Urdu software tools, BOSS 5.0, children's stories for Aakash released

NetIndian News Network

New Delhi, December 16, 2013

Union Minister for Communications & Information Technology Kapil Sibal today released CDS of updated and advanced Urdu language software tools, Bharat Operating System Solutions (BOSS 5.0) and Urdu children's stories for Android-based Aakash tablets.

These are now also available for free download from the website of Technology Development for Indian Languages Deployment Centre, an official press release said here.

The release said the software had been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) under the mentoring of TDIL programme of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).

The Government had released Urdu language software tools earlier, but they needed to be updated in view of the advent of universal standards such as Unicode and version changes in the fre and open source software.

The new CDs contain a set of standards compliant free software tools that enable Windows and Linux users to carry out various tasks on computers in Urdu language.

BOSS 5.0 is a GNU/Linux developed by C-DAC under the guidance of Free and Open Source Software’s (FOSS) group of DeitY and it has Urdu language interface.

The new release, Anokha, comes with many applications focused on enhanced security and user friendliness. The release also includes the software updates for various packages including Apache Server, BIND DNS Server, GNU Compiler collection, GIMP, MySQL, Open SSH, php, python, ad so on, the release said.

Children's stories for Android based Aakash Tablet is a collection of 21 educational literature books from National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL). 

227 - India’s Aakash 2 tablet launched in UK for £30 - First Post

India’s Aakash 2 tablet launched in UK for £30

Dec 17, 2013 

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/tech/indias-aakash-2-tablet-launched-in-uk-for-30-1290495.html?utm_source=ref_article

London: A commercial version of India's low-cost Aakash 2 tablet computer was today launched in Britain at a cost of 30 pounds. The UbiSlate 7Ci, made by UK-based company Datawind, is based on Aakash 2, which is mainly used by students in India and was designed to provide cheap internet access to help improve education. Analysts said British customers buying the tablet and comparing it with others on the market may be disappointed.

The 7 inch Android tablet has wi-fi connectivity, 512MB of RAM, a microUSB connection and 4GB of storage, BBC reported. When the Aakash was launched in India in 2011 it was dubbed the "world's cheapest touch-screen tablet" and was aimed at schools and colleges. The first version was not well received by critics, but an upgraded version, the Aakash 2, fared better. Speaking at the Wired 2013 conference in October, Suneet Singh Tuli, who founded Datawind, said getting online was all about affordability. "It's not just about creating low-cost devices, for us it's about delivering the internet," he said. A partnership with the Indian government helped the Aakash 2 became one of the country's best-selling tablets. "At the start of this year we became the largest supplier of tablet computers in India, ahead of both Apple and Samsung," said Tuli. The company said it could afford to sell the product at such a low price as the cost of the hardware was offset with revenue from content and advertising. "The reality is that with any consumer electronics device you get what you pay for," said Ben Wood, an analyst at research company CCS Insight. "Any consumer buying this tablet with the expectation it will deliver a comparable experience to more expensive, yet affordable, Android tablets such as Amazon's Kindle Fire and Tesco's Hudl will be sorely disappointed." PTI

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/tech/indias-aakash-2-tablet-launched-in-uk-for-30-1290495.html?utm_source=ref_article

226 - DataWind's 7-inch UbiSlate tablet heads to UK, starts at £30 - Engadget

DataWind's 7-inch UbiSlate tablet heads to UK, starts at £30 (update: US too)

BY SEAN BUCKLEY 17 days ago

Remember the Aakash 2, India's $40 educational slate? It's finally making its way to the western world. The school-bound slab's manufacturer updated its UK website with three commercial variants of the devices, the UbiSlate 7Ci, 7C+ and 7Cz. Sound familiar? It should -- another version of the tablet (labeled 3G7) made its way through the FCC earlier this year, flaunting a 7-inch screen, a tri-band HSPA radio and a 2-megapixel camera. In fact, the federally inspected tablet matches the 7Cz in all but name, which offers a dual-core 1.2Ghz processor 8GB of storage and the aforementioned connectivity for £80. Knock that processor down to a 1GHz Cortex A8 CP, slash its (already meager) storage in half, and slow your wireless connectivity to Edge speeds and you're looking at the (currently unpriced) 7C+. Just looking for WiFi? That's the £30 7Ci, which Datawind specifically identifies as the consumer version of the Aakash 2.

These specs are far from impressive, but the Ubislate (and its predecessor) weren't built to compete with the Nexus 7: 

Datawind aims its devices specifically at schools, building a budget product that can help further the education of students on a budget. That said, the company's website seems to be little more than a placeholder for now -- the tablet's product pages are incomplete, and there's no way to order the devices just yet. We're exactly not jumping to put these devices on our Christmas lists, but it's good to see the fledgling tablet reach out to a wider market.

Update: All the above UbiSlate models are coming the US as well starting at $38, though the UbiSlate 7Cz will be known as the UbiSlate 3G7 in the US. As with the UK, there's no word on exactly when they'll arrive stateside.

225 - Aakash maker Datawind enters smartphone market with sub-Rs 5,000 PocketSurfer5 - Indian Express

Aakash maker Datawind enters smartphone market with sub-Rs 5,000 PocketSurfer5

Kirtika Suneja : New Delhi, Sat Dec 14 2013, 15:51 hrs

Datawind, the maker of the low-cost Aakash tablet, has entered the smartphone category with the launch of PocketSurfer5, a range of three smartphones with 5-inch touchscreen, two of which are priced less than Rs 5,000.

Called PocketSurfer smartphones, some of the specification of the devices include five-inch screens, dual SIM and have Linux and Google Android operating systems (OS), front VGA cemeras and micro SD and USN ports.

"We are offering 40% lower prices than the cheapest smartphone available in the market. We have managed these price points because we make our own touchscreens in Amritsar and Montreal and these constitute 50-60% of the cost of the device," said Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli.

Smartphone sales in India have grown over three-fold to touch 12.8 million units in third quarter of 2013 according to research firm IDC. A smartphone is a mobile device built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced capabilities and connectivity than a feature phone.

Datawind's smartphones will be initially sold online and the company plans to tie-up with a cellular operator as part of its retail strategy. Datawind entered the tablet market in April 2012 and has sold 1 million tablets since then and is planning an inventory of 80,000-1 lakh per month for the smartphones in India.

The entry-level device is the PocketSurfer 5X at R3,499 for a dual-SIM smartphone with a 5 inch touch-screen. The second in the range is PocketSurfer5 and is priced at R4,999. PocketSurfer5 offers the best of features on an Android Jelly Bean platform offering connectivity to Internet through Wi-Fi and EDGE networks.

This model also sports a 5 inch capacitive touch screen that gives the user a widescreen entertainment experience as also a large enough screen to attend to office work on the move. The third and the final model in the range is the PocketSurfer3G5 priced at R6,499 and sports the highest specs within the PocketSurfer5 range offering users the ability to enjoy 3G services.

224 - DataWind launches low-cost smartphones - Live Mint

DataWind launches low-cost smartphones

The entry-level PocketSurfer 5 smartphone costs Rs.3,499, while the upper-end model is priced at Rs.6,499

Mumbai: UK-based DataWind Ltd , maker of the Aakash tablet, is entering the low-cost smartphone category, which in India is dominated by companies such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, Micromax Informatics Ltd and Karbonn Mobiles, with a range of three dual-SIM handsets with 5-inch touchscreens.

The models, to be “manufactured and assembled partly at the company’s facility in Amritsar and in China besides being sub-contracted in part, will be sold online till we make an announcement in the next few weeks about our retail strategy and tie-up with a cellular operator by the end of December”, said Suneet Singh Tuli, chief executive officer of DataWind, over the phone from Montreal, Canada.

The entry-level device is the PocketSurfer 5X at Rs.3,499 with a dual-SIM smartphone, Linux operating system (OS) and 5-inch resistive touchscreen.

The second is PocketSurfer5, priced at Rs.4,999. PocketSurfer5 offers the Android Jelly Bean (4.0) platform and sports a 5-inch capacitive touch screen. The third model is the PocketSurfer3G5, priced at Rs.6,499 with the Android 4.2n platform, which also comes with a 5-inch touchscreen.

“Our primary focus is to deliver an affordable means of accessing the Internet. We want to be form-factor agnostic. Globally, the massive shift from feature phones to smartphones is being driven by the appetite to get on the Internet. We want to be the enabler,” said Tuli.

Tuli wants to replicate the “success” of Aakash, touted as the world’s lowest-cost tablet, and “bridge the digital divide” with these smartphones but analysts point out that the first two versions of Aakash ( first version priced around Rs.3,000 and the second version around Rs.3,500) were poorly made, poorly assembled and cumbersome to use, testing a user’s patience.

There was no Aakash 3 because the next upgrade was called UbiSlate 7C+. “We sold over 1.1 million tablets till date, include 1 lakh Aakash tablets to the (Indian) government,” claimed Tuli, whose company has also bid for the Aakash 4 tablets. India’s tablet market is dominated by low-cost devices, with about 74% of the volume coming from the sub-$200 category. Similar is the case with low-cost smartphones, priced below Rs.10,000, the market for which is growing at a rapid pace.

Research firm Convergence Catalyst estimates that smartphones will close 2013 with sales at about 40 million units from 21 million a year ago.

According to a 2 December report by research firm International Data Corp. (IDC), the Indian smartphone market grew by 229% from a year ago in the third quarter of 2013. Vendors shipped a total of 12.8 million smartphones in the same period compared to 3.8 million units a year earlier.

The 5-6.99 inch screen size smartphones (phablets) sustained growth in the third quarter as well; the phablet category contributed 23% of the overall market in terms of volume, said the IDC report. But the competition is tough for any newcomer in the segment. In the third quarter of 2013, Samsung maintained its leadership spot with about 33% market share. Its smartphone shipments grew by close to 36% from the preceding quarter. The third quarter also saw quite a few new launches across price points by Samsung, but it was the low-mid tier phones such as Galaxy S Duos and Galaxy Star that continued to drive volumes, according to IDC.

Micromax held on to its second spot with about 17% in terms of market share, followed by Karbonn close to 11%, and Nokia’s Lumia range of devices garnering close to 5% market share.

Lava, another Indian brand, made it to the top 5 for the first time in the third quarter of 2013, owing to huge shipments of its XOLO and IRIS range of competitively priced devices, said the IDC report.

Analysts said that while the PocketSurfer range of smartphones has good features, appropriate pricing and the right screen size, Datawind would face a challenge when dealing with retail channels and mobile operators to sell these phones offline.

“We will have to wait and watch. DataWind has made a smart move by branding the smartphones as PocketSurfer and not as Aakash,” said Vishal Tripathi, principal analyst, Gartner Inc. He added that features are hardly a differentiator in the low-cost smartphone segment. “What matters most are post-sales service, retail and distribution,” he said.

“The price point and large 5-inch screen are good features but DataWind will have to get its retail, branding and distribution strategy right, since these are critical issues,” said Jayanth Kolla, a partner at telecom consulting firm Convergence Catalyst.

223 - Happiest Minds ties up with Datawind - Hindu Businessline

Happiest Minds ties up with Datawind

BANGALORE, DEC 4:  

Happiest Minds Technologies has entered into a strategic partnership with Datawind—makers of Aakash Tablet PC to develop cloud-based applications and solutions on Datawind’s low cost tablet platform—UbiSlate.

Through this partnership both the companies will also look to create affordable mobility solutions for education and healthcare sectors.

As a part of this initiative, Happiest Minds will build the Datawind App Store for all Datawind devices using Android.

Joseph Ananthraju, CEO, Product Engineering Services, Happiest Minds said: “With our IP led approach, domain knowledge of education and healthcare sectors and singular focus on disruptive technologies, we look forward to creating world class applications for Datawind customers.”

(This article was published on December 4, 2013)

222 - Happiest Minds To Develop App Store For Datawind UbiSlate Platform - Tech Worm

Happiest Minds To Develop App Store For Datawind UbiSlate Platform

By Jatinder Bhatia on December 5, 2013

@TechVorm

Datawind—makers of Aakash Tablet PC, have announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership with Happiest Minds Technologies, IT services and solutions company to develop cloud-based applications and solutions on Datawind’s low cost tablet platform—UbiSlate. Through this partnership both the companies will also look to create affordable mobility solutions for education and healthcare sectors.

Commenting on this partnership Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO, Datawind said, “Datawind has been focused on democratizing access to internet and computing with our versatile and robust, yet low cost tablet platform. The UbiSlate platform now evolves to the next level with our partnership with Happiest Minds.  Happiest Minds is known for their expertise in disruptive technologies like cloud, mobility, analytics as well as embedded solutions. Through this partnership, we will be able to create a complete mobility experience by offering access to cost effective cloud applications and solutions to our customers.”

With a focus on disruptive technologies, Happiest Mind’s Product Engineering Services (PES) group builds  software and hardware products and solutions covering major domains like E-Commerce, education, healthcare, data center infrastructure, consumer electronics, automotive and next generation Internet of Things.

The Datawind App Store is the first major joint initiative undertaken through the strategic partnership. The App Store, being developed by Happiest Minds, is designed to create a connected customer experience for the first time Android users. The App Store will be available on all Datawind devices.

221 - Happiest Minds to create app store for Aakash, UbiSlate tablets - TOI

Happiest Minds to create app store for Aakash, UbiSlate tablets

PTI Dec 3, 2013, 06.24PM IST

NEW DELHI: Datawind, the maker of Aakash tablets, today said it has partnered with IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies to develop applications and solutions for its UbiSlate range of tablets.

Under the partnership, Happiest Minds will develop Datawind's App Store, which will be designed to create a connected customer experience for the first time Android users, Datawind said in a statement.

The App Store will be available on all Datawind devices, it added.

"The UbiSlate platform now evolves to the next level with our partnership with Happiest Minds. Through this partnership, we will be able to create a complete mobility experience by offering access to cost effective cloud applications and solutions to our customers," Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli said.

Through this partnership, both the companies will look to create affordable mobility solutions for education and healthcare sectors, he added.

"With our IP led approach, domain knowledge of education and healthcare sectors and singular focus on disruptive technologies, we look forward to creating world class applications for Datawind customers," Happiest Minds product engineering services CEO Joseph Ananthraju said.

220 - Datawind to bundle free Internet with tablet for a year S. RONENDRA SINGH - Hindu Businessline

Datawind to bundle free Internet with tablet for a year

S. RONENDRA SINGH

Deal done with two telecom players, In talks with others

NEW DELHI, NOV. 28:  

In a bid to sweeten the deal for its products, tablet personal computer maker Datawind said that it has partnered telecom companies to bundle free Internet services for a year on purchase of its devices from next month onwards.

The company, known for its Aakash tablets, said it will offer its UbiSlate series of models including 7Cx, 7C Plus, 7CZ and 3G7 priced between Rs 3,999 and Rs 4,999 with the free Internet access.

“The devices will be bundled with a SIM and we plan to offer the free Internet access for lifetime also, but at a later stage, as we don’t want to take that risk right now. We will see how this first offer develops,” Suneet Singh Tuli, Chief Executive Officer, Datawind, told Business Line.

Without disclosing the names of the telecom partners, Tuli said the company has tied up with two telecom service providers for the Internet services and talks are on for partnering other service providers. While the Internet service will be free for buyers of Datawind tablets, the telecom companies will be paid off by the tablet maker. It’s not clear how Datawind will make money out of this deal though Tuli said that he is working on generating revenues from advertisements and services offered on top of the tablet.

“Other tablet vendors are giving free Internet service for 3-4 months along with devices that cost around Rs 25,000. We are offering a Rs 4,000 device with 12 months free Internet access. That makes it compelling,” he said.

“Calculating in real terms, our devices will be less costly than that of the Internet usage rate by the end of a year,” Tuli said.

According to CyberMedia Research’s India Quarterly Tablet PC Market Review, 11.50 lakh tablets were sold in the country in the April-June quarter, as compared with 5.54 lakh units in the corresponding period last year. While Samsung was ranked number with 15.3 per cent, Datawind was at number two with 12.3 per cent.

RURAL AREAS

The company will be focussing in rural areas in order to increase its market share. “We ship around 2,500-3,000 devices a day now and in the first quarter of the year, we were the largest supplier of tablets in India. We sold a million units in the last one year (15 months) plus one-lakh units (of Aakash) to the Government,” he said. Datawind’s initial tablet had hit rough weather after it was found wanting in terms of quality and features.

Tuli said Datawind will also participate in the bidding for the 22-lakh ‘Aakash-4’ project for which the Government is coming out with a tender (around Rs 330 crore) by mid-December.

OVERSEAS MARKETS

Going forward, Datawind is also exposing itself to newer markets such as the UK, the US and Canada. It is already selling to 13 countries including Mexico, Zambia, Tanzania, Uruguay, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

“We are aiming to add around two countries every month over the next few months,” Tuli added.

ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

(This article was published on November 28, 2013)

Keywords: Datawind, free Internet, tablet, 

219 - ‘Aakash’ Tablet or DataWind in Collaboration with CK-12 to bring Indian content in Math and Science - aegindia

‘Aakash’ Tablet or DataWind in Collaboration with CK-12 to bring Indian content in Math and Science

‘Aakash’ Tablet or DataWind in Collaboration with CK-12 to bring Indian content in Math and Science

The ‘Aakash Tablet’ as it is popularly known, or the DataWind device which was designed by Google’s Education Initiative, has teamed up with the American based education provider CK-12 Foundation to deliver free science and mathematical learning content that is relevant to the Indian education system.

New Delhi: According to DataWind’s CEO, Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, the aim of DataWind is to enable all students across India access education which will enable them gain more interest in learning up to the highest education levels they possibly can. Since DataWind is primarily capable in manufacturing the appropriate hardware, it needed to partner up with CK-12 which is more capable of delivering the best education software and contents.

What you need to know about CK-12

CK-12 Foundation is a foundation based in California USA and it is a non-profit making organization. Whose sole purpose is to reduce the cost of education and increases accessibility of the K-12 education, to learners in the United States and other countries across the globe. Their core value is based on the goal of not limiting access to education to primary and secondary students.

CK-12 provides educational content which can be accessed at anyplace and anytime and meant to improve the quality of learning the students have. This is according to the Executive Director of the CK-12 Foundation, one Mr. Neeru Khosia.

The advantages of the Collaboration between DataWind and CK-12

• The devices manufactured by DataWind are quite affordable.
• This collaboration expands the numbers of student who can access the CK-12 designed education programs.
• Content delivered by DataWind device are more up-to-date compare to the conventionally printed materials like text books.
• CK-12 has over 6 years experience in creation and delivery of open education materials in the USA; thus the local student will be able to enjoy this as well.
• The content delivered by the DataWind is account specific thus it can be used both in schools and the parents as well may use it at home.

- See more at: http://www.aegindia.org/2013/11/aakash-tablet-or-datawind-in-collaboration-with-ck-12-to-bring-indian-content-in-math-and-science/2136768.html#sthash.JPoW8kPf.dpuf