279 - Makers of Aakash Tab to launch INR 2000 Android phone with free internet for lifetime - INDIA TODAY

Makers of Aakash Tab to launch INR 2000 Android phone with free internet for lifetime

IndiaToday.in  New Delhi, September 19, 2014 | UPDATED 14:36 IST

DataWind, a Canadian wireless web access service provider that won the contract of Aaksh Tablets back in 2011, is likely to come up with a smartphone for INR 2000, with free lifetime internet access before Diwali this year. The company made the official announcement on Thursday and expects to double its sales by the year end with the new lunch.

The low-budget device will run on Android OS and have a 3.5 inch screen size. 

The company is negotiating the deal with three mobile service providers for free lifetime internet offer but did not disclose and details as things are yet to be materialized. 

Presently the company has a lineup of three smartphones, five Tablets and has an average sales figure of 40-50 thousand per month. With this move DataWind is trying to carve a niche space for itself in the cluttered Indian smartphone market. 

It may be noteworthy that DataWind's Aakash Tabs were disapproved by IIT Jodhpur, which handed over the project to the company and shared the detailed specifications of the devices. But later on the project was further assigned to IIT Bombay, DataWind was asked to improve the quality of the product.

Though the company has previously attempted to enter the market of low budget devices but was not really successful due to the quality issues. Taking a cue from its previous attempt, coming up with a low budget device without compromising with the quality has become fundamental for the company. Nonetheless, the future of the new device still remains speculative.

278 - Datawind to launch new phone with free lifetime Internet for Rs 2,000

Datawind to launch new phone with free lifetime Internet for Rs 2,000

#DATAWIND PHONE

22 Sep 2014 , 08:43

With an aim to double its volumes, low-cost mobile devices maker Datawind on Thursday said it will launch a Rs 2,000 smartphone before Diwali that will come bundled with free Internet for life.

The company said the device will be based on Android operating system and have a 3.5 inch size.

Datawind currently has three smartphones and 5 tablets under its portfolio and is selling 40,000-50,000 devices every month.
“We are looking forward to launch our Rs 2,000 smartphone and few other devices before Diwali and intent is to double our sales by the end of this calender year,” Datawind Executive Vice President Rupinder Singh said.

He added the company is in talks with three mobile operators for the lifetime free Internet offer but refused to divulge more details as the deal is yet to be finalised.

Asked about manufacturing in the country, Singh said the company has aggressive plans but did not mention any timeline for implementation.

Datawind had won the contract to supply 1 lakh units of Aakash tablets priced at $49.98 apiece in 2011, translated into a price of Rs 2,276 at that time.

The project was then handled by IIT Jodhpur which provided the specifications for the product. It, however, ran into controversy following IIT Jodhpur rejecting the devices manufactured by Datawind.

The project was then shifted under IIT Bombay and Datawind was asked to supply better version of the product, Aakash 2.
Singh said the company had in May last year shipped all the tablets to the government.

The Aakash project was former minister Kapil Sibal’s brainchild. 

The idea was to provide low-cost computing device at subsidised rate to students to enable them access Internet for educational purposes.

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in a recent press conference said Aakash project needs better specifications.

Asked if Datawind would be interested if the government comes out with a tender for Aakash, Singh said,”Absolutely we will be interested in that. Just a couple of months before the elections, a tender was opened for Aakash 4 by DGS&D and we emerged as the lowest bidder.”

PTI

277 - Bids for UPA’s Aakash tablet project may be scrapped

Bids for UPA’s Aakash tablet project may be scrapped

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 11, 2014

The government may scrap bids for the latest version of the Aakash tablet as none of the vendors, short-listed by the previous UPA government, were able to meet the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay’s technological specifications.

Aakash was launched by former HRD minister Kapil Sibal as the world’s cheapest access device under the National Mission on Education in 2010 with the initial price tag of about US $ 35.

Soon after the launch, questions over quality of the device were raised and a technical committee was constituted under Rajat Moona of IIT-Bombay to evolve specifications for next generation of Aakash.

The tender for Aakash IV tablet was put out by the government’s procurement arm the Director General of Supplies and Disposals and eleven models were submitted by 10 vendors in January 2014.

Five were short-listed but none of the samples met the specifications. With the last UPA government keen on the Aakash tablets, conditional certificates — that new samples should meet the specifications — were issued to all vendors and they were asked to submit bids by mid March 2014.

The new samples again failed to meet the specifications.

According to government sources, the technical committee had, on a ministry proposal, suggested relaxation of some of the specifications to meet the technological handicaps including —the tablets not having webcam, 3G modems and upgraded hard drive.

“We may go for re-bidding for five million Aakash tablets as relaxing the tenders can be highly controversial. The government prefers to start on a clean slate and we have recommended re-bidding,” a senior government functionary said.

The final decision in this regard is likely to the taken by the Prime Minister’s Office.

276 - Engg college distributes Akash tablets among students, faculty - Hindustan Times

Engg college distributes Akash tablets among students, faculty

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times  Rupnagar, September 04, 2014

As part of the activities of the remote centre established by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay at Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Bhaddal, Aakash tablets were distributed among final-year students of computer science engineering (CSE) on Thursday.

Tablets were also given to faculty members of CSE, information technology (IT) and master of computer application (MCA) department.

Speaking on the occasion, IET director-general R Jha thanked IIT Bombay for selecting IET Bhaddal campus for Aakash projects and congratulated Sanjay Singla, professor and head, department of CSE, for taking the initiative to collaborate with IIT Bombay for conducting workshop and faculty development programmes for the faculty and students. This had enhanced teaching skills of teachers and empowered students, he added.