252 - HRD ministry approves Aakash 4 project, students to get tablets on 'loan' - Financial Express

HRD ministry approves Aakash 4 project, students to get tablets on 'loan'

Anubhuti Vishnoi | New Delhi | Updated: Oct 26 2013, 09:56 IST

SUMMARY

The 22 lakh 47 thousand tablets are estimated to cost over Rs 330 crore.

The Pallam Raju led Human Resource Development Ministry has, after much contemplation, decided to back the Aakash tablet project. The HRD Ministry will now move a Cabinet note seeking approval for procuring over 22 lakh Aakash 4 tablets, officials confirmed.

Estimated to cost over Rs 330 crore, the 22 lakh 47 thousand tablets are proposed to be procured through the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) — a central government purchase and quality assurance organisation — that will conclude rate contracts for the low-cost tablet.

The ministry proposes that in the first phase, the $35 Aakash 4 tablets will be given to engineering institutes which will be directly bought from vendors empanelled by the DGS&D. The cost of the tablet will be borne on 50:50 basis by the HRD ministry-backed National Mission for Education through Information Communication Technology (NMEICT) and the concerned educational institution.

Once acquired, the tablets will be the property of the educational institution that will ‘issue’ the tablets to its students much like a library book. The technical specifications for Aakash 4 have been worked out by a committee constituted by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

The new Cabinet note will replace the original proposal in 2010 which had sought approval for a Rs 700 crore project to provide 100 personal computers — largely for faculty — to higher education institutes.

Earlier this year, Raju had expressed doubts about going ahead with the project and the much awaited tenders for 5 million tablets, in view of delivery and testing controversies. The ministry had constituted two committees to review the project and was to take a final view on the basis of these reports. Only one of these committees — headed by Prof Goverdhan Mehta — had submitted its report on the issue and it had firmly backed the tablet.

Announced with great fan fare, the android tablet has been mired in controversy from the start. The project was first given to IIT Rajasthan, but differences between the IIT and Canadian manufacturer Datawind made the HRD ministry hand over the project to IIT Bombay.

151 - Distribution of Aakash tablets among NIELIT students.

Distribution of Aakash tablets among NIELIT students.

Commissioner Secretary, IT Department distributes Aakash Tablets at NIELIT Srinagar.

NIELIT as one of the select technical Institutes across the country, has received over 200 Aakash tablets from IIT Bombay under project Aakash. 
These tablet’s will be tested for effectiveness as a teaching aid in a class room environment and also as a potential R&D device for promoting application development in FOSS (Free Open Source Software).

In order to inculcate and promote application development on Android
platform, NIELIT held a seminar where in students presented various project ideas targeting Android based applications on Aakash tablet. The application ideas presented by NIELIT students ranged from developing location based warning systems to e-Learning applications for students and faculty.

Sh. Bipul Pathak (IAS), Commissioner/Secretary to Govt., IT Department, Govt. of J&K attended the function as a chief guest. He distributed 93 Aakash tablets among the participating students of MCA and B-level course of NIELIT. He highly appreciated the role of NIELIT to bring in the state-of-the-art technology to promote quality education and training. On the occasion, he encouraged students to develop world class products particularly on Android platform and promised all help from the Department of IT, to the students in doing so. He also announced to give laptops to the winner of the best application developer on Android, which would be reviewed by a peer expert committee. Sh. A.H.Moon, Director NIELIT spoke about the experience of “hole in the wall experiment” which proved that technology can be learnt even in an unsupervised environment given the right kind of conditions. Sh. Muneer Ahmad Dar, Scientist-B & project Aakash coordinator, coordinated the presentations. The function was well attended by staff and students of NIELIT. 

123 - IIT slaps delay penalty on Aakash 2 supplier - Indian Express

16th April 2013

IIT slaps delay penalty on Aakash 2 supplier

Mihika Basu : Tue Apr 16 2013, 02:16 hr

So far, IIT Bombay has issued new tablets to 250 colleges across the country. - 

With the March 31 deadline for receiving a lakh units of Aakash 2 over, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has started charging delayed delivery penalty from Datawind, the company supplying the tablets. The institute has received only 51,000 tablets so far.

The tablet was launched in October 2011, but there were some delays. Subsequently, in April 2012, IIT Bombay took on the responsibility and one lakh units of the new version of the tablet or Aakash 2 were to be ready for supply to institutes across the country by March 31 this year.

"We recently had a meeting with representatives from Datawind. They have claimed that the delivery of tablets was delayed owing to delay in customs clearance, and due to delay in their Indian manufacturers completing their production line. However, as per the terms and conditions, we are charging 0.5 per cent penalty per week for delayed delivery," said IIT Bombay professor D B Phatak, who is heading the project from the institute.

He said another 15,000 units are expected soon. "Although there have been delays, we expect that the one-lakh target will be met by this month-end," he said. The funds for one lakh units have been provided by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

So far, IIT Bombay has issued new tablets to 250 colleges across the country. Each college has received 200 to 250 tablets. These colleges are IIT Bombay's remote centres for training engineering teachers across the country. "The colleges will use the tablets to teach courses, to develop more applications and content, among others," Phatak added.

The colleges will have to give continuous feedback to IIT Bombay on its use, the subjects that are being covered and features that need to be added to the tablet. The information will be put in a common repository, to be used in open source, so that it can be utilised by students and faculty across the country.

- See more at: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/iit-slaps-delay-penalty-on-aakash-2-supplier/1103061/#sthash.9yT3tViZ.dpuf

113 - Aakash's fate uncertain, government says 'failure' in production - NDTV

22nd March 2013

Aakash's fate uncertain, government says 'failure' in production

Press Trust of India, March 22, 2013

The fate of the much touted low-cost computing device Aakash looks uncertain with the government Friday conceding that there has been a "failure" in its production.

Concerned over the tardy progress, the HRD Ministry has written to IIT Bombay (the executing body) to ensure the vendor (Datawind) meets the terms and conditions and the supply order by March 31 in letter and spirit, failing which action could be initiated against it.

The ministry is also awaiting a report from a committee headed by Rajendra Pawar before taking a call about the prospects of the device on which many students had pinned their hope.

"... the other challenge is production-ising it. That is where the failure has come. If the production-isation had happened on time, students would have accessed to it. The product exists but we are not able to production-ise it as much as required," HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju told reporters in New Delhi.

The tablet was promised to be made available to students at a subsidised rate of Rs 1130. Datawind was asked to supply one lakh pieces initially, which never happened.

Raju, though, maintained that the project has created an environment for similar other devices in the market which a students as well can go for instead of being too "obsessed" with the device.

"Aakash is a tablet which will enable you to access the content. But there are others who have come up...students will pick up whatever serves the purpose better and affordable. We will continue to work on the product as long as development of the product is concerned," he said, when asked if the tablet should be opened to market force which can determine which product can survive in the rather than focussing on it solely.

He hoped in due course, other vendors could also chip developing the device.

Raju said the ultimate aim should be to enable a student to access content at an affordable price through enabling environment and exploiting the 'National Mission on Education using ICT' platform.

The project, a brain child of the then HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, was launched amid much fanfare in October, 2011, drawing adulations from domestic and international market. It was also hailed by UN with the secretary general Ban Ki-moon unveiling there last November.

The government also prepared a cabinet note for procuring 50 lakh such pieces with enhanced specifications, amid indications that it would be placed soon.

When asked about it, Higher Education Secretary Ashok Thakur said they would take a call on it only after receiving the report of the Rajendra Pawar Committee which evaluated the feasibility of the technology used for Aakash tablet.

"The day he is going to submit his report, based on that we will take further action on whether to proceed with the Cabinet note or to concentrate and look at the immediate thing that is connectivity," he said.

A separate committee headed Goverdhan Mehta is also understood to have examined the feasibility of the device under the 'The National Mission on Education using ICT'.

"The idea was that once we have supply of one lakh tablets, we would be able to proceed further...there has been a setback, it seems that have not been able to supply, so therefore," Thakur said expressing his regret at the lack of progress.

He said Datawind has been set a target of March 31 to comply with its supply orders, failing which "action will be taken against the company".

"The company could not supply us on time, so we had to extend the date to March 31. We have written to IIT Bombay to ensure that the term and conditions and the supply order should be implemented in letter and spirit.

So on March 31, we will come to know how much they have supplied but the information we got sometime back was that there was lot of gap. So in concern, we wrote to IIT Bombay to ensure that full supply are received," he said.

Budget alternatives to Aakash

112 - Aakash-2 to come loaded with apps, courtesy IIT-Bombay - Business Standard

31st Dec 2012

Shivani Shinde  |  Mumbai  December 31, 2012 Last Updated at 01:26 IST

Aakash-2 to come loaded with apps, courtesy IIT-Bombay

A few months ago, the Marathwada Institute of Technology, Aurangabad, got in touch with the Spoken Tutorial team at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B). The former had been approached by a company, which wanted to hire students specialising in PHP (a language designed to produce web pages).

The institute did not have the course in its syllabus. “They approached the Spoken Tutorial team. More than 30 students from the college took the course and of these, six were hired,” said Kannan M Moudgalya, a professor at IIT-B.

Spoken Tutorial is an audio-video tutorial that explains an activity performed on a computer, with an expert explaining the working of the software by demonstrating it on the screen. This is now available on Aakash-2 tablets.

The ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has said 100,000 tablets are expected to be delivered to engineering institutes by the end of March 2013. IIT-B is making sure that education applications are made available to students through these tablets. Over 200 teachers and students have been working for the last six months to port all projects that have been developed under the National Mission on Education through ICT over the last three years on Aakash-2.

COMING OF AGE

Aakash-1 was launched last year This April, IIT-B was given the Aakash-2 project’s responsibility Spoken Tutorial; Talk to a Teacher; e-Yantra systems; virtual labs; educational animations, free and open source software for science and engineering; and development of design content are among applications to be available on the tablet

Spoken Tutorial; Talk to a Teacher; e-Yantra systems; virtual labs; educational animations, free and open source software for science and engineering; and development of design content are among the many applications being made available on the tablet.

One of the most ambitious project of MHRD, Aakash tablets are supposed to change the way education is being delivered in India. So far, 20,000 Aakash (including Aakash 1 and 2) have been distributed to engineering students.

“By the end of March, the government would have procured 100,000 tablets. Of these, 40 tablets each will be given to 250 colleges. We have trained around 12,000 teachers across these colleges on the use of Aakash,” said professor Deepak Phatak, head of the project at IIT-B.

Aakash-1 was launched by MHRD in October 2011. In April 2012, IIT-B was given the responsibility of the project. “When we came on board, the first thing we asked for was upgrade in the hardware,” added Phatak. He is hopeful that the subsequent versions — Aakash 3 and 4 — would have higher processor speed.

Aakash-3 is also likely be equipped with a SIM slot. About 5 million Aakash-3 tablets are expected to be rolled out in the next phase, the global tender for which may be floated in February. Other than creating applications for Aakash, IIT-B has gone a step ahead and built a Linux operating system for the tablet. The Aakash-3 would have a faster processor and support both Linux and Android.

These applications will enable a student or a teacher to access courses developed by IIT-B for free. For instance, Spoken Tutorial allows a student to take tutorials remotely, without help. So far, 1,000 tutorials have been created on various topics, of which 350 are originals. Till date, 100,000 students have accessed these tutorials. “While we create tutorials in English, we are also dubbing them into regional languages. Our aim is to have all tutorials in 32 languages mentioned in the Constitution of India recognises,” said Moudgalya.

Similarly, the Industrial Design Centre at IIT-B has created 100 courses--50 are available online. “So far, we have 10,000 page views per day and 700 people visit the website per day. The courses have been made in such a way that a student can understand concepts and process of 2D animations and other design aspects. All these are available on Aakash-2 as well,” said professor Ravi Poovaiah.

IIT-B is also making sure that the connect between the teacher and student is not lost in a computerised teaching environment. For this, IIT-B has developed an app called Clicker, which allows the teacher to see if the concept that has been taught is understood by taking automated quiz in every 30 minute of a lecture. This application also allows teachers to track a student’s progress.

Till date, Aakash tablets have been provided to engineering students only. IIT-B, however, will soon carry out pilot projects in schools. At present, IIT-B has digitised SSC maths and science syllabi from ninth to 12 standards. "We have identified a school in Pandharpur in Maharashtra and Bhikangao, a town in Khargone district in Madhya Pradesh. We are also running a pilot of creating solar chargers for these tablets to be used in schools were electricity is not regular," said Phatak.

111 - Found: Blueprint for a computer-literate India - Mid Day

10th Janu 2013

Found: Blueprint for a computer-literate India

IIT Bombay professor, Kannan M Moudgalya and his team have been documenting and creating tutorials for free open source software available on Linux to popularise it in India's schools and colleges. Hassan M Kamal visits the lab to find out more

2013-01-10 02:07:20

January 10, 2013

MUMBAI

Hassan M Kamal

Room no 311, Automation Division is different from most other labs in the wing that houses the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Bombay. Students here are seated in front of desktop PCs, speaking on their mics and listening to the same track repeatedly on their headphones. Each member reads every command, some in Gujarati, a few in Hindi and others in Indian English.

Professor Kannan M Moudgalya at IIT Powai. PIC/Sameer Markande

The lab is, what houses the Spoken Tutorial, an ambitious project that aims to create audio-visual tutorials for all Free Open Source Software (FOSS) and make them available for free on the Web and through DVDs.

Who are they and what do they?
Led by Professor Kannan M Moudgalya, head of the Spoken Tutorial project, a dedicated team of 40 members divided into two teams — Creations, who produce audio-visual tutorials, and Events, who conduct workshops — Spoken Tutorial has been promoting the use of FOSS like LibreOffice (a Linux-based alternative to MS Office), Latex (a high-end, precise ‘type-set’ software useful for students who deal with complex numbers and formulae on a daily basis) in India. “We select the best FOSS programmes, prepare tutorials on them, and make them available to schools, colleges and NGOs. Our aim is to reach government offices and corporates as well, but it will take time,” he adds. These tutorials are available in over 12 languages including Sanskrit, Bodo, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu among others. They also use freelance voice dubbers, who get paid between R500 to R1,000 for a 10-minute programme.

A high-end scientific app Scilab adapted to run on an Android device like Aakash

How it works?
The Spoken Tutorial Event team conducts a small session over Skype, where they select a representative from the target school or college. The representative, from the educational institute, is then introduced to all the process, and stays as a contact point to conduct future workshops, exams, provide the tutorial materials and also distribute the FOSS software.

The Spoken Tutorial team at IIT Bombay

Why FOSS?
“…Because they are available for free,” reasons the professor, adding, “And are as efficient as any other commercial software.” While FOSS programmes like LibreOffice are for free, licensed software like MS Office cost up to R19,000. Then again, to run MS Office, one requires Windows OS, which comes for another Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000. On the other hand, LibreOffice works fine on Linux Ubuntu OS, which is also available for free. “So, with FOSS, one doesn’t need to spend thousands purchasing the software. It’s possible to use this money to buy another machine,” maintains the professor who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The Spoken Tutorial Project started with an aim to document open source programmes, in June 2011, but now it has expanded into creating audio-video tutorials for all FOSS, porting programming languages like C, C++, SciLab, Python etc and porting school books into e-pub formats and at the same time distributing Linux-based software to schools and colleges.

CD cover of the Libre Office spoken tutorial

The IT Vision
“The main purpose of this project is to make India computer literate,” reasons Moudgalya, adding that it is not possible if one relies only on commercial software. “We have to make the most use of open source software like LibreOffice and Latex and OS like Linux. It’s our only solution,” he concludes.

Log on to http://spoken-tutorial.org
  

110 - Genesis of Aakash 2

Genesis of Aakash 2

Article

Kannan M Moudgalya & D B Phatak* and N K Sinha & Pradeep Varma**

*Indian Institute of Technology Bombay


Click here to Read Article

107 - Aakash 2 price disclosed, now available to students at Rs. 1,130

15th Nov 2012

Aakash 2 price disclosed, now available to students at Rs. 1,130

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)

104 - India unveils world's cheapest tablet' - Bangkok Post

12th Nov 2012

India unveils world's cheapest tablet'

• Published: 12 Nov 2012 at 14.47
• Online news: Computer

India has launched a new version of its ultra-low-cost tablet computer with a quicker processor and an improved battery, on sale to students at the subsidised price of $20.

Software engineers pose with the Aakash 2 computing tablets in their lab at the Indian Institute of Technology campus in Mumbai. The Aakash tablet has been developed as a public-private partnership aimed at making computing technology available to students.

The Aakash tablet, dubbed the world's cheapest computer, has been developed as a public-private partnership aimed at making computing technology available to students in a country where Internet usage is only at around 10 percent.

Makers of the tablet, Britain-based Datawind, say the Aakash 2 is powered by a processor that runs three times faster than the original, has a bigger touchscreen and a battery with a life of three hours.

"Technology enabled learning is a very important aspect of education," Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said Sunday at an official launch function.

"This must be adapted to our specific needs and introduced expeditiously in all educational institutions across the country," he added.

The first version of the Aakash was launched by the government in October last year but it was marred by problems including a short battery life, initial long waiting lists and difficulties with distribution.

The paperback-book-sized Aakash 2, developed by Indian engineers at elite IIT public universities, runs the Google operating system Android 4.0 and has a screen measuring seven inches (18 centimetres) wide.

"Unlike the previous version which was a non-starter, this time around there are some functions and features around the Android tablet which make it a decent computing device for that price," stated pluggd.in, an Indian website that analyses gadgets.

The first 100,000 devices will be sold to students at engineering colleges and universities at a subsidised price of 1,130 rupees (20 dollars) and subsequently Aakash 2 will be distributed to book stores in Indian universities.

Datawind says the commercial sale price without subsidies for Aakash 2 is 3,500 rupees (64 dollars).

Over 15,000 teachers at 250 colleges have been trained on the use of Aakash for education, according to India's human resource development ministry.

The country has nearly 115 million Internet users, giving it the the third-largest number in the world after China and the United States, but low penetration rates, data from the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) shows.

96 - The Aakash is back, and shines in sneak peeks - Hindustan Times

19th September 2012

The Aakash is back, and shines in sneak peeks

Yashwant Raj, Hindustan Times

Washington, September 19, 2012

The world’s cheapest tablet has finally come together as planned, perhaps even better. And priced at $35 (about Rs. 1,960) , Aakash 2 appears ready to start a revolution. Wait for it. Aakash 2 is likely to be launched early October, close to the first anniversary of its predecessor, but some US tech experts got a sneak peek. Needless to say, they loved it.

“I want this device,” wrote Christopher Peri, the highly influential writer for Venture Beat, a leading technology blog, in a review of Aakash 2 on Tuesday.

“World changing indeed,” is how Forbes magazine’s technology contributor Alice Truong ended her review of the device.

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of DataWind, which makes Aakash 2, is thrilled with the reviews, especially after the pasting he got for the Aakash 1, which was panned as too slow, with too many rough edges: far from the dream device India was waiting for. Only 8,000 of the originally contracted 100,000 units shipped.

Tuli said he didn't want or arrange these pre-launch reviews.  That was done by Vivek Wadhwa, an Indian American technology entrepreneur and academic.

“Vivek jumped the gun,” Tuli said in a telephone interview.

Wadhwa had become an instant fan of the device the time he first tried it. “It has the potential of revolutionising India,” he gushed, “putting millions of Indians on the Net instantly.”

But he also feared for the future of Aakash 2. “Indians have an inferiority complex about their ability to produce anything of this standard and they would have finished off the device by rubbishing it,” he said.

So his strategy of getting it tested by leading experts in the US. If the reviews were good, Indian reviewers and critics would look silly going the other way.

The reviews have been outstanding so far. And Wadhwa might have indeed saved the device from a premature demise. For now, the real challenge lies ahead.

The WiFi-only version will cost the government $41, and will be sold to students at a subsidised $35.

A version with a SIM slot, called UbiSlate, will be available commercially for around $63. DataWind has already been able to line up 3.5 million bookings.

Aakash 2 was built in close technological cooperation with IIT Bombay - “really sharp people,” said Tuli - while Aakash 1 was made with IIT Rajasthan.

The current order-book is 100,000 units. Eventually, the government plans to buy 5 million units, which could drive prices down to sub-$20 levels, Tuli said.

“The world of cheap tablets is not coming, it’s here,” wrote Peri.

“Now we just need to sit back and watch the world change again — just as it did when cheap smartphones hit the market,” Peri added.

90 - AAKASH - Computer for the whole world. Fully featured Android table for only $40!

17th July 2012

AAKASH - Computer for the whole world. Fully featured Android table for only $40! - Adrian Cheok

At the ICALT 2012 conference where I gave a keynote talk, I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Kannan Moudgalya who is a Professor at the famous IIT in Bombay. He showed me an incredible device, it is a fully featured Android designed for India which only costs $40. This is a brilliant example of the power of reverse innovation. Whereas in the developed world we may become too blinded and comfortable to make very low cost quality products, in the developing world, through pressing needs, engineers and designers can create innovative solutions which optimize and make new powerful yet cheap devices. Another good example in India of such reverse innovation is the the Tato Nano car. 

The device is called Aakash, and not only is it an incredibly cheap tablet, it is packed with open source software making this very useful for the youth in India to learn. What impressed me is that the team in IIT is working on apps which are going to be really useful for kids to use to learn and create. Some of the software includes an open source version of Matlab called SciLab, Python, C, and C++ compilers. I saw a real demo done by Professor Moudgalya where he compiled a C program on the fly. That is neat! You can imagine teenagers in India programming on these tables and learning to become super creative. The device also came with software for real time teaching, viewing of lectures remotely, and spoken tutorials. Of course it is Android so all the standard Android apps can be installed also.

The real value of this tablet is not only that the kid’s can have a fully featured Android tablet for $40, but that it also comes with software which allows them to really tinker and learn through doing. I am sure this device is not only revolutionary for Indian kids, but for the whole world. 

Prof Moudgalya with the AAKASH at ICALT in Rome

A close up of the AAKASH

85 - Aakash 2 to be launched soon - India Today

27th June 2002

INDIA TODAY ONLINE  NEW DELHI, JUNE 27, 2012 | UPDATED 17:12 IST

Aakash 2 to be launched soon

In a rather low-key affair, the upgraded version of Aakash, Aakash 2 was unveiled at a teacher's training workshop in the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay recently. The low-cost computing device was developed as a part of the country's aim to link 20,000 colleges and 400 universities through an e-learning program.

Aakash tablet : Upgraded version to be unveiled in May

Aakash, UbiSlate7 and UbiSlate 7+ : How are they different?

Ubislate orders pile up but can DataWind deliver?

IIT-Rajasthan, the nodal agency for the Aakash project, had rejected the tablet for not meeting performance criteria and the project had been shifted to IIT Bombay. Thus, improvements over the original Aakash were made which now has a faster processor speed, improved battery life and a touch screen with better quality resolution.

Unlike other tablet devices, Aakash can also be used to create computer programs, in Python, C, C++ and Scilab. It has been priced at Rs. 2,999 which is slightly higher than previous version, owing to its improved features.

UK-based DataWind, the company that designed the original tablet, is contracted to deliver 100,000 Aakash-2 tablets to IIT. Bombay,  which is spearheading the project.

Datawind, which had submitted about 100 tablets to IIT-Bombay for testing, said that the government has approved the specifications for the upgraded version and it will be launched soon in the market.

HRD Ministry sources said that the launch of the upgraded version could be around the first week of July.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/aakash-2-tablet-upgraded-version/1/202656.html

84 - A First Look at the Revamped Aakash Tablet

26th June 2012

June 26, 2012, 9:52 am 2 Comments

A First Look at the Revamped Aakash Tablet

By PAMPOSH RAINA

Courtesy of I.I.T. Bombay

Professors from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and the principal of K. J. Somaiya Engineering College, Shubha Pandit, pose with the Aakash-2 tablet at the launch event on Monday in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The Aakash-2, or the new and improved version of Aakash, India’s super-cheap tablet computer, was introduced in Mumbai on Monday.

Unlike last year, when the first incarnation of the gadget was made public under the media glare, Monday’s event was a rather unceremonious one. The low-cost computing device was unveiled on the sidelines of a teacher’s training workshop at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which was viewed by more than 9,000 college teachers through video conferencing. Around 80 attendees, including the staff from I.I.T. Bombay and the heads of four other engineering schools in Maharashtra viewed the Aakash-2 in real life.

Each of these four engineering schools was given one tablet from the 100 that I.I.T. Bombay, which is spearheading the project, currently owns. Improvements over the original Aakash include a faster processor speed, improved battery life and a touch screen with better quality resolution.

Courtesy of I.I.T. Bombay

A programming application runs on the Aakash-2 tablet.

It may still be a while before students (or curious media) get to test drive the tablet themselves. India Ink spoke to professors from two of the four schools to get their firsthand user experience.

“It is very handy, light and I am delighted to use it,” said Shubha Pandit, principal of K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering in Mumbai. Ms. Pandit had not used the earlier version of the low-cost computing device. She browsed through the applications on Aakash-2, which were created especially for students.

Ms. Pandit said the cost of the computer remains the greatest appeal of the product. Aakash-2 will be available to students at a subsidized price of 1,132 rupees ($21).

Anil D. Sahastrabudhe, director of the College of Engineering in Pune, compared Aakash-2 to the world’s most popular tablet. “It is almost an iPad,” he said. “This would be the ideal low-cost computing device.” But he added that the speed of the device was comparatively slower than the high-end Apple product.

Mr. Sahastrabudhe said he worked on the tablet computer for two hours in the car as he traveled from Mumbai to Pune and noted that the battery lasted almost two-and-a-half hours.

India’s low-cost computer project was derailed for several months because of many unresolved issues between various parties involved, and was handed over to I.I.T. Bombay about three months ago.

DataWind, the company that designed the original tablet, is contracted to deliver 100,000 Aakash-2 tablets to I.I.T. Bombay over six months.

Professor Deepak B. Phatak, who is in charge of the Aakash project at I.I.T. Bombay, said he hopes to have a few thousand tablets by the end of July. The tablets will be sent to students across 168 colleges for field testing and user feedback.

Separately, several batches will be tested for quality and usability at the Center for Development for Advanced Computing, a laboratory that operates under the Ministry of Information and Technology.

The Ministry of Human Resources Development said an official release is slated for the end of July.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 29, 2012

Aakash-2 will be available to students at a subsidized price of about $21 and not 2,263 rupees, or about $39, that is the cost at which the government will procure each tablet from the manufacturer.

83 - Shri Kapil Sibal Inaugurates 10,000 Teacher Training Project of NMEICT

Shri Kapil Sibal Inaugurates 10,000 Teacher Training Project of NMEICT
Union Minister of Human Resource Development Shri Kapil Sibal today inaugurated the 10,000 teacher training programme conducted by IIT Bombay under the Talk to a Teacher project of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NME-ICT) of MHRD. It is the first time in the world that a simultaneous training of 10,000 engineering college teachers is being conducted leveraging the broadband network and ICT tools.

This training programme is conducted through 168 remote centres located all across India. The lectures in this course are delivered from IIT Bombay by Professors from IIT Bombay and IIT Madras. Through the software A-VIEW, audio-video connectivity is provided between all the centres and IIT Bombay. 

The course consists of lectures, live interactions and lab sessions. This method of synchronous education has been developed at IIT Bombay, under the leadership of Prof. D. B. Phatak. This method of education allows the participants to go to a convenient centre. It also allows the participation of a large number of lady teachers, who normally are unable to join contact programmes at distant locations, owing to family commitments.

A-VIEW software development and this mega workshop are a part of the Talk to a Teacher, funded by the National Mission on Education through ICT, an initiative of the Department of Higher Education, MHRD.

The Minister said that he was happy that the Aakash project has picked up speed and is ready for release. Unlike other tablet devices, Aakash can also be used to create computer programs, in Python, C, C++ and Scilab, for example. In addition to being a computer, Aakash will also be an access device, in applications, such as e-governance. The Minister thanked IIT Bombay for doing a wonderful job porting many useful software on to Aakash. 
The Minister interacted with the remote centres from Kanyakumari, Rajkot, Srinagar and Nagpur. A representative of IIT Bombay symbolically presented an Aakash Tablet to the Minister. The Minister suggested that the IIT Bombay Director Prof. Devang Khakhar presents Aakash devices to the Heads of a few institutions which host the remote centres of the 10,000 teacher training programme. 

With this, the first major initiative for empowering the teachers of the Country and improving their quality through effective use of the connectivity provided to universities and colleges under NME-ICT commenced.

MV/GK
(Release ID :85004)

82 - Tablet Akash II launched, to hit colleges by Dec - Hindustan Times

26th June 2012

Tablet Akash II launched, to hit colleges by Dec

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times   June 26, 2012

First Published: 01:09 IST(26/6/2012) | Last Updated: 01:09 IST(26/6/2012)

A better, faster, longer-lasting low-cost computer tablet – the Aakash II – was launched at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) on Monday, three months after the institute took over the reins of the project from IIT-Jodhpur. IIT-B has already developed applications for the tablet, and plans for several more. The institute will be responsible for procuring and distributing it, and aims to reach more than 250 engineering colleges by the end of December. A stand-off between IIT-Jodhpur, and Datawind, which manufactures the tablets, had stalled distribution in February, after which responsibility for the project was transferred to IIT-B in April. The tablet’s usage is being planned alongside the institute’s remote teacher training programme for teachers scattered across engineering colleges in the country. Aakash II has a longer-lasting battery, processing speed up from 366 mega hertz to 800 mega hertz and a “capacitive screen” which is easier to use. The tablet was launched across several centres, with the human resources development minister Kapil Sibal officiating via video link from Delhi, and with several other colleges plugged in online. “In three months there has been a sea change in our confidence in the project,” said Sibal, while launching the device. “Aakash is no longer just a device that only consumes content... Through the efforts of IIT-Bombay, Aakash is a device that creates content and this will be of enormous value to our student community.” In its first phase the tablets, costing Rs. 2,276 per unit, will be distributed among engineering colleges, and enabled with applications including video lectures, online quizzes and course materials. The institute will procure, test and distribute one lakh tablets. “The institute’s mandate was to carry on the project and test the effectiveness of the tablet in engineering education,” said Deepak Phatak, head of the project at IIT-B. In the first phase of distribution set to begin in July, each of the colleges will get 100 tablets and funding for a local server. All the ‘Aakash’ servers will be inter-connected, and applications developed at any of the institute’s will be available for use across the board. How is it better? 1.The screen has been changed from a resistive screen to a capacitive screen, which is costlier but easier to use. 2. The processing speed has been upgraded from 366 mega hertz to 800 mega hertz, which means all programmes on the tablet will work faster 3.Battery life has been amped up from an average life of less than 2 hours to 3 hours.

81 - IIT-B powers world's cheapest tablet -TOI

26th June 2012

IIT-B powers world's cheapest tablet

Yogita Rao, TNN Jun 26, 2012, 01.36AM IST

MUMBAI: Aakash 2.0 was launched on Monday at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay. Aakash 2.0 has a faster processor and a capacitive touchscreen as opposed to its previous version and a battery power which lasts for three hours. Initially, the tablets will be sent only to engineering colleges across the country.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said, (via video conference), "Aakash is no longer just a device that only consumes content. Through the efforts of IIT-B, Aakash is now a device that creates content."

Aakash 2.0 has a processor of 800 megahertz against the 366 MHz of the previous version. The touchscreen is capacitive making it easy on the fingers. The battery power has been upgraded from 2,000 mili ampere hour (approximately less than 2 hours) to 3,200 mili ampere hour (approximately 3 hours). All these features were negotiated at a price of Rs 2,263., down from 2,276 by the IIT-B team.

The specifications of Aakash 2.0 were upgraded at the Aakash lab set up in the computer science and engineering department at the Powai campus.

The first 100 samples of the device were sent for research and around 150 people were engaged. , including PhD scholars, MTech students, project engineers and interns.

Aakash was earlier launched in October 2011; however, the project failed to take off. Three months ago the project was handed over to IIT-B under Professor D B Phatak.

Phatak said, "Since the tablets in phase I is to be used by engineering students, we had to upgrade the specifications to meet their requirements." Speaking about the future plan, he said, "We are planning to deploy around one lakh tablets funded by the Centre to more than 500 engineering colleges. In the initial phase, the plan is to issue 100 tablets each to 168 engineering colleges by September this year. By December we plan to increase the numbers to 250 colleges." While 60 tablets in each college will be used for teaching, the remaining 30 will be given to final year students to develop applications for Aakash. "The applications developed by students from across the country will be collected and stored as repository to be used and downloaded in open source. Some of the applications can be developed for schools to colleges, to vocational education and professional studies for future use," said Phatak. He is also on the committee set up to ensure continuous R&D on Aakash. "Aakash will not be available just to the student community in technical institutions and universities, but will be a low-cost access device for the public at large." The institute has partnered with CDAC in this project to do rigorous lab tests for the samples. In later years, IIT Bombay proposes to continually work with CDAC to develop future enhancements to Aakash.