301 - Opinion: Government Should Subsidise E-Readers, Not Tabs Like Aakash - Tech Tree

Opinion: Government Should Subsidise E-Readers, Not Tabs Like Aakash

Let the students get something useful at low cost.

Chandrakant 'CK' Isi
28th Apr 2015Follow @AgentISI

Indian government's initiative to distribute low-cost computing Aakash tablets to students seemed like a great idea in 2011. The initial response to this project was overwhelming. Within few weeks, 1.4 million people signed-up for Datawind's Aakash tablets. Forget Indian, even the International media went crazy over it.

Then, as usual, the project met with delays. By the time, Ubislate managed to fulfil the orders, the device was outdated. In 2012, The Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development announced an upgraded second-generation model called Aakash 2. Datawind was supposed to deliver 22 million units to the HRD ministry, which never happened.

It is safe to assume that the project Aakash is now lifeless. And I think that it died for good. Aakash tablet was a flawed idea to begin with. The device tries to do a lot of things, but is good at nothing. Simply because you can load up an e-book app on it, does not make it an essential tool for education.

Give a device with screen to us Indians, and we will find a way to play Bollywood movies on it. That's what mostly happened with the Aakash tablet. Not a single person I know who owns an Aakash tablet uses it for reading. Can't blame them, as the Aakash tablet is not fit for long readings. Even if you try doing that, squinting at the colour LCD screen is discomforting to your vision.

If the government wanted to go digital, a good e-book reader would have done the trick. Take for instance, the Kindle that can hold thousands of books and retain juice for weeks on a single charge. The biggest plus is the glare free screen ideal for reading.

Aakash tablet's commercial version was pegged at Rs 4500 by Datawind. After subsidies, students could buy it for Rs 2263. For a similar price, Indian government can source E-book readers from Kobo or Amazon. The All-New Kindle is priced at around Rs 6000. If that's expensive, the Kobo Touch e-reader retails for Rs 4500 can be a good option. And I'm sure, our Babus can get the price down considering the bulk orders.

Let's hope that instead of announcing another silly tablet, Indian government subsidise e-book readers. And finally, students will get something useful at low cost.

- See more at: http://www.techtree.com/content/features/8888/opinion-government-should-subsidise-e-readers-not-tablets-aakash.html#sthash.Ot6uyv3J.dpuf

300 - After losing the top spot in India's smartphone market, Samsung gets robbed in the tablet category too - BETA News

After losing the top spot in India's smartphone market, Samsung gets robbed in the tablet category too

• By Manish Singh

It’s not only the smartphone market in which Samsung has lost the pole position, but tablets as well. The South Korean media conglomerate is no longer the largest tablet vendor in India, the emerging market for digital devices where the tablet share grew by 3.6 percent quarter-on-quarter, reports IDC.

As per the stats provided by the marketing research firm IDC, Indian OEM iBall captured the maximum market share (15.6 percent) in the country last quarter. Samsung managed 12.9 percent share, and was followed by Datawind with 9.6 percent share, Lenovo with 9.4 percent share, and HP with 8.7 percent market share.

As for the traction of tablets in India -- the country which had witnessed a strong growth in the festive third quarter -- posted shipments of 0.96 million units in Q4 2014. It’s a 3.6 percent growth over the last quarter.

“The market saw a correction post the introduction of BIS regulation in July 2013. Unbranded tablets were wiped off from the market thereby contracting the bubble of growth witnessed in 1H 2013 and hence resulting in year-on-year decline in growth”, says Tanvi Mann, market analyst, client devices, IDC India.

The figure also pinpoints the type of tablets that are faring well among Indians. A vast majority of users are preferring the sub-$150 units. The 3G connectivity was also a big driving factor, prominently featured in more than 60 percent of the total shipments.

Indian OEM iBall has been growing left and right. In within a year -- thanks to a number of tablets the company launched in the period -- it grew from 4.5 percent grab of the market to 15.6 percent.  Galaxy Tab maker Samsung, on the other hand, went from a 17.9 market share to 12.9 percent.

"iBall rapidly climbed its way to the number one spot in this quarter. From a 4.5 percent share in Q4 2013, the brand has more than tripled its share in Q4 2014. Its growth is backed by low cost products targeted at consumers looking to own entry level form factors. The brand is actively engaged in expanding its retail presence as well as geographical reach," says IDC.

Tablets have yet to mature in India. Despite the improving figure, only 0.96 million units were sold in the country last quarter. As per the data provided by IDC, about 76.1 million tablets were shipped worldwide in the same time frame. 

Datawind, which now holds the third largest share in the country, is playing a significant role in making tablets a household commodity. The company has a partnership with the Indian government to produce the Aakash tablet, a dirt cheap Android-powered device for Indian students.

299 - Soon you can buy Smartphone with free Internet for Rs 2000 -

Soon you can buy Smartphone with free Internet for Rs 2000

S.AADEETYA1FEB 9, 2015, 07.28 PM

Low-cost smartphone has been the dream of many, but offering quality phones at low cost value is hard to deliver. Add to that, if you really want to tap into the vast consumer base of India, you need to add more value by complimenting your offering with freebies. The sum total of all this will be a device that is almost impossible to put down. Guess, these issues will soon be things of past as Datawind, more popularly known for the manufacturer of Aakash tablet, is all set to turn this dream into reality.

The devices manufacturer is finally set to unleash its ultra-affordable smartphone in the country with the add-on attraction of free Internet (for 12 months). The phone will be launched under the branding of Pocket Surfer, says Suneet Singh Tuli, founder and CEO at Datawind. "It has been our endeavor to break the price barrier with respect to technology and after building Ubislate (or Aakash) tablets, we'll be doing the same with Pocket Surfer for smartphone.

Asked about the ploy behind offering free Internet access for first 12 months, Tuli reiterated his committement to ' bring down the cost of hardware (devices) and internet', so that everyone can access services of all forms without worrying about high cost.

So, how soon can we expect the Datawind Pocket Surfer in India, we asked Tuli and obliging back, he said, "We are in the process of announcing major deal with a national operator (telecom) and expect to close out the agreement in few weeks time. And from there on, we'll be rolling out the product for end consumer before end of this month i.e. February."

The prospect of free Internet sounds attractive, but the company would end up losing on the monetary front. And for that, they will make sure value-added-services come in handy. "During the free Internet period, users can check mail, surf the web i.e. Facebook, WhatsApp etc. without any added cost. However, for using audio or video services, you will have to pay extra and this is where Datawind is looking to make things even, " Tuli states.

Tuli might be starting off with 12-month free internet offer, but ultimately he wants to give lifetime free Internet plans that let everyone access world-wide-web (www) at zero cost. The company is slated to hold special briefing for its product later this month in the country and we'll be there to give you the latest happening.

298 - We can get 5 lakh jobs if duty structure on mobile phones changes: Aakash tablet maker Datawind CEO - Financial Express

We can get 5 lakh jobs if duty structure on mobile phones changes: Aakash tablet maker Datawind CEO

By: Nandagopal Rajan | February 9, 2015 9:28 am

Datawind CEO Suneet Tuli says the government needs to take some tough decisions for Make in India to be fruitful.

Suneet Singh Tuli, the CEO of Datawind, which gave India the affordable Aakash tablet, was the first to set up a touchscreen manufacturing unit in India a few years back. Now, when the country is talking about Make in India, he has made a presentation to the government suggesting some tough decisions need to be taken for the idea to work.

“We told them that India is going to import 26 crore mobile phones in the coming year. The number of people directly and indirectly employed in creating those phones is five lakh. If we change our duty structure we can get those five lakh jobs,” he said in an interaction.

Tuli is of the opinion that Mexico and Brazil have the best duty regimes. “Mexico created huge barriers for those importing and forced everybody to assemble there. So the duties for parts in Mexico are very low while the duties for finished goods are through the roof,” he said.

India took a different approach, of not penalising the consumer and focusing on industries we want to protect, the DataWind CEO revealed. “They looked at industries like smartphones and tablets in India and since no one made them in India they kept the duties reasonably low. But when they looked at the components, the harmonisation codes they fall under like plastics, glass etc and other industries in India, though not the same. So the duties on those components are high,” he said, giving the example of batteries. “Batteries are charged at 28%, but a mobile phone consisting one is at 6%. “The discretionary decision on this is now with the Customs and that is a messy scenario.”

“The government feels that if they change this regime they will lose revenue. But there is no one doing it locally and the loss in revenue can be offset by the new jobs that are going to be created. The incentive for the government now is not to Make in India, but to balance the budget,” he reasoned. “My proposal was to keep the duty on parts high, but make the rate of manufactured good also high so that there is still an incentive. We have made this proposal publicly, let’s see if the government addresses it or not.”

But isn’t a ecosystem necessary for manufacturing to thrive? Tuli is sure that ultimately parts will also be made in India. “The moment so many phones start being made in India the component suppliers too will come in to offer just in time delivery. This happened in the case of the Nokia plant in Chennai with Chinese suppliers setting up shop nearby. We want the components suppliers to come in first, after which we will think of what to do with manufacturing. That is not going to happen,” he said.

According to Tuli, the present government is in a good spot and not under pressure to get manufacturing work. “My big belief is that at least for the next few months, thanks to the drop in oil prices, the Indian government does not need to worry about what the world market thinks about us. We need to get our manufacturing infrastructure in place. I am a big believer that manufacturing must happen in India, but there are barriers and the government must take tough decisions to remove these barriers,” he explained.

The whole focus on Make in India, he said, is because there is a fear that we have not trained our people to be a service economy. “But that is a short term approach. Education and skills training is very important in the long run and technology has a big role to play in this. We must allow the cost of the devices to come down. Today, I can sell a product cheaper in the US. My product price here is 25% lower there. This is where we are losing out.”

As far as digital India goes, Tuli said that there are four pieces in the puzzle—low-cost devices, free Internet, relevant content and training. “But despite our best efforts, our scale is just a drop in the ocean. The policies have to drive more manufacturers to come into India and create low cost devices.”

297 - A year on, 'Aakash' project still on ground - DNA

A year on, 'Aakash' project still on ground

Monday, 2 February 2015 - 8:05am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: dna | From the print edition

Praveena Sharma

Aakash, conceptualised by the HRD ministry during the UPA regime, is a low-cost tablet with a 7-inch touch screen, ARM 11 processor and 256 MB RAM on Android 2.2 operating system. It has two universal serial bus (USB) ports. For applications, the Aakash has access to Getjar, an independent market, rather than the Android market.

It was supposed to change the education system in the country by digitising the course content and promoting e-learning but the low-cost tablet Aakash, which was visualised by HRD ministry in the previous UPA government, is yet to see the light of the day, even after a year since its tender was floated.

A senior government official, who did not want to be named, said the project has been inordinately delayed because of government's inaction in awarding contracts to vendors for production. "The device (Aakash IV) has been designed as per the government's requirement. It is, however, stuck at the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D), through which every government rate contracts go," said the official.

He said order could not be awarded as none of the 13 vendors, including Intel, Dell, Acer, HP, HCL, Microsoft, Mircomax and Datawind, could meet 100% specification laid out by the government. 

According to him, there are many successful tablets in the market which operate on similar specs quoted by some of the vendors who responded to the Aakash IV tender.

"One of the requirement was that the device should have both Android and Linux operating system so that it allows programming tasks by students. This was not met by some. The government was looking at a tablet only as netbook would have been a costlier affair," he said.

Aakash, conceptualised by the HRD ministry during the UPA regime, is a low-cost tablet with a 7-inch touch screen, ARM 11 processor and 256 MB RAM on Android 2.2 operating system. It has two universal serial bus (USB) ports. For applications, the Aakash has access to Getjar, an independent market, rather than the Android market.

This ambitious programme, which is an initiative to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities through e-learning, has been hit by many launch and quality snags.

The first version of the tablet, which was officially launched in October, 2011, faced quality issues compelling the government to work on an upgraded version that was renamed Aakash IV. 

For this, the government formed a committee for R&D and its timely delivery in December 2011, but despite the completion of its design and the tender process the device is yet to reach its end-customers – students of 25,000 colleges and 400 universities it will link.

296 - Low Cost Netbook of NMEICT

Low Cost Netbook of NMEICT
Kannan M. Moudgalya IIT Bombay
15 January 2014

It is well known that IIT Bombay has been executing a low cost tablet project, funded by NMEICT. Improving its capability is one of the mandates, so as to make the device more useful. In this report, we explain a netbook that has come out as a result of this exercise.

The netbook mentioned above has a 10” screen and a complete keyboard. It is almost a laptop. We have procured 1,000 units of this device at a cost of Rs. 4,990 plus customs and tax, with the total cost coming to less than Rs. 6,000. This device is supplied to us by a Delhi based company called Basic Computers. It is assembled in a state of the art plant in Manesar, Haryana. Our team at IIT Bombay has developed a modified version of the open source operating system (OS) Ubuntu, and named it as FOSSEE, eponymous with the open source promotion project, also funded by NMEICT. This device has the following features:

1. 10” screen, non touch
2. Complete keyboard
3. 1GHz dual core WM8880 ARM v7 Processor 4. 1GB RAM
5. 8GB NAND flash
6. 32GB SD card slot
7. Two USB drives
8. One mini HDMI port
9. Ethernet port (RJ45)
10. 5,000 mAH battery
11. Wifi and blue tooth
12. Light weight (less than 1kg)

As the operating system is a version of Linux, we can pre-load the system with useful software packages and distribute them. A set of close to 100 packages that will be pre- loaded and distributed is given in at this link. Thus, while the hardware is procured from outside, the OS image and the accompanying software bundle is created by us.

This device is yet to be named, and yet to be launched. We present some pictures and screenshots of this Netbook next.

Please click on this link to read full pdf file

295 - Datawind to bring cheap Android smartphones with free Internet - Indian Express

Datawind to bring cheap Android smartphones with free Internet

Written by Nandagopal Rajan | Posted: January 27, 2015 6:47 pm

Datawind, which was behind the affordable Aakash tablets, is now working on launching multiple smartphones priced under Rs 3,000.

IndianExpress.com was the first to report that the company will launch another smartphone with 3G support, 4-inch touchscreen and powered by a 1.2GHz processor running Android KitKat. The cheaper phone will be a 2G device.

Datawind is likely to up the ante by offering free Internet for consumers for at least a year. Free Internet has been a USP of Datawind devices, driven by the company’s prowess in data compression.

Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli says the smartphone price revolution has to happen in the Rs 2,000 range where people still have only feature phone options. He says there is a window of opportunity till the overall price of entry-level smartphones drops to under Rs 3,000. This figure is over Rs 5,000 at the moment.

Around 65 per cent of the phones sold in India are still priced under Rs 4,000 are tend to be mostly feature phones or smart feature phones. “The difficulty of that customer is that he is not going to stretch to buy a Rs 6,000 device as his income is not growing at that pace,” says Tuli. He says the free internet could really drive device adoption at the entry level.

294 - A Smartphone with Free Internet? How Datawind Could Achieve the Extraordinary - International Business Times

A Smartphone with Free Internet? How Datawind Could Achieve the Extraordinary

• By Prarthito Maity January 27, 2015 16:11 IST

Handset maker Datawind, of the low-cost Aakash tablet fame, is planning on bringing out a new handset that will offer free "lifetime" internet. 

Datawind

Although the company had announced last September that it was planning on launching a smartphone with free internet by Diwali last year, the plans never really came into motion. However, this time around, things could fall perfectly is place for the company.

However, it is being said that cost of the smartphone has been raised from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000. Apart from that, unlike last year when the company had promised free "lifetime" internet, this time it has re-done the entire deal by promising only "free basis internet services," that too only for one year.

"We are in talks with a private operator to launch mobile phones with free basic Internet services for one year to start with. It should cost around Rs 3,000 a unit. We have raised CAD 30 million (about Rs 150 crores) through our public offer and all that is earmarked for this project," Datawind founder and chief executive officer Suneet Singh Tuli told PTI.

"We are just waiting for signing of the final deal and am hopeful that it should be done by February as they will also gain from the increase in data usage," Tuli added.

While things with a 'free' tag attached to it are usually treated with more excitement than usual, we are still waiting to see the kind of features that will be embedded into the phone to make use of the promised 'free internet' feature. Until then, the phone remains alongside others in the same price range.?

293 - IIT Bombay unveils ‘world’s cheapest’ netbook - Economic Times

IIT Bombay unveils ‘world’s cheapest’ netbook

Anumeha Chaturvedi, ET Bureau Jan 23, 2015, 04.05AM IST

NEW DELHI: IIT Bombay has developed a 10-inch netbook, which it claims could be the world's cheapest, at around Rs 6,000. The netbook, conceived during the institute's work with the low-cost Akash tablet, will be unveiled in the second week of February. "We wanted a device that would make it easy for people to 'create' information.

The netbook was born out of this desire," says professor Kannan Moudgalya at IIT Bombay. He explains that while a tablet is useful to retrieve information, a netbook can create it, through processes such as programming and data entry.

The IIT Bombay team has worked on designing the netbook's specifications besides creating the OS image and the accompanying software bundle.

"One of the mandates of the lowcost tablet project was to continue to do research and development on affordable access-cum-computing devices," says Moudgalya.

The project's objective was to understand its shortcomings and address them in the next product. In a bid to address the needs of students and to drive information creation, the team at IIT Bombay thought it was important to have a fully functional keyboard as opposed to a virtual keyboard, more battery time, a larger screen size (10 inches as compared to a 7-inch screen on a tablet), greater memory, more storage, a normal USB slot (not a micro USB), while not letting go of the price focus. The netbook also needed to be light-weight for students to carry comfortably.

"We put in a lot of effort to arrive at specifications for the hardware — trying out various machines available in the market, working with different design specifications, and then looking for manufacturers through a tender process," says Moudgalya.

IIT Bombay has tied up with Delhi-based company Basic Computers, which has delivered 1,000 netbooks for the pilot phase.

Under the pilot, IIT Bombay plans to lend these netbooks to all first year B Tech students at the institute who have to undergo an introductory programming course, CS 101.

Out of nearly 450 students who are taking this course in the current semester, close to 100 do not have their own laptops.

The HRD ministry's Akash project, undertaken during the UPA regime, was marred by launch delays and quality issues. "With the new government focusing on virtual classrooms, low-cost computing devices are the need of the hour, but there has to be a focus on quality. Also, the pricing shouldn't hamper functionality," says Rohin Kapoor, senior manager education practice at Deloitte.

Moudgalya says the Akash project has been completed successfully at IIT Bombay's end. One of the objectives of this project, he says, was to explore the viability of such a low-cost tablet. The second objective was to bring down the prices of such devices in the market. "We have achieved both these objectives and it is now with the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals for final procurement," he adds.

292 - Datawind to launch Android phones under Rs.3,000 bracket. - India Today

Datawind to launch Android phones under Rs.3,000 bracket.

Datawind, the brand behind the popular Aakash Tablet initiative, will soon launch its own range of  smart phones costing  below the price bracket of Rs.3,000.

The range will consist of a 3G smartphone which will be slightly expensive than the 2G variant in the same line up.

The 3G smartphone will come with a 4- inch touchscreen and will be powered by a 1.2GHz processor. the make of the chipset has not been confirmed yet. The smartphone is most likely to come with Android KitKat out of the box.

The cheaper variant is most likely to just come with 2G speeds. With 3G network still limited in India the cheaper variant will prove to be a better deal for people looking for ultra cheap smartphones. Datawind will be offering features like free internet for a year to its users to penetrate deep in the market. Thsi feature is possible due to Datawind's exceptional ability to compress data.

The CEO of Datawind Suneet Singh Tuli is targeting the lowest possible price bracket for its devices as according to him providing a cheap alternative to feature phones will revolutionize the reach of smartphones in India.

Tuli further explained that 65 percent of the phones sold in India are under the price bracket of Rs.4,000 and to make an impact on the entry level market the free internet, Android powered phone has to be priced below that amount.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/datawind-to-launch-android-phones-under-rs-3000-bracket./1/414117.html