Thursday 15 March 2012

Aakash 2 to launch next month; same price.

Aakash tablet enthusiasts would be thrilled to know that the upgraded version of the world's most affordable tablet, now has a clear timeline - next month! This bit of news comes as a confirmation from the man behind the Aakash dream, HRD minister, Kapil Sibal, himself. While confirming the exact launch period, Sibal also affirmed that the upgraded tablet will not come with the much spoken about price hike, and will be priced at the same point as its predecessor, reports The Economic Times. Sibal, reportedly waas addressing questions put to him during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. At the session, Sibal was reportedly also heard as saying that manufacturers, Datawind will introduce about 1 lakh units of the Aakash 2 tablet in the market. Further quoting Sibal, the report stated, "These higher specifications which include 700 MHz Cortex A8 processor, 3200mAH battery with three-hour usage time and a capacitative touch screen have been necessitated to overcome the initial difficulties observed in the devices."

However, all that being said, the initial batch of the Aakash 2 tablets will be received by students pursuing their education in higher technical education institutions, so as to get a proper technical feedback on the device's operation and usability. The minister further revealed that making the tablet available to students from lower strata of the society would require funds, as part of the National Mission of Education through ICT for Schools, while adding that once the production gained momentum, distribution norms will develop.

The Aakash tablet has been one of Indian government's most ambitious dreams, in recent times. The government's objective to make quality education affordable to the masses caught the attention of the world. Yes, there have been several drawbacks, but, the larger picture still remains rather optimistic. Now, it is a wait, till the next month when the new tablet makes an appearance.

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