Akash 2 Ubislate Tablet, Faster, Better And Improved Version Coming In Feb 2012

Akash Tablet  is the most ambitious project of Ministry of Human Resource Development, to distribute to all students in India, to expand education through internet.  A better and more efficient Aakash 2, the world’s cheapest tablet computer will be available at the price of version 1 – Rs 2,276.

According to  HRD minister Kapil Sibal, the new version of Akash ubislate tablet will be launched in February 2012, who has been overwhelmed by international response to Aakash. He had showcased it as a device for “children of the world” at a recent United Nations conference in Paris. He said that during his recent visit to UNESCO, the president of the general council displayed the tablet to the audience while the World Bank showed it among the board of directors. He said the International Finance Corporation, which coordinates its activities with other institutions of the World Bank group, can also collaborate with India for improving the device.

The Aakash 2 Ubislate tablet Notebook, based on feedback from over 500 users of Aakash 1 in IIT’s and other institutions, will have a new microprocessor of 800 megahertz as compared to the 366 megahertz processor. It will speed up the tablet computer and enable downloading of videos from YouTube. The Random Access Memory (RAM) of the new version will be enhanced to 1 GB from 256 megabytes in Aakash 1, which restricted multitasking.

A senior IIT Rajasthan professor, who is heading the Aakash team, said the changes will increase the “functionality of the tablet” and will be more competitive to existing tablets in the market. To make Aakash 2 attractive, the institute has also decided that the new version will have an in-built camera on the front for online video chatting and a better 7″ inch touchscreen.

This comes after the IIT students, who are testing Aakash 1, citied overheating within 30 minutes of usage, frequent system freeze, poor sound quality, absence of support for all formats and inability to install free software available online as some of the problems with the device.

Although the new version is expected to be ready by 2012, but it is still a challenge for the HRD Ministry and the supplier – Datawind of UK, to supply targetted 2 million devices to the students. Hope the suppliers and HRD Ministry will be able to meet the target in stipulated time.