According to expert opinions it must excel in terms of display screen, computing power, software functions and battery longevity. Amit Goel, CEO, Knowledgefaber, said “Aakash tablet remains an attractive option for the government and education sector at the given price-points, but it will be able to achieve success only if it is able to meet specified quality requirements and qualifying tests.”
Goel underlines, “A tablet is a highly aspirational product. It’s a 2nd computing machine for most. The game changes when you try to make it the first computing device for masses by lowering the cost. If it does not live up to the quality of service expected, it can backfire.”
Aakash was developed in cooperation with Datawind in partnership with IIT Rajasthan. However, it did not satisfy the customers.
Aakash 2 has 1 GHz processor. It also has 512 MB RAM. It has a 7-inch touchscreen display. Its battery lasts till 3 hours after normal use. Whereas, Aakash had a 366 Mhz Connexant processor, 256 MB RAM. It had a resistive display screen. Aakash 2 operates with an Android 4.0. It has front-facing facing VGA camera and Wi-Fi connectivity. It is manufactured by Datawind with the help of IIT-Bombay and C-DAC in Pune. For the students, its cost is subsidized to Rs 1,130. The commercial version of Aakash 2 called Ubislate 7Ci which comes with Wi-Fi is available at 4,300. Similarly, it also comes with Wi-Fi and GPRS at Rs 5,000.
