Aakash 2 tablet PC officially unveiled; to hit colleges by December

27-06-2012

Union Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday officially unveiled the Indian government's ambitious ultra low-cost Aakash 2 tablet PC at IIT Bombay. As expected, the next generation of Aakash tablet PC comes with host of improvements including a faster processor, capacitive touchscreen and larger battery life. The Aakash 2 tablets will initially available for engineering students across the country.

The Aakash 2 tablet has an 800MHz processor, as compared to 366 MHz processor of the original Aakash. The resistive touchscreen has been replaced by a capacitive one. The 2,000mAh battery has been replaced by a 3,200 mAh one, which is rated to deliver three hours of backup. The improved Aakash 2 tablet PC has been priced at Rs. 2,263, down from Rs. 2,276 of the original Aakash.

The announcement of the Aakash 2 comes three months after IIT-Bombay took over the project from IIT-Jodhpur. According to reports, IIT-B has already developed apps for the ultra low-cost tablet and is likely to incorporate few more. IIT-B has also been given responsibility for procuring and distributing the Aakash tablets. If everything goes as per scheduled, the first units of the Aakash 2 tablet will be dispatched to as many as 250 engineering colleges across the country by December-end.

A public spat between IIT-Jodhpur and DataWind, which were spearheading the Aakash project, had delayed the distribution of the tablet in February, after which the Indian government handed over the project to IIT-B.

It may be recalled that Sibal had announced the Aakash tablet in October last year amidst much fanfare. Unfortunately, the device hasn't seen the light of day due to a spate of controversies, which stalled production. Read our previous coverage on the Aakash tablet here.

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