IMPROVED AAKASH TABLET

The Aakash Android tablet is hoping to improve itself with an upgrade. According to HRD Minister, Kapil Sibal who has been the force behind the entire project, "In order to cater to the huge demand, we need several manufacturers to manufacture Aakash. We are enhancing the specifications on the basis of feedback we have received from the first version of Aakash. So we want to make sure that the upgraded product caters to the need of the customers… We have involved ITI in order to upgrade it… We will be able to bring in Aakash-II by April."

 

The Aakash has come in for a lot of criticism over its build quality and usability, (what do people expect for $35?) The 7-inch touch screen tablet has an ARM 11 processor and 256 MB RAM running Android 2.2. It has two USB ports and HD quality video. For apps, the Aakash uses Getjar, an independent market, rather than the Android Market. The tablet was developed by London-based company DataWind, with the Indian Institute of Technology Rajasthan as part of the country's aim to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in an e-learning program. By January 3, 2012 1.4 million online orders for the Aakash had been received.