
Low-cost Aakash 2 tablet launched in India - codelion
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lowcost-aakash-2-tablet-launched-in-india-at-rs-1130/305082-11.html
======
mtgx
It seems like a huge improvement over the original one, in both hardware and
software (Android 4+, which makes more sense for tablets) and yet they managed
to keep the same price.

The battery life is still probably pretty low as at this price level the
battery will take up a big chunk of the cost, so they can't afford to put a
very big battery inside. This is why I hope that for next year they use a
single or dual core Cortex A7, which should be several times more efficient
than Cortex A8, for about the same performance. It might be cheaper, too, as
A7 is meant for low-end devices (and big.Little). They will also need to add
at least a 1024x600 resolution (slightly higher PPI than iPad Mini at that
size), to increase the sharpness of the display and make browsing better.

Using Jelly Bean next year will also add a significant performance/experience
boost even with those low-end chips. Indians will soon get a very good tablet
experience for less than $50. It won't be "cutting edge" in performance, but
should provide for a very good user experience as far as most people using it
will be concerned.

~~~
minikomi
I bought a nexus 7 for development, and I'm very happy with it as an OS.
Onwards and upwards!

------
anu_gupta
This seems to be a hands on review of a pre-production model

[http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/18/hands-on-with-
the-35-aakas...](http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/18/hands-on-with-
the-35-aakash-2-tablet-i-want-one/)

Quite positive.

I also believe that GPRS connectivity will be offered for R98 a month (about
USD 1.80) for 2GB.

~~~
nnnnni
> "Heck, many textbooks cost more then these mini tablets."

More like "all textbooks".

~~~
stcredzero
4GB would fit a lot of hypertext. Now, if they could create a "teacher's"
version with 16GB, you could have multicast multimedia sharing over wifi,
which would enable classrooms to use video content with only a fraction of
expense in Flash RAM.

~~~
ippisl
Another option is to use p2p as a storage mechanism. And since the storage
capacity would be bigger, it could enable personalized videos.

~~~
stcredzero
Sure, if you could ensure enough redundancy. But I wouldn't have enough
confidence in such a system to preclude failure in the event of too many
students absent.

------
nkoren
I'll have to wait to see actual reviews of it, but on the surface it looks
like they've addressed all but one of the major deficiencies of its
predecessor. A very respectable feature set, at this price point.

The last point which needs to be resolved: production volume! At one lakh
(100,000) units, that's enough to put tablets into the hands of less than .01%
of India's population. Hardly a game-changer. The Indian electronics industry
won't truly be mature until it starts thinking in multiples of crore
(10,000,000).

~~~
manaskarekar
No industry will start thinking in multiples of Crores if they don't start
somewhere.

(1 cr = 10 million)

~~~
stcredzero
However, right now, the gp comment just finds them "lahking."

~~~
atlantic
Shouldn't that be 'lakhing' ? :)

~~~
stcredzero
Whoops. Heard the word used by friends in grad school, but I'm not familiar
with the spelling my spell checker didn't like which is actually correct.

------
6ren
It's a couple generations behind (iPhone 4/iPad 1 had cortex-A8
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_A4>), but even the unsubsidised one is
damn cheap, Rs 2263 = 41 USD

I think India has the right idea, it's quite a powerful computer, and it could
be like the Apple][e/commodore 64/ZX81 by making it affordable to more people.
As long as it a dev env is available (which android does).

------
tluyben2
Step up production, sell the subsidized in India, sell the unsubsidized
version outside for E50, open up all software (including drivers). That would
be a game changer as far as I'm concerned. This assuming it's nice of course
and not something completely unusable.

------
Osmium
Agreed with the other comments that things like this could be a game-changer
for education in developing countries, but I do worry about sustainability.
It's already a problem trying to get consumers to recycle old devices as is,
but at least when devices are expensive they tend to have a life in the resale
market. What happens when these devices are so cheap they're a commodity? And
it's easier to just throw it in the bin and buy a new one than bother to sell
it on? That's not going to happen in India, but it might when you can buy a
$20 tablet in the US.

------
ajays
Such a tablet would be great for travellers too. I have a friend who's
planning on doing extensive travel throughout Asia, and I've convinced her not
take her Macbook Air. However, I'd love to recommend something like this to
her, so she can get 'net access easily without having to rely on shady
internet cafes. Any recommendations for an inexpensive tablet? Preferably, one
that can take a SIM card?

------
melvinram
Wow, if this works as advertised, this could really be a game-changer over the
long term for education in third-world countries.

I would be much more motivated to donate money to get an education focused
device like this into the hands of kids who don't have access to proper
education than I would for most other causes because the impact on investment
would be much more dramatic at $20/device.

------
Zenst
Of not I recently saw a article that mentioned that alot of tech from global
players released in India is always launch late compared to other countries
and also alot more pricer, upto twice the price as what the rest of us pay. I
still don't believe the nexus 7 has been released there yet and wiuth all
these factors anything made a released localy at a respectable price is
certainly going to do alot more good than it was intended. It may get the
other companies to realise that a fairer price margin is needed.

Looking forward to a detailed review and hope it does not only what it was
intended for but helps prevent the laglasture approach to technology in India
by some companies who think its ok to sell the last years products at the
price of this years products and last years combined.

------
TopTrix
Nothing is game changer, nothing is great here. My experience is different.
First, Where is the retail shop of this Akash tablet. It is not available
anywhere, you either have to be a student of VERY VERY high profile English
medium school (Whose student already have iPad) or you must be tech sevvy to
order it online.

If you want to buy it from retail shop, there is no any warranty or guarantee.
The retailer told me that its a China type product. Once you go out of the
shop, the deal is finished. Other thing, the ONLY tablet is for the price of
$40, and you must have to buy a keyboard with it and a leather case both cost
around more 40$ meaning total is for 80$. Better way I will go for Micromax,

~~~
realrocker
It's not for people who can afford a laptop/desktop, also know about the
existence of Hackernews and know enough English to comment on it.

It's also not supposed to be available in retail market and will be directly
provided to Government Universities, Colleges, Schools. I already know about a
pilot project in National Capital Region(Delhi) as my cousins have registered
for it.

Any keyboard will work with it. An Intex keyboard costs 3$ and Microsoft costs
20$. Leather/Synthetic case will be again for 4-10$.

------
faragon
This is ridiculous. There are already similar tables from China using
AllWinner A10/A13 SoC with similar prices on volume (ARM Cortex A8 @1GHz, ARM
Mali GPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash, etc.). My bet is that they are doing anything
but buying in volume from China. Which is OK, but in my opinion it is not an
Indian achievement at all.

------
stcredzero
Could this be adapted for African markets? How about a version with 2X the
battery?

------
zerop
Why always 'low cost' from India, why not 'The Best'?

------
monsterix
Probably a better approach for GoI would have been to give away this
console/tablet + basic phone connection for free.

And then open it up for people to create and add basic educational content,
probably even let people evolve it to let people connect with each other and
other dead simple activities.

Even stuff like plain email or a line-drawing app lets the disconnected
individuals come out and say 'Namaste' to a world they've never seen.

Few thoughts that came to my mind. This is definitely a good initiative.

