Upgraded Aakash being tested

Updated on: Thursday, June 14, 2012

UK-based Datawind said IIT-Bombay is in the process of testing low-cost tablet PC 'Aakash' with upgraded specifications proposed by it.    

Datawind CEO Sunit Singh Tuli said, "IIT Bombay is in the process of testing the samples and developing applications and content for engineering colleges,"
 
He added the samples are as per the Aakash-2 specifications proposed by DataWind and issued by IIT-Bombays order.
 
Datawind has submitted 100 samples to IIT-Bombay and the institute is expected to provide a feedback in a couple of weeks.
 
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal had said the specifications for the revised version of 'Aakash' will be finalised by the end of June.
 
"During the course of this month, we will finalise the specifications and technology for the Aakash project and move forward with its manufacturing," Sibal had said.
 
Datawind had hit headlines in October last year when it unveiled 'Aakash', to be supplied to the HRD Ministry at Rs 2,276 a piece. The government, in turn, had to give about one lakh of these tablets to the students at subsidised price Rs 1,100-1,200 each.
   
However, IIT-Rajasthan, the nodal agency for the 'Aakash' project, had rejected the tablet for not meeting performance criteria and the project had to be shifted to IIT Bombay.
 
Ever since the launch last year, the project has been running behind schedule.
 
Meanwhile, Datawind launched a commercial version of the tablet in April this year in the price range of Rs 3,000-4,000.

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