Aakash 2 tablet timeline journey

Worlds most anticipated and cheapest Aakash tablet got popularity throughout the world but poor performance and poor battery life put Aakash tablet future at stake. Later, Datawind and IIT Rajasthan conflict added more frustration for the Govt of India. In last 3 months, Aakash demand was reduced a lot due to the poor performance of the device.

When the Android tablet "Aakash" was released publicly, then Datawind was the official manufacturer of Aakash. It was Datawind's responsibility to fulfill the 1 lakh requirements by Govt of India but Datawind distributed only 30,000 units to Govt of India so far and rest of the units were kept for online sale on their websites. And DataWind was selling the tablets in the name of UbiSlate, which is the retail version of the tablet. DataWind has interchangeably used the names Aakash, Aakash-2, UbiSlate 7 and UbiSlate 7+, adding to a lot of confusion on the Aakash brand name.

Moreover, the big thing that disappoints commercial buyers is poor performance and poor battery backup. Moreover, it is disappointing for poor students and other buyers who cannot afford to have expensive tablets. As Govt of India promised Aakash tablets at $35 but Datawind Ubislate 7 is priced at $50. Above are the reasons that disappoint students and commercial buyers. These above reasons are responsible for the decline of Aakash tablets demand in India.

Govt of India after receiving negative reviews from customers took decision to upgrade Aakash tablet and assigned the project to IIT Rajasthan but again conflicts occurred between IIT Rajasthan and Datawind during Aakash 2 testing. Datawind called Aakash 2 tablet the military specification tablet. Finally, KapilSibal came to action last month and addressed media persons that Datawind contact will expire once they give us remaining 70,000 tablets and then we can make upgraded Aakash2 tablets by our own using IITs and other Indian organizations. Aakash 2 tablet will have 'made in India' tag.

Aakash 2 tablet online booking details

Kapil Sibal, Human Development Minister few days back addressed media persons and said that upgraded Aakash 2 tablets are one month away from its launch. Kapil Sibal has given clear timeline and confirmed that exact launch period of Aakash tablet will be in April 2012. He also confirmed that upgraded Aakash 2 tablet will not come with huge price hike. Aakash 2 price is expected to be same as that of its predecessor. In Lok Sabha, when some MP asked about Aakash tablet he replied gently by saying, new Aakash 2 tablet is going to launched soon in April 2012 with advanced features and specifications.Aakash-2 tablet online booking will be started in April 2012 once it is released.

Aakash 2 tablet features and specifications

Exact specifications and details of Aakash-2 tablet is unknown yet. Based on limited information available from various sources, it will be much more enhanced than its predecessor. Aakash 2 tablet will offer upgraded features and specifications to improve the performance of the tablet. It includes new processor which is three times faster in comparison to previous Aakash tablet. Aakash 2 specifications include 700 MHz A8 processor with high battery life which is of 3200 mAH capacity. The same battery will provide three hour usage time. The best thing which I noticed is capacitive screen which provides smooth touch screen that looks good to feel and touch. Moreover, it includes additional SIM functionality which is used as mobile phone and offers GPRS connectivity for internet accessing.

Govt of India made its stand clear by confirming that initially produced Aakash 2 tablets will be received by the students pursuing education from higher technical education institutions because these technical students will better able to give technical feedback's on tablet usability and other parameters. 

Govt of India is also looking for funds in order to avail the cheap tablets to students under the National Mission of Education. It is the dream project of Govt of India to provide quality education at affordable prices and soon students will able to make online booking of Aakash 2 tablets in India. 

Price of Aakash-2 tablet
This project is inspired from one laptop per child programme and comes with a new price tag of $40. At this time, I hope that students will get upgraded Aakash 2 tablet soon at price tag set by Govt of India.