Mumbai college students first to get Aakash tablet

Mumbai college and university students will be the first people on the planet to get their hands on the ultra-cheap Android-powered Aakash tablet.

The metro city will be among the first in the country to receive the much awaited low-cost Android-powered Aakash tablet.

The budget tablet was launched in October by Union Minister Kapil Sibal.

The Aakash tablet, which currently retails for Rs 2,500 will be sold to students at almost half price at Rs 1,138.

Rajpal Hande, Director, Board of College and University Development, spoke to the  Times of India about the tablet’s rollout schedule. Hande said:

“We have issued circulars to all affiliated colleges and departments. We are hoping that students will avail of the facility as they are getting it at almost 50% discount. I am also told an improved version of the tablet will be launched in February, so the students might get an upgraded version.”

Though the exact time line of the tablet’s roll out is not yet known, students can expect to find Aakash in their colleges in the next few months.

The Android tablet was designed with the aim to make technology easily accessible to everyone in India, especially students. 

Students looking to purchase the tablet can do so with ease by simply placing an order with their colleges. With Aakash readily available to students and teachers, studying and taking exams is never going to be the same again, especially since everyone can get their hands on online content anytime, anywhere simply by touching the screen.

The Aakash tablet is powered by an Arm 11 366MHz microprocessor and runs on Android’s 2.2 Froyo operating system.

Weighing just 350g, the tablet is seen sporting a 7-inch resistive touch screen with a resolution of 800x480. The device offers 256MB of RAM and 2GB of internal storage, which can be expanded to 32GB via its microSD slot.

Aakash works on Wi-Fi networks and is equipped with a 2100 mAh battery life.