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Aakash, world's cheapest tablet computer
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Datawind had already supplied 30,000 tablets by the time IIT, Rajasthan report came. The ministry held-back the order and asked the company to improve Aakash as per the deficiencies citied by the IIT report.
Ministry sources said that company was initially reluctant to upgrade the tablet without increasing the cost. However, the company agreed when ministry officials threatened to cancel the order.
Tuli was not available for comments but a company spokesperson said the product manufactured to date has met and exceeded all the specifications, features and criteria specified in the government tender.
"The product road-map and future enhancements are not 'news' and not a sign of failure," the company said in a statement.
"Not only Aakash from Datawind but all future tablets will have minimum Aakash 2 specificians," said N K Sinha, additional secretary in the HRD ministry. These improvements included a 240 minute battery instead of 180 minutes, better firmware and a 700 mega hertz (MHz) Cortex A8 processor instead of the 366 MHz ARM 11 processor.
The HRD ministry is expected to invite bids from companies to supply Aakash 2. The target is to provide about a million Aakash tablets to college students in the next few years.
Datawind has already got two million booking for enhanced Aakash tablet, sold under the brand name of Ubislate, for which it sought online booking earlier this month. The tablet is being sold at Rs 2,999, which is Rs 749 more than price of Aakash for HRD ministry.
