Earlier today the President of India announced the government-subsidized Aakash 2 tablet, a follow up to the country’s unsuccessful original Aakash tablet that was announced a couple of years ago. The second iteration of the device has been completely redesigned, effectively allowing for a decent low-cost tablet alternative for college students.
What exactly qualifies as “low-cost”, you ask? Well, when the 7-inch tablet hits the market in the coming months, it will be priced at 2,236 INR, or about $40 US. Moreover, the Indian government will be offering the Aakash version 2.0 to students at a subsidized price of 1,132 INR, which equates to around $20 US.
Don’t think you’re getting a complete pile of garbage for that price either. Datawind, the Canadian-based manufacturer responsible for producing the device, has managed to pack in some adequate hardware, including a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, 7-inch capacitive display, 512MB of RAM, a 3,000mAh battery, 4GB of internal storage, as well as a MicroSD slot for further expansion. Additionally, the device will run Android 4.0 at launch.
