Finally, the much talked about improved version of the Aakash tablet is here. President Pranab Mukherjee unveiled the Aakash 2 in New Delhi on Sunday. The new version is based on a dual-core Cortex A9 processor clocked at 1 GHz along with 512 MB of RAM. Compared to the first Aakash tablet which was based on a 366 MHz processor and an older ARM architecture, this new tablet is definitely advanced. The new Aakash tablet runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and we expect it to be smooth as the hardware backing seems good enough for Android 4.0.
Originally, the device is priced at Rs 2,263 and the government will purchase it at the same price and then distribute it to 220 million students across India in the coming five to six years at a subsidised price of Rs Rs 1,130. “The government subsidises it by 50 per cent and it will be distributed to students at Rs 1,130. The government is also trying to motivate the state governments to further subsidise it, so that the Aakash 2 can be distributed to students for free,” said Suneet Tuli, CEO, Datawind.
Aakash 2 can run Linux distributions along with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. The device can also do Aadhar authentication and can even control a robot from a distant place, according to HRD Ministry officials. The tablet will be primarily used for classroom teaching and over 15,000 teachers at 250 colleges across the country have been provided training.