India is launching what it's calling the world's cheapest tablet computer. Called 'Aakash' meaning Sky the tab will be sold at a subsided cost to students for $35 and later be sold in retails stores for $45. One of the chief uses of the device will be to help eradicate poverty in villages in India. It is being manufactured in India by Datawind a UK based manufacturing company. The tablet has been jointly developed by DataWind and Indian Institute of Technology - Rajasthan.
The Tablet uses Google Android and uses resistive LCD display rather that full touchscreen. Future versions would include a cell phone connection as well. The device actually costs nearly $50 – the government is paying 2,250 rupees each for the first 100,000 batch of them. Previously referred to as the Sakshat tablet, it’s now being called “Aakash,” or “sky.” This will go a long way in helping the rural poor because of the device's simplicity and portability. it can reach people in remote villages much more easily and give them a feel of a computing device and its uses. The Tablet developed by the government of India will be called Aakash for students and Ubislate for retail consumers. It is also being called the $35 tablet.
