16th Jan, 2012, New Delhi: The central government has stated that they need twenty-two crore extra units of Aakash, the world’s cheapest tablet, to take another step in their attempt to blend education and technology together.
N K Sinha, the additional Secretary of the HRD Ministry told that initially the government bought one lakh tablets but they require 22 crore more Aakash tabs in the coming years as per Human Resource Ministry.
Sources say that new tenders would be brought out once again and Datawind, along with other companies would also get an opportunity. Tender process has already started. The government is also checking on issues like poor battery, slow processor speed and other technical aspects of the device.
The official stated that the ministry has even got requests for this cheap tablet from countries like Ecuador, Panama, America and other African countries.
The Android based Aakash tablet features a 7-inch screen with touch response, 256 MB RAM and ARM 11 processor. It also comes with two USB ports and it can play HD videos.
Aakash, the cheapest tablet in the world, is available for Rs 1,100 to students, after government subsidy.
