Revising its ambitions for Aakash tablet, the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has now decided to raise the price tag of Aakash 2 from $35 to $50.
The Indian Express also reports that Aakash 2 will come with upgraded specifications, including a “capacitive” touch screen display. The $35 Aakash tablet comes with a resistive touchscreen. Capacitive touchscreens work by sensing skin contact through a touching action, while resistive need a tapping action and hence work best with stylus.
“It has been decided that we can go up to $50 for Aakash 2, which will come with a capacitive screen besides a faster processor and other features. However, under no circumstances will we go beyond $50,” a highly placed official added.
The report further adds that the HRD ministry will in April invite bids for 5 million tablets. It will also hand over the Aakash project to the Department of Information Technology. The ITI, C-DAC and BEL will handle the distribution of the tablet.
Datawind, the makers of the initial version of Aakash 2 have offered the government an upgraded version of the tablet, still priced at $35.
“We’ve made a proposal to the ministry to provide upgraded specifications at the same price as the current product. The ministry and the GOI (government of India) have a commendable vision, and have acted throughout this process in an honourable manner. The motivation by IIT-Jodhpur to impose military specification a year after the tender closed is not for us to comment on,” said Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind.
No comments:
Post a Comment