Last month, the Indian HRD minister made a bold announcement about the cheapest laptop (rather a tablet) which costs a measly $35 and for some obvious reasons many people started doubting if this ambitious product would ever see the light. So, here are some additional facts regarding the pricing as well as the specifications of this Indian tablet.
- It actually works!!
- The tablet runs on Android OS
- It contains a mini USB port, a mini SD card slot, a SIM card slot and video out
- 2GB RAM
- It has a camera (VGA probably)
- Wifi and 3G enabled
- Resistive touchscreen
- $35 is the price when the government place an order for 1 million units.
- The tablet is expected to be available in 1 year from now, mid-2011
- It will not be released in retail market to start with
- It will be made available exclusively to Indian students and will be supplied to the universities directly by the government.
- The minister says he is open for any help in innovating further
- Microsoft and Google are already in talks with the ministry.
$35 Tablet “Sakshat” – Hands on Video
Check out this hands-on video, courtesy NDTV’s Gadget Guru series. You might have to go through the pre-roll advertisement. The actual content about the tablet starts around 2:30 minute mark.
[Video removed]So, there you have it! There is no reason to be skeptical anymore. It is very much there and very much working as advertised. It is clearly aimed at helping students, but it still boasts of almost everything you can imagine, be it the web camera or the USB port or even 3G slot. Resistive touch screen is a big minus, but then for that cost, we cannot expect anything more.