Encouraged by the overwhelming response to Aakash-2 — India’s low cost device for higher education — the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay is already planning the next edition of the tablet that will work on a SIM. A global tender is expected to be put out next month for producing 50 lakh units of Aakash-3.
The proposed upgraded tablet will also have a faster processor, a higher memory capacity and will function on both the android operating system and Linux. The challenge now is to ensure that improved facilities do not increase the price.
As of now, Aakash-2 is being purchased by the government at Rs. 2,263 per unit, while the price for students and institutions is Rs. 1,130. The Aakash-2 has been distributed to 250 engineering colleges across the country so far. The target is to train 1 lakh teachers once every college and institution gets the device. “Our ultimate aim is to imbibe the usage of tablets in the education system and create an ecosystem for this,” said Deepak B. Phatak, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-Bombay and member of the Standing Committee of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology. Over 1 lakh tablets have already been procured by the Ministry of Human Resource Development for distribution to educational institutions.
According to Prof. Phatak, it was likely that there would be multiple vendors for the tablets instead of just one to deliver such a huge number.
