The Datawind Ubislate tablet, a more powerful version of the Aakash tablet, was launched by the Canadian company today.
Thanks to its cheaper price — a difference of Rs 2500 — the Ubislate 7C, which has a capacitive display, is now the most value-for-money tablet in India. It is also the cheapest tablet in India with a capacitive screen — essential for ease of use.
Ubislates also come with SIM card slots, unlike other cheap tablets, including the Funbook which has to depend on a Tata Photon card given free.
Ubislate has a 33% slower processor than the Funbook, but that should only marginally impact performance. Besides, slower processors increase battery life.
Providing a mix of smartphone communication, Internet access, tablet computing and multimedia entertainment, the devices also pack a powerful combination of content and applications, the company said.
The company claimed that not only was the tablet cheap to buy, but it was also cheap to own due to data compression features built in.
“Intended to help bridge the digital divide, datawind’s new products break the affordability barriers of computers and bandwidth constraints of wireless networks to deliver internet access to anybody that can afford a simple mobile phone.
“The ubislate tablets are the only devices in the market to offer datawind’s ubisurfer browser, based on 18 international patents, that can deliver internet access on traditional gprs networks which cover the far reaches of the globe,” it said.
In india the devices will offer unlimited web-browsing using datawind’s breakthrough web delivery platform for under Rs.100/month on traditional mobile networks. 3g support is not included.
The ubislate 7+ and ubislate 7C models were introduced at respective prices of Rs 2,999 ($57/€43/£35) and Rs 3,999 ($76/€57/£47).
The main difference between the two is the resistive screen on the ubislate 7+ and the four-point multi-touch projective capacitive screen on the ubislate 7C.
Both models come with embedded GPRS modems in addition to wifi connectivity allowing ubiquitous internet access. It is not clear whether they support external 3G dongles.
The 7” screen tablets support the android 2.3 operating system that delivers a rich touch-screen graphical user interface.
The tablets have a moderately powerful 800 mhz Cortex A8 processor, built on the latest ARM version 7 and an embedded HD video co-processor.
Datawind CEO, Suneet Singh Tuli said, “Over the last year, I’ve been travelling the globe, talking at the world bank, with heads of state, at numerous universities and at global conferences, evangelizing the power of the internet to transform people’s lives. We’ve now created a product that removes the barriers and levels the playing field.”
Availability: delivery of ubislate 7+ devices have started to consumers that have pre-booked on datawind’s website, and will continue over the next several months before retail availability. Delivery of ubislate 7c devices will start at the end of may, the company said.
Specifications:
– processor: cortex a8 -800 mhz with graphics accelerator and hd video processor
– memory (ram):
• 7+ 256mb ram / storage (internal): 2gb flash
• 7c 256mb ram / storage (internal): 4gb flash
– storage (external): 2gb to 32gb supported
– peripherals (usb2.0 ports, number): 1 standard usb port
– audio out: 3.5mm jack / audio in: 3.5mm jack
– display and resolution: 7” display with 800×480 pixel resolution
– input devices:
• 7+ resistive touch screen
• 7c multi-touch (four point) projective capacitive
– Connectivity and networking: GPRS and WIFI ieee 802.11 a/b/g
– Power and battery: up to 180 minutes on battery. Ac adapter 200-240 volt range.
– OS: Android 2.3
– Other: additional web browser: ubisurfer-browser with compression/acceleration and ie8 rendering.
FREEBIES and PARTNERS
– Aircel provides high quality voice and data services on its nationwide wireless network.
– VMC systems ltd. As our electronics manufacturing services partner.
– Yahoo! India for its portal, yahoo! Mail and yahoo! Cricket.
– The Indian Express group to bring its users the latest news and analysis on the go.
– Reverie language technologies to provide over a dozen indian languages including hindi, marathi, tamil..
– get jar for the world’s largest independent app store providing access to over 350,000 software applications.
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– Intelligia finger tracing apps to teach letter writing for toddlers.
– Pixatel for utilities and games created for tablet form factors.
– Poketalk for call back long distance services.
– Myjobs for access to millions of job postings and resume submission.
– Blueworld portal to help encouraging a socially conscience approach to the internet.