02 Jul, 2013 04:37 PM

Aakash 4 with calling facility, 4G services at Rs. 3500

The government has released the specifications for the next model of the Aakash tablet As per the released specs, the tablet will support internet connectivity via WiFi and 2G, 3G, or 4G internet dongle and also support external keyboard and mouse. The specifications also suggest it will have "driver for phone functionality with external dongle". However it may be slightly coastlier and may be priced at around Rs 3,000

The specifications of the third generation of Aakash (or Aakash 4) were released by the department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) on Monday and, according to HRD ministry officials, . Unlike in the past, the tender for Aakash 4 will carry minimum specifications that the computer tablet has to meet. The bid winner/manufacturer will have the liberty to equip the tablet with more advanced features.

According to the proposed specifications, Aakash 4 will have a 7-inch screen with a minimum resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. To make sure that the screen has decent touch sensitivity, government wants manufacturers to use panels with at least 5 touch points. "LCD brightness should be a minimum of 290 cd/m2, and its contrast ratio should be a minimum of 500," states the note. It also wants the tablet to handle playback of 720P videos with ease. For memory, the government note specifies that Aakash 4 will have a minimum of 1GB DDR3 RAM. The tablet is likely to come with at least 4GB internal storage and support for up to a 32GB micro SD card. The government also says that it wants Aakash 4 to have support for external USB storage devices, keyboard, mouse, popular 3G/4G data dongles, USB to ethernet adapters and USB printers.

Initial review reveals that the tablet will boast features close to that of a Google Nexus 7. Aakash 4 performance will see a significant improvement over that of Aaksh 2. In terms of CPU performance, Aaksh 4 will have a minimum of 3537 Antutu Benchmark score (The Google Nexus 7 has a score of 3679 ).

The idea is to provide low-cost computing devices at subsidised rates to students so that they can access the internet for educational purposes.

The first version of the tablet was launched on October 5, 2011. The tablet PC then launched had basic features and cost the government around Rs. 2,276.

The government later upgraded the tablet with some advance features at the same price.

The latest version will have multiple new features, but the final price of the tablet has not been disclosed. The new version of the tablet will have an in-built Bluetooth facility, which was missing in the previous versions.