Aakash (tablet series)
Aakash, or Ubislate 7, is a series of low-cost tablet computers produced by DataWind, all of which use the Android operating system.[1]
Datawind
[edit]DataWind is a British company that produce wireless web access products, and is the makers of Ubisurfer and pocketsurfer.[2] The company was founded in 2001 by brothers Suneet and Raja Singh Tuli, originally from Punjab. The company has offices in India, U.S. and Canada. It was contracted to make cheap tablet computers for students in India by the Ministry of Human Resource Development; it also sold them publicly as "Ubislate 7", but did not meet demand, so was criticized in the media. By May 2013, it had shipped all the pre-orders dating back to December 2011.[3]
Models
[edit]The Ubislate 7 series includes the following models:[4][5]
- Ubislate 7
- Ubislate 7+
- Ubislate 7Ri
- Ubislate 7R+
- Ubislate 7Ci
- Ubislate 7C+
- Ubislate 7CZ (announced)[6]
Variants
[edit]All the tablets in the series are categorized as follows:[5][7]
| Letter/symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 7 | 7-inch touchscreen |
| + | Has Wi-Fi and supports SIM |
| R | Resistive touchscreen |
| i | Has Wi-Fi and no SIM support |
| C | Capacitive touchscreen |
| Z | Has dual camera (both front and back facing) and Bluetooth support[6] |
Hardware
[edit]The Ubislate 7 Series Tablet has a seven-inch touchscreen with 800×480 pixel resolution [8] and uses Cortex A8 800Mhz processor (256 MB RAM) while the others have Cortex A8 1 GHz processor with 512 MB RAM. The initial model had two full size USB ports while in the final models they were reduced to a single Micro USB port. The Ubislate 7+ had 2 GB flash memory while the final models have 4 GB flash memory. All of the models support MicroSD cards, up to 32 GB. The final models also features a G-Sensor for maintaining orientation. Like other Android devices, these have no physical buttons except a home screen button, power button and volume rocker. The final models also has a front facing VGA camera.[9] The tablets use a proprietary power connector.[8]
Software
[edit]The Ubislate 7+ runs on Android 2.2 Froyo while an update to 2.3 Gingerbread is available. All other models run on Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich. The tablets have a customized version of the operating system, which includes:
- Google Search in top left corner of homescreen
- Workspace Effect Settings, next to google search
- Volume Controls on the bottom
- Pre installed Apps include App Killer, UbiInfo, Ubimail, Internet Ubisurfer etc.
The Ubislate 7+ has access to Getjar app store while others have complete access to Google Playstore.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "100,000 Aakash tablets delivered: DataWind". 3 May 2013.
- ^ "DataWind UbiSurfer: 7-Inch Netbook with Bundled GPRS Internet". 10 July 2009.
- ^ "Business News Today: Read Latest Business news, India Business News Live, Share Market & Economy News". Archived from the original on May 23, 2013.
- ^ "Hands-on with the elusive Ubislate 7+ and 7C". Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
- ^ a b "DataWind launched UbiSlate 7Ri, 7R+, 7Ci and 7C+ low cost tablets – Gogi Tech". 17 September 2012.
- ^ a b http://ubislate7cz.blogspot.in/ [user-generated source]
- ^ "UbiSlate 7Ri, 7R+, 7Ci and 7C+ low cost tablets Launched by DataWind". Archived from the original on 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
- ^ a b "Ubislate 7Ri & Ubislate 7Ci Tablet specification and cost".
- ^ "Priced at Rs 4,990, Ubislate 7C+ is a smartphone tablet for the masses". 20 May 2013.
- ^ "Aakash UbiSlate 7 Specifications, Features, Review and Photos | Cheapest Android Tablet for Students | Gadget Updates by TechnologyMint.com". Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2013-05-17.