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After $10 Laptops, Govt Promises $50 Tablets

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Indian Express and a couple of other mainstream media have reported that the Indian government is sourcing "low cost" tablets by July. The country's National Mission on Education will distribute the devices amongst students.

Apparently, each state in India will receive 3,000 devices and will be "field-tested" by July end. The government has said the laptops will be given to undergraduate and postgraduate students in India - but offered no further details.

This is the government's second attempt at launching affordable portable computing devices. Many will remember the government's promises of a $10 "laptop" called Sakshat which turned out to be an Internet modem and has not seen the light of day.

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While IE claims the tablets are manufactured by Candian firm Datawind Ltd., Deccan Herald states that it has been developed by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, Delhi and Jodhpur.

Specs

According to Deccan Herald, which also has a picture of the device, the dimensions are 8.9×7 inches.

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Datawind Ltd calls itself a "developer of wireless web access products and services". Datawind retails a hand-held device that weighs 174 grams called Pocket Surfer. However its specifications do not match the ones released by the government.

Cost

The pricing will be at Rs 2,200, but reports indicate the Central government will subsidise this by 50 per cent more.

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