New Aakash 2 Tablet from DataWind in India Gets Hardware Upgrade; Still Costs $40

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If you haven't heard of the original Aakash tablet, we wouldn't be surprised. It was only introduced in India, and it hasn't really done much. Originally, the company that makes it, called DataWind, was supposed to ship 100,000 units to the Indian government at a price of $40 each ($23 for students), but unfortunately they never even came close to those figures, and only shipped 572 out to about 20 colleges. Their intention is still to hit those numbers, but they may have to do it with their newer offering, the updated Aakash 2 tablet. This new tablet is a slight refresh over the old one, but still has the same price point. Here are the specs for those interested:

• 800×480 resistive touchscreen display
• 256 MB of RAM
• 2 GB of internal storage
• 2100 mAh battery
• 7-inch tablet
• Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread

Do any of our Indian members have one of these? Please share your thoughts.

For more discussion on the Aakash and Aakash 2 tablets from DataWind, head over to our forum section here: DataWind.

Source: India's Aakash tablet now costs $40, receives hardware upgrade in version 2.0