Pranab Mukherjee Presents Low-Cost Aakash 2 to Students

President Pranab Mukherjee presented the next version of the world's cheapest tablet computer, Aaksh 2, on Sunday at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

According to Jagran Post, Pranab Mukherjee unveiled the tablet to students of the country on occasion of 124th birth anniversary of the country's first education minister and famous freedom fighter, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The event was marked by the presence of thousands of teachers who will make conversation through online chatting using the next-generation tablet.

Aakash 2 packs several changes and is priced around ₹1,500. The first version was criticized for its poor performance by IIT Rajasthan. The successor sports a capacitive 7-inch touch screen with 800 x 480 pixels resolution and runs on Android 4.0 operating system. It hosts 2GB of memory onboard which can be expanded up to 32GB. The device packs educational software and comes pre-loaded with gaming and many other applications.

As the flagship scheme of the UPA government, Aakash 2 is expected to reach one lakh students by the end of the year. The cheapest tablet of the country was developed by the government with the purpose of linking the nation's 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in an e-learning programme. The government sells the tablet for a subsidized cost to give students access to technology.

The first-generation Aakash tablet received appreciation since its launch in 0ctober 2011. Suneet Tuli, the master mind behind the tablet, found a place in the top 15 classroom revolutionaries identified by Forbes magazine. In addition to this recognition, the tablet is also going to be showcased at the United Nations (UN) on Nov 28.