Aakash version II launch in April: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi, Mar 14: A faster, upgraded version of Aakash tablet -- touted to be the world's cheapest -- would be launched in April without hike in price, Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal said on Wednesday.

Sibal said during Question Hour in Lok Sabha that Datawind will supply one lakh high speed tablets with a longer battery life and better screen.

"These higher specifications which include 700 MHz Cortex A8 processor, 3200mAH battery with three-hour usage time and a capacitative touch screen have been necessitated to overcome the initial difficulties observed in the devices," he said.

The first phase of one lakh tablets were targeted for students in higher technical education institutions so as to further ascertain technical feedback on its operation and usability, the minister said.

To demands from members for extending the distribution of tablets to school students, Sibal said the same would be made available when the proposed National Mission of Education through ICT for Schools got necessary funds.

He said once the production capacities are built up, norms for distribution with an aim to prioritise empowerment of students, especially from disadvantaged and marginalised sections of society, through this low cost access-cum computing device would get developed.

PTI