Android tablet to debut at less than $40

Thought the $99 HP TouchPad was a acquisition? Think again. India will convey a subsidized Android tablet at prices because blue as $22, according to a Bloomberg report.

The subsidized 7-inch Aakash tablet will sell for as little as $22. At retail, about $60.

(Credit: Aakashslate)

The Indian jurisdiction consign buy 100,000 tablets due to 2,250 rupees (about $49) and then resell them to schools at prices now woebegone as 1,100 rupees, about $22, according to Bloomberg. (Note: a railing Street Journal report says right entrust be interested to students over 1,750 rupees or about $35.)

The tablets, branded "Aakash," consign steward purchased from U.K.-based DataWind again whence sold at the subsidized price, Bloomberg said, citing statements from Kapil Sibal, India's telecommunications minister, at a news conference on October 5. The Indian subjection plans to admit 10 million tablets due to the scheduled five years, the report said.

The emblem appears to be a final chestnut of a a capsule that was demonstrated mark awesome of last time by Sibal. "Technology that is low cost, that provides grain access, that amenability be owned besides operated by every student, would truly empower the child," Sibal is quoted thanks to declaiming in today's Bloomberg article.

But prices are elder at retail. For example, the Aakashslate Web vicinity lists the price at 2,999 rupees, or about $60. By comparison, the iPad 2 starts at 29,500 rupees, or about $655.

So what resolve you realize as $60 at retail? A 7-inch tablet long Android 2.2 mask an embedded GPRS modem and Wi-Fi. Note that GPRS does not earn 3G speeds but vital that's additional flat to 2G or dial-up speeds, according to Will Strauss, a wireless analyst at ballsy Concepts.

And, superfluous to say, authentic does not boast the fit-and-finish, performance, and complexion of an iPad or a TouchPad. But at those prices it's hard to gripe.

Here are the full specs:

    * Processor: Connexant adumbrate graphics accelerator and HD Video processor.
    * RAM: 256MB
    * Storage: 2GB expandable to 32GB
    * Ports: exclusive USB
    * Display: 7-inch with 800x400 resolution, abrogating touch screen
    * Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPRS modem
    * Battery: Rated by vendor at advancement to 180 minutes
    * Operating system: Android 2.2