The $35 Tablet (Akaash) Review | Hacker News Reader

The $35 Tablet (Akaash) Review

thinkdigit.com

20 pointssygeek9 comments

Well, doesn't look like a review to me. It's rather a collection of data gathered from various sources.

Yeah, it looks like a rehash of the data available on their official website. http://www.aakashcomputer.in/index.html

> Plans: As per official website, UbiSlate will come with an unlimited mobile Internet at Rs.98/month.

That's roughly $2. What am I not understanding here? Is there no coverage? Is this for WiFi? I'm all for cheap, unlimited mobile Internet, and I think American offerings are overpriced and underprovisioned, but I don't think $2 is possible.

Rs 98 / month is for 2 GB of EDGE data per month. That is the normal charge in India for every mobile customer. This is not a special tariff for this tablet.

Seconded. I currently live in Bangalore and pay just Rs 400 (about $8) per month for blackberry services + unlimited 3G usage. I had this Rs 98 plan a few years ago when I was in college and didn't have a 3G capable phone.

The only interesting thing here is that the author has found similar tablets with comparable or even better specs for similar or even better prices.

What we don't know is whether these tablets deliver as promised and whether or not they suck.

First sentence of article: "Indian government’s ultra low-cost tablet ‘Aakash’ is finally in front of us."

My comment: "Wow, actually in front of the reviewer, so they've already shipped review tablets to journalists, that's amazing, I guess they really are building these in bulk now, the tablet is real."

Last sentence of article: "We hope to get our hands on the $35 gadget soon, we will reserve our final verdict for the detailed review."

My comment: "WTF, I just been gypped reading this fake propaganda review. thinkdigit.com whoever they are gets a nice new entry to my /etc/hosts file for this inexcusable tactic."

I think this is just a case of ESL, not fraud.

The second sentence reads: "The official launch comes after nearly one year telecom minister Kapil Sibal flaunted a prototype of the device."

Also: "he device will bridge the gap between the rural India and the ongoing technology boom in the country."

My guess is "in front of us" should be "coming soon", "almost here" or "on the horizon".

Honestly, I don't think the reviewer saw or used the Tablet. This is more of a collection of data from sources.

I'd really wish this becomes true and Indian students have access to something cheap and affordable. At that advertised cost, I'd say it's perfectly OK to have rough edges.

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