The government’s ambitious Aakash project seems to be back on track and we could soon see the fourth edition of the subsidized tablet. A set of proposed specifications has appeared on NextBigWhat, which also reveal that the tablet could have a dual-boot option with Ubuntu along with Android onboard.
The leaked specifications have certain gaps with no processor or GPU mentioned and the only clue to the device’s processing power is the 1GB DDR3 RAM. Besides the above, Aakash 4 is also likely to sport a 7-inch LCD (800×400 pixels) display, 4GB of internal storage that can be expanded to 32GB using a microSD card and a battery that will survive through 3 hours of 720p video playback and which could be charged from 10 percent to 80 percent in two hours. There’s also no word on the kind of camera that will be offered with the device.
Connectivity-wise the device is expected to support 2G, 3G or 4G via a dongle along with the usual options like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The software part of the proposal is where things get a little interesting, as the tablet could support dual-boot with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or above and Ubuntu on board.
A separate report on the BusinessLine says that the Aakash 4 will be developed by IIT Madras under the guidance of Ashok Jhunjhunwala, a professor in the institute’s Department of Electrical Engineering. The report claims that the tablet is likely to be priced between $50 and $60 (Rs 3,000 approximately) and would be available to the students as the other Aakash tablets have.
