World's Cheapest Tablet PC at $35 is a device that was earlier slated to be a laptop, but it changed its form over the three years it was being created.The tablet will be assembled in India and the government will waive duties to help minimise the cost of production. One lakh tablets have been ordered initially and about a million pieces will be produced in the next stage if the pilot works well.
The low internal memory, at 256MB, may make the tablet slow in accessing the already slow speeds of internet in Indian colleges. Only about half the 25,000 colleges have been linked to the internet under the government's National Mission of Education. Out of these, less than 15% of the colleges have broadband with speeds of at least 512 kbps.
Earlier, the government had invited an expression of interest from Indian companies, but the tender was issued afresh as earlier vendors were not being able to deliver at the price point which the government wanted.
This world's cheapest tablet computer, which will be unwrapped on Wednesday, will go on sale in India starting December, the maker of the device has said.
Created for use by students, the tablet will first be made available to colleges at Rs 1,750 a piece.
