Bharat Electronics showcases $75 solar- powered Android tablet

[praveen007]

India-based Bharat Electronics Limited has announced the development of a $75 solar-powered tablet. The company has been able to design, manufacture and ship 2000 sample tablets in less than five months. Maintaining an approach to low cost computing, these tablets will be much handy in power deficit rural areas. BEL, a leading manufacturer of radars and communication equipments for the defense department in India, has bagged this order from the Ministry of Rural Development of India. The Managing Director and Chairman of BEL, Ashwani Kumar Dutt, was proud to announce the launching of solar powered tablets within a record low time period.

Running Android 2.2, this tablet is equipped with a solar powered power back up and will allow data storage through a cloud based server. The tablet will store data to the central server running on a solar powered battery. The tablet comes in a decent leather pouch with a keyboard connected through a cable. Other specifications have not yet been disclosed, but it seems that this $75 Android tablet is practically viable than the previous $35 Sakshat tablet, launched by Kapil Sibal. The subsidized $35 tablet released by Indian HRD ministry could not gain steam owing to its manufacturing cost and features.

Tablet manufacturing is picking up in India, and this Android tablet has been designed indigenously to create waves in the market. Other factors like running capacity of the tablet, durability and maintenance are to be considered as these are specially meant for the economically backward class. The tablet may not be modish in appearance, but will surely serve the purpose.

BEL has targeted to release 600,000 tablets by this November that will boost its revenue significantly through this first civilian order. Given the falling prices of tablets in the world, this cheaply priced and indigenously built Android tablet is ready to take on any low priced tablet in the international market. The price and customization facilities may pose few challenges to BEL in the future, but this has been a commendable achievement for the organization to manufacture 2000 solar powered tablets within a record time.

BEL has taken up this project with a long term vision, as it spent about $1.5 million in creating additional facilities to produce modernized versions of solar powered tablets for the students. Although, this tablet is not available for the masses, but BEL is not ruling out the possibility of manufacturing for the commoners in future.

Via: Ecofriend

 

[Abingdonboy]

$75 =£45 GBP!! sign me up, I'll take 2! Am replying using a £800 GBP IPAD which has NO FLASH, USB, camera, GPS and pathetic strafe. Can't access half (probably more) the content on the Internet (flash) and the half I can access is slow and useless.


Seriously though- good for India, hopefully will make its way to the needy and will truly have an impact on them and accelerate India's growth further. Any idea if it will be launched outside India or are domestic orders a priority.

+ although am a bit skeptical of cloud based storage as how will this work in rural villages (intended market) with no cellular signal.

 

[Imran Khan]

good look congs to indians as much as cheep they make public will rush and more education abut IT will spread in country .

 

[tallboy123]

india is getting innovative..good

 

[ratnas]

BEL should make it available world wide......... no problem if the cost escalates even up to 100 $$......... most of the middle class can purchase it........

 

[HitesH]

it says
" will allow data storage through cloud based storage"
does that mean it practically has no inbuilt data storage unit ?

what about processor speed and RAM ?

 

[Dalai Lama]

it says
" will allow data storage through cloud based storage"
does that mean it practically has no inbuilt data storage unit ?

what about processor speed and RAM ?

For the price, I'm guessing 1 GB RAM which is enough since Android is basically UNIX. Might have an i3 processor though.

I assuming this mainly for education since it says cloud based storage.

 

[proud_indian]

For the price, I'm guessing 1 GB RAM which is enough since Android is basically UNIX. Might have an i3 processor though.

I assuming this mainly for education since it says cloud based storage.

I assume this will be based on ARM CORTEX processors as all android devices are running on ARM cortex

and less possibility of 1 gb ram, it might have 512 or even less for that price

 

[HitesH]

For the price, I'm guessing 1 GB RAM which is enough since Android is basically UNIX. Might have an i3 processor though.

I assuming this mainly for education since it says cloud based storage.

well i doubt that

a single i3 would cost more than $75

 

[Dalai Lama]

well i doubt that

a single i3 would cost more than $75

Aren't processors manufactured in India though? It should be cheaper right?

 

[Dalai Lama]

Sorry, I've been talking out my a**!

Can't find any info on specs though.

 

[Mr.Wick]

WOW,
Necessity is the mother of invention (proved here)..
Even i feel that it would be having an ARM CORTEX processor and a 512mb RAM..
but you cannot ask more form a $75 tablet isn't it???
even the lower middle class people could certainly afford one or two of it...

 

[HitesH]

the device is surprisingly good

but how about releasing two versions of it, other being comparatively more expensive....say at around Rs5000. But having better processor, better RAM, and fairly good inbuilt data storage unit

 

[Galaxy]

Good Innovation. So Cheap Price. 75$ = 3,300 Rs. only. Even my Android Mobile cost 300$.

Good for many students who can't afford basic computer. India always did well in IT since 90's.

 

[T90TankGuy]

i am certainly looking forward to it . i just bought the samsung tab and paid 24 k for it .