Following its success in India, device maker DataWind has decided to launch its range of 7-inch UbiSlate tablets in the UK. Prices for the range of tablets start from £29.99, for the most basic UbiSlate 7Ci, the commercial version of the Aakash-2 which was built specifically for schools.
Starting by looking at the cheapest of the UbiSlate range, the UbiSlate 7Ci mentioned above; this Wi-Fi connected tablet has a 7-inch 800x480 pixel capacitive TFT display and is powered by a 1GHz Cortex-A8 processor paired with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage with microSD expandability, a front VGA camera and Android 4 flesh out the specs.
Going up in price to £49.99 you can choose the UbiSlate 7C+ with free unlimited EDGE internet for one year. This tablet's spec looks identical to the cheaper model but for the SIM card slot and bundled 850/900/1800/1900 GPRS EDGE web access. DataWind says EDGE provides 10X faster browsing than GPRS and uses its own web acceleration tech.
A considerable jump up in price to £129.99 raises a few key specs and provides buyers with a full year of unlimited 3G internet access via a bundled SIM card. Beyond this attractive 3G data package the tablet spec bump includes a 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1024x600 pixel capacitive display, front and back 2MP cameras and Android 4.1. In this spec list DataWind 'boasts' of a battery life of just 3 hours.
Now bring on the smartphones
In related news DataWind has brought to market, in India, three 'affordable new smartphones as part of its PocketSurfer5 range. These are the world's cheapest 5-inch smartphones according to the firm. The cheapest model, the PocketSurfer5X, runs Linux and costs less than £35. A dual-SIM Android model called the PocketSurfer5 costs £49 and a 3G versions with dual-SIM slots and Android costs £64.
