World's cheapest tablet Aakash can turn a money spinner for students, NGOs

LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: The world's cheapest tablet is on way to become a potential money spinner for students and social networking startups. Datawind, the maker of Aakash, a low-cost tablet, has announced a contest for students wherein their best applications will be embedded in the Ubislate - the commercial version of the $35 tablet likely to be launched next year.

"We hope to create an entrepreneurial culture among the student community. Students think unconventionally unlike large corporates or software development firms. If they design an useful application which is selected, it would be pre-burned in millions of tablets to be shipped out by us," said Suneet Singh Tuli, chief executive of Datawind said at the IIM Lucknow's Entrepreneurial Summit.

About three lakh pre-sales booking have been received for Ubislate, expected to be priced at Rs 3,000 at retail stores. The Ubislate is expected to be bundled with a Rs 99 data plan for internet access.

Tuli added that while it could be a money-spinner for a student who will get a royalty from the usage of application on the tablet, they would also gain by offering a useful application to their users. About Rs 1 lakh each will be awarded to five students who come up with a winning application for the world's cheapest tablet, which runs on Google's Android operating system, version 2.2.

Social sector organisations also stand to gain from the low-cost tablet. India's software lobby, Nasscom, also announced a partnership with Datawind Monday whereby it will distribute 200 tablets to non-government organisations (NGOs).

To boot, Nasscom Foundation has partnered with Datawind and announced a contest wherein 10 NGOs will have an opportunity to win 20 tablets each, mainly to improve their operations and programme implementation.

To win these tablets, the social organisations will have to showcase how best they can leverage Aakash tablet for promoting education, health and livelihood.