Datawind becomes India’s leading tablet maker for Q1 2013

Despite all the setbacks and media frenzy surrounding the Aakash series tablets, it turns out that Datawind is in fact India's leading tablet maker. According to The Times of India, Datawind was the leader within the Indian market for the first quarter of 2013, supplemented with data by market research firm CyberMedia Research.

Between the January and March 2013 time period, Datawind had a strong 15 percent of the Indian market, and this does not include the Aakash series of tablets. It even beat out homegrown rival Micromax, which tied Apple with close to a 12 percent market each.

Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli (extreme right) at a launch of the Aakash 2 tablet at the United Nations. (Credit: DataWind)

Furthermore, nearly 10,000 tablets were shipped daily, from different vendors, for the January and March 2013 time period, resulting in an increase of 150 percent growth compared to the same time period last year. This translated to about 905,000 tablets sold for the period compared to 1,097,902 in the prevoius quarter.

As far as Datawind is concerned, they appear to be in the good books of the Indian government once again, as plans are being finalized for the fourth iteration in the Aakash series, known as the Aakash 4.

Earlier this year, Datawind was having supply and delivery commitment issues with the Indian government, and the entire project almost got scrapped. That was then, and this is now. The project's goal to have an Aakash tablet within reach of every student in India is now a step closer.

The time it took from drafting the specifications and delivering the final product to students has taken much longer than what was originally expected. Now, the 100,000 Aakash 2 tablets--retailing for about US$20--have been delivered to students across India by Datawind for the government as promised. The Aakash 3 tablet is slated to be released sometime this year. Earlier reports has indicated it would be in June or July, but as of yet, nothing is confirmed by neither the government nor Datawind itself.

It's time for Indian students to fully embrace technology within the classroom and use the Aakash tablets given to them as learning aids and tools, and perhaps in the process, some students will even venture further and create apps for the Aakash series of tablets itself.

What many people don't realize is that Datawind does in fact support an app development program for students. That is, they are interested in students designing and developing apps for the Aakash tablets, which would then be sold on Datawind's online app store. Furthermore, Datawind also has a similar revenue sharing platform that Apple has with developers, and they are aggressively looking for more developers to create apps. 

Datawind becoming India's leading tablet maker for Q1 2013

Despite all the setbacks and the media frenzy surrounding Aakash series tablets, it turns out that the Datawind is India's leading Tablet PC manufacturer. According to The Times of India was Datawind leader in the Indian market for the first quarter of 2013, supplemented with data from market research firm CyberMedia research.

Between January and March 2013 period, Datawind had a strong 15 percent of the Indian market and excludes Aakash series of tablets. It struck even homegrown rival Micromax, which tied the Apple with close to a 12 per cent market.

Datawind CEO Suneet Tuli Singh (right) at the launch of Aakash 2 tablet in the United Nations. (Credit: DataWind)

In addition, shipped nearly 10,000 tablets daily, from different vendors, for January and March 2013 time period, resulting in an increase of 150 per cent growth compared to the same period last year. This translated into about 905,000 tablets that are sold in the period, compared with 1,097,902 in the previous quarter.

As far as the Datawind is, they seem to be in the good books of the Indian Government once again as plans are being finalized for the fourth iteration in Aakash series, known as the Aakash 4.

Earlier this year, Datawind was with delivery and engagement delivery problems with the Indian Government, and the entire project almost got scrapped. It was then, and this is now. The project's goal is to have a Aakash tablet within reach of every student in India is now a step closer.

The time it took from drawing up specifications and deliver the finished product to students has taken much longer than originally expected. Now has 100,000 Aakash 2 tablets--retailing for around US $ 20--delivered to students all over India by Datawind for Government as promised. Aakash 3 tablet is supposed to be released sometime this year. Previous reports have suggested that it would be in June or July, but nothing is confirmed yet, by either the Government or the Datawind itself.

It's time for Indian students to fully embrace technology in the classroom and use Aakash tablets given to them as utilities and tools, and perhaps in the process, some students will even venture further and create apps for Aakash series of tablets himself.

What many don't realize is that in fact the Datawind supports app development program for students. They are interested in students design and develop apps for Aakash tablets, which would then be sold on the Datawind's online app store. In addition, Datawind also has a similar revenue-sharing platform that Apple has with developers, and they're looking aggressively more developers to create apps.

India's HCL Infosystems unveils ME Connect 2G 2.0 phablet

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

HCL Infosystem's latest addition to its product line is the 7-inch HCL ME Connect 2G 2.0 smartphone-tablet, more commonly known as a phablet.

The phablet is powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor with 1GB DDR3 RAM and 4GB internal memory, which is expandable up to 32GB, according to a press release.

HCL ME Connect 2G 2.0.

The HCL ME Connect 2G 2.0 runs on the Google Android Jellybean 4.1 OS and is also equipped with support for 11 local Indian languages and face recognition to lock and unlock the device. As the name suggests, the HCL ME Connect 2G 2.0 phablet only offers 2G voice-calling.

The cameras are outdated, as it sports simply a 0.3MP camera on the front and the rear camera is no better at just 2.0MP. Clearly, this device would be passed on by consumers who want a device to take decent pictures as the resolution is far below current industry standards.

However, other promising features include 3G connectivity through a USB datacard (WCDMA/EVDO), which is not included with the device. The phablet does include both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as it also comes with an integrated Wi-Fi router which can be used to create a wireless hotspot. This is an interesting feature not seen on many devices; that is, a built-in router to create a wireless hotspot. This could be appealing for those who want to create mini hotspots in small areas within a small group of users.

The HCL ME Connect 2G 2.0 is priced attractively at just 8,499 rupees (US$150.30). This is quite a steal for the price in contrast to other Indian phablets from either Karbonn or Micromax. If anything, the HCL brand itself carries weight within India, and if leveraged effectively with a slick advertising and marketing campaign, HCL Infosystems could make a decent in the Indian market.

The question is what their intent is, to make a dent in the market or just enough of a presence to be noticed?

After all, HCL is a US$6 billion multinational company (MNC) and HCL Infosystems a US$1.8 billion firm. To be frank, if they really want to be ahead of the game, they need to tweak their products and make them more competitive. Running the latest Google OS is great, but having outdated cameras and the lack of built-in 3G capabilities on a phablet will turn away many users, but for some, perhaps this is in fact something that can be overlooked.

India's HCL Infosystems introduces me to connect 2 g 2.0 phablet

HCL Infosystem latest addition to their product line is 7-inch HCL ME Connect 2 g 2.0 smartphone tablet, more commonly known as a phablet.

Phablet is powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A9 processor with 1 GB of DDR3 RAM and 4 GB internal memory, which is expandable up to 32 GB, according to a news release.

HCL me connect 2 g 2.0.

HCL me connect 2 g 2.0 runs on Google Android Jellybean 4.1 OS and is also equipped with the support of 11 local Indian language and face detection to lock and unlock the device. As the name suggests, in the HCL ME Connect 2 g 2.0 phablet offers only 2 g voice calls.

The cameras are out of date, because the sport is simply a 0.3 MP camera on the front and rear camera is not better at just 2.0 MP. Clearly, this unit would be transferred by consumers who want a device to take good pictures, as the resolution is much lower than current standards.

However, include other promising features 3 g connectivity via a USB datacard (WCDMA/EVDO), which is not included in the unit. Phablet includes both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as it also comes with an integrated Wi-Fi router that can be used to create a wireless hotspot. This is an interesting feature not seen on many devices; There is a built-in router to create a wireless hotspot. This can be appealing for those who want to create mini hotspots in small areas within a small group of users.

HCL me connect 2 g 2.0 is priced attractively at just 8,499 rupees (US $ 150.30). This is a steal for the price, unlike other Indian phablets from Karbonn or Micromax. If anything, HCL the trademark itself carries weight within India, and if leveraged effectively with a clever advertising and marketing campaign, HCL Infosystems could make a decent in the Indian market.

The question is what their intention is to make a dent in the market or just enough presence to be felt?

HCL is a 6 billion dollar multinational corporation (MNC) and HCL Infosystems 1.8 billion dollar company. To be honest, if they really want to be in front, they need to fine-tune their products and make them more competitive. Running the latest Google OS is fine, but to have antiquated cameras and the lack of built-in 3 g capacity on a phablet turn off a lot of users, but for some, maybe this is actually something that can be overlooked.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.