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. 

Computex 2013: Asus shows Trio 3-in-1, $149 7-inch HD tablet

Sammanfattning: Denna vecka har varit allt om 2-i-1 enheter, men Asus försöker toppa det med ett system som innebar att trippel plikt som Tablet PC, bärbar dator och skrivbord. Transformator bok trion var en av flera produkter Asus tillkännage på Computex.

Asus styrelseordförande Jonney Shih introducerar Transformer bok trion och andra nya produkter på Computex.

Denna vecka jag har hört mycket om konvertibler och 2-i-1 computing av Computex. Asus försöker toppa det med ett system som innebar att trippel plikt som Tablet PC, bärbar dator och skrivbord. Romanen transformator bok Trio var en av flera produkter Asus meddelade i veckan på mässan.

Asus transformator bok trion är egentligen två separata enheter i ett med två processorer, två operativsystem, två uppsättningar av lagring och två batterier. Trion ser ut som en transformator bok Cabriolet med en 11,6-tums (1920 x 1080) display som i anteckningsboken läge kan köra antingen Windows 8 eller Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). Display dubblerar som en Android tablet med en 2.0GHz Atom Z2580 processor (Clover Trail +), 2GB minne, 64GB lagring och ett 19WHr batteri. Som lämnar PC Station dock, som kan vara ansluten till en extern bildskärm som ett Windows 8 skrivbordet med en fjärde generationens (Haswell) Core i7 processor och 750GB lagringsutrymme. PC stationens 33Whr batteriet kan också användas som en utsträckt ackumulatorn för tabletten i anteckningsboken läge leverera upp till 15 timmars batteritid, enligt Asus. Transformator bok Trio kommer att finnas tillgänglig under tredje kvartalet men Asus meddela inte prissättning.

Asus Memo Pad HD 7 (Källa: Asus)

Medan trion var ovanlig, är den mest imponerande nya produkten från Acer den MeMO Pad HD 7, en snygg 7-tums tablet som kostar endast $129 med 8GB lagringsutrymme och $149 med 16GB. Memo Pad HD 7 har en 1280 x 800 IPS-skärm med bred betraktningsvinkel, ett MediaTek MT6589 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, 1GB minne, en 1.2MP främre kameran och valfria 5MP bakre kamera och Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Den väger ungefär samma som en iPad Mini (302 gram) och kommer i fyra färger (blå, vitt, rosa och grönt). Memo Pad HD 7 vilja bli tillgänglig i juli.

De större Memo Pad FHD 10 har en 10-tums 1920 x 1200 IPS-skärm, Intels 1,6 GHz Atom Z2560 (Clover Trail +) dual-core processor, 2GB minne, 16- eller 32 GB lagring (plus en microSD-kortplats), en 1.2MP främre kameran och bakre 5MP-kamera och Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Asus Driver detta som en multimedia tabell för HD-video och spel. Det är samma tjocklek som en iPad, men väger mindre (580 gram) och dess 25WHr batteri är bra för upp till 10 timmars videouppspelning, enligt Asus. MeMO Pad FHD 10 kommer att finnas tillgänglig i September. inga ord om prissättning ännu. Medan detta ser ut som en trevlig tablett med en design som liknar den populära Nexus 7, är tidpunkten tufft eftersom tabletter baserade på Intels mer kraftfull Bay Trail plattform bör finnas bara några månader senare.

Asus transformator Pad oändlighet (Källa: Acer)

Asus meddelade också en uppdaterad version av sin transformator Pad oändlighet med en bättre skärm och fastre processor. Den nya modellen har en 10,1-tums 2560 x 1600 IPS skärm, Nvidias 1,9 GHz Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2GB minne och 32GB lagringsutrymme. Asus säger det har om tangentbordet dock lägga till en multi-touch touchpad, USB 3.0 och en SD-kortläsare. Ska lanseras i höst för runt $400 på egen hand och $500 med dockng tangentbordet.

VivoPC fick inte mycket uppmärksamhet men det ser övertygande och har en intressant funktion inte finns på de flesta small form-factor PC: förmågan att lätt byta ut hårddisken (den kan hantera antingen 3,5 - eller 2,5-tums SATA 6Gbps-enheter) eller uppgradera minnet. Det också VivoPC ser ut som en liten set-top box mäter endast 56mm lång och har en borstad metallfinish så det kommer att fungera i alla rum. Asus meddelade också en combo touchpad, mus och fjärrkontroll utformad för att användas med VivoPC och en 802.1ac trådlös router för strömmande video med hög kvalitet.

Slutligen Avtäcka Asus en ny phablet, Fonepad Obs FHD 6, som har en 6-tums Full HD (1920 x 1080) Super IPS + Visa, 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core (Clover Trail +) och en penna. Fonepad är endast 3G och det är osannolikt att göra det till USA

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.

Android poised to overtake iOS in tablet platform share

 iPad mini expected to overtake full-sized iPad in shipments by the June quarter, while Android is poised to overtake iOS in the tablet market share. (Image: CNET)

Despite Apple's success in the tablet market in recent years, Android is poised to overtake iOS in the tablet platform space, according to ABI Research.

The research firm cited China as the wildcard variable in the ongoing tablet platform race. While the region is passionate about Apple's brand and the masses' ability to afford new technology, smaller Android-based tablets are becoming increasingly popular.

Enterprises appear torn between the cheap Android devices that cut down on IT budgets, but the simplicity and the security benefits that the iPad and iPad mini offer. But prosumers and SMB-minded folk are likely keeping $200 and under tablets on the table, and keeping Android relevant in both emerging and developed markets.  

"It's inevitable that Android tablets will overtake iOS-powered slates, though we see no single vendor challenging Apple’s dominance anytime soon," said ABI Research senior practice director Jeff Orr. 

While Android continues to spin in China, a massive population of still mostly untapped revenue for firms like Google and Apple, iPad popularity has reached its peak as well as a saturation point.

According to recent IDC figures, Apple had just shy of half the overall tablet shipments for the first quarter. That is, not because the company doesn't have its own slimmed-down tablet. Of course, it has the iPad mini.

But Android's platform share is far higher on two fronts: it has a greater platform spread with more Android-based devices, and many of those devices are 7-inches or less, just as the iPad mini is.

Apple's tablet growth is beginning to slow. Its overall market share is dipping quarter-over-quarter. Also, Apple's Mac sales are suffering as a result of the iPad explosion, leading to an eventual and potential ding for two of the company's major revenue-making divisions.

The average selling price has been moving down-market since Android tablets began to undercut the iPad — not just in price but physical size. (Remember, the iPad mini was in reaction to smaller Android tablets, rather than the other way around.)

In line with IDC's latest research, published on Tuesday, that claims smaller tablet screens would ultimately end up dominating the market — with 8-inch or less displays taking around 57 percent of the market by 2017 — ABI Research agrees.

"Expect iPad minis to become the predominant iPad model after the June quarter," Orr added.