Bangalore-based AllGo has made a $50 tablet prototype - we went down to check it out for ourselves. The tablet did not disappoint me; for a price of Rs. 1,500, it was amazing. According to the company's project manager Sanjeev Madhavan, they can manufacture 10,000 units for a cost of $50 each. In comparison, the Android-based tablet proposed by the government needs a production of a million units to manufacture at the same cost. ($15 is the Government subsidy that makes the price $35).
The tablet by AllGo is still under tweaking and testing stage, which actually gave us a better idea as to where the company can head with such a product. The company had released a short video of the tablet but nothing more was known about it.
Technical specifications of the tablet:
Processor:ARM9 (424 MHz)
Screen:7” TFT resistive screen HVGA
RAM/ROM:128MB/128MB
Storage: Memory 4 GB
Wi-Fi: 801.1g
Bluetooth:2.0 (Expected)
GPS:Absent
Battery:3,000 mAh (6-8 hours)
USB Ports:2
Speaker:2 Volt Mono
Thickness: Approximately 1.5 Cm
Android Version:1.6 (possible upgrade to 2.2)
Headphones: 3.5 mm jack
This tablet is running an ARM9 chip at a speed of 454 MHz with 128 MB RAM and ROM. It has Wi-Fi capability with Media Transfer Protocol for direct file transfer using Windows Media Player. The average battery life is expected to be around 6-8 hours on the 3,000-mAh battery. The selling point for a tablet is the display - it has a beautiful looking 7” TFT resistive HVGA screen.
The tablet is running Android 1.6 and looks sturdy - though it does not have Android market access just yet. The company is contemplating trying 2.2 Froyo on the prototype, but in my view, for low cost Android devices 1.6 is best suited. The tablet has all the raw capabilities of 1.6, which in itself are amazing; like HTC Hero it has stood the test of time. The only problem 1.6 (Donut) has is the lack of Bluetooth support, this problem AllGo has to configure. We've been told that it will support Bluetooth 2.0.
The tablet has two USB ports, a 3.5 mm jack and currently it has a micro-USB slot for debugging. The thickness is approximately 1.5 cm. The external speaker is a two Volt mono and the headphone quality is just about average. There is still a lot of work to be done with touch sensitivity of the tablet, Sanjeev showed us the newer touch-screen to be utilised by the tablet in the future.
Like the Indian government, the company is not planning to go retail with the product; rather they are looking for business partners. Their primary target for partners with the tablet are educational providers, content providers and companies specialised in cloud computing software. Local companies interested in cloud computing services have approached them but still await the needed support. The company stated that they would make tablets specific to needs of the consumer for now. Future versions may have GPS capabilities, they're also planning a separate version for educational content providers that will function like an e-reader.
The required software will be mounted by them or can be made by the other company. AllGo is predominantly a company specialising in open source systems so the company can easily make the required software. “We are planning to have niche consumers who are interested in content development and cloud computing.” said Sanjeev. The price of the tablet will vary according to the need of the consumer, one thing is for sure - it will be affordable.
The company has no plans to go retail for now; the company wants to see how this plays out. It is interesting to note that it already has many successful Linux based products made for specific markets, but it has always played the back-end role. With proper marketing and product placing this might be affordable Android we were hearing about all along.
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