The much talked about tablet Aakash 2 designed, developed and manufactured by DataWind Ltd. for supply to IIT Bombay was launched by the President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday.

In the first phase, DataWind is to supply 100,000 units of Aakash 2 to IIT Bombay, which intends to distribute them to Engineering University and College students.

NME-ICT Director, N.K.Sinha said, “We envision all 220 million students across India to be enabled by low cost Aakash devices in the coming years.”

 The launch was part of a two-day workshop conducted by IIT Bombay for teaching faculties in engineering colleges using remote training applications developed at IIT Bombay’s Open Source development lab. Over the last many months, IIT Bombay has developed unique and compelling applications for engineering students on the Aakash2 platform, which include 3D-modelling, C++ programming, remote and collaborative training applications, robotic control and live assessment tools. IIT Bombay has partnered with the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), to assist with the hardware testing and logistics.

The Subrao Nilekani Chair Professor at IIT Bombay, . Deepak B. Phatak, heads the project at IIT Bombay with the support of C-DAC.

The commercial version of the Aakash2 unit is branded as UbiSlate 7Ci, and is available for purchase on DataWind’s website. Reviews on the unit have been very strong.

Speaking on the launch of Aakash 2, DataWind CEO, Suneet Singh Tuli said, “We wish to use technology to fight poverty with a passion. Access to computers and internet will help deliver a better quality education and level the playing field for all Indians”.

Forbes Magazine recently recognized Suneet Singh Tuli in its annual Impact 15 list of Social Entrepreneurs whose disruptive technologies is expected to be globally impactful.

“We’re not done yet. We will continue to drive pricing down and make internet devices and access affordable for all tiers of society”, said DataWind Co-Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Raja Singh Tuli. A globally recognized inventor, Raja Singh Tuli has received over 50 patents across various technologies.