We’ve seen cheap tablet devices before. We usually cover then when deals appear, but until now we’ve always classed £79.99 to be a cheap price. DATAWIND, however, have today announced their new tablets and prices start from just £29.99 including VAT.
In India the “UbiSlate” tablets have already out-sold the iPad and they’re now set to arrive here in the UK too.
There’s other models in the range that add GSM connectivity, with the 7C+ delivering 2G data (EDGE) and the 3G7 obviously delivering 3G. These are priced at £49.99 and £129.99 respectively but also include a whole years’ worth of mobile internet, which isn’t to be sniffed at. These are all commercial models of the Aakash tablets that were promoted by Government of India as part of an initiative to link 25,000 colleges and 400 universities in an e-learning programme.
More details below.
DATAWIND brings world’s lowest cost tablet computers to the UK, helping bridge the “digital divide”
~ Range for a 7 inch tablet starts at £29.99 ~
London, December 16, 2013: DATAWIND, a leading provider of wireless web access products, today announced the arrival of the world’s lowest cost tablet computer in the UK.
Acknowledged as the UK’s Most Innovative Mobile Company by UK Trade & Investment in 2012, DATAWIND has widened its portfolio with the launch of three new tablets and phablets (tablets with voice call capabilities), starting at £29.99 including VAT.
The UbiSlate tablets are set to disrupt the UK tablet market, following its significant success in India, where its sales have overtaken even that of the iPad. Launched last year at the United Nations by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, the devices have won numerous awards and DATAWIND’s founders have been recognised by Forbes magazine in its Impact 15 list of social entrepreneurs, set to revolutionise classrooms globally.
At the entry level price point of just £29.99, the 7-inch full-featured UbiSlate tablet computers intend to break the affordability barrier. They run on the Android operating system and come pre-loaded with apps for education, entertainment, gaming and productivity. Aspirers and technology enthusiasts in UK can log on to www.ubislate.co.uk to gather more details on the range and purchase for prompt delivery – still in time for Christmas delivery.
Speaking on the launch, DATAWIND CEO, Suneet Singh Tuli said, “The development of the tablet stemmed from the realisation that lack of internet adoption in many parts of the world was primarily because of lack of affordability. Our aim is to bridge the gap by offering cost-effective, high-specification devices and internet-access that offer excellent value to all.”
“With recent figures showing that in the UK, 29% of the poorest households have no computer and 36% no internet*, we’re working to bring affordable technology to the many hundreds of thousands of households excluded from benefiting from the digital revolution”, added Suneet.
The UbiSlate devices utilise multi-touch projective capacitive touch screens and are powered by a Cortex A8 – 1Ghz processor, of the same calibre as the original iPad, and contain 512MB of RAM (twice that of the original iPad). Flash memory of 4GB can be supplemented by up to 32GB through its micro-SD card slot. In addition to embedded Wi-Fi, the UbiSlate 7Ci tablet computers support external 3G for mobile broadband data connectivity, while the UbiSlate 7C+ has an embedded quad-band GSM-Edge modem and the UbiSlate 3G7 incorporates a 3G modem.
The models with cellular connectivity (also referred to as ‘phablets’) can use a regular SIM to not only make phone calls, but also access the internet anywhere there is mobile phone network coverage. Incorporating DATAWIND’s breakthrough web delivery platform, that compresses and accelerates web content by factors of 10x to 30x, the devices come bundled with a SIM and a year of free mobile web browsing.
“Using our patented technology, we’re able eliminate the need for contracts and monthly fees, making it easy to get on the internet, right out of the box” said Suneet Singh Tuli.
The arrival of the UbiSlate tablets to the UK marks a new phase in the development of the company, which began manufacturing mobile internet devices in 2004 with the iconic PocketSurfer range.
Product specifications and pricing:
