Cheap Ira tabs debut in India; to rival Aakash?

BANGALORE, INDIA: India has got two more 'low-cost', more commonly 'cheap', tablets, after Aakash, BSNL's, Women TabTop and the like.

These new ones are from Wishtel India. Christened the Ira Thing and the Ira, they are priced at Rs. 4,000 and Rs. 5,500 respectively, excluding taxes.

This launch, said Milind Shah, CEO, Wishtel, at the event, "is the first step in our long term vision of bringing people closer to technology by creating gadgets that truly touch their lives."

He added that by enabling support for Indian languages, they were providing the opportunity for hundreds of millions of Indians to join the tablet revolution that has been sweeping the globe currently.

The two devices can support 23 Indian languages.

It has been speculated that the Ira tablets would be pitted against the Aakash.

A couple of differences mark both the tabs from Wishtel. While the Ira Thing has a 2,200 mAh battery and a resistive touchscreen, the Ira boasts a 2,800 mAh battery and a  capacitive touchscreen.

At the launch, Richard Brown, vice-president, International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc., said, "With the introduction of the IRA and IRA Thing, Wishtel is leading the way in driving tablet innovation in India. The potential for these devices is breathtaking, particularly in areas such as education."

Apps including Web Browser, Media Player, Photo viewer, Office, MSN, Skype, Gtalk, Notepad, Clock and Weather are loaded on the devices, which are expected to run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Users can also opt for Linux Sugar OS on the tablets.

You can book the IRA tablets on Wishtel's e-store: http://www.wishtel.com/estore.php.