BSNL announced that it would bring three tablets in partnership with Pantel, a company based in Noida. Of the three, the cheapest one will be sold for Rs 3,250, that has better specs than Aakash tab, which costs only Rs 2,500.
The 7-inch tablet – BSNL Penta T PAD IS 701R – is powered by 1ghz processor and comes with 256MB RAM. It has a resistive screen and runs on Android operating software. The tablet will be sold along with special data plans and 3G services from BSNL.
The two other tablets are priced at Rs 10,999 and Rs 13,500. Both have capacitive screen, which has better touch sensitivity. These two tablets are also made by Pantel. Pantel website shows that the company has started a prebooking for all three.
Last year, DataWind in association with the Government of India came out with a 7 inch Android tablet for students. Named Aakash, the tablet costs Rs 2,999 in the market; while its subsidised rate is just Rs 2,250.
Before the euphoria could die down, though, public sector telecom operator BSNL has come out with an extremely low cost tablet of its own. Manufactured by Noida based Pantel Technologies, the Penta IS701R tablet has WiFi and is priced at Rs 3,499.
Now we have two tablets in the same category – at around Rs 3,000.
BSNL’s Penta IS701R will be available in retail stores and BSNL outlets across the country by March 1. Virendra Singh, managing director of Pantel Technologies, said to The Mobile Indian, “We have the shipments ready and we will definitely see to it that our tablet reaches the store by March 1.”
The price difference between the two tablets, BSNL Penta and Aakash is just Rs 500 but users will get 5 GB for data download for 60 days with BSNL’s tablet. Whereas in case of Aakash, users will get internet access on either tablet across mobile networks at Rs 99 for 2 GB, but the company has not provided details about the data service provider.
Specification of BSNL Penta:
- powered by Android 2.3
- a resistive touchscreen,
- a 1 GHz processor
- an HD video processor,
- 256 MB of RAM and 2 GB of internal memory that can be expanded through a micro SD card.
- one standard USB port, a 3.5 mm audio jack,
- WiFi support.
- HDMI port through which it can be connected to a TV.
- 7 inch resistive touchscreen has 800 x 600 pixel resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.
- 3000 mAh battery
- a VGA front facing camera for video calling.
To provide options to tablet users, Pantel has also unveiled a mid-range 7 inch tablet with capacitive touchscreen named Penta Tpad_ws704c. It has the same specifications as Penta IS701R, but offers, in addition, 3G connectivity through a SIM slot, an inbuilt A-GPS, an accelerometer, and Bluetooth. It also has a 2 megapixel rear camera and a bigger 512 MB RAM for faster performance. It is priced at Rs 10,999.
Pantel has also unveiled Penta Tpad WS802C, which has an 8 inch capacitive screen and a SIM slot for 3G/2G connectivity. It also comes with a faster 1.2 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM. The internal memory is bigger at 4 GB. The rest of its features like GPS, camera, operating system and Bluetooth are same as those of the 704C. It is priced at Rs 13,500.
