Wishtel Launches Low Cost Indian Language Tablets

Wishtel, an Indian technology startup, has launched two new low cost Tablets which come with Indian languages (Hindi and regional languages). The Tablets, 'IRA' and 'IRA Thing' have been designed and manufactured in India and are powered by VIA Technologies Inc's WonderMedia PRIZM WM8650 ARM SoC. VIA Technologies is a Taiwanese manufacturer and supplier of integrated circuits.

Let's have a look at the Tablets.

IRA for Rs 4,000

The Tablet has a 7 inch TFT LCD (800x480 pixel resolution) capacitive touchscreen display and runs on the Android 2.2 Froyo operating system (OS). It is powered by an 800MHz processor and has 256MB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 2GB. The Tablet does not have a camera (rear or front facing) and on the connectivity front, the device has Wi-Fi, 3G (via external dongle) and it also comes with a USB 2.0 port and a Trans Flash (TF) card reader.

The dimensions of the Tablet are 203mm x 137mm x 14.5mm and its weight is 370 grams. Wishtel has provided a 2200mAh battery in the Tablet that the company claims will provide up to 3 hours of battery life.

IRA Thing for Rs 5,500

This Tablet also has a 7 inch TFT LCD (800x480 pixel resolution) capacitive touchscreen display and runs on same OS as the IRA. Similar to IRA, it is also powered by an 800MHz processor but it has 512MB of RAM (twice of younger brother IRA). The internal memory of this device is 4GB (double of the IRA Tablet). Similar to IRA, this Tablet does not have any camera (rear or front facing) and on the connectivity front, the device has Wi-Fi, 3G (via external dongle) and it also comes with a USB 2.0 port and a Trans Flash (TF) card reader.

The dimensions and weight of the Tablet is exactly the same as big brother IRA but the battery is more powerful at 2800mAh and the company claims it will provide up to 3 hours of battery life.

Besides the above, an array of apps like Web browser, word processor, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and eBook reader, among others have also been provided in the device. The eBook reader app actually allows users to read eBooks in Hindi and other Indian languages, as well as course content for ICSE, CBSE and state boards plus engineering, medical, and other higher education offerings.

The Tablets are available for purchase across the country through over 350 distribution and support centers. Customers can also order the Tablets online from the company's eStore; however they will have to pay additional shipping charges for the device.

As far as specs are concerned, the Tablets are nothing to write home about, but they are definitely better than Datawind's low cost Tablet offering Aakash and Ubislate. But considering the price difference between the Tablets, a direct comparison cannot be made.  The IRA Tablet actually faces competition from Noida-based hardware company Pantel Technologies Pvt Ltd's T-Pad IS701R (for Rs 3,499) , which has a better processor and also comes with a camera.

Additionally, the Penta TPAD comes bundled with a BSNL 2G SIM with special Penta Data plans while IRA support Indian languages. So it's more of a matter of personal preference and choice rather than just specifications.