Education Tablet KloudPad launched in India; At 10K, what you get & miss

UK-based startup KloudPad has launched a new education Tablet in India. The Tablet is also christened KloudPad and runs on the Android 4.0 operating system. It is priced at Rs 9,999 and available on Slatestore.in.

The company has tied up with Attano, a digital education marketplace, to provide relevant content for CBSE and ICSE courses. The Tablet also comes pre-loaded with apps like the Edu TV and Attano eBook (it offers reference materials). Additionally, the company has opted for local tie-ups for service and support (which makes sense as after-sales service can become a pain). Currently, it has support centres in Kochi and Kozhikode while a centre in Thiruvananthapuram will be launched next month.

The startup was founded by Abbishek Jayaraj Shikky and his brother Aromal in 2010 and it was incubated by the Kent Chamber of Commerce. The company is now looking at the Startup Village in Kochi to start their R&D centre in the country.

"We will soon come out with customised solutions for the medical, legal and hospitality sectors," said Aromal Jayaraj Shikky, co-founder and director of KloudPad.

What it offers

This one has a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display (800x480 pixel resolution) and runs on the Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS (out of the box). It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Cortex-A8 processor and has 512 MB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4 GB, which can be expanded up to 32 GB with the help of a microSD card.

The device also features dual cameras (rear and front-facing) but the company hasn't disclosed further details (in terms of mega pixels). It also has built-in 3G, which essentially means you can insert a SIM card for calling.

On the connectivity front, the Tablet is Wi-Fi and 3G compatible, and it comes with a USB port, a microSD card slot and an HDMI port. This one has a 4,000 mAh battery, which provides six hours of battery life (or so the company claims). The dimensions are not known yet but it weighs 380 gm.

In-built 3G may not see it through

The other educational Tablets available in India include the e-class Tablet (priced between Rs 8,000 and Rs 12,000), AcrossWorld's educational Tablet ATab (priced at Rs 5,000), Classpad (Rs 7,500-Rs 14,000) and Micromax Funbook (Rs 6,499).

Although the latest kid on the block is offering in-built 3G (in other Tablets, you can only access it via external dongles), we don't think it holds much of a competitive edge. For instance, Micromax Funbook has near-identical specs at a much lower price (it's 35 per cent cheaper, to be precise). Plus, Micromax is also offering a Tata Photon+ 3G USB dongle bundled with the device that ensures 1 GB of free data usage for two months. There are also a number of pre-loaded entertainment apps (like Zenga TV, Big Flix, etc.) in the Funbook. So if you are looking for a good deal, you can probably opt for that Tablet instead.