Aakash manufacturer Datawind has launched three new smartphones - PocketSurfer 5x, PocketSurfer 5 and PocketSurfer 3G5 - that will be manufactured and assembled partly at the company’s facility in Amritsar. Parts of the device are manufactured by sub-contractors in China and are being sold online through its website. All three devices have five-inch screens and prices range from Rs 3,499 - Rs 6,499. Interestingly, the company says that the cheapest device will run on Linux and the other two will run on Android 4.0+ on its website. However in the screenshot the low-end device also seems to be running on a variant of Android. The costliest device of the lot, PocketSurfer 3G5, is the only one that has 3G connectivity; the other two devices can only connect to EDGE. PocketSurfer 5x and 5 have only 1 GHz processors while 3G5 has 1.5 Ghz dual-core processors. There is currently no information on the built-in storage or memory, but it does mention that all three devices will accept MicroSD cards. Considering all the issues people had in the past with the build quality of UbiSlate and Aakash tablets, one needs to wait and watch before praising Datawind. If these devices end up delivering cheap experience along with that cheap price tag, people might stop caring about their products altogether. Tablet push continues Datawind announced at the end of the November that it had tied-up with telecom companies to bundle free Internet services for a year on purchase of its devices from December. However, it did not…
