Meet PACPAD 1. The Pakistan air force base in Kamra in northern Pakistan is busy these days in some different kind of R&D work. Here, avionics engineers are assembling the iPad clone, dubbed as PACPAD 1--where PAC stands for the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.
The whole project is being carried out inside a high-security air force complex that builds jet fighters and weapons systems. The desi iPad version is reportedly the joint venture of Pakistani engineering and Chinese hardware. For now, the PACPAD development is being seen as a booster to a troubled nation's economy as well as its self-esteem. 
"The original is the iPad, the copy is the PACPAD," said Mohammad Imran, who stocks the product at his small computer and mobile phone shop in a mall in Rawalpindi, a city not far from Kamra and the home of the Pakistani army.
The PACPAD 1 comes equipped with Android 2.3 and packs a 17.8-cm (7-inch) screen which appears to be sharp in responsiveness. The device is priced at around $200, which is less than Apple, Samsung or low-end Chinese tablets, with the added bonus of a local, one-year guarantee.
PAC builds the PACPAD with a company called Innavtek in a Hong Kong-registered partnership that also builds high-tech parts for the warplanes. Only a few hundred of each products has been made so far, though a new batch will be completed in the next three months, reports Herald Sun.
Also, a second-generation PACPAD is expected to be launched in the next three months. The upgraded version will come equipped Internet connectivity via cell phone networks and other improved features.
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