$75 Laptop in the Pipeline?

We have spoken before about the laudable One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, which aims to supply laptops costing $100 to children in poor countries and which indirectly spawned the recent influx of cheap mini laptops, like the Asus Eee PC, Elonex one et al. Well. OLPC has now unveiled a mock-up of a future model, which could sell for as little as $75.

There’s no need to get too excited, the $100 target for the OLPC XO1 still hasn’t been achieved (it’s closer to $200…), but like its predecessor the XO-2, has some interesting features. These include dual touch and haptic (pressure) sensitive screens, both daylight (and indoor) viewable. Read More »

Window XP Reprieved until 2010

Microsoft has announced that Windows XP, which was expected to reach the end of its life later this month, has been given a reprieve and will continue until 2010. However, before XP fans start celebrating it’s worth reading the small print. It turns out that MS is basically extending the deadline for manufacturer’s to sell licences for XP, mainly for use on low cost and ultra-compact laptops like the eee PC and OLPC (one laptop per child project). There’s also provision for XP to continue on low-cost desktops or ‘nettops’, which are essentially simple web-surfing machines. On the plus side this means XP will be supported for a while longer, probably well beyond 2010, but the chances are the next over the counter or mail order PC you buy will have Vista pre-installed, but there’s nothing to stop you wiping the disc and installing XP, if that’s what you really want.

XP Will Fit XO

Microsoft is feverishly hammering away at Windows XP, in order to get it to fit XO. In this context, the Redmond company has managed to reinstate its support for low cost flash based computing devices, namely the machine under the One Laptop per Child umbrella. Come mid 2008, Microsoft plans to have a production quality release of Windows XP, designed to seamlessly integrate with the OLPC XO computer, in addition to Intel’s Classmate PC and ASUS’ Eee PC. The initiative is an integer aspect of the efforts to reach the next five billion people via the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Group. Read More »

The Nigerian Issue: OLPC and the Ex-Convict

Professor Negroponte’s initiative of bringing IT into the undeveloped countries has partially failed in Nigeria. We have talked about corporate giants launching poisoned darts at Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child project and how they perceive a humanitarian action. Apart from Microsoft and Intel’s defending their own interests, OLPC has recently been the subject of yet another scandal to prevent OLPC from entering the Nigerian market. Read More »

One Laptop Per Child Goes Public

The laudable One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, which as we reported a few months ago is distributing its rugged XO laptop, eventually costing $100 to build, to children in poor countries. Apparently the take up hasn’t been as quick as the developers had hoped, which may be why the OLPC foundation is doing a bit of a U-Turn and offering the green machine to the public.

The offer, called ‘Give 1 Get 1’ is you buy two machines, for $400, OLPC donates one to a child in another country and you get the other one for your child. Originally OLPC said the XO wouldn’t be available to the public, despite the considerable interest shown in the Linux-based machine, Read More »