The XO Tablet is currently slated to be available at select Walmart stores and at Walmart.com. The XO Learning System is an Android compatible software package aimed at child focused learning. The Learning System promises to help direct the child’s creativity and energy into 12 different dreams that tailor the learning experience on the tablet.

These 12 dreams include things like “I want to be” an artist, a musician, a scientist, a doctor, and many others. Each of the dreams has learning experiences and applications including books, games, and videos aimed at children age 3 to 12. There are no additional apps or software to buy and each of the 12 dreams has a real person that personifies that dream.

With the rollout of the new XO Learning System, we will see hardware made by other manufacturers that have XO software installed. Sakar International is the first company to license the software for its Vivatar brand. The company will produce a seven-inch android tablet of its own design and specifications. There is no indication of hardware, pricing, or availability information for the XO Tablet at this time.

OLPC has partnered with Neonode in order to add touch functionality while retaining the dual-mode display and keeping the screen resolution high. The screen is said to be around 300 PPI, which is within throwing distance of some high-resolution smartphone displays. The Neonode screen also has support for multitouch gestures and has a fast polling rate of 1,000Hz. Better yet, it’s an energy efficient display, consuming only 2W under load.

There’s no word on when the XO Touch will be released, although current information suggests it will arrive later this year. The current OLPC runs around $75, and the company is hoping that the next model, the XO-3, will be able to come in under $100. There’s no word on what the XO Touch is expected to cost, however. When it does go on sale, expect alternate power sources to provide juice to the XO Touch, such as solar panels and even hand cranks.

There are 12 products in all, mostly making use of the the technology in laptop or tablet screens. One notably exception makes use of the screen in a car wash control system, allowing the operator to see the controls even in direct sunlight. And of course, there’s the OLPC project, designed to be a low-cost computer aimed at developing nations. The focus there is on usability, such as the visibility of the screen, as well as being able to solar charge the panel or manually hand crank for power.

Two new tablets are mentioned as coming soon. The first is an ultra rugged tablet by Orchard, shown off at CES 2012. The second is a version of the ZTE Light 2 with a Pixel Qi screen. The ZTE Light 2 is a 7-inch tablet with a 1024×600 resolution screen designed to come in a low cost.

Finally, the company says its working on new and improved versions of the screen, which will feature “dramatically higher resolution and massively lower power”. No hints on when we can expect to see those versions, but we would guess sooner rather than later.

[via The Verge]

This little monster is both versatile and doesn’t look half bad in-hand. The bright green makes it pop, and more than one version will be available by the time the launch occurs this year. The best bit of this whole equation is the price: $100 – or likely that price, so they’re shooting for in the end. For those of you who’ve been following this story via our timeline feature (also pictured here in this post), you know this device dates all the way back to 2006 (in laptop form) – no small task to bring this project into fruition.

We’ve got both hands-on photos and a video (coming up later tonight) of this device for your consumption. As you may have heard already, this device will not be available for purchase at your local corner store, made specifically for the education and non-profit industry. We can expect this fabulous piece of machinery sooner than later!

Up front is an 8-inch screen – a 1024 x 768 Pixel Qi panel, no less, for indoor and outdoor visibility – with a peel-off silicone cover so as to protect it from scratches and bumps while in a schoolbag. There’ll also be solar panels on the inside, one of a trio of recharging options to keep the OLPC XO-3 running: as well as plugging it into the mains, should you have the luxury of being near an AC supply, there’ll be a hand-crank to manually top up the battery.

Sixty seconds of cranking is good for ten minutes of use, or so OLPC tells us, and the OS is either Android or the specialist education-focused Sugar platform. Ports – which are also covered up by that clever cover – include full-sized USB, audio and a memory card slot.

Best of all, though, is the price: OLPC expects the XO-3 to kick off at $100, though that will be for regular LCD rather than Pixel Qi versions. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to drop by Best Buy and pick one up, as OLPC will be selling direct to educational organizations and charities. Stand by for more from CES this week.

The XO 3.0 features Marvell’s Armada PXA618 SOC processor and Avastar Wi-Fi SOC,with 512MB of RAM. With the partnership between Marvell and OLPC, the XO 3.0 will reach its target audience of education systems in developing countries. Measuring at 8-inches the XO 3.0 tablet will be highly portable for students throughout the world.

A unique feature of this table is found in its charging circuitry. Drawing a charge directly from solar panels, hand crank and other alternative power sources, the XO 3.0 will be unlike other tablets. From just one minute of hand cranking, users can expect at least ten minutes of runtime, according to OLPC. The expected price for this tablet comes in at around $100. There are no individual sales of OLPC devices since they only sell in bulk to governments.

[via EETimes]

“Their money is a grant to the OLPC Foundation to develop a tablet or tablets based on their chip.  They’re going to put the whole system on a chip.  [Marvell have] been sponsors all along, but they were one of ten. Now they are the technology partner.” Nicholas Negroponte

However, while Marvell’s chips will be found inside the XO-3, that slate won’t be what the two companies bring along to CES 2011.  Instead, the first model will lack OLPC branding and instead be targeted at first-world markets, being based on the Marvell Moby platform and running Android.

It will be developed with OEMs and a partner in education, and is expected to go on sale sometime in 2011.  The OLPC XO-3, meanwhile, will follow on in 2012 according to Negroponte.

[via The Digital Reader]

Christoph Derndorger from OLPC News managed to grab some hands-on time with the XO-1.5 HS while he was in Asución, and the feedback is good.  Typing is far easier than with the membrane ‘board, though OLPC has used a physical keyboard with an unusual arrow key layout; rather than the traditional T-formation, they’re all lined up in a single row.

Video demo after the cut

Still, if you can find a similarly-sized keyboard with a layout you prefer, replacing the XO-1.5 HS’ keys is a lot easier than before.  The OLPC team reckon you can swap it out in two minutes, since it’s now held in by just a couple of screws.

[via ARMDevices]

“India is so big that you risk being satisfied with your internal market. Don’t. The world needs your device and leadership. Your tablet is not an “answer” or “competitor” to OLPC’s XO laptop. It is a member of a family dedicated to creating peace and prosperity through the transformation of education” Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC

Now, the crueller people in the audience might suggest that OLPC could learn more from the Indian tablet project than vice-versa, what with the XO devices rising costs from the original $100 promise.  Still, India has yet to prove it can produce a $35 tablet to budget, even if the reference design it’s believed to be based upon comes in at roughly that figure.

[via Slashdot and via GoodGearGuide]

Future tablet form-factor OLPC devices – based on Marvell’s Moby platform – will use this same build of Sugar.  Meanwhile OLPC has negotiated an almost completely open codebase for its embedded controller in the XO-1.75.

[via GottaBeMobile]

Call me skeptical. Very skeptical.

Over the years, the One Laptop Per Child Project has over-promised and under-delivered time and time again. Remember that XO laptop? It was supposed to go for $99. Oops, missed that one by a pretty wide margin. How about those cool dual-screen XO-2s? Well, they never made it past the Photoshop renderings. Even with the help of Marvell, it’s very hard to see how they’re hitting the price point of $75 and still delivering on the promised functionality. Maybe it’s just me but this is starting to feel an awful lot like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football. Except the people who keet getting the football pulled away from them have neither the budget nor resources to make the same mistakes over and over again.

I can question the whole concept of the project and debate whether emerging markets need this device or anything like it. I can argue whether emerging countries that lack food, water, medicine and other basic services need devices that can connect to the Internet before they get the basics that developed countries take for granted. (One feature of the XO was the ability to secure it to make sure it wouldn’t work outside of the target network, discouraging people from selling the devices for things they might actually need.)

Even if you think the idea has merit, it doesn’t appear that the OLPC folks know how to deliver. Comments that the XO set the foundation for netbooks are just ludicrous. Sure netbooks came after the OLPC but the idea that the XO was responsible for that phenomena is silly. Post hoc, ergo propter hoc is Latin for “after it, therefore because of it”. Except it’s almost never the case in reality and it’s amusing to see people pointing to the netbook as a positive result of the OLPC much like Tang was a byproduct of the US space program.

It’s hard not to appreciate what the OLPC folks are trying to do. It’s aspirational. It’s inspirational. It’s noble. They’re not in this for fortune, fame or glory but the desire to help people. It’s hard to criticize that. It is, however, perhaps time to realize that this is turning into a tremendous waste of time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere. I’m tired of the press reporting on one more initiative and program reboot as if there was something of substance. Perhaps I’m wrong and we’ll see come January, but as far as I’m concerned it’s time for the OLPC organization to be quiet for a change. When you’ve really got something real to deliver, let’s talk. Until then, this is just more hype and vapor of the worst kind.

They envisaged the XO-3 as a super-slim slate with an 8.5 x 11 inch touchscreen, water resistant casing and inductive charging system.  The Moby platform, however, is a little more mainstream in its abilities; all the OLPC press release confirms are video input, haptic feedback and multi-touch interfaces, as well as USB support for “traditional and non-traditional peripherals.”

While Moby is also capable of 1080p HD video, that’s unlikely to be a priority in the sort of environments the XO-3 will be deployed to.  Instead, they’ll more likely be interested in its lengthy battery life potential and its integrated WiFi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity.  Pricing was originally tipped as $100 for the XO-3, back when OLPC were expecting it to arrive in 2012; they now say they’ve accelerated development and shaved off almost two years.

Press Release:

One Laptop per Child and Marvell Join Forces to Redefine the Tablet Computer

New Family of Tablets to Provide Rich Learning Environment at Low Cost

Cambridge, Mass. and Santa Clara, Calif., May 27, 2010 – One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a global organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education, and Marvell, a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, have signed an agreement to jointly develop the family of next-generation OLPC XO devices. The advanced tablet based on the Marvell® Moby platform will provide educators and children around the world with an affordable, rugged, low-power tool to explore, to create and to collaborate, as well as have access to 1.7 million free books.

In December 2009, OLPC announced plans to develop a student tablet computer called XO 3.0 by the end of 2012. By leveraging the Marvell Moby tablet reference design for the device, shipment of the XO 3.0 will be accelerated by nearly two-years. Marvell announced its Moby reference design for the education and healthcare markets in the last few months. The Company has also launched Mobylize, a global campaign aimed at improving technology adoption in the world’s classrooms.

One of the most compelling practical applications of the Moby-based XO 3.0 is that it will make it possible for children, teachers, parents and communities around the world to access educational content that cannot be presented easily, or occasionally at all, in textbook form. The XO 3.0 will deliver a unique tablet experience that can support rich and engaging computing environments critical to a proper learning opportunity.

“While devices like eReaders and current tablets are terrific literary, media and entertainment platforms, they don’t meet the needs of an educational model based on making things, versus just consuming them. Today’s learning environments require robust platforms for computation, content creation and experimentation – and all that at a very low cost,” said Dr. Nicholas Negroponte, Founder and Chairman of One Laptop per Child. “Through our partnership with Marvell, OLPC will continue our focus on designing computers that enable children in the developing world to learn through collaboration, as well as providing connectivity to the world’s body of knowledge.”

“Marvell has made a long-term commitment to improving education and inspiring a revolution in the application of technology in the classroom. The Moby tablet platform – and our partnership with One Laptop per Child – represents our joint passion and commitment to give students the power to learn, create, connect and collaborate in entirely new ways,” said Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer and Computing Business Unit. “Marvell’s cutting edge technology – including live content, high quality video (1080p full-HD encode and code), high performance 3D graphics, Full Flash Internet and two-way teleconferencing-gives every student, regardless of learning style, the tools they need to grow and succeed. I am immensely proud of the capability of our Moby tablet and I am extremely honored to partner with the inventor of the netbook market for education, Dr. Nicholas Negroponte. I applaud his leadership, vision, passion and together we will make the world a better place.”

The new tablet computers from OLPC will feature video input, haptic feedback and multi-touch interfaces, as well as full USB support for traditional and non-traditional peripherals.

About the One Laptop per Child Foundation

The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC at http://www.laptop.org) is a nonprofit organization created by Nicholas Negroponte and others from the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are inexpensive enough to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. OLPC and MIT have at all times been and remain separate institutions.

About Marvell Moby Tablet Platform and Mobylize.org

Powered by a high-performance, highly scalable, and low-power Marvell ARMADA™ 610 application processor, the Moby tablet features gigahertz processor speed, 1080p full-HD encode and decode, intelligent power management, power-efficient Marvell 11n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity, high performance 3D graphics and support for multiple software standards including full Adobe Flash, Android™, Windows Mobile and Ubuntu. The Moby platform also features a built–in camera for live video conferencing, multiple simultaneous viewing screens and Marvell’s 11n Mobile Hotspot which allows Wi-Fi access that supports up to eight concurrent users connected to the Internet via a cellular broadband connection. The ultra low power mobile tablet is expressly for long-battery life. For more information, visit www.mobylize.org.

About Marvell

Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a world leader in the development of storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions. The company’s diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless, and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure including enterprise, metro, home, and storage networking. As used in this release, the terms “company” and “Marvell” refer to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit http://www.marvell.com.

The outcome of this new agreement will be that OLPC is allowed to use not only Qi 3qi displays in their future XO laptops, but to the over seventy patents currently held or in process together with any new technologies Pixel Qi later come up with.  For their own part, Pixel Qi gets full license to the dual-mode XO panels.

There’s no word on when we could see the first XO laptop with a Pixel Qi display, nor whether it will be a new model or a retrofit to an existing XO-1.  Frankly we’re still more interested in the Notion Ink Adam tablet, which also uses a 3qi panel but pairs it with NVIDIA’s second-gen Tegra.

Press Release:

ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD AND PIXEL QI SIGN CROSS-LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR SCREEN TECHNOLOGY

Partnership to yield the world’s most advanced and lowest power laptop screens

Cambridge, Mass. and San Bruno, Calif., March 30, 2010 – The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education, and Pixel Qi Corporation, an innovator in high-performance, low-power displays, have signed a permanent and royalty-free cross-licensing agreement that will allow both organizations to deliver products incorporating the world’s most advanced screen technology.

As a result of the agreement, OLPC receives full license to all Pixel Qi “3qi” screen technology, including 70+ patents in process and all current and future IP developed by Pixel Qi for multi-mode screens. Pixel Qi is leading the design of new screens for OLPC’s next-generation XO laptops. The agreement also calls for Pixel Qi to receive full license to the dual-mode (indoor and outdoor) display technology used in the XO.

“A huge barrier to getting computers to mass use in the developing world is limited access to electricity. Pixel Qi is designing new screens for OLPC that will keep laptops going even longer between recharges and excel in long-form reading while providing color and video,” said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child. “Furthermore, we are not aware of any blanket technology license of this scale of current and future inventions by a commercial firm to a non-profit humanitarian effort and hope to set an example for other corporations to follow.”

Mary Lou Jepsen, founder and CEO of Pixel Qi, added, “OLPC’s focus on the need for low-cost, low-power devices led me to invent power-efficient LCD screens that are optimized for reading. Commercial tablets, notebook computers and smart phones have precisely the same needs. This is one of the few examples in which cutting-edge computer technology first deployed for developing nations benefits the developed world as well.”

About the One Laptop per Child Foundation
The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC at http://www.laptop.org) is a nonprofit organization created by Nicholas Negroponte and others from the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are inexpensive enough to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education. OLPC and MIT have at all times been and remain separate institutions.

About Pixel Qi Corporation
Pixel Qi Corporation (http://www.pixelqi.com) has started production of a new class of screens combining an e-paper look with color and video. These screens offer dramatically lower power consumption, full sunlight readability, and stunning text rendering for reading. The screens are ramping into high-volume mass production in 2010, use standard LCD manufacturing equipment and materials with a full suite of new inventions to give users real benefits they can see. Two years ago, Mary Lou Jepsen left OLPC to found Pixel Qi and advance screen technology she initially developed while she was the founding Chief Technology Officer at OLPC.

The FCC filings contain label pictures of the device, as well as a test report that reveals 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi support.  Further details have not been shown, but it has been previously noted to be equipped with a VIA C7-M processor running at double the speed as the XO-1, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of storage, and an upgraded Via chipset to feature a 3D graphics engine and HD video decoding.

Availability of the XO-15 has been kept mum, but the FCC filing is a marker that the device is soon to be released.

Like the mythical predecessors that came before it, the new device is said to have an 8.5 x 11 inch touch screen made by Pixel Qi with an indoor/outdoor display, use inductive charging (like the Palm Pre), will be waterproof and cost no more than $100. Of course, you can’t buy or order one as they’re targeting 2012 for the ship date. I’ve been asked by a few folks how the OLPC project could manage this with their current specifications and the answer is simple: they won’t be able to. In the meantime, some other interim device based on the original model, with slightly more functional specs is to be released. This is another case of more time and money being wasted on a dubious and unobtainable dream.

I’ve talked in the past about why this program is not a good idea but forget that for a moment. Let’s assume we all agree that education in emerging markets is critical. We know that while there’s no silver bullet to cure the ills of society, education comes pretty close. Today, that means education with the ability to be part of the digital community. This project is not the answer.

Look at the issues related to the notion of the $100 laptop (which ended up costing a lot more than a $100 and will continue to do so) such as who will program them? How will they be repaired? What’s the courseware and curriculum? Now listen to the answers (mostly, the kids will do it all) and you realize there’s a real problem as a good deal of this intended market is illiterate. As this project continues to fail, those countries that have gambled and invested in it do not have the money and resources for a “do over”. While there’s been a lot of flaming about those who are bringing up objections to the project, this is something that’s too important to get wrong and it’s time to start thinking elsewhere and thinking in a different way how to solve this problem.

It’s not clear to me that there’s one correct approach to the problem, but it does seem like the one approach that got all the attention and the buzz had the most margin for error and little chance for success. At the same time, there needs to be a re-think on the degree of priority of computers in emerging markets. One of the most talked about features of the first OLPC prototypes were the hand cranks to power them. Did no one ever consider that in places where computers need to be cranked to powered there might be more pressing issues than getting on the internet and using Twitter? Such as; Electricity? Medicine? Clean water?

While a noble concept in the ideal, it’s time to call the OLPC project and it’s all gimmicks, odd promotions (such as the “Give One, Get One”, where US citizens could “buy” an OLPC at double the cost, with the idea that the other one would be given away. It was a failed program two years running and mercifully not repeated this year) what it is, a failure. Let’s get companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, HP and Google among others to tackle the issue of global literacy in the digital age as a product they must all share the burden in and reap the rewards. Education is indeed a silver bullet that can cure much of what ails society, but at the same time focus must be kept on real issues such as clean water, food to eat and elimination of disease. More money spent on a mythical tablet that will likely never see the light of day isn’t innovative, it’s just tragic.

Some of OLPC’s aims are less believable than others; the XO-3 is tipped to use less than a watt of power and have – according to Forbes – an 8GHz processor, despite being half as thick as an iPhone.  A camera on the back and an integrated carrying loop round out the design.  OLPC head Nicholas Negroponte has said that the company may not actually end up building the XO-3 themselves; instead they’re hoping to pressure the market into developing low-cost educational PCs.

Unfortunately, even if OLPC do produce it, there’s some time to wait before you can buy an XO-3; the tablet isn’t expected to reach the market until 2012.  In the meantime, as we heard before, there’s an XO-1.5 coming in January 2010 which will use the same design as the XO-1 but have a VIA processor running at twice the speed of the existing model, and four times the RAM and flash storage.  It will be priced at $200, and followed by the XO-1.75 in early 2011 which will cost $150, have a touchscreen and add rubber bumpers to the XO-1 design.  It will use a Marvell ARM-based processor and go on sale alongside the XO-1.5.

[Thanks Barry!]

In comparison to the previous version, Sugar on a Stick v.2 Blueberry cleans up the OS’ navigation, improves networking support, streamlines Activities updates and boosts Gnash and Flash support.  Sugar Labs have also loaded in some new applications, alongside the existing apps for text-to-speech and other functionality.

Any 1GB flash drive can be used, with Sugar on a Stick running directly from that drive rather than requiring installation.  Meanwhile there’s a new site – RecycleUSB – that allows people to donate their unwanted USB drives to be repurposed into “portable learning centers” for 5-12 year olds.

Update: NewGadgets.de were on hand this morning to catch the official launch of v.2 Blueberry on video:

[via Electronista]

I  am recounting my mom’s first experiences with the iPhone not only for your amusement—though it was incredibly funny—but also to share with you how her wonderment and reactions triggered a set of thoughts and feelings. Perhaps being in the throes of Thanksgiving and the holiday season intensified my response, but as a technology journalist and gadget fanatic I found myself reflecting on the impressiveness of our technology today and how much I take it for granted. It surely was a change from criticizing operating systems and the maker’s of the BlackBerry!

While my mother was elated about the ease-of-use and animated features of her new phone as well as what she could now do on-the-go, I was equally excited to teach her how to use the iPhone and open this undiscovered world to her. Rarely, if ever, do I stop to think about people who stick to the simplest functions on their desktops or cellphones because they are fearful about venturing into new technology territory or those who don’t even have access to the Internet or the money to buy a computer.

One of my favorite holiday technology gifts for the past two years has been One Laptop per Child’s (OLPC) Give 1, Get 1 program. The program, which is not been continued this holiday season, offered individuals the opportunity to buy the non-profit’s XO laptop for $399, while at the same time giving a child of the developing world an XO of their own. OLPC also allowed those who wanted to just give a laptop the ability to do so by donating $199. One of the most personally rewarding experiences of my life was starting a pilot project in Mali, Africa when I worked at LAPTOP Magazine. The bright green, educational XO laptops brought incredible smiles to children’s faces that had never seen computers before and, even more importantly, put a connected and digital learning tool in their small hands. This holiday season, you can still make a donation to OLPC or to another program that helps provide computers and technology to kids in need such as LittleGeeks and GeekCorps.

Technology adds new dimensions to my life on a daily basis and enabling it to do the same for others is an incredibly rewarding experience. Teaching someone how to do more with their phone or laptop or buying a low-cost computer for someone who cannot afford one is a wonderful way to give and open the digital world we cherish so much to others that may be more timid or underprivileged. So, beyond hopping onto the next new app or buying that new gadget you are lusting for, try giving a bit of your tech  know-how to someone or make a small investment in bringing the digital to someone you don’t even know.  Believe me, you will be glad you did; and may even get a few laughs in the process.

More OLPC model 3.0 details after the cut

“Not much to say [about the OLPC model 3.0] other than its aspirational aspects: 3.0 is a single sheet, completely plastic and unbreakable, waterproof, 1/4″ thick, full color, reflective and transmissive, no bezel, no holes. 1W. $75, ready in 2012″ Nicholas Negroponte, chairman, OLPC

Whereas the model 2.0 was to have dual touchscreens and a form-factor that could be used either as a traditional laptop or as an ebook, the new model 3.0 will have a more straightforward single-sheet design.  In fact it sounds a little like Plastic Logic‘s ebook reader, only using a reflective/transmissive display – likely courtesy of Pixel Qi – and requiring just 1W of power.

In the meantime, the current XO-1 will see an update, with the existing processor switched out for an ARM chip.  Eventually there will be a no-cost connectivity option too, though Negroponte says that has been the slowest element of the package to get up and running.  He claims to have shipped 1.1m XO-1 units, with a manufacturing backlog of 400,000-700,000.

[via Slashdot]

India’s challenger, however, was revealed to be a basic storage device that required connection to external peripherals – including a display – in order to access saved education materials.  The final nail in the device was its estimated price-tag, which turned out to be three-times the original much-vaunted $10 figure.

No timescale for the delivery of the XO laptops has been revealed, although the Indian government has made public its plans to distribute the machines to students throughout the country.  OLPC recently announced that they would be switching from AMD chips to the VIA C7-M processor in future XO models, together with a RAM boost to 1GB and storage to 4GB.

According to the company’s chief, Mary Lou Jepsen, the new screens would eventually have touchscreen features. The goal here is to make a screen that can be read under full daylight, use the least amount of power possible and do more than just show images.

There’s a real desire to add touch functionality. While Pixel Qi displays have been used primarily in OLPC notebooks so far, they can now also be used in products for other companies, though who they are is not yet known.

[via Electronista]

There’s a known-compatibility list here, out of which the most interesting entry so far is probably the Acer Aspire One netbook listing.  The Aspire One is certainly more readily found, either new or second-hand, and so the news that it runs Sugar with no obvious issues is great.

The eventual goal is to be able to give students a working, stable version of their own Sugar environment that they can run on any computer they encounter.  It’s also a great way for those wanting the child-friendly simplicity of OLPC’s software environment on their existing hardware, without spending money on an actual OLPC XO-1 notebook.

[via Twitter]

“One important thing about the XO-2 is that we’re going to do it as an open source hardware programme. The XO-1 was really designed as if we were Apple. The XO-2 will be designed as if we were Google – we’ll want people to copy it. We’ll make the constituent parts available. We’ll try and get it out there using the exact opposite approach that we did with the XO-1. We had to do the XO this way because everybody said it couldn’t be done. We purposely designed a special-purpose, award-winning museum of modern art piece. The next one will be different: everything from the dual display to the touch-sensitive, force-feedback, haptic keyboard will be available” Nicholas Negroponte

What’s less clear is whether the OLPC project’s new approach will result in a simple reference design – therefore leaving production models up to third-party manufacturers – or if they’re planning their own hardware release.  If the former, it could delay the arrival of the XO-2 as OEMs examine the open-source hardware specs and develop their own machines.

Negroponte also confirmed the $75 target price for the XO-2, explaining that the focus of the new machine will be books.  “Suddenly a village can have 10,000 books,” he explained, ”which is more than we had in school.”

[via GottaBeMobile]

What still isn’t entirely clear is how costs can be brought down to such an extent.  Currently the price is working out to around double the budget per machine – still an impressive feat by itself – but a secretary for education in the Indian government believes that will change once it enters production: “At this stage, the price is working out to be $20 but with mass production it is bound to come down.”

India rejected the OLPC XO-1 notebook claiming that the total cost per unit of $200 was simply too expensive to consider a full-scale roll-out.  Instead, the government invested in e-classroom technologies – including four mainstream textbook publishers, around 5-percent of whose content will be offered free - and is considering a plan to subsidize internet connections for every school.

[via Slashdot]

It’s unlikely that Amazon actually intend to cancel the orders; instead, the system is intended to protect Amazon Marketplace customers from sellers slow to send out their goods.  However if the whole cancellation process is just as automatic as the warning email, it could become a logistical headache for all involved.

Amazon UK themselves are not listing the OLPC XO-1 as available for shipping until January 3rd, 2009.  The laptop retails for $199 if a buyer merely wants to donate an XO-1, while $399 gets an XO-1 for both donation and for the purchaser.

[via Engadget]

“At Pixel Qi, we have a new series of inventions that go well beyond the OLPC screen that we are developing right now… We can enable an increase of 5-10X battery life between charges compared with a standard notebook. This means that rather than needing to recharge your batteries every few hours, you could run 20-40 hours of use on a one charge”

First, however, will be an indoor/outdoor readable screen that offers both direct sunlight and HDTV-quality modes. That’s expected to emerge in products in the second half of 2009. It’s uncertain whether the product they grace will be the $75 notebook Jepsen promised back in January.

Pixel Qi’s displays are particularly promising not only because of their low power requirements but their compatibility with existing manufacturing processes.  They are made from traditional LCD materials on the same production lines; however the company has not confirmed which manufacturer will be responsible for producing the Pixel Qi displays.

[via Gizmodo]

Outside of the US, the Amazon UK site will be handling all orders.  Deliveries are expected to begin in Q1 2009, or perhaps later.  The machines in question will be running Linux, rather than the Windows XP build specially customized for the XO’s hardware.  Interestingly, several companies – Google and SWIFT being two examples – are pledging to meet and double their employees’ donations.

Over 100,000 XO notebooks were donated to developing countries when the Give One, Get One scheme ran last year.  Apparently more buyers chose to donate than to buy for themselves.  The US site is http://www.amazon.com/xo while the site for purchases outside of the US is http://www.amazon.co.uk/xo; however, at time of writing it does not appear to be live.

Connectivity looks less impressive than with the original Sugar OS, supporting the standard Windows WiFi functionality but not the Linux OS’ ability to create and join mesh networks.  Software speed is another potential handicap, as while some apps load relatively quickly – for instance Internet Explorer at 5s – others drag significantly; Word 2003 loaded only after 42 seconds.

Laptop Mag say they think XP on the XO-1 has promise, but that it’s not ready for prime-time.  In their favor, the OLPC team are still working on the implementation, and things could speed up before it actually releases.  Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if young people using the netbook would eventually default to using Sugar aside from when Microsoft compatibility is essential.

While with OLPC, Laptop Mag also discussed the XO-2 follow-up to the original laptop.  The company still stands by its original renders, which suggested the XO-2 would feature a dual-touchscreen design with multitouch and haptic feedback.  Apparently they’re already working on the hardware internally, as well as the software, while PixelQi are investigating different screen technologies.  OLPC expect to have the first working units – which will be around the size of a book when closed – in 2009.

Windows on the OLPC device was rumored for some time, with Microsoft claiming it was unsure whether their OS would work on the low-cost XO notebook.  Both companies officially announced the partnership back in May, at which point they suggested the Windows versions would ship in August or September.

However the tweaked software will not be available for those individuals who have already acquired an XO.  A limited number of buyers were able to purchase the notebook through the OLPC “Give 1, Get 1″ program, in which individuals bought two XO machines, one for themselves and one for donation to an underprivileged young person.

“Windows on the XO looks like it is on track for availability in these types of national educational PC deals in September. We still have no plans to make Windows available for individuals who bought an XO in the Give 1 Get 1 program though” James Utzschneider, General Manager of Marketing and Communications, Unlimited Potential Group

Anyone care to guess how long before the modified OS finds its way onto the BitTorrent sites?

[via ZDNet]

According to Jepsen, the touchscreens’ commercial viability is down to the way the MultiTouch is integrated into the LCD itself, rather than being added as a separate layer in the manner of the iPhone.  That not only makes it cheaper to produce, but it increases image quality because there’s no layer on top of the LCD.  Jepsen also claims to have “a new architecture” that will “drastically cut” the power demands of the panels while also increasing readability; useful when the OLPC team are aiming for a mere 1 watt draw.

“I can’t share our partners names at this time. We are working with large, tier-one laptop, cell phones, and e-book makers” Mary Lou Jepsen, PixelQi

Pen-input for the XO-2 is yet to be decided, although Foley describes it as “not that hard” to incorporate, and the PixelQi team is currently working on haptic feedback.  That would give a physical response to on-screen controls, and could make a big difference in QWERTY keyboard usability. 

Elsewhere in gaming, Nintendo finally announced a range of new DS colors, as has been rumored for some time now.  They’ll be available in Europe at first; as was the Wii Fit, which launched in the US this week.  Make sure to check out our first-impressions of the innovative exercise accessory, together with our exclusive unboxing video.  We’ve also been looking at the latest Guitar Hero World Tour drums video, and as you might expect there’s controversy raging in the comments about the music peripheral.  Personally, I’m more impressed by the Apple remote stuffed into an original NES controller.

Lest Alienware and Acer thought they’d have the PC headlines to themselves, ultraportable devices struck back with some news of their own.  Samsung decided this week to confirm it would be creating a new UMPC range for launch in Q1 2009, while ASUS could be stepping on their toes with a touchscreen Eee tablet.  Neither idea is quite as unbelievable as OLPC’s XO-2 concept, however; the One-Laptop-Per-Child team believe they can build a dual-touchscreen notebook with a $75 price-tag by 2010.  Perhaps they should be concentrating on hitting their original $100 target for the first-gen laptop, rather than playing around with eye-catching renders.

In entertainment, Samsung demonstrated its latest monster TV, an 82-inch behemoth that not only has the screen real-estate but the resolution to match.  Quad-HD – that’s 2160p or 3,840 x 2,160 – with 50-percent more color saturation than rivals, analysts are sniffy as to whether there’ll be any takers.  Set to be more successful, then, is the Netflix Player by Roku, which launched on Monday.  A compact media-streaming box, the $100 device gives access to 10,000 film and TV titles from the company’s catalog, streaming them over your home broadband connection. 

We also took a look at the Jawbone 2, Aliph’s update to the incredibly popular noise-reducing Bluetooth headset.  Vincent, who is normally surgically-attached to his BlueAnt Z9, even went so far as to describe the Jawbone 2 as “the ultimate in Bluetooth headsets”.  If you’ve even a passing interest in hands-free accessories, or have been tempted to pick up a cheap headset for use in the car, you owe it to your ears to check out our exclusive Jawbone 2 video walk-through and gallery.

The SlashGear team will be taking a break this holiday weekend to spend some offline time with family and friends.  We hope you’re having a great weekend, and we’ll be back to bringing you the latest and greatest in consumer tech on Tuesday!

It’s expected to be half the size of the current XO, folding up to make it book-scale.  Opened fully and the screens should make for a seamless interface.  They’re also aiming for 1 watt power consumption and, more surprisingly, a $75 price point (with just an estimated $20 set aside for those slick displays).

As for the current XO notebook, OLPC are starting up their “Give 1, Get 1″ scheme again.  As of August or September this year, buyers will be able to get one for themselves as well as have one donated to a child in the developing world.  It was originally priced at $399 in the scheme.

Press Release:

Cambridge, Mass., May 20, 2008 – One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organization focused on providing educational tools to help children in developing countries “learn learning,” announced today that work is already underway on a second- generation version of its revolutionary XO laptop computer. Leveraging new advances in technology, the primary goal of the “XO-2″ will be to advance new concepts of learning as well as to further drive down the cost of the laptop so that it is affordable for volume purchase by developing nations.

“Based on feedback from governments, educators and most important, from the children themselves, we are aggressively working to lower the cost, power and size of the XO laptop so that it is more affordable and useable by the world’s poorest children,” said Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child. “The delivery of the first generation XO laptop has sparked tremendous global interest in the project and provided valuable input on how to make the XO laptop an even better learning tool moving forward.”

“One Laptop per Child and the XO laptop are crucial to the fulfillment of the proposed UN Ninth Millennium Goal: to ensure that every child between the ages of 6 and 12 has immediate access to a personal laptop computer by 2015, said, Nirj Deva, Member of the European Parliament. “It’s only through access to education that young people will be able to develop the skills necessary to compete globally and to develop the solutions required to break the cycles of poverty, disease and malnutrition. Learning unites the child with the world, binds the village into a community, and joins that community to the global village.”

The first generation XO laptop went into production in early November 2007, and there are approximately 600,000 units in deployment in a number of countries including Peru, Uruguay, Mongolia, Haiti, Rwanda, Mexico, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the US and Canada (as a result of the Give One Get One charitable giving campaign that ran last November 12 – December 31, 2007). Key goals for the XO-2 include:

Cost Reduction – Set in early 2005, the original target price of the XO laptop was $100. Although that target has not yet been met (it is now at $188), it is clear that OLPC must aim for an even lower target price of $75. New developments in display, processor and other hardware and software technologies will make it possible to achieve the $75 target in the future.

Lower Power Consumption – While the first generation XO laptop already requires just one-tenth (2-4 watts versus 20-40 watts) of the electrical power necessary to run a standard laptop, the XO-2 will reduce power consumption even further to 1 watt. This is particularly important for children in remote and rural environments where electricity is scarce or non-existent. Lowering the power consumption will reduce the amount of time required for children to generate power themselves via a hand crank or other manual mechanisms.

Smaller Footprint – The XO-2 laptop will be about half the size of the first generation device and will approximate the size of a book. The new design will make the XO laptop lighter and easier for children to carry with them to and from school or wherever they go. The XO-2 will continue to be in a green and white case and sport the XO logo in a multitude of colors that allow children to personalize the laptop as their own possession.

Enhanced Book Experience – Dual-touch sensitive displays will be used to enhance the e-book experience, with a dual-mode display similar to the current XO laptop. The design provides a right and left page in vertical format, a hinged laptop in horizontal format, and a flat two-screen wide continuous surface that can be used in tablet mode. Younger children will be able to use simple keyboards to get going, and older children will be able to switch between keyboards customized for applications as well as for multiple languages. The dual-touch display is being designed by Pixel Qi, which was founded in early 2008 by Mary Lou Jepsen, former chief technology officer of One Laptop per Children and a leading expert on display technology.

[via Laptop Mag]

Grown up laptops made headlines too, courtesy of Acer and OCZ.  The former finally rolled out their Aspire Gemstone Blue media laptops, which boast true high-definition screens among other things, while the latter unveiled a DIY gaming notebook in which you select your own components.  Whether there’s a market for it remains to be seen.

In gaming news, there was happiness for Wii owners as Nintendo launched WiiWare, a download service offering mini-games.  It kicked off with just six titles available, but expect that number to bloom once developers get to grips with the system.  For PC gamers, though, there’s been disappointment, as Lucasarts explained they wouldn’t be releasing a PC version of the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game.  It seems the PC’s flexibility has been its downfall here; the studio claimed the broad spectrum of computing capabilities meant standardising the experience was impossible.  If reading that makes you angry, then how about a bash on the Guitar Hero IV drum kit, which was spotted for the first time this week.

Elsewhere, we’ve seen Microsoft’s cheaper alternative to the Surface multitouch table, TouchWall (which they’re still refusing to release), a Blue Phase LCD panel prototype from Samsung, and leaked information on the ATI Radeon HD 4800-series video cards which should launch next month.  Bizarrely, there’s also been a set of jet-propelled personal rocket wings and a solar-powered bra (and here’s me not even realising bras needed to be powered – oh, the relentless march of technology!)

RIM held up their hands this week, waving an official launch of the BlackBerry Bold, the phone previously known as the 9000-series and the company’s first 3G device.  Despite review handsets being far from anybody’s hands, the debate as to whether it’s an iPhone-killer has already started in earnest.  Apple, though, are too busy preparing for WWDC ’08, with a confirmed Steve Jobs keynote and an ongoing 3G iPhone rumor, that’ll kick off June 9th.  We’ll have live keynote coverage over at iPhone Buzz, so make sure to join us then!

We also reached a personal milestone this week: 10,000 posts on SlashGear.  It’s taken a little under three years to reach that point, and in the meantime our family in the blogosphere has been growing.  We’ve a dedicated iPhone & Mac Tablet site, iPhone Buzz, and two cellphone sites; PHONE Magazine caters more to the North American market, while SlashPhone concentrates on Europe and Asia.  We’re really excited about what the next 10,000 posts on SlashGear might hold; thanks for reading!

“We view it as a major opportunity for OLPC to expand and expand in a couple of ways. One is to have a broader acceptance in the community and the other is to have more software and software developers available” Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC founder

The ability to run Windows has been a deal-breaker in several of the countries OLPC has negotiated deals with. Negroponte quotes Uruguay as insisting that any machines they ordered must be compatible with the Microsoft OS. While others have been less demanding, the project founder describes the software confirmation as a “virility test”.

In order to get XP working with the XO, Microsoft had to develop a way for the OS to boot from an SD card. It also needed to code new drivers for the laptop’s touchpad and convertible eBook reading-mode. Meanwhile, OLPC is looking to port their unique Sugar GUI over to Windows, though whether this will be solely for the XP version of the XO or made available to other machines is unclear.

No confirmation of which six countries will be first to get the Windows OLPC notebook has been given.

[via ZDNet]

The requirements are quite low too, you must have an OLPC, you must have a developer key or have disabled security prior to this hack, and you must be perfectly OK with bricking your OLPC if you screw up. The upside is that there is at least one report of someone overclocking their OLPC to 566/233 without having any issues such as system instability or overheating.

[Photo Credit: Aaron]

566/233 is a 30% boost in CPU speed and a 40% boost in memory performance, which according to the gentleman ends up being an overall 21.8% system performance boost. Although chances are your battery life will probably drop, but the guy didn’t note how much his dropped, but for that kind of a performance boost I’d say it was worth it.

[via OLPCNews]

Is it any good?  Brian comes away generally impressed, citing the OLPC’s ease of use, long battery life and great screen as ample reasons to like it.  However, it’s not all good news: multimedia and internet browsing get a tongue-lashing. 

If you’ve considered the XO-1 for you or your kids, it’s well worth reading the whole review.

OLPC XO Hands-On [Reg Hardware]

“While we have investigated the possibility in the past, Microsoft is not developing dual-boot Windows XP support for One Laptop Per Child’s XO laptop. As we announced in December, Microsoft plans to publish formal design guidelines early this year that will assist flash-based device manufacturers in designing machines that enable a high-quality Windows experience. Our current goal remains to provide a high-quality Windows experience on the XO device.

In addition, there will be limited field trials in January 2008 of Windows XP for One Laptop Per Child’s XO laptop. Microsoft recommends contacting the company directly for any further updates”  Microsoft statement

Ironically, the same announcement/denial was played out last year, with Negroponte declaring that OLPC would run Windows XP back in April, before Microsoft shot the rumors down the following month.

It seems to be the case that while Microsoft is keen to ensure Windows can run on small, low-power computers – which is of course in its best interest in terms of OS sales - a willingness to experiment with whatever machine you’ve developed doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be adding its name to said-device’s list of proponents.

OLPC are yet to comment on the matter.

[via ZDNet]

“Spinning out from OLPC enables the development of a new machine, beyond the XO, while leveraging a larger market for new technologies, beyond just OLPC: prices for next-generation hardware can be brought down by allowing multiple uses of the key technology advances” Pixel Qi statement 

Despite criticism voiced at her departure from OLPC a fortnight ago, that she was exploiting the not-for-profit ethos of Nicholas Negroponte’s initial scheme, Jepsen maintains that she will continue to provide key products to them “at cost”, while leveraging commercial applications elsewhere.  Pixel Qi sees applications of its technology in mainstream laptops, cellphones and digital cameras.

Pixel Qi [via NY Times]

Although there were rumors that the device would run Windows early last year, at the time it was dismissed and any cooperation between Microsoft and the OLPC team denied.  Now, talks are apparently in progress with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation regarding incorporating the OLPC machine in the educational programmes Microsoft runs in developing countries, with Windows XP already operating “very fast” on the XO1.

It’s a move that could dismay the Linux and open-source communities, who saw the OLPC – and its use of the Fedora OS - as a poster-child for the transparent software movement.  Nicholas Negroponte, chairman of OLPC, described Microsoft’s newly-grown affection for open-source development as key to the change.

via Yahoo! News

Unfortunately for Intel, the official – Oscar Becerra Tresierra, vice minister of education in Peru – is also a longtime acquaintance of OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte, and passed details of the saleswoman’s tactics to his team.  According to Negroponte, this is not the first time Intel has stepped on OLPC’s toes: in October last year an Intel official supposedly gave the Mongolian government a side-by-side comparison of the XO1 and the Classmate PC, contrary to a non-disparagement clause in their agreement, and he alleges that the company has also tried suggested to potential buyers that, from their position on the OLPC board, they were aware that Negroponte’s company was experiencing troubles.

“They played another dirty trick in Peru.  It’s a little bit like McDonald’s competing with the World Food Program” Nicholas Negroponte, OLPC

Intel still maintains that the disagreement and its resignation was due to “a philosophical impasse” based on the two low-cost machines.  Estimates for this years XO1 sales have been dropped from five million to 2-3 million, with OLPC promising the announcement of a “major order” on Monday.

New York Times [via Slashdot]