Modern computers aren’t just a lot faster than the PCs you probably used ten or fifteen years ago — they also use a lot less power. But most computers designed to run desktop operating systems still use enough energy that they can’t, say, run directly off the power generated by a small solar panel. But OLPC is demonstrating that its…
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One Laptop Per Child might need to change its name soon, now that the organization is preparing to launch a $100 tablet. But the folks behind the original XO Laptop haven’t given up on cheap notebooks. In fact, they’re preparing to launch a new model in March. The XO-1.75 will feature a Marvell Armada PXA618 ARM-based processor. That’s the same…
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OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte’s next big idea sounds crazy… and that’s probably because it is. PC Magazine reports he wants to airdrop cheap tablet computers into remote villages without providing any instructions, teachers, or other forms of support. But developing an inexpensive durable, ultraportable laptop that could be used in the developing world seemed like a crazy idea a few…
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It’s easy to forget, what with tens of millions of low price, low power netbooks shipping over the last few years, but it’s likely that netbooks would never have hit the market if it weren’t for the OLPC XO Laptop. Nicholas Negroponte’s vision for a $100 laptop aimed at students in developing nations has turned into more of a $200ish…
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The XO Laptop has a durable “membrane” keyboard which is designed to be water and dust resistant since the laptops were designed to stand up to harsh conditions in developing nations — and the abuse any computer can get at the hands of children. But an Australian Education Department IT officer noticed that kids like to pick at the keyboard,…
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One of the defining characteristics of the OLPC XO Laptop is the little computer’s distinctive green plastic design, which extends to the keyboard which has a membrane-style keyboard that’s resistant to spills and dust. But if you’ve ever actually tried using an XO Laptop, you may find the keyboard take s a little getting used to. More importantly, the silicone…
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Before starting Pixel Qi, Mary Lou Jepsen worked on the OLPC XO Laptop and helped design the cheap mini-laptop’s outdoor readable display. But that was a few years ago. Flash forward to 2010 and Pixel Qi has finally started producing and selling its new 3qi display which functions both as a full color screen indoors, and as a low power,…
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The original OLPC XO Laptop sparked the netbook revolution by showing that laptops could be tiny, cheap, and still pretty useful. But the laptop also broke the mold in a few other ways, by using a spill and dust resistant membrane keyboard, a durable plastic frame, and an innovative user interface called Sugar OS. While Sugar was designed to make…
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The One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s XO Laptop was designed to be cheap, durable, and usable in places without consistent access to electricity or the internet. And so one of the features that distinguished the first generation XO Laptop was the inclusion of “mesh networking,” which let computers create local networks by searching for other XO Laptops nearby and forming…
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The folks at One Laptop per Child appear to be taking a different approach toward their next-generation hardware. In fact, the next XO product won’t be a laptop at all. Instead it will be a tablet. And instead of designing the tablet in-house like it did the original XO Laptop, OLPC is working with chip maker Marvell to bring the…
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In an announcement that shouldn’t surprise anyone, the One Laptop Per Child folks have announced that they will be licensing Pixel Qi technology and outfitting future XO Laptops with 3qi displays. Pixel Qi was founded by Mary Lou Jepsen, who was one of the folks behind the design of the original XO Laptop. The Pixel Qi 3qi display is a…
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The OLPC XO Laptop is arguably the first netbook. It’s small, light, durable, and cheap. But the XO has always been aimed at the education market, with a focus primarily on getting computers into the hands of young children in developing nations. And that probably explains why the computer has an unusual, silicone keyboard with tiny keys. The keyboard is…
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