Communications of the ACM
Olpc nveils Slimline Tablet Pc
One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) recently announced that the latest version of the XO laptop series, the XO-3, will be available in 2012 and will cost less than $100. The XO-3 will be a slim-line touchscreen tablet PC that features a camera, an induction charger, and a carrying ring on one of its corners. It replaces the proposed XO-2, a foldable e-book, which was displayed last year but was never produced and OLPC has since scrapped.
The XO-3 will feature design elements from the XO-1.75, which is set for launch in 2011 and features an ARM processor as well as technologies, such as a touchscreen, intended for the XO-3. The original XO laptop, which currently sells for about $200, has been distributed to more than 1.4 million children in 35 countries.
OLPC Europe CEO Walter de Brouwer says that constantly decreasing electronics prices should enable the group to sell the latest machines in bulk to governments for significantly less. He says governments could pay OLPC back over a number of years, enabling students to have a laptop for less than one euro per month.
De Brouwer emphasizes that OLPC is not a laptop company, and the organization recently announced that it would focus on promoting its concepts and education goals, instead of manufacturing. "The bigger appeal for us is deploying them and integrating them with education systems to transform a society," de Brouwer says.
From BBC News
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