OLPC heads towards mass production

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 24 July 2007 07:26

Your IT - Home IT

The One Laptop Per Child project's XO computer - sometimes, though currently inaccurately described as the '$100 laptop' - is set to go into production.

According to a BBC report, the first machines will be ready in October 2007. It is not known where they will be delivered, but Peru, Rwanda, Uruguay, Libya and Thailand are among the nations that have aligned themselves with the project.

The XO is designed to use as little power as possible - currently around 6W maximum - as the idea is that it will be driven by solar or human-powered chargers. For example, the colour screen can be switched to a non-backlit black and white mode that is visible in bright sunlight while using less power.

The development team believes there are areas where power consumption can be shaved further, such as wireless networking.

Intel has been promoting the Classmate PC (its own commercial equivalent to the XO), but earlier this month it joined the OLPC board and agreed to "explore collaborations involving technology and educational content" with OLPC.