OLPC BTest-2 XO beta machine sequel arrives

Good things happened with that last round of test XO test machines, and now OLPC has shipped out round two, with an improved screen (now with real-live diffuser action), and at last the appearance of a touch pad. The main thrust of BTest-2 is mesh networking and suspend / resume functionality, the industrial design is relatively unchanged, since there wasn't enough time to implement changes found in BTest-1. The third BTest of this trilogy will be supposedly much more rugged -- for instance, Jean Piché already noticed some trackpad woes: "Because of blotches and air bubbles, I almost tried to peel off what seemed like a protective strip of paper on the trackpad. It's a mylar sheet not to be removed!" Thanks for the heads up, Jean. Now what nerdy prof do we need to mug to get a bit of BTest-2 up in the HQ?

[Via OLPC News, photo courtesy of Jacob Kaplan-Moss]

[lyl545646 @ Feb 27th 2007 9:27PM]

I am gonna be freak when the next person says:
"Can I run Doom on it?"

[Wayne @ Feb 27th 2007 9:27PM]

The professor (Rebecca Allen) for my Design + Society course at UCLA is actually very involved with the project. We even got a lecture / talk with Nicholas Negroponte. I had the privilege to play around with the prototype of the laptop. I'll have to say, it feels very solid and promising. It is definitely not a gadget. I am excited to see what becomes of this ambitious project.

Insider trivia: the white and green color scheme of the laptop is based on Nigeria flag (as a thank you for the support from the president).

[chadherrella @ Feb 27th 2007 10:18PM]

can you run doom on it? hehe 1st!

[lyl545646 @ Feb 27th 2007 10:23PM]

Aaahhhhhhh.....eerrrrr.....

[Moff @ Feb 27th 2007 10:48PM]

You know what will be great... When all the children of Africa can send me scam emails. :)

[Keaton @ Feb 27th 2007 11:08PM]

Hey we are raising a new generation of spammers! We should be proud ;-)

[Xero @ Feb 28th 2007 12:01AM]

Actually it does run Doom quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhQ5jIj5aw&mode=related&search=

And has excellent music software.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31L9qaxOrp0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwqt8NMT-zI

[Sloth @ Feb 28th 2007 12:06AM]

Actually it does play Doom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MhQ5jIj5aw

And it's also an excellent music player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31L9qaxOrp0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwqt8NMT-zI

[wayan @ Feb 28th 2007 1:08AM]

And if you are joe-cool, or a decent FOSS developer, you too can have your very own OLPC XO:

http://www.olpcnews.com/prototypes/olpc/own_olpc_xo_technology.html

[peshue @ Feb 28th 2007 1:17AM]

I hope a version of these gets sold in the us with profits going to the project or something like that. Even for $200 it'd be a nice to carry around for office and internet work.

[Rex @ Feb 28th 2007 8:59AM]

er, stupid question, whats with all the boxes on the screen, is that a spreadsheet?

[James @ Feb 28th 2007 3:57PM]

Last I heard, the plan was supposed to be to sell it for double the wholesale price, such that when you (the "developed world" consumer) buy an XO, the profit is used to provide a "developing world" child with an XO for free. I think that's about the best idea I've ever heard of, and will probably snatch one up as soon as they hit the market (if that is in fact the strategy they'll be pursuing).

[Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton @ Mar 2nd 2007 4:19PM]

OLPC hardware is available TO ANYONE - in the form of an independent product, from koolu.com.

the same motherboard is used as in the OLPC computers.

and because of the efficiency of the processor, and the fact that you can use 1gbyte of 300mhz DDR ram (in the current version, and 400mhz when the upgraded processor is out) it's incredibly fast.

but the main reason why it's fast is because it's _not_ running windows shit: you can run ubuntu or you can run the OLPC software. or maemo. or anything you choose.