Last time we spied the
XO-3 tablet concept from OLPC, we were told to expect the thing to ship in the far-distant year 2012. Much has changed since then in the tablet arena, however, and
Nicholas Negroponte, the project's founder, is saying they'll have a working prototype ready by December of this year, to be shown off at CES in January of 2011. Many details are still up in the air, but the initial device will be designed for use by children in the oft-neglected developed world, "testing many of the things that combine a laptop, an iPad and a Kindle." Word is they'll be starting with that
Marvell Moby reference design, with a 9-inch-ish dual mode LCD for outdoor readability (thanks to
Pixel Qi, presumably). The prototype will have a glass screen, but the goal is "100 percent plastic, unbreakable and almost extruded out of a machine," said Negroponte, something that won't happen until 2012 most likely. The best, and possibly wildest, claim of all is the $75 price tag that they hope to slap on this thing when all is said and done. We suppose the veracity of that claim will come down to how long this actually takes to make it from prototype to production. There's video of NickNeg discussing it after the break.
posted May 27th 2010 10:21AM
Great idea i hope they have the deal like before buy 2, get 1 fir yourself donate one to a needy kid!!
@Xing Let's hope they get a clue and just sell them to the mass market this time.
@J Acheson
This thing, for the price, is year 2020 technology. It might be the 2014 iPad (or iPad competitor), but anything less than $800 is ridiculous even in that time frame.
I don't understand how they can sell these things with all of this technology for $75 when we're paying $500 for tablets with similar features.
@bravokiloromeo
I agree, unless it is a subsidized cost. The original OLPC missed their $100 mark when they finally debuted, and I believe the XO will also. I think the targeted price is just to bring headline news and possible interests for the ridiculous price for those who don't understand how much technology is actually available, even if it is stated for a 2012 release.
@bravokiloromeo
either subsidized or OEM tax breaks.
@bravokiloromeo
You're also forgetting the obvious "non-profit" difference.
In case you somehow forgot that we live in a capitalistic economy. Example: the $700 iPad costs Apple $350 (and shrinking) to manufacture. That's a 100% markup to cover sales/marketing overhead and buying Jobs more black mock turtlenecks... none of which is of concern to this org.
@bravokiloromeo because Apple is a rip-off...
@Bandigolo
Non-profit doesn't mean they don't make a profit, the profit just gets distributed differently. They still have to make money to cover past and future R&D, marketing, etc. aside from manufacturing costs.
Negroponte has made ridiculous claims like this before and it never comes to fruition. The real thing will be $200 , have a 2" bezel, be 5" thick, no multi-touch, and weigh 10 lbs.
It's a fairly wild set of claims, but this is really great. We need more company's like this
@Spaldinggreat
I could use a good hug scam every once in a while.
@dardub
Nigerian prince needs hug will pay you well please mail back your bank details and address and he will come visit you with many rewards.
@dardub
WTF, this was for the comment below.
@dardub
Yay for the Engadget Commenting System! :D
This is all starting to seem like a hug scam.
@Tes
huge*
@Tes
Oh please, I know a hug scam when I see it. Won't make that mistake again.
@DTJ
Hugs are never free...
@Tes Apple will release ihug ,and yes it will be expensive,there will be a few options
1 standard a set of clothes,apple stickers,make up of steve jobs and a half eaten apple
2 pro a blow up doll of steve jobs with complete set of working body parts
3 deluxe steve jobs inpersonator
4 ultimate steve jobs in person
there will be other options like ipad,wifi,gps etc and all the other allsorted icrap at a expensive extra charge,debt cards only no cash.
This could be fantastic...let's hope this doesn't end up vaporware!
This would be great if it actually works out.
... as a side note WOW that man has one hell of red face.
Just looking at the Youtube video the guy is pretty intelligent about the outdoor lighting and getting our children outdoors more, I would buy 2 for my kids and possibly 3 to donate to kids in need around where I live or donate to schools. If the price is under 100 (that is what I would pay for laptop for my kids anyway.
unbreakable... yeah, about that.
As long as they don't upgrade the specs on it (i.e. OLPC 1.5, 1.75), they should be in fine territory. The last thing we need is millions of the world's poor with obsolete hardware that isn't supported by the vendor anymore.
Not even Foxconn could afford to slash their mens pay enough to match the price of this ludicrious concept.
That cute little finger hole in the upper right certainly helps make this thing fit into sleeves, envelopes and file folders.
Not.
Oh, I get it. you can put a simple bike chain through a bunch of them. Or a carabiner.
Other than that, it's what we call a "design elephant."
@BuzzMega
That ring is attached to a pull generator, that's how you charge it.
hey remember COURIER... yeah thats gona happen as much as this will and for $75 we can start selling children Unicorns
Is it me, or does the first picture scream out: "I've got your soul." The poor person looks alive, yet lifeless.
@MAS
He's posing for his FaceBook profile pic~
I will believe it when I see it.
In the mean time I hope there are companies that are actually working on practical computer concepts for the developing world. As opposed to this, which strikes me as pie in the sky bs.
Guys, it's sucking her soul
@graey American wall street bankers are about a million times worser than any Nigerian. For one wall street bankers have the support of the American Government to come for your house dumb ass.
Is it me, or does the kid look better on the screen than in life (in this picture). lol
@xler8r The so called life picture looks like it's been scaled and is pixelated, the smaller picture looks better smaller because it's hard to see the defects of scaling. ...bad Photoshop work.
@xler8r
trick question, the "life" kid is still in a picture on your screen, and the kid in the picture is in a picture of a picture on your screen o.O
Also, it's not a real kid, the above is a picture of a much larger picture O.o
@wetworker
its because he's already mastered myspace angles
$75?!?!
Yeah right.
"I like long walks through sand, goats, Nigerian princes, and PEZ, lots and lots of PEZ"
10 minute battery life confirmed
I love how everyone here knows more than this technology expert...
I believe they will hit something close to that price point (maybe 90 dollars) by a date close to that (maybe 2013.) I believe it will be done. the 1ghz cpu but 2012 will cost about 15 dollars. Compared to 13 dollars for a weaker one, that's why it makes sense using it. A 1ghz cpu sounds amazing now, but by 2012 it will seem worst than 600mhz cpu's in the pre, and droid do now. THe pre's cpu costs about 14 dollars to buy. In early 2011 we will have dual core 1.5ghz prcessors. by 2012 single core 1ghz will be nothing amazing.
Screen prices are also falling really fast, by 2012 oled will have reached a usable price. Making lcd the cheaper alternative. The ipad costs somewhere between 220-260 dollars to make. The current most expensive part is that beatiful touchscreen, which costs 80-90 dollars. The screen on the ipad is about as nice as an lcd currently gets. By 2012 the price will be less than half.
To all those highly doubting the price will be that low by then, the ps3 at launch cost over 800 dollars to make. After 3 1/2 years it now costs 300 to make (the same price they sell it for). They did remove some features like bc, some usb ports, etc.. But that alone didn't drop the price by 500. Most of the parts they removed where cheaper parts. The stuff they had to keep was the expensive, and at the time ground braking peaces of technology: like the cell, and blu-ray drive.
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heres a better, more relevant example
the 8gb original iphone 2g cost about 280 dollars to make, compared to the 16gb 3gs that costs about 180 dollars to make. Technology prices drop quickly. 2 years made a product thats 10 times better about 33% cheaper to make.
This price point isn't impossible.
Forget just OLPC, for $75 I'd buy one! Who wouldn't? Would make a great gift!