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Posts with tag classmate

Intel's convertible Classmate PC gets the hands-on treatment


We already got a decent enough look at Intel's new convertible Classmate PC when it made its debut at IDF yesterday, but if you're looking for a slightly more thorough examination of it, you may want to hit up Laptop Magazine, which got a chance to spend some time with the device and offer some initial impressions. As is even more apparent in these pics, the hardware is very much not finalized, with it sporting some mismatched parts and some components that may or may not make it into the final version. That said, they do seem fairly impressed by the laptop, with the built-in accelerometer working well, and the included "Quick Launcher" software shell making Windows XP considerably more accessible to students, and adults for that matter. Hit up the link below for the video hands-on and, of course, plenty more pics.

Intel shows off next-gen, convertible Classmate PC


Intel wasn't exactly all that forthcoming with details about its next-gen Classmate PC when the subject last came up (describing it only as having both hardware and software upgrades), but it looks to have dropped its guard at this week's IDF, with it not only dishing out details, but an actual unit as well. As you can see, this one's a convertible, but Intel is quick to point out that it's not the Classmate 3.0 some have been expecting -- it'll apparently exist alongside the current generation model. Also, as you might have guessed, there's not a lot of surprises in terms of specs, with it boasting the same 1.6GHz Atom processor as every other netbook out there, along with an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 display, an SD card slot, a pair of USB ports, and an SSD drive of unspecified size. Intel is apparently still promising to provide a few more details a bit later on but, in the meantime, you can bide your time by digging into the pics available at the link below.

Update: Check out a video from Intel after the break, and even more pics at jkkmobile.

Portugal signs up for 500,000 Intel Classmate laptops

Looks like Intel's clearing out all its Classmate inventory in preparation for that new model -- it just inked a deal with Portugal for 500,000 of the chubby gray laptops. The Classmates will be manufactured in Portugal as part of the deal, and the final subsidized cost to students will vary based on each family's income, with a max of €50 ($78). Kids should be getting their new machines at the start of the new school year, so it looks like things should be moving along quickly here.

Daewoo Lucoms hops in low-cost laptop game with Lukid


Daewoo Lucoms is no stranger to building smallish computers, but it seems to have taken a few obvious design cues from Intel's 2go PC when crafting its own Lukid. According to the firm's site, this kid-friendly PC includes a 900MHz Celeron M ULV processor, 512MB of DDR2 RAM, a 9-inch display, 30GB hard drive and Windows XP Home Edition. There's also two USB jacks, audio in / out, WiFi, Ethernet and a rather unsightly (though quite useful, we imagine) carry handle. Expect this one to land in South Korea for around ₩549,000 ($531), though we haven't heard a peep in regard to availability elsewhere in the world.

[Via AVING]

Mobo gets rebadge happy with two new low-cost subnotes for Brazil

It looks like folks in Brazil are soon going to have a few more low-cost subnote options to consider, with Mobo announcing two new but curiously familiar-looking models. That includes the Positivo Mobo (pictured above), which appears to almost certainly be a rebadge of Airis' Kira 740 Eee PC lookalike (or a rebadge of whatever that is a rebadge of). That likelihood is further backed up by the nearly identical specs, including the usual 7-inch display, Via C7-M processor, 1.3-megapixel webcam, and built-in WiFi, although this particular model appears to come with 2GB of flash memory in place of the Kira's standard 40GB hard drive. Set to be released alongside it is the company's Mobo Kids laptop, which is just a straight up rebadge of Intel's Netbook platform (a.k.a. Classmate 2), with it boasting the same Celeron M processor and presumably all the same specs seen in other incarnations like CTL's 2go PC. Look for both of 'em to pack the same R$999 price tag (or $590), with the Positivo Mobo hitting stores first on May 23rd and the Mobo Kids following sometime in July.

[Via Zumo Blog, thanks Leoberto]

Windows XP to live until 2010... on the Eee


We puzzled over Microsoft's cryptic statements at CeBIT that the Eee's "other requirements" would lead to an adjustment of the Windows 7 timeline, and it looks like our first guess was spot-on: Microsoft will be making Windows XP available for Eee-class ultraportables until 2010, and possibly later. Demand for XP on devices like the Eee and Intel's Classmate machines has prompted MS to reconsider axing XP entirely this June: the company will now sell XP Home through at least June 2010, and for one year after the release of Windows 7 -- which means sales of XP could stretch into 2012. There's no word on if the build of XP Home targeted at the ultraportable laptop set will be different from regular XP builds, but we doubt there'll be many changes -- it'll be awfully sad if people are still clamoring for XP more than a decade after its initial release, though.

[Thanks, JP]

$50 Teachermate PC launched by Chicago nonprofit


As you've probably figured out from all the OLPC XO and Intel Classmate news we've hit, computers aimed at students are a pretty hot topic these days. A Chicago-based nonprofit called Innovations for Learning has joined the fray with a new $50 entry dubbed the Teachermate. The small PCs come equipped with a 2.5-inch LCD display, 512MB of RAM, an SD slot, and built-in microphone and speaker. The systems are being rolled out to a whopping 500 Chicago elementary schools over the next two years, with the aim of having a unit in the hands of every child. The kid-friendly computers will come with a special case that allows charging and data-sync of 30 units at a time, allowing teachers to collect score-data quickly. If you absolutely must have one, it looks like they're going to commercially available on Amazon, so you will be able to add it to your collection.

Forget the OLPC XO: India working on $10 laptop

While Nick Negroponte and the crew over at OLPC struggle to offer the XO for its original target of $100 (it now costs around $175, before factoring in support costs), India's Ministry of Human Resource Development is planning to completely leapfrog three-digit price tags with a machine that is already spec'ed at $47 and may cost only ten bucks when manufactured in bulk. With two potential designs having already been submitted by a researcher and engineering student (neither of which is pictured above) and a critical meeting scheduled for later this month, the "TDL" project seems to be well underway, and officials hope to have a product out the door within two years. India's plans for uber-cheap hardware come almost a year after the country rejected the XO as "pedagogically suspect," and several months after yet another competitor in this space -- Intel's Classmate -- was loosed on Brazil. And so the race to charge absolutely nothing for computers continues unabated, foretelling a day in the not-too-distant future when we'll be churning through PCs like daily-wear contacts.

[Via Slashdot]

Classmate PC swallows OLPC: won't somebody please think of the children?!


It's just Intel's reference design for the UMPC V2 and Intel Classmate PC. Still, it's good to know that it can play nice with the little OLPC XO. Especially when their parents can't.



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