Just when it looked like OLPC was finally getting at least one foot firmly grounded in reality with the upcoming Windows XP version of its low-priced XO, Nick Neg takes things back into the stratosphere with the unveiling of the XO 2.0. Due in 2010, the new laptop will employ dual sunlight-readable touchscreen displays in a smaller, folding e-book form factor. Sure, it looks totally amazing, but we'll believe it when we see it. As if that weren't ambitious enough, Nick calls a $20 pricepoint per display not out of the question, thanks to the ubiquity of LCD screens for DVD players, with a final laptop price of $75. Sure Nick, but 2010? Let's work on getting the XO down to $100 first, shall we? Oh, and speaking of the XO, the Give 1 Get 1 program will be started back up in August or September of this year. There's just never a dull moment with these folks.

While OLPC tries to wise up to the real demands of the market and build a cheap laptop that people actually want -- which means Windows XP for most -- Walter Bender, OLPC's former president of software and content for the project is taking his open source Linux-based Sugar OS and has started up a new non-profit to aid its development. Bender still has the vision of an open source learning OS, and plans to give Sugar full support for other low-cost platforms like the Eee PC. Ooh, burn.

It's been a controversial decision, but it looks like the OLPC XO has completed its transition from revolutionary education project to just another tiny Windows laptop with a useless keyboard -- albeit one with a pleasantly whimsical design. Yep, it's official: Microsoft and OLPC just put out a joint press release saying that XP-loaded XOs will be available starting in August or September, with some countries to get the machines as soon as next month. Users will get all the regular functionality of XP -- it's basically the same build as on the Eee and other ultraportables -- but Microsoft's spent over a year developing specialized drivers for the XO's various features like e-book mode, the writing pad, and camera. (We're pretty certain that doesn't include mesh networking, but WiFi is supported.) XP is too big for the built-in 1GB flash chip, so it'll come preloaded on a 2GB SD card, leaving just about 1.5GB free total for apps and media. It seems like Microsoft is thrilled about this partnership, but it's a not going to make NickNeg's search for new vision at the top any easier. As for Sugar? You'll still be able to get it, but we have a sinking feeling about its future. Demo video after the break.

There's been a rash of defections at OLPC lately, with NickNeg himself looking to leave soon, so it's nice to hear that the charitable endeavor is filling in the vacancies. Only it's not, really. Although Negroponte has said that's he looking for someone "similar to Kofi Annan" to lead the project, it looks like he's just shuffling people around, instead promoting part-time CFO Charles Kane to President and COO. Negroponte is going to focus on fund-raising and promotion, while Kane will handle the day-to-day matters of actually manufacturing and distributing the laptops. That's certainly a good first step -- and perhaps Charles Kane is really Kofi Annan's long-lost twin -- but with developers suddenly miffed over Negroponte's overtures to Microsoft and talent leaving from the top, it seems like OLPC would do well to bring in some fresh vision and leadership, no?

What do you know? The former OLPC head of software and content did indeed resign at least partially over NickNeg's growing fondness of Windows XP. In a recent soul-spilling interview with xconomy, Walter Bender made clear that he resigned his post at the non-profit due to the general de-emphasis of "radical projects like Sugar," the innovative XO user interface which Mr. Bender was unsurprisingly neck-deep in during his stay. Essentially, he felt as if the outfit had stopped trying to "be disruptive" and started "trying to make things comfortable for decision-makers," hence Walter darting out "to do his own thing." Needless to say, the lead developer of Sugar isn't satisfied with seeing his work forgotten, and while details have yet to be worked out, he is looking to "find a new central home for the community of educators and software developers who have been creating Sugar-compatible applications."

[Image courtesy of The New York Times]

The recent shakeups at the top of the OLPC hierarchy have apparently claimed another victim, as OLPC News is reporting that Software and Content chief Walter Bender has just left the project. Rumor is that Nicholas Negroponte is going to transition the OLPC XO entirely to Windows XP to spur sales soon, and Bender is reportedly unhappy about that. What makes this all the more interesting is that when security director Ivan Krstić left the OLPC project last month, he specifically said he was unhappy that the restructuring no longer required him to work with Bender, and said that he could no longer "subscribe to the organization's new aims or structure in good faith." Looks like something's afoot at OLPC, and the old guard isn't happy about it. What say you, NickNeg?

The OLPC XO -- it's all rainbows, hugging, and laser beams of learning, right? Maybe not, kind reader. Apparently, users of the diminutive, educationally themed laptop are experiencing a rash of "stuck key" issues which are causing tons of headaches (and possibly some heartbreak as well). It seems that keys are becoming stuck in activated positions, and / or are being triggered by key presses nearby. The company is aware of the problem, but can't pinpoint a single cause, as the components are made by a variety of manufacturers. For now OLPC is asking customers to RMA the laptops so they can get the repairs they so desperately need, though we're not sure how this is going to play out in the developing areas where the XOs are being rolled out. Well, they can probably just take them to the hospital.

As should be clear by now, OLPC's Nicholas Negroponte is never one to shy away from discussing the competition (among other things), and he's now made some of his opinions on Intel's new Classmate 2 laptop (a.k.a. Netbook) and other low-cost laptops known in a brief interview with Laptop Magazine. On the updated Classmate, Nick Neg was able to bring himself to say that Intel "made many steps forward" and says that he's glad they adopted mesh networking, but he adds that the display is "still really very weak" and that "480 lines does not work" (no complaints from us there). He also doesn't mince words about Intel entering the domestic laptop market with the Netbook, saying that he's "astonished" that it's doing so and he "cannot imagine that Dell, HP, Lenovo and others will keep any allegiance to a supplier that competes with them." Nick Neg further adds that it's "fine" that others are entering the low-cost, educational laptop space, and that "kids will benefit," although not necessarily those in the poorer countries OLPC is targeting, where he's still promising to deliver a $50 laptop sooner or later.

You'd think that with a name like "One Laptop Per Child," NickNeg and company would have stress-tested their laptop with some actual children, but it looks like everyone's favorite green machine just isn't up to the toddler challenge -- OLPC owners are reporting that the laptop's rubberized keyboard is easily destroyed by inquisitive kids, who are peeling the keys off like so many scratch'n'sniff stickers. Apparently the keyboards start to split above the U and J keys, and then Junior's off to the races. What's worse, OLPC doesn't appear to be shipping out replacement keyboards right now, leaving frustrated owners in the lurch. Not to fear, though: Instructables is to the rescue with a pretty sweet USB keyboard mod. Here's what we're wondering though -- if the OLPC can't handle the abuse of some ungrateful little yuppie larvae, how is this thing supposed to hold up in the developing world?

[Thanks Sanjay; photo courtesy of Niels_Olson]

Read - Thread about OLPC keyboards
Read - Instructables keyboard modd

It's safe to assume that if you're using one of OLPC's XO laptops, you're not exactly a speed demon. Still, you probably wouldn't mind squeezing a little more power out of that innocuous Geode CPU -- and now there's a way to do it. The cats and kittens over at OLPC News have discovered a way to (relatively) safely overclock your system using a shortcut at the open firmware prompt. At least one reader reports a 21.8 percent boost in system speed, and claims that bumping the 433MHz processor to 588MHz, and the 166MHz RAM to 233MHz has resulted in a much smoother ride with Ubuntu. Of course, if you decide to try this, keep in mind that just like overclocking the big boys, you could explode your system, restart the Cold War, or attract tons of vampires.

Nary a fortnight after Nicholas Negroponte affirmed that his role wouldn't be changing all that much once a new CEO was strapped in, along comes word that the nonprofit's highly regarded Director of Security Architecture, Ivan Krstić, has moved on to greener pastures as of three weeks ago. According to a soul-bearing post on his own blog, the ex-chief outrightly noted that he could no longer "subscribe to the organization's new aims or structure in good faith, nor [could he] reconcile them with [his] personal ethic." Additionally, he admits that he was "asked to stop working with Walter Bender," someone he greatly respected, and forced to report to a replacement "with no technical or engineering background who was put in charge of all OLPC technology." It should be noted that Krstić seemed to admire his colleagues overwhelmingly, but we can't help but wonder who else in there is feeling similarly about the recent internal restructuring.

[Via Yahoo / Infoworld, image courtesy of TheAge]

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.

It's just been a few short days since Nicholas Negroponte seemed to make it clear that his role at OLPC would soon be changing, but it now seems like that may not be the case, with Nick Neg telling Laptop Magazine that his role will "not be changing drastically" once a new CEO is put in place. He also went on to say that "replacement" is not the right word, and that he had never held the CEO title nor used it, adding that he'll now go under the title of "Chairman and Foreign Minister." With that out of the way, Negroponte also dropped word that "a Windows operating system is in the process of being fine-tuned on the XO as we speak," and that it "should be available on the XO in less than 60 days," which is about the firmest word of a release date we've heard so far.

After a stay that's been anything but uneventful, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte has announced that he'll be stepping down as CEO of the organization, and that he's now searching for a successor, although he'll be staying on as Chairman. That word comes from an interview Negroponte gave to BusinessWeek, where he admitted that "management, administration, and details are my weaknesses," and even went so far as to say that the organization needs to be managed "more like Microsoft." He also revealed that the search for a new CEO had actually begun last year, but had ratcheted up in recent weeks, during which time the organization was also reorganized into four operating units, including technology, deployment, market development and fund-raising, and administration. No word on any contenders for the top spot just yet, but Nick Neg described the ideal candidate as someone with a "leadership profile similar to that of Kofi Annan," adding that he hopes to have the search concluded by April or May.

During the recent Greener Gadgets Conference in New York, former OLPC CTO (and XO challenger) Mary Lou Jepsen discussed the real-world difficulties with using the kid-friendly laptops, including the creation of an XO "hospital" used to repair broken computers. Apparently, in the crowded conditions of schools in places like Nigeria, the little green laptops have a tendency to be jostled around and even knocked on the floor from time to time. As there's typically no repair shops nearby, the kids have learned to fix the systems themselves, setting up a "laptop hospital" where they can repair what's broken using simple tools and cheap replacement parts. Mary Lou says the company designed the systems to be easily fixable, including extra screws embedded in the computers themselves, and allowing for quick changes of the LCD backlight and other components. The in-house repairs cut down on shipping, promote reuse, and increase kids' understanding of ownership and responsibility, thus furthering the OLPC mission, and making everyone generally want to hug.

[Image courtesy NotebookReview / Kevin O'Brien]