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.

We knew we were in for some rough chuckles when Birmingham, Alabama signed up to provide an OLPC XO to every K-8 student last December, but we didn't think they'd be this silly from the get-go: apparently the mayor's office, which negotiated the deal, is now saying the school board needs to add WiFi to every school for the laptops to work. That's news to us -- the mesh-networking XO was designed to be used in rural parts of the developing world, after all -- but we're still puzzling out what mayoral advisors John Katopodis and Bob McKenna meant when they said they're "trying to make the whole city WiFi," or where they got a quote of $39 per school to enable wireless access. Of course, the only response from the school board was one member who worried about students accessing porn -- which seems to be a real theme with the XO -- but for some reason we're not at all surprised that bureaucratic officials have totally missed the point of the OLPC project.

[Thanks, Jay]

Don't adjust your screens folks, as this actually isn't a year-end case of déjà vu. Rather, we're looking to give you an(other) imaginary shot at tweaking the OLPC XO now that it has moved beyond the initiative phase and been productized for the general consumer. In case you've been parked squarely under a rock for the last few months, you should know that the XO's journey through production has been quite a lengthy one, and while a few countries have made substantial bulk purchases to inject these machines into their respective school systems, we're interested in seeing how the average joe / jane located in a developed nation sees things.

Needless to say, One Laptop Per Child's "Give One, Get One" program has been quite the success, and by now, we're confident that some of you have already received your own. 'Course, we're sure there's at least a few of you that chose this over that other low-cost laptop (and many that chose it over this), and we're curious to know how you'd improve the newly commercialized XO now that it actually has a rival. Yeah, we too would love an even skimpier price tag, but beyond that, what hardware / software changes would you like to see on the next version? Could you stand to have a few more megabytes of RAM? Still yearning for dual-boot capability out of the box? How's about a design scheme that doesn't involve opaque white and bright green? As stated, we're well aware that these things weren't designed with LAN partiers in mind, but now that NickNeg is offering 'em up to these very citizens -- not to mention every other type of user in North America -- why not toss out a few suggestions for making it more suitable for you?

Don't fret, that feeling you've just been overcome with is nothing more than a harmless dose of déjà vu. Nearly a year ago to the day, we were hearing these same types of talks, and while the whole "XP on XO" conversation has been one of on-again / off-again nature, the switch has apparently been flipped to "go" once more. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is slated to test out Windows XP on OLPC XO laptops starting next month in the US, India and possibly Romania. James Utzschneider, general manager of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Group, noted that it "wanted Windows to run on the XO and [that it was] investing significant energy and talent" to make sure it happened. Granted, Microsoft will have to be mighty pleased with the results before any of this goes commercial, as Mr. Utzschneider concluded by stating that the company "wants to [ensure] a quality experience before [making a] commitment to governments."

[Via PCWorld]

If you (or your kiddo) just happens to be a first through eighth grader in Birmingham, Alabama, you (or your offspring) will soon be playing with an XO during regularly scheduled class time. Mayor Larry Langford has recently announced that a $3 million deal was signed in order to bring in one laptop per child for the aforementioned grades, or 15,000 XOs in total. Apparently, the schools will become the first in the nation to receive heaps of the low-cost lappies, which were sold to the district at $200 a pop. As for logistics, students can expect to receive their machine on April 15, 2008, and while pupils will be allowed to take 'em home, the school system can and will disable any that inexplicably "disappear."

[Image courtesy of OLPCNews]

We know quite a few of you out there have participated in OLPC's Give One, Get One program, but if you've been sitting around all uneasy like waiting for some official shipping information, open wide. According to new information posted to the Laptop Giving website, only those in the US who made their purchase / donation by November 12th can expect their machine before Christmas, and any orders placed beyond that date have varying scheduled delivery ranges. Of note, OLPC does say that it's trying to ship out as many laptops as possible before the holidays, but alas, no promises are given out either way. Also, the donated lappies will reported be headed to children in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda in early 2008. Keep check on the read link for updated time frames as well as Canadian shipment estimations.

Just months after a slew of OLPC XOs made their way into Nigeria, a Nigerian-owned company is filing suit against Nicholas Negroponte and the OLPC Association for patent infringement. Lagos Analysis and subsidiary LANCOR filed the lawsuit on November 22nd in Nigeria, claiming that the aforementioned parties willfully and illegally reverse engineered its keyboard driver source codes. Turns out, LANCOR makes its ends by selling region specific-based keyboards that allow for direct access inputting of "accents, symbols and diacritical marks during regular typing," and sure enough, the XO's board looks mighty similar to those offered up by the plaintiff. Additionally, the outfit is in the process of "filing a similar lawsuit against OLPC in a United States Federal Court," so we'd recommend snagging an XO or two before Nik Neg and company are forced to inflate prices to pay off those highfalutin lawyers.

[Image courtesy of Konyin and Digital Crusader]

Negroponte's OLPC Buy One, Give One program has been extended to 31 December, 2007 -- well beyond the initial two-weeks originally announced. The deal buys both yourself (or rather, your kid supposedly) and a tot from a developing nation new XOs for just $399. Already, the non-profit claims to be pulling in about $2 Million worth of "donations" each day. They've also opened up bulk buying to schools in quantities of 100-999 ($299 each), 1000-9999 ($249 each), or 10,000 and more ($199). Oh, and the program is now officially renamed "Give One, Get One" (GoGo) -- we presume BoGo'ing the kids sounded too icky.

Got $399 and a semi-altruistic tendency? Good, the OLPC "Buy One, Give One" program just launched allowing you to BOGO a kid in a developing nation for just $399. Bonus: the program entitles you to a free year of T-Mobile HotSpots. Now best get to dialing 1-877-70-LAPTOP as the offer only runs though November 26th.

P.S. Valid for North Americans only.

[Thanks, Jazzpad]

It's been hit by a few delays, but the OLPC XO has finally gone into mass production. According to Mass High Tech, that long-awaited event officially got underway yesterday morning at Quanta Computer's brand new manufacturing facility in Changshu, China, which is just a two-hour jaunt northwest of Shanghai (in case anyone's planning on doing some sight-seeing). While that's a little later than the original estimate of October that Quanta gave when it first began to gear up for production way back in July, it's actually a few days earlier than the company's most recent indication of a start date, which it had pegged as November 12th just last month. Now, let's just hope this begins the road down to something closer to that mythical $100 price tag.

A lot can change in a year -- tastes, moods, the value of one's currency... -- and apparently, India's stance on One Laptop Per Child has shifted so dramatically from last July that 22 of the low-cost machines have actually arrived for testing. Reportedly, officials didn't give up after being practically rejected by India's education minister, and now 22 lucky youngsters in a one-room school in Maharashtra are getting the chance to participate in a pilot program. Carla Gomez-Monroy, the education consultant who launched the test, stated that OLPC "has learned that working with local partners will be crucial in India, where dozens of languages are spoken." Of course, the far smaller minimum order quantity probably helped matters too, and while there's no commitment from India to buy heaps of XOs anytime soon, Gomez-Monroy suggested that distribution could broaden "as soon as June" of next year.

[Image courtesy of Flickr]

If you were all set to plop down $399 in order to bless some eager kid overseas (and your own inner-child) with an OLPC XO this year, your plans are now in serious jeopardy. Reportedly, some sort of production delay has pushed the approximate start date for manufacturing from this month to November 12th, meaning that it's highly unlikely any significant number of US / Canadian orders will be filled before Christmas. According to Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for the One Laptop per Child Foundation, it had "some last minute bugs" that have since been resolved, but now it'll be an uphill battle just to fill the initial orders placed by Peru and Uruguay in a timely manner. If it's any consolation, Jepsen did state that some folks in North America would probably get their machines before the year's end, but recommended that you "order early" if you're the totally impatient type normal.