NicholasNegroponte
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OLPC outs XO 3.0 tablet at last, will make its debut at CES (update: pictures!)
OLPC's XO 3.0 tablet has been in the works for what seems like forever, and now it's finally ready to be unveiled at CES. Nicholas Negroponte apparently either found the unbreakable screens he was looking for or simply decided the crowds at CES 2012 should get to see the new slate first. It's powered by a Marvell ARM PXA618 SoC that runs Android or Linux and has the same Pixel Qi display seen in other OLPCs. Plus, it has special charging circuitry so it can top up its battery using solar cells and hand cranks like its XO 1.75 sibling -- a particularly useful feature in places where electrical sockets are hard to come by. Unfortunately, pictures of the tablet are still scarce, but come on back next week when we get our hands on one at CES. Until then, check out the PR after the break. Update: We just got pictures of the XO 3.0, and as you can see above, it's coming with a pretty robust cover that doubles as a solar panel for charging the thing. More to come when we see it for ourselves tomorrow.
OLPC XO-3 cases may sport solar panels, satellite internet, grant three wishes
We'll give Nicholas Negroponte one thing, he's nothing if not ambitious. The OLPC founder always has some pie-in-the-sky vision for the XO line of child-centric computers, including dual-screens and hand-cranks. Now that we've skipped right past the XO-2 for the ARM-powered, and still MIA, XO-3 it's time for a whole new round of concepts. The latest is a series of accessory cases for the potentially Android-sporting tablets that boast satellite internet capabilities or solar panels for charging its battery. The former MIT Media Lab head has even suggested that a more mundane cover with a keyboard could be on tap. Of course, it would probably help if the foundation could get the machines out the door first. We haven't heard much about the XO-3 since the last round of delays pushed its release back to February... of 2011. But you know what they say, better late, and all that jazz.
OLPC XO-3 debut delayed till February as the quest continues for an 'unbreakable' screen
You'll read about many a wonder at CES this January, but you can cross the OLPC XO-3 off the list -- One Laptop Per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte told PC World that the slate's debut has been pushed back roughly 45 days, until the middle of February instead. Whether the Marvell Moby-based tablet turns out to be a sexy, paper-thin device or a chunky contraption wasn't discussed, but Negroponte did have a simple explanation for the delay -- he needed a suitable surface to cover that probable Pixel Qi touchscreen. "The issue has been really finding an unbreakable material," he said, hinting that "it may be glass or some flavor of glass," rather than plastic as originally planned. Might we suggest a taste test at the Corning laboratories, Mr. Negroponte? We hear they have a Gorilla that does quite nicely. Video after the break.
Marvell shows OLPC some serious love with a $5.6 million grant for XO-3 tablet
Marvell and One Laptop Per Child's close partnership has been no secret, but according to Xconomy, Marvell's about to put a whole lot more green into the XO. The semiconductor company is forking over $5.6 million to fund the creation of the next gen XO-3 tablet, and according to OLPC founder and former Engadget Show guest Nicholas Negroponte, it's still slated for a 2012 release. Obviously, the tablet will be based on Marvell's SoC -- though, there's no telling which version of Armada will be up for grabs by then. Additionally, Marvell and OLPC will be showing another tablet at CES, but this one is apparently for children of the developed world and won't carry OLPC's brand. Our guess is that it'll be something closer to the Android-running Moby than to the plastic, bendable, Pixel Qi-equipped XO-3. It's all sounding rather confusing to us, but hey, at least the kids won't have a shortage of tablets to choose from.
OLPC's Negroponte offers India help in realizing $35 tablet dream, probably has a few other motives
The late Joker said it best: "If you're good at something, never do it for free." The truth ingrained in that very statement makes the bold words of OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte all the more curious here. In an open letter to the Indian government published in the Times of India, Nik Neg has seemingly eased up on his apparent grudge against the nation, but there's a decent chance that something's in it for him. Largely, no one with any link to reality believes that India will indeed deliver $35 laptops -- their $10 laptop eventually soared to $100 before evaporating completely. But in the letter, Negroponte offers the Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development "full access to all of [OLPC's] technology, cost free," further urging them to "send a team to MIT and OLPC at your earliest convenience" in order to talk about world domination, the latest Cricket happenings and janky PCs that may or may not ever land in the classroom. Of course, some are surmising that the scheme will enable the MHRD to easily give up their own aspirations, buy a truckload of XO-3s and save face in the process, but hey -- so long as the children win, it's all good. Right?
OLPC should have an XO-3 prototype ready by the end of the year
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.
iPad apps: defining experiences from the first wave
There are now over 1,348 approved apps for the iPad. That's on top of the 150,000 iPad-compatible iPhone programs already available in the App Store. When Apple's tablet PC launches, just hours from now, it will have a software library greater than that of any handheld in history -- not counting the occasional UMPC. That said, the vast majority of even those 1,348 iPad apps are not original. They were designed for the iPhone, a device with a comparatively pokey processor and a tiny screen, and most have just been tweaked slightly, upped in price and given an "HD" suffix -- as if that somehow justified the increased cost. Besides, we've seen the amazing potential programs have on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and webOS when given access to a touchscreen, always-on data connection, GPS, cloud storage and WiFi -- but where are the apps that truly define iPad? What will take advantage of its extra headroom, new UI paradigms and multitouch real estate? Caught between netbook and smartphone, what does the iPad do that the iPhone cannot? After spending hours digging through the web and new iPad section of the App Store, we believe we have a number of reasonably compelling answers. Update: Now includes Wormhole Remote, TweetDeck, SkyGrid, Touchgrind HD, GoToMeeting, SplitBrowser, iDisplay, Geometry Wars and Drawing Pad.
The Engadget Show - 007: Nicholas Negroponte, PlayStation Move exclusive demos, Dr. Richard Marks, Joystiq's Chris Grant, and more!
Well kids, this was one for the record books. If you didn't catch the live stream of the show (or you weren't there in person), here's your chance to get in on the action. On one of our biggest shows ever, Josh sits down with visionary technologist (and the man behind the OLPC project and MIT's Media Lab, amongst others) Nicholas Negroponte for a chat, tries to figure out why we can't get train schedules on our phones with new correspondent Rick Karr, and Paul and Chris Grant grill Dr. Richard Marks about the PlayStation Move. Oh, and it's not just talking -- we demo the Move in-person, even checking out some never-before-seen demos Sony has whipped up. All that, and music from minusbaby and visuals from notendo. Did we mention the hundreds of giveaways? No? Okay... just watch the thing! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel Special guests: Nicholas Negroponte, Richard Marks, Christopher Grant Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Glenn Gapultos Music by: minusbaby Visuals by: notendo Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 007 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 007 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.%Gallery-88680%
The Engadget Show live with Nicholas Negroponte, PlayStation Move, and Joystiq's Chris Grant
Keep your eyes tuned to this post -- because at 5:00 PM ET, we'll be starting The Engadget Show live, with Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and OLPC Project, Dr. Richard Marks showing off Sony's PlayStation Move, commentary from Joystiq editor Chris Grant, plus much, much, more! You seriously don't want to miss it! Update: The live show is over, but don't fret. We've got the full version coming soon (within a day) for download via iTunes, Zune Marketplace, and RSS feed, or you can watch the stream right here. Stay tuned, the post will be soon!
The Engadget Show tapes tomorrow, with Nicholas Negroponte and PlayStation Move!
Can't wait for another Engadget Show to roll around? Well you're in luck, friend. It's happening tomorrow at 5:00pm ET. We'll be doing giveaways at the show taping only, so brave the glorious sunshine and join us in person for a chance to win great prizes! Josh will be sitting down with Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab and the OLPC project to discuss the upcoming XO PC and pontificate about the future of technology. Sony will also be on hand to demo PlayStation Move motion controller and the company's senior researcher Dr. Richard Marks will be there to give us the behind-the-scenes story. We'll have live demos of stuff never-before-seen on Move, including some hands-on audience demos! Much to our excitement, the usual crew will be joined by Joystiq's very own Christ Grant for the roundtable. You'll also be meeting our new investigative correspondent Rick Karr and we'll have plenty of amazing giveaways at the show. Also expect an out-of-this-world performance from minusbaby complete with stunning visuals from notendo, as well as some other big surprises... As you may have heard, livestreaming is back by popular demand and so is live Twitter commenting! You will now be able to tweet your comments directly to the livestream! During the show, just include the hashtag "#engadgetshow" and look for your tweet to show up on the ticker at the bottom of the stream. One thing to note, The Engadget Show is a family program, so any single instance of swearing or trolling will force us to turn off the ticker... and it won't come back on. So, keep it clean and have fun! The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's all the info you need: There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free The event is all ages Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:30PM on Saturday, doors will open for seating at 4:30PM, and the show begins at 5PM You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break) The show length is around an hour If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com. Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
The Engadget Show returns this Saturday, March 20th with Nicholas Negroponte and PlayStation Move!
It's that time again -- the Engadget Show returns this Saturday, March 20th at 5pm! We'll be joined by Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab and OLPC project for what's sure to be a rousing conversation. What's more, we'll have Joystiq's Chris Grant on hand and Sony's Senior Researcher Dr. Richard Marks will be showing off the PlayStation Move... and we'll be letting some lucky audience members demo it live on the show! You'll be meeting our new investigative correspondent Rick Karr and we'll have more of the classic Engadget Show shenanigans that you love so much. You can also look forward to some chiptune goodness from minusbaby, as well as visuals from notendo. We'll be streaming the whole thing direct to you via the internet, but we'll be doing some major giveaways at the live show only, so make the trek and join us at The Times Center in person if you can. If for some reason you live in not-New York, hit up the stream and tweet comments directly to the show! The Engadget Show is sponsored by Sprint, and will take place at the Times Center, part of The New York Times Building in the heart of New York City at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues (see map after the break). Tickets are -- as always -- free to anyone who would like to attend, but seating is limited, and tickets will be first come, first served... so get there early! Here's all the info you need: There is no admission fee -- tickets are completely free The event is all ages Ticketing will begin at the Times Center at 2:30PM on Saturday, doors will open for seating at 4:30PM, and the show begins at 5PM You cannot collect tickets for friends or family -- anyone who would like to come must be present to get a ticket Seating capacity in the Times Center is about 340, and once we're full, we're full The venue is located at 41st St. between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York City (map after the break) The show length is around an hour If you're a member of the media who wishes to attend, please contact us at: engadgetshowmedia [at] engadget [dot] com, and we'll try to accommodate you. All other non-media questions can be sent to: engadgetshow [at] engadget [dot] com. Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically.
The internet earns a nomination for 2010 Nobel Prize
Isn't Italy a place of contrast? After the country's judiciary slammed Google for failing to keep a tight enough leash on user-uploaded content, we're now hearing that its local version of Wired magazine is putting forward the internet as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of its contributions to "helping advance dialogue, debate and consensus." Right then. Just in case you think this is all a bit silly -- and you should -- we're also hearing Nicholas Negroponte and 2003 Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi are both in support of the idea, which has been described as "a Nobel for each and every one of us" by Internet for Peace, an organization set up specifically to promote the web's candidacy. That's a pretty succinct way of putting it, but it also shows what's wrong with the idea: nothing devalues a prize's worth and meaning quite like handing it out to everyone. Just imagine icanhascheezburger.com slapping a legitimate Nobel laureate badge up on its homepage and you'll know what we mean.
OLPC shows off absurdly thin XO-3 concept tablet for 2012 (update: XO-1.5 and XO-1.75 coming first)
Still have a bit of faith left for the OLPC project? Good, you're gonna need it: designer Yves Behar has unveiled his latest concept design for the now-aiming-for-$75 vision, and it's all screen. Keeping with the newfound trend toward tablets, the XO-3 is an 8.5 x 11 touchscreen, coupled with a little folding ring in the corner for grip and a camera in the back. To keep things minimal the plan is to use Palm Pre-style induction charging, and less than a watt of power to keep an "8 gigaherz [sic]" (800MHz?) processor and a Pixel Qi screen powered. At half the thickness of an iPhone, this vision is obviously banking heavily on presumed technology advances by 2012 (the projected release date), but it's not too hard to see somebody making this form factor happen by then-ish. Nick Neg isn't all hubris, however: "Sure, if I were a commercial entity coming to you for investment, and I'd made the projections I had in the past, you wouldn't invest again, but we're not a commercial operation. If we only achieve half of what we're setting out to do, it could have very big consequences." Update: According to our man Nicholas Negroponte, who took time out of his busy schedule to email us with the info, there are two other variations of the XO headed our way before we see the XO-3. Nick says we'll see the XO-1.5 appear in January for around $200 -- an update to the current version. As we'd heard before, the 1.5 iteration will swap a VIA CPU for the current AMD one, and will double the speed as well as quadruple both the DRAM and Flash memory of the current version. Furthermore, he says that in early 2011 the XO-1.75 (replacing that psychotically awesome 2.0 dual screen model) will make its appearance, and will sport rubber bumpers on the outer casing, an 8.9-inch touchscreen display inside, and will run atop a Marvell ARM processor which will enable two times the speed at a quarter of the power usage. That version will sell for somewhere in the $175 range. Then, no 2.0... straight on to the XO-3.0! %Gallery-80794% [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
OLPC shakeup: dual-screen XO-2 out, ARM-based XO 1.75 in
OLPC's plans for a dual-screen XO-2 laptop / tablet always seemed a little... ambitious, and it looks like even Nicholas Negroponte himself has now realized that it may be more than the organization is able to pull off at the moment. That word comes from a recent interview with Xconomy, where Negroponte confirms that OLPC has indeed scrapped plans for the dual-screen XO-2, and says it will instead focus on a "model 1.75" that has a design similar to the current OPLC XO but gets a boost from a faster ARM processor. Negroponte isn't completely giving up on the idea of a revamped OLPC, however, and says that model 3.0 will have a "totally different industrial design, more like a sheet of paper." That model apparently also includes "aspirational aspects" like an unbreakable, waterproof enclosure that's just a quarter inch thick, a full color, reflective and transmissive display with no bezel, 1W of power consumption, and (here's the real kicker) a $75 price tag by 2012.
Uruguay becomes first nation to provide a laptop for every primary school student
Uruguay's been a huge fan of the One Laptop Per Child initiative for quite some time, and while we're still unsure if it's the entity's biggest customer, the aforesaid nation is certainly doing some serious business with Nicholas Negroponte and Company. After the first swath of youngsters received their green and white XOs back in May of 2007, the final smattering of kids have now joined the proud group of laptop-toting tots in the country's circuit of primary schools. You heard right -- every last pupil in Uruguay's primary school system now has a laptop and a growing love for Linux, and we're told that the whole thing cost the country less than five percent of its entire education budget. So, who's next?[Via Digg, image courtesy of oso]
OLPC eyes ARM processors for the XO-2
According to an interview in PC World, the OLPC crew are looking to adopt ARM processors for the next iteration of their feel good laptop. Its extremely low power draw and the system on chip possibilities make this move a no-brainer, until you consider the fact that plans for the XO-2 call for a dual-boot Linux / Windows machine -- as of yet, Microsoft has declined to make a full-blown Windows OS for ARM. Then again, as Nicholas Negroponte states, the newest OLPC machine is still 18 months away, and "a lot can change with regard to Microsoft and ARM" in that time. We hope it does -- we would hate to see the Third World's computing needs left to those $10 laptop guys. You know what a disaster that turned out to be![Via OLPC News]
Negroponte raps about OLPC 2: 'designed as if we were Google'
Well, our interest was certainly piqued by that OLPC XO-2 mockup that surfaced yesterday, and now the Guardian is saying that the hardware development will take place open source. This is certainly fitting with the company's idealistic ethos, and it'll be interesting to see what other companies bring to the table as the reportedly $75 dual-screen device gets closer to real reality. "The XO-1 was really designed as if we were Apple," Nicholas Negroponte says in the interview. "The XO-2 will be designed as if we were Google - we'll want people to copy it. We'll make the constituent parts available. We'll try and get it out there using the exact opposite approach that we did with the XO-1." He let a few details slip too, saying that it will be dual touchscreen, with one of the displays featuring a touch-sensitive, force-feedback, haptic keyboard. When asked how he feels about the possibility that other companies might profit from all this hard work developing the laptop of tomorrow? "I wouldn't complain." Class act, that one. Bravo.[Via Make]
OLPC reshuffles, gets new president and COO
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?
OLPC head of software and content resigns, possibly over transition to XP
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 Krsti?? 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?
Negroponte talks about Classmate 2, other low-cost laptops
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.
