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$150 laptop brews trouble for big names in edu-PCs
It seems like for every new OLPC announcement, we get a pair of fresh competitors. The latest to put a bid in for the cheap-o laptop market is the Atlanta-based Lite Appliances, which is prepping the "LiteComputer" for a $150 target price by shunning brand names like Microsoft, Intel and AMD. Instead, Lite Appliances is basing the computer on the Blackfin processor from Analog Devices, and a full-on custom OS, complete with web browser, media player, IM and VoIP. The PC is designed to function with web apps such as Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets and ThinkFree Office, and skips a HDD for flash memory -- though you can add storage via USB. The $150 figure is a tad bit misleading, since you'll have to add $100 to that cost if you want a laptop with an LCD (silly you), but even at $250 this thing sounds pretty competitive with other similar offerings. Lite Appliances will be showing off its OLPC killer at CES in January, and has hopes to have the laptop ready to ship in mid-2007.[Via Wired]
