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OLPC's XO-1 gets its first "unboxing"
Sure, the unboxing of a hand-assembled kind-sorta prototype might not totally count as an "unboxing" in the proper sense, but it's fun to watch all the same, and it's definite proof that the little machine from OLPC is really coming along. Hit the read link for the whole gallery, complete with action shots of adults completely dwarfing the "B1" (yeah, we thought it was called the XO-1 now, maybe B1 stands for Beta 1 -- we can only hope), or keep reading for the juicy box-related pics.
Quanta builds the first ten XO-1 prototypes
Just as we'd previously heard, Quanta has indeed built the OLPC's first ten prototype machines (now called the XO-1), according to a report on DesktopLinux. These first machines were hand-assembled in order to make sure that the next round of 900 is up to snuff. We're not sure if 50 of those 900 will be the first order of test machines that have been slated to head to Brazil, nor if Thailand is getting any as an enticement to lure it back into the fold. In related matters, OLPC News has estimated the true five-year cost of a single laptop, including training, maintenance and Internet access to be in the neighborhood of $1,000 -- which, if correct, means that mythical $100-ish per laptop target price makes these green lappies a bit more unattractive to their prospective buyers. [Via Slashdot]Read - DesktopLinuxRead - OLPC News
AMD's PIC canned as OLPC production begins
AMD announced in its third quarter SEC filing that it has ceased the manufacture of their Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) product for emerging markets due to lack of material revenue. Really now, with all the hype surrounding Negroponte's CM1 2B1 XO Children's Machine and the fact that the XO costs a full Benjamin less at $100 about $140, is anyone surprised? Still, AMD isn't completely out of the game: the XO runs an AMD Geode processor. Just last week, the first 10 prototype units were "hand-built" for the purposes of evaluating the XO's custom components, systems-integration testing, and to ensure that the production process holds up. Another 900 units are then set to rollout from Quanta this week for "destructive testing" and distribution to development partners like Brazil who have already earmarked 50 units. With potential for sales (at razor-thin margins) in the tens of millions, well, you might still get a decent cut of the revenue pie anyway AMD, unless of course countries use that money for clean water and uh, schools.[Via Slashdot] Read -- AMD ends PICs Read -- OLPC production begins
OLPC Update: Brazil to get test machines, Thailand pulls out
We last heard from our friends at OLPC a mere 10 days ago, when the non-profit's latest computer moniker changed from 2B1 to XO. But OLPC News is now telling us that there's a few new updates from everyone's favorite pastel-colored lappy. First up is news from Brazil, where IDG Now! Brasil reports that the country will receive 50 test laptops from OLPC, making it the first nation to have actual, live, working models. Meanwhile, across the world in Thailand, the whole notion of a $100 laptop has now become a bit less attractive to the new military government. Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was a big fan of NickNeg's pet project, but sadly, his countrymen kicked him out of office in September, making Thailand somewhat of a tough sell now. iTeau, a Thai blogger, adds that Thailand's new information and communication technology minister has said that he doesn't think that XO will work, and has ridiculed it as a "toy." Read - OLPC NewsRead - IDG Now Brasil [in Portuguese]Read - ThanNews [in Thai]Read - iTeau's Dirt
Classmate PC live and in the flesh
Sure, we've seen it under those shiny stage lights, but this is the first time we've spotted the Classmate PC up close and personal. We can't say it looks quite as edible as OLPC's XO, but it also seems a bit more solid than its cheaper progenitor. Apparently the PCs won't just be limited to 1GB NAND, but will feature "several GB of memory, depending on the needs." The Classmate PC is also now being labeled as "sub $300," which is getting dangerously close to the XO pricetag, which seems to be creeping towards $200. Be sure to peep the read link for plenty more pics.
Third time's a charm: OLPC notebook now called XO
Now we love hugs and kisses as much as the next guy -- wait, that didn't come out right -- but when it comes to naming computing devices that will be used by millions of children worldwide, we think that the esteemed Nicholas Negroponte could have come up with a better one for his beloved machine than "XO." Like CM1, for instance. Or 2B1. Oh wait, those names for the string-powered OLPC notebook have already been tried and discarded -- NickNeg may be a whiz at marketing "The Children's Machine" to developing countries, but it seems that he could still use a lesson or two in branding. For the third time in only two months, the product-formerly-known-as-the-hundred-dollar-laptop has undergone yet another name change, with Fortune's senior editor now referring to it as the XO -- a title so new, it hasn't even made it to the OLPC wiki page yet. No explanation is given as to why this device has undergone such an unusual number of rebrandings -- especially for a non-commercial product -- and we imagine that more than a few people are getting confused by the habitual changes in its specs and titles. Still, the major issue here is not what it's called but what it could be able to achieve -- well that, and avoiding anymore price hikes, because if these little wonders get much more expensive, Qadaffi and friends might be better off buying a Dell, dude.[Via OLPC News]
Quanta Computer to start a test production of OLPC's 2B1
Last we heard from NickNeg's OLPC, the organization had just signed a big deal to sell 1.2 million laptops to Libya. Today, we've just found out that Quanta Computer is readying to start a "test production" of those laptops, with sample units to be available starting in November. According to DigiTimes, Quanta said it expects to start making these cute green machines by early 2007 and will have shipped 10 million units by early 2008. Fanfare aside, DigiTimes also cited unnamed "sources within Taiwan's IC design sector" that there are doubts as to what countries are going to actually buy these machines, with only one country (Libya) having confirmed an order so far. Or as OLPC News put it: "Would Libya be your first round draft pick if you were thinking warm and fuzzy thoughts about helping developing world children through information and communication technologies?" Touché, OLPC News. Your response, OLPC?[Via OLPC News]
NickNeg signs up Libya for 1.2 million 2B1 laptops
Now it's really on. Sure, plenty of countries have expressed interest, and Nigeria, Brazil, Argentina, and Thailand have all tentatively agreed to snap up 1 million laptops each, but Libya has just reached an agreement with the OLPC foundation to lay down $250 million for 1.2 million of the cute little 2B1 units -- one for every schoolchild in Libya. That price also includes one server per school, a team of tech advisers to help with setup, satellite internet and other infrastructure to help make the laptops more than attractive paperweights. In Negroponte's talks with Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, there were also mentions of Libya financing laptop purchases in poorer African nations such as Chad, Niger and Rwanda. Sounds like a big win for team OLPC, and Libya just might become the first nation in the world to have all its school-age children hooked up to the internets on educational computers, according to Nick, though the rollout is targeted for completion by June 2008, and a lot can happen in two years.[Via Smart Mobs]
OLPC under fire for proprietary components
Over the last week or so, there's been a big storm a'brewin' in the whole One Laptop Per Child community. The short of it is that a couple of the big players in the open source community have their code twisted in a bunch. What's the problem? Well, it turns out that the Marvell 88W8388 WiFi chip (selected for the 2B1) has a unique ability to create an ad-hoc mesh network without using the CPU, which keeps the computer consuming as little power as possible. However, this chip choice doesn't really jibe with the whole free software ethos behind OLPC. According to The Jem Report, Marvell "refuses to allow OpenBSD and other free software operating systems to freely distribute firmware binaries that are necessary to use Marvell wireless devices." This situation has turned into one big nerd cluster-cat fight, pitting Jim Gettys, the VP of software for OLPC, against über-hackers Theo de Raadt (founder of OpenBSD and OpenSSH) and Richard Stallman (who needs no introduction). Gettys defends the actions of the OLPC by saying: "If anyones feels 'betrayed,' it is because they are ill-informed, and that uninformed, biased and intemperate people informed them incorrectly of the situation." To which de Raadt countered: "Jim is obviously very clever at convincing people that children need proprietary laptops (OLPC has a greater percentage of undocumented hardware than a Thinkpad from 3 years ago). It is easy for Jim to convince people these things because he doesn't care at all about the future maintainance of drivers. I do. And I think most of you also do." Wow, them be fightin' words -- we're pulling up ringside seats already.Read - The Jem ReportRead - Jim GettysRead - Theo de Raadt[Via Slashdot]
OLPC invites hackers to test, break 2B1's security systems
One Laptop Per Child has put out a call out to hackers attending this past weekend's Toorcon computer security conference, asking them to assist in breaking the 2B1 laptop "before there is a billion of them out in the field," according to TG Daily. A representative from the project, Ivan Kristi??, said at Toorcon that the OLPC will "create the largest monoculture in history" and that it has the potential to spawn "very scary" security problems. In particular, the 2B1 computers can transmit code from one computer to another in a mesh network to share programs, documents and media, and an uplink alike. In addition, the computers will serve as their own backup, using another laptop to restore the one on the fritz -- which requires a secure and unaffected disk image. Surely NickNeg doesn't want his pet project of millions of computers to turn into legions of zombies that do nothing but issue DDoS attacks or spam campaigns.
Intel announces specs, production dates for Classmate PC
More news is coming from the Intel Developers Conference: yesterday we found that wireless USB was launching for realz, and now Intel is supposedly ready to drop its sub-$400 notebook for "emerging markets" across the globe. While it seems the company is flaunting one of these every few months, the Classmate PC has actually grown some roots (and a production schedule to boot) from its Edu-Wise beginnings. The ultraportable will house an (unspecified) Intel Celeron M processor, 7-inch 800 x 480 LCD, 256MB of DDR2 RAM, 1GB of NAND goodness, and a (hopefully non-explosive) 6-cell Li-ion battery. No details were revealed regarding the ports or connectivity options, but at least this unit isn't powered by a pull-string, right? Packing a Windows XP embedded OS, the machines are slated to hit full scale production in "Q1 2007," and orders have reportedly already been placed by governments in Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and India (they've found a winner, apparently). Manufacturing is supposed to be handled by Taiwan's Uniwill Computer, but considering its about to undergo a takeover by Elitegroup Computer Systems, and how sketchy these foreign "order commitments" can become, we're not exactly holding our collective breath for things to roll out without a few setbacks.[Via TGDaily]
Negroponte announces OLPC for eBay, shows off pull-string
For half the people we talk to, it seems like they could care less if the OLPC project ends world hunger or raises up a new generation of computer-savvy children in third world countries -- they just want to talk about how totally awesome the pull-string generator is. We admit, the idea of having a younger sibling revving up your battery while you try to install Doom is a truly confident leap into the 21st century, and now we've finally got an idea of what the pull-string unit will look like, thanks to a recent presentation by Negroponte. In other, possibly more relevant news, it looks like the 2B1 laptop will be available for sale to the western world, via eBay of all places. The laptops are expected to go for $450, with a $350 tax deduction, and the surplus would go towards buying a machine for needy children. All we ask is that they include the generator with that package, 'cause it's really half the fun.[Via OLPC News]
OLPC dual-mode display gets for reals
The last update we got on the "CM1" OLPC's state of development was that everything was pretty far along except for that proprietary dual-mode display they'd been touting since day one. Well, it's finally gotten real in the form of a boxy prototype running Squeak. With specs like "higher resolution than 95% of the laptop displays on the market today," "sunlight readability" and "room-light readability with the backlight off," the display has some pretty high expectations to live up to. From what we can tell of the prototype, it's at least readable, and the 22.2 frames per second isn't too bad neither. Now the challenge is seeing how well they manage to stuff this bad boy into one of those minuscule laptops of theirs, and how long it will take for this tech to become available to us lowly consumers.
Office Depot sold $100 HP PC over Labor Day
So while Nicholas Negroponte was noodling around with his pet project -- the computer formerly known as the $100 Laptop, and now called the 2B1 -- spending precious hours changing every aspect of it from the name to whether or not it had a hand crank, Office Depot went and beat him to the punch, sorta. Ok, sure, the initial outlay was more than a hundred bucks, but after $330 in mail-in rebates, this past Labor Day weekend Office Depot sold an HP minitower with a Celeron D 352 (3.2GHz), 256MB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, CD burner, a 16-inch CRT and an F380 printer for the low low price of a century bill. Although it may not come it bright colors, assuming you do get your rebates you'll be spending far less than the $130-$140 that NickNeg's cute creation will cost you. Oh yeah, and there isn't a minimum order of one million, either.
OLPC now called the 2B1, still The Children's Machine
There's great news afoot in the world of Nicholas Negroponte, and his favorite little toy-green (or yellow, or orange, etc.) laptop: it's now apparently called the 2B1. This comes after the named CM1, which was preceded by the One Laptop Per Child (now the name of the organization), which was preceded by the $100(ish) Laptop. Of course, given that news of this comes from the ultra-reliable technology known as a wiki, it's totally possible that this is just a prank, or yet another baby step on the road to production. Either way, Engadget is going to be drawing up some fake Ministry of Education stationary any day now so that we can get our hands on a million of these things.[Via OLPC News]
OLPC gets a name: the CM1, or Children's Machine
So, it's official: the hundred-plus-dollar laptop spearheaded by Nicholas Negroponte -- and called the OLPC up to this point for lack of better terminology -- can now be definitively referred to as the CM1, or The Children's Machine. The 7.5-inch, 1,200 x 900 pixel configurable and mesh-networkable notebook, which runs a Fedora Linux distro powered by a 400MHz AMD Geode processor, is meant to supply kids in developing countries with a super-cheap way to access the Internet and thus bridge the so-called technological divide. Although India has publicly scorned the string-powered lappy as "pedagogically suspect," several other nations have expressed interest in submitting the minimum required order of one million units; so unless players like Microsoft suddenly swoop in with their own alternatives, it looks like the CM1 is well on its way to seeing widespread distribution. Three cheers for The Children's Machine, and three more for the fact that we can stop awkwardly referring to this product by the name of the project.[Via OLPC News]
Green WiFi project promises to bring solar-powered WiFi to developing countries
One of the big criticisms that's been leveled at the much-vaunted OLPC project is that it's missing one key element: internet access. Well, a pair of Sun Microsystems employees are looking to remedy that situation with the Green WiFi project, which promises to bring cheap, solar-powered WiFi to developing countries. The project's modeled on MIT's Roofnet wireless mesh network project (and isn't the only one, either), but takes things one step further by making each node solar powered, meaning that the network could be extended virtually anywhere. They've also taken care of the other big hurdle: price, using off-the-shelf gear and open source software to keep the nodes down to no more than $200 each. Although still in the prototype stage, the team says they're going to start deploying their first grid network in India later this summer, PVC or not.[Via Treehugger]
Reports of four million OLPCs greatly exaggerated
Ah-ha, so it turns out those four million OLPCs may not actually be bagged after all -- big surprise. Apparently the mixup began when OLPC program director for Middle East and Africa Khaled Hassounah supposedly told DesktopLinux that Nigeria had committed to an order of a million units, and Argentina, Brazil, and Thailand were right behind them with "similar" orders of their own. Except not really. According to ZDNet UK, that information is flat-out "incorrect," according to OLPC, and that despite Hassounah's statements they're not yet prepared to distribute commercialized versions of the device. Taking pre-commercial device orders for something like the OLPC is absolutely nothing out of the realm of the ordinary in our opinion, but it seems like a little PR-spurned informational infighting has turned the project from "pedagogically suspect" to factually suspect overnight. Perhaps we should leave them to their device-making for now, and worry later about who is and isn't placing orders for quantities of computers large enough to make even the thinnest-margin manufacturers sweat and drool. [Thanks, Cyrus and Alexandre]
Four million OLPCs ordered, NickNeg sez boo-ya
Argentina, Brazil, Nigera, Thailand, you've made Negroponte proud. In fact, the man who is right now lined up to supply your respective nations with a million OLPCs a piece (give or take a few thou), is, as we understand it, at this very moment spiking OLPCs like he's in the end zone. According to OLPC program director Khaled Hassounah, Nigeria ordered of a million units, and spoke of "similar commitments" by the other three nations, so take that, India. Unlike the educational puppetmasters in Africa and South America, you apparently must not know a good thing when you see one. That or maybe you're investing those millions into bettering social welfare programs and upgrading other, more life-essential facilities before outfitting kids with lappies. Whatever you're doing with those millions, though, you're not putting a smile on NickNeg's face, mkay?[Thanks, David]
Microsoft demos "FonePlus" OLPC killer
Proving that corporate agendas sometimes can't be put aside long enough to create a unified computing platform for the world's poor, Microsoft has unveiled "FonePlus," a concept device making good on its proposal to use smartphones as the basis for sending computers deep into emerging markets. Unfortunately we've been unable to dig up any eye candy, but FonePlus looks to follow Gates' formula pretty closely: you get a CE-based smartphone (likely watered down from the full Windows Mobile package) with TV out and an external keyboard connection. The logic behind FonePlus suggests that phones and televisions are pervasive even in some of the world's poorest regions, making the product an easy sell -- plus, Internet access is part and parcel with the phone, something OLPC doesn't provide out of the box. Whether FonePlus will see production remains to be seen, but Microsoft's studying the idea closely -- and when you get snubbed by OLPC in favor of Linux, well, it's no surprise to see them come out swinging.
