xo-1
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OLPC delivers big OS update with text-to-speech, DisplayLink and WebKit
While most of its energy is focused on the XO-4 Touch, the One Laptop Per Child project is swinging into full gear for software, too. The project team has just posted an OS 12.1.0 update that sweetens the Sugar for at least present-day XO units. As of this latest revamp, text-to-speech is woven into the interface and vocalizes any selectable text -- a big help for students that are more comfortable speaking their language than reading it. USB video output has been given its own lift through support for more ubiquitous DisplayLink adapters. If you're looking for the majority of changes, however, they're under-the-hood tweaks to bring the OLPC architecture up to snuff. Upgrades to GTK3+ and GNOME 3.4 help, but we're primarily noticing a shift from Mozilla's web engine to WebKit for browsing: although the OLPC crew may have been forced to swap code because of Mozilla's policies on third-party apps, it's promising a much faster and more Sugar-tinged web experience as part of the switch. While they're not the same as getting an XO-3 tablet, the upgrades found at the source link are big enough that classrooms (and the occasional individual) will be glad they held on to that early XO model.
Sugar Labs debuts "Sugar on a Stick" beta, for LiveUSB-derived diabetes
After offering Sugar for the past while as an interface to run on top of your Linux distro of choice, Sugar Labs is prepping "Sugar on a Stick," a Fedora 11-based LiveUSB distro that boots most any PC from a 1GB+ USB stick and lets a user carry their Sugar environment, files and settings wherever they roam. While the beta is currently up for download, there seem to be plenty of kinks to work out, but as the team expands and refines hardware support, we could see this potentially being more of a boon for education than the XO-1 itself; turning any PC into a Sugar PC, not just the dramatically green ones. It's also nice to see how speedy Sugar can be free from the bonds of AMD Geode -- even Atom provides quite a bit of relative pep. Check out a quick (and slightly hyperactive) hands-on video from OLPC News after the break.
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]
"$100" OLPC XO-1 to cost at least $188, over $200 in Uruguay
The "$100 laptop" from the OLPC Foundation is in no way a "$100 laptop." The latest price hike by the Foundation pushes the overall cost of each XO-1 machine up to $188, which is a fair amount higher than the $176 that the machine was said to cost back in May. On a per country basis, the laptops could cost even more than that, with OLPCNews reporting that the cost per laptop in Uruguay is $205 due to a partnership with Brighstar Uruguay SA. Negroponte, maybe it's time to change that "$100 laptop" tagline.Read - Nonprofit group hikes price of "$100 laptop" (Reuters)Read - OLPC XO-1: Now $205 in Uruguay (OLPCNews)
Intel inside the next XO OLPC?
Could the next laptop to emerge from the OLPC organization be powered by Intel chips? That's the suggestion of OLPC News, which sees the FAQ attached to Intel's announcement of joining the board at OLPC as a sign that Intel's chips could work their way into the XO-2. At the very least, the servers that support the $100 XO PCs will be Intel based: quoting from the FAQ, it says that "OLPC is planning to add Intel Xeon processor based servers to their product offerings." Intel is also taking steps to develop a system board for the next gen XO, although all designs are subject to OLPC approval. Seems like OLPC's gone full circle from "Intel should be ashamed of itself" to "thank you Intel!"[Via OLPC News]
Open source SimCity in the works for OLPC's XO
Development is underway to create an open source version of the original SimCity for One Laptop Per Child's XO computer -- a.k.a. the $100 laptop. Apparently both Will Wright and EA are all for distributing a free version of the game (best thought of as an intro to programming for kids) with XO. OLPC currently aims to distribute 10 million of its laptops to children in developing countries by the end of 2008 -- with an end goal to distribute an XO to every child in underdeveloped nations around the world.An early build of SimCity is on display at OLPC's GDC booth.[Via OLPC News]
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
