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OLPC shows off its two new kid-friendly tablets (hands-on)
OLPC's Giulia D'Amico swung by our CES stage a little while ago with the organization's two new tablets in tow - so, naturally, we kindly asked her to stay behind a while, so we could spend a little quality time with the devices. The 7-inch XO-2 looks nearly identical to its predecessor, the company's first-ever consumer-facing device. It's still a bit chunky and the rear has that same plasticky dimpled design. There's also that great Yves Béhar-designed silicone slipcase. The really significant changes are all inside the slate, including a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of stage and built-in GPS and Bluetooth. The custom Android software will remain largely the same, as well (built this time on top of KitKat), though the company is added more content to its offering. The 10.1-inch XO-10, meanwhile, shares most of the same internals as its little brother, but brings a truly sleek industrial design that puts the little one to shame. There's a green metal back (the final color has yet to be determined, though we like the fact that it matches the company's other offerings) and a much slimmer profile. Of course, the thinner design calls into question just how rugged the bigger model will ultimately be.
OLPC's got two new consumer kid tablets and accessories for CES
After months of waiting, we were pretty psyched to finally get our hands on the final version of One Laptop Per Child's first consumer-facing device, first announced this time last year. The anticipation may have played a role in our disappointment, but inevitably we just couldn't get behind what was essentially a rebadged Vivitar device from an organization that had done so much hardware innovating for its non-profit wing. OLPC is celebrating this week's big Vegas show with the announcement of two new slates, and while Vivitar is still the hardware partner for this go 'round, the game has certainly been upped in the spec department. And the company's also offering up two sizes: the 7-inch XO-2 and the 10.1-inch XO-10, which sort of throws a wrench in what would otherwise be a fairly straightforward naming process. On the whole, the specs are pretty similar with the two devices, right down to the 1,200 x 600 resolution on both. Inside each, you'll find a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and built-in Bluetooth and GPS. The 7-incher will give you seven hours of battery on a charge and its bigger brother should give you more than 12. Both systems are running a heavily modified version of Android KitKat and ship with 100 pre-loaded English and Spanish apps, which the company values at around $200. The tablets themselves will run you $149 and $199, respectively. Also new are those digital microscopes and telescopes that we saw in early forms last year, along with a wireless keyboard, which was designed by superstar designer/OLPC pal, Yves Béhar.
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.
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 XO-2 to include multitouch and possibly haptic screen from PixelQi
PixelQi, an OLPC project spin-off headed by Mary Lou Jepsen, certainly has its work cut out for it with the OLPC XO-2, due in 2010. Not only is the laptop supposed to support dual touchscreens and consume a mere 1 watt of power, but Mary Lou is also promising better readability, multitouch, and potentially even pen usage and haptic feedback. Interestingly, the projected price for the laptop is $75, which is exactly the pricepoint PixelQi claimed to be working on when it split from the foundation. She remains coy on which OS the new laptop will favor, merely stating: "The display can use whatever software OLPC chooses." As for partners outside of OLPC, Mary Lou won't name names, but she says PixelQi is "working with large, tier-one laptop, cell phones, and e-book makers." Forget 2010, give us a full color e-book tablet by the end of the year and we'll forget all this XO nonsense entirely.
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]
