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Microsoft sez no OLPC dual-boot, still committed to XP on XO
Those of you who participated in OLPC's "Give One, Get One" program will probably be disappointed to learn that, despite earlier reports to the contrary, Microsoft has no intention of developing dual-boot Windows / Linux support for the XO laptop. According to a statement sent to BetaNews, Redmond flat out denied any work on such a project, instead claiming that it "plans to publish formal design guidelines early this year that will assist [any] flash-based device manufacturers in designing machines that enable a high-quality Windows experience." The blurb goes on to say that the company will be conducting limited XP-on-XO field tests later this month, although BetaNews notes that notebook's hardware limitations have proven problematic for the software giant, which may be forced to offer the OS on an SD card -- a move that would require a new BIOS for the XO to enable booting from removable storage.[Via Slashdot]
OLPC spin-off plans $75 laptop
According to a report in the New York Times today, a spin-off of OLPC is planning to launch a competitor to the company's $200 XO laptop. Mary Lou Jepsen, former CTO of the Nicholas Negroponte-led company, claims that her new organization, Pixel Qi, can do it cheaper and better. "Spinning out from OLPC enables the development of a new machine, beyond the XO [laptop], while leveraging a larger market for new technologies," Jepsen wrote on the company's website, adding, "Besides, I need that extra $125 for laundry and stuff." Jepsen claims that the cost of a device like the XO can be reduced by, "Allowing multiple uses of key technology advances." If you'll recall, the original target price for the XO was $100, back in the hazy, optimistic days of 2005. Using an advanced abacus coupled with a complex system of levers and pulleys, we've determined that when and if the Pixel Qi laptop makes it to market, the cost will be no less than $150, and Nicholas Negroponte will say something crazy about it.
Nigerian firm wins interim injunction against OLPC, asks for $20M in damages
Well, it looks like that Nigerian keyboard patent infringement case against OLPC is underway, and it hasn't started out too well for Nick Neg and co.: the court has granted LANCOR's motion for an interim injunction against OLPC, meaning the XO can't be imported or sold in Nigeria. On top of that, LANCOR is now asking for $20M in damages, and has been searching the offices of OLPC-affiliated organizations in Nigeria for "evidence." All of this currently going down with zero input from OLPC's lawyers, but we're told the organization is preparing an "aggressive" response. Check the read link for an exhaustive summary of the case to date over at Groklaw.[Via CNet]
How would you change the OLPC XO?
Don't adjust your screens folks, as this actually isn't a year-end case of déjà vu. Rather, we're looking to give you an(other) imaginary shot at tweaking the OLPC XO now that it has moved beyond the initiative phase and been productized for the general consumer. In case you've been parked squarely under a rock for the last few months, you should know that the XO's journey through production has been quite a lengthy one, and while a few countries have made substantial bulk purchases to inject these machines into their respective school systems, we're interested in seeing how the average joe / jane located in a developed nation sees things. Needless to say, One Laptop Per Child's "Give One, Get One" program has been quite the success, and by now, we're confident that some of you have already received your own. 'Course, we're sure there's at least a few of you that chose this over that other low-cost laptop (and many that chose it over this), and we're curious to know how you'd improve the newly commercialized XO now that it actually has a rival. Yeah, we too would love an even skimpier price tag, but beyond that, what hardware / software changes would you like to see on the next version? Could you stand to have a few more megabytes of RAM? Still yearning for dual-boot capability out of the box? How's about a design scheme that doesn't involve opaque white and bright green? As stated, we're well aware that these things weren't designed with LAN partiers in mind, but now that NickNeg is offering 'em up to these very citizens -- not to mention every other type of user in North America -- why not toss out a few suggestions for making it more suitable for you?
Quanta shipping only 10,000 OLPC XO's per month? Try 100k
Something doesn't add up. Either the Economic Daily News has bad manufacturing numbers or OLPC's claims of $2 Million worth of "donations" each day (more than 10,000 XOs per day!) under the $399 G1G1 program are highly exaggerated. The Chinese-language report says that Quanta expects to ship 15,000 XOs in all of December and only around 8-10k units each month into the future. This according to the paper's "component maker" sources. Of course, OLPC could be multi-sourcing laptops from Foxconn, Compal, or some other Guangdong Province factory -- though that would be news to us. Regardless, with 15,000 XOs heading to Alabama, 260,000 heading to Peru, and countless others in the queue from G1G1, well, our children might be waiting a long, long time for delivery.Update: According to reader Hao, DigiTimes incorrectly translated the production quantity. EDN is reporting 150,000 XOs shipping in December, then 80k to 100k each month thereafter. That certainly sounds more reasonable. Here's the EDN piece. Thanks Hao!
First OLPC XOs from G1G1 ship today
At the nexus of selfishness and altruism sits the OLPC Give One, Get One program. Today marks the first day of shipping for those of you who placed a G1G1 order during the program's November 12th launch date. Each XO ships with new OLPC Ship.2 Build (650) software which introduces a network-based OLPC-update and more robust wireless networking in addition to the same (great) Sugar UI and easy-to-use application suite we've seen. They'll also arrive touting the latest Q2D07 firmware which fixes a critical bug bricking some XOs in manufacturing. As noted earlier, these units should arrive before Christmas while the second XO heads to less-fortunates in early 2008. As it should be, eh you greedy/selfless bastage.[Via OLPC News, thanks Wayan] Read -- OLPC Ship.2 release notes Read -- OLPC G1G1 shipping
Microsoft to test out Windows XP on OLPC XO
Don't fret, that feeling you've just been overcome with is nothing more than a harmless dose of déjà vu. Nearly a year ago to the day, we were hearing these same types of talks, and while the whole "XP on XO" conversation has been one of on-again / off-again nature, the switch has apparently been flipped to "go" once more. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft is slated to test out Windows XP on OLPC XO laptops starting next month in the US, India and possibly Romania. James Utzschneider, general manager of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Group, noted that it "wanted Windows to run on the XO and [that it was] investing significant energy and talent" to make sure it happened. Granted, Microsoft will have to be mighty pleased with the results before any of this goes commercial, as Mr. Utzschneider concluded by stating that the company "wants to [ensure] a quality experience before [making a] commitment to governments."[Via PCWorld]
Birmingham, Alabama schools getting 15000 OLPC XOs
If you (or your kiddo) just happens to be a first through eighth grader in Birmingham, Alabama, you (or your offspring) will soon be playing with an XO during regularly scheduled class time. Mayor Larry Langford has recently announced that a $3 million deal was signed in order to bring in one laptop per child for the aforementioned grades, or 15,000 XOs in total. Apparently, the schools will become the first in the nation to receive heaps of the low-cost lappies, which were sold to the district at $200 a pop. As for logistics, students can expect to receive their machine on April 15, 2008, and while pupils will be allowed to take 'em home, the school system can and will disable any that inexplicably "disappear."[Image courtesy of OLPCNews]
OLPC orders surge as Peru requests 260,000 XOs
All steam ahead for the OLPC Foundation, which recently received an order from Peru for 260,000 of the little XO laptops. Also news is that Mexican billionaire and Negroponte's chum Carlos Slim has purchased 50,000 for his country. That's against a background of $2 million sales a day on the Give One, Get One program. Clearly, the OLPC Foundation is the most successful program out there for getting laptops into the hands of schoolchildren.[Image credit]
Nigerian firm sues Negroponte, OLPC for patent infringement
Just months after a slew of OLPC XOs made their way into Nigeria, a Nigerian-owned company is filing suit against Nicholas Negroponte and the OLPC Association for patent infringement. Lagos Analysis and subsidiary LANCOR filed the lawsuit on November 22nd in Nigeria, claiming that the aforementioned parties willfully and illegally reverse engineered its keyboard driver source codes. Turns out, LANCOR makes its ends by selling region specific-based keyboards that allow for direct access inputting of "accents, symbols and diacritical marks during regular typing," and sure enough, the XO's board looks mighty similar to those offered up by the plaintiff. Additionally, the outfit is in the process of "filing a similar lawsuit against OLPC in a United States Federal Court," so we'd recommend snagging an XO or two before Nik Neg and company are forced to inflate prices to pay off those highfalutin lawyers.[Image courtesy of Konyin and Digital Crusader]
OLPC Give One, Get One program extended -- averaging $2M sales per day
Negroponte's OLPC Buy One, Give One program has been extended to 31 December, 2007 -- well beyond the initial two-weeks originally announced. The deal buys both yourself (or rather, your kid supposedly) and a tot from a developing nation new XOs for just $399. Already, the non-profit claims to be pulling in about $2 Million worth of "donations" each day. They've also opened up bulk buying to schools in quantities of 100-999 ($299 each), 1000-9999 ($249 each), or 10,000 and more ($199). Oh, and the program is now officially renamed "Give One, Get One" (GoGo) -- we presume BoGo'ing the kids sounded too icky.
OLPC BOGO customers get free year of T-Mobile HotSpot access
Yes, that's "Buy One, Give One" for those out of the loop, and for the sect willing to fork out $399 in order to claim an OLPC XO of their own and have one donated too, T-Mobile is announcing that it will give you a solid year of HotSpot access gratis. The partnership is hoping to encourage participation in the philanthropic campaign, but this is most certainly not the first time T-Mobile has handed out free WiFi in order to get its name out there. Nevertheless, if this tidbit somehow pushes you into the buyers' camp, you can place an order between November 12th - 26th and calmly anxiously await your new machine along with "information on how to activate the one year of complimentary HotSpot service." Go on, you know it's the perfect excuse to pull the trigger, and besides, that warm, fuzzy feeling you'll have will totally justify the hit to your checking account.[Via DailyWireless]
Uruguay places the first OLPC XO order; Negroponte says Windows is "key"
The OLPC XO found itself in a couple different headlines today, first with the Laboratorio Tecnológico de Uruguay stepping up to become the first official government purchaser of the "$100" laptop, committing to buy 100,000 of the green machines, with the potential to buy a further 200,000 by 2009. The deal's been coming for a while but was just made official today, marking the first major order for NickNeg's baby -- and a big win over Intel's Classmate PC, which was also in the running. Speaking of NickNeg, the man with the plan also made the news today by saying that OLPC has been working with Microsoft from the start, saying "It would be hard for OLPC to say it was 'open' and then be closed to Microsoft. Open means open." Apparently, OLPC has been earmarking some of the first engineering models from each developer build for Microsoft, and Redmond has pushed for and gotten changes in the device, particularly the inclusion of an SD slot. There's still no word on if we might see an XO preloaded with XP, but from the looks of things, it's going to happen sooner or later.[Thanks, Wayan]Read -- Uruguay places the first official OLPC XO orderRead -- NickNeg says OLPC is working with Microsoft
India caves to OLPC, gets 22 units to try out
A lot can change in a year -- tastes, moods, the value of one's currency... -- and apparently, India's stance on One Laptop Per Child has shifted so dramatically from last July that 22 of the low-cost machines have actually arrived for testing. Reportedly, officials didn't give up after being practically rejected by India's education minister, and now 22 lucky youngsters in a one-room school in Maharashtra are getting the chance to participate in a pilot program. Carla Gomez-Monroy, the education consultant who launched the test, stated that OLPC "has learned that working with local partners will be crucial in India, where dozens of languages are spoken." Of course, the far smaller minimum order quantity probably helped matters too, and while there's no commitment from India to buy heaps of XOs anytime soon, Gomez-Monroy suggested that distribution could broaden "as soon as June" of next year.[Image courtesy of Flickr]
OLPC XO hit with production delays
If you were all set to plop down $399 in order to bless some eager kid overseas (and your own inner-child) with an OLPC XO this year, your plans are now in serious jeopardy. Reportedly, some sort of production delay has pushed the approximate start date for manufacturing from this month to November 12th, meaning that it's highly unlikely any significant number of US / Canadian orders will be filled before Christmas. According to Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for the One Laptop per Child Foundation, it had "some last minute bugs" that have since been resolved, but now it'll be an uphill battle just to fill the initial orders placed by Peru and Uruguay in a timely manner. If it's any consolation, Jepsen did state that some folks in North America would probably get their machines before the year's end, but recommended that you "order early" if you're the totally impatient type normal.
Pogue finds the OLPC XO "absolutely amazing"
With the OLPC Foundation's "Give 1 Get 1" holiday promotion fast approaching, New York Times tech pundit and occasional crooner David Pogue decided to see for himself if the long-hyped XO lives up to its promise, and he's now delivered a full review of the not-quite-$100 laptop. While he recognizes some of the laptop's shortcomings (including a two-minute startup time), those proved to be insignificant compared to the laptop's many benefits, which he says "exhibit breakthrough after breakthrough." Garnering particular notice from Pogue was the XO's sunlight-readable screen, its mesh networking capabilities, and it's long-lasting (and, just as importantly, cheap) battery. He even went so far as to perform a few drop and spill tests on the laptop, which the XO apparently had no trouble withstanding -- check out the video also at the link below to see for yourself.
OLPC announces $399 "Give 1 Get 1" holiday XO promo
Starting November 12th you can finally fork over some cash for an XO and get one shipped to your door -- as long as you're willing pay double for some kid in a developing nation to get one as well. It'll cost you $399, which is hardly a bargain given the other cheap-as-free laptops making the rounds these days, but the XO is undoubtedly novel, and we imagine not a few nerds will want to get their hands on one this holiday season, or at least bestow the little green machine upon one of their nerdling progeny. Apparently this offer, which has been rumored for quite a while now, will only last for a limited time -- OLPC News has it on good authority the promo will go for two weeks, and the machines will ship to your door in time for Christmas -- but it's never to early or late to donate toward the project in general. $200 will build and ship a laptop to one of those millions of kids who totally needed to be playing Doom yesterday.[Via OLPC News]
OLPC's XO gets previewed in its "final" form
We've anticipating final production runs of the OLPC XO for who knows how long, but the $188 laptop is finally in production and soon to be landing in the laps of school children the world over. The folks and Laptop Magazine got their hands on what is ostensibly the final production version and put it through its paces. Everything seemed to work as advertised: a dual-mode display providing readability in any light, a solid build that survives drops from four feet and keyboard spills, solar and pull-string charging options for unlimited battery life, and a hefty quantity of quality software for kids, but there were still some slow-down problems in the software, especially when switching between applications or browser tabs. We've still yet to see if the XO is going to enjoy widespread adoption in education, and still a bit bummed that the price has ratcheted up to nearly $200, but otherwise the computer does seem to fulfill a surprising quantity of what was originally promised.
OLPC XO reviewed... by a twelve-year-old
Somehow, a twelve-year-old child has been given the opportunity to take the OLPC XO for a test drive, and we've got the blow-by-blow for you. The critic, named "SG," has spent a lifetime using computers, and claims that he / she had low expectations, but the XO took him / her "by surprise," calling the child-centric green laptop "cleverly designed, imaginative, [and] straightforward." The reviewer says that Negroponte's pet-project is "great for first time users," and lauds the PCs games and camera, as well as the "application that allows you to type things." Unfortunately, it's not all cheers for the humanitarian computer, as the critic discovered that applications were slow to open, the system was prone to crashes, and the OS delivers no message before the battery loses charge. "I had to wait two minutes to get onto one application," he / she says, and "it got slower... the longer I went without rebooting it." In the end, however, SG gives the laptop high marks, concluding that the value, build quality, and bundled software outweigh the minor annoyances he / she had with the system, closing the review by simply stating, "This program is truly amazing."
OLPC XO may be on sale by Christmas for $350
Hot on the heels of the news that the OLPC XO has begun mass production, OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen has told Reuters that the foundation is planning on selling the sorta-costs $100 laptop to consumers by Christmas for...$350. Or $525. Or maybe not at all. The foundation is looking for ways to subsidize manufacturing so it can ship more of the green-eared machines to developing countries, and it's hoping that consumer sales will help foot the bill -- although NickNeg and Co. haven't decided at what price the plan is feasible and won't announce a decision for another month. One thing is certain, however: releasing these things to consumers will definitely not solve that itty-bitty porn problem.[Via OLPC News][Thanks, Wayan]
