OLPC XO-2 cancelled, but XO 1.75 planned
According to an interview with OLPC’s founder and chairman, Nicholas Negroponte, development of the dual-screen OLPC XO-2 laptop has been cancelled and a new XO-1.75 is in the works. The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC ) project is a non-profit organisation who's mission is to provide children across the world with low cost laptops for the purposes of self-education.
Originally expected to be available in 2010, the XO-2 laptop was touted to be a new dual-screen device released under an "open source hardware programme" and based on the feedback from the original XO-1 unit. The device was designed to be usable as an e-book reader when held like a book, or turned, with one of the screens becoming a touch keyboard. According to Negroponte, the XO-2 is being replaced by two things, the model 1.75 and the XO-3.
Negroponte says that the XO-1.75 will be based on the same industrial design as the XO-1 and XO-1.5, but will include an ARM processor. The XO-1 uses an x86 Geode chip from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and the XO-1.5 features a VIA C7-M processor with clock ranges from 400MHz to 1GHz. However, additional details about the model 1.75, including I/O, memory or storage, have yet to be announced.
The XO-3 will reportedly feature a "totally different industrial design" that's said to be "more like a sheet of paper". When asked for more details about the XO-3, Negroponte responded that there's "not much to say other than its aspirational aspects: 3.0 is a single sheet, completely plastic and unbreakable, waterproof, 1/4" thick, full color, reflective and transmissive, no bezel, no holes. 1W. $75, ready in 2012."
See also:
- Uruguay: Every primary school pupil now has an OLPC XO laptop, a report from The H.
- OLPC XO 1.5 Laptop gets a new VIA processor, a report from The H.
(crve)