By Is it fate that we just reported on a round of $100 tablets headed our way later this year, or just mere coincidence? Whatever the case may be, non-profit organization One Laptop Per Child is shifting its focus from providing sub-$100 laptops to providing sub-$100 tablets.
While VIA is helping to produce a line of devices that come in at the $100-$150 range, Marvell’s teaming up with the organization to keep their tablets at a maximum price of $99.99 to help less-fortunate children and families get computing devices that will help them with their education and everyday life.
A tablet device gives a lot of benefits – both price, manufacturing, and adaptability wise – to the crowd of children that OLPC is aiming at. For starters, there are less moving parts and it’s easier and faster to manufacture tablets. Both of those points combine to drive down costs compared to laptops. The other benefit is the ability to target a single device at children and families of different languages. Thanks to the promise of a software keyboard, it’s easier to switch languages than having to manufacture an entirely different component set.
You can also throw a lot more connectivity options and sensors onto a tablet than you can a laptop, and at lower costs. Nicholas Negroponte, founder of OLPC, wants to get some version of Linux going on these tablets, but the first generation of XO 3.0 devices will most likely be using Android. They’d try to get Windows going on them, but it requires too much computing power for it to be feasible (and I’m sure it’s easier to swallow “free” than whatever it costs to license Windows).
We expect to see the device unveiled at the International CES this January.
[via Cellular News]
Thats good.
Have been hearing a lot about them lately.
Great to hear. I’d like to see students here in the U.S. benefit from the mobile computing development, too — just not that Apple crap. Thanks.
Would think with Gates vast fortune and Buffets to boot , Gates could afford to give a few million of these things to the children.
But I guess, Bill holding on to all those billions is good for everyone right ?
Sent using Android not Windows .
@steve balmer
its bills money, if he doesn’t want to share it he doesn’t have to. who care’s if its good for everyone or not, he earned it (in whatever way) so he can do what he pleases with it. and nobody has any say so when it comes to anyone else’s finacials………… except the IRS
They’re back again eh? This initiative is partially what started the whole netbook craze. Microsoft basically derailed it with all their meddling to get Windows on the laptops instead of Linux. I didn’t know if they ever got the things launched because the price was driven up for trying to accommodate Windows. Now I wonder if MS will fight to keep Android off of them.
Android *is* some version of linux…backed up by Google and tons of apps including flash
@Steve Balmer.
I may not be a fan of Microsoft, but there is no disputing that BG does a lot with his money. Perhaps he thinks, and I would say correctly so, at this point in time keeping kids from dying of dysentery and malaria might be a pretty good idea.
yeah, well now that APPLE is the huge evil empire, and MICROSOFT one of the smaller companies, perhaps APPLE could be so generous as to donate a few Billion.
Windows is the worst for netbooks indeed! My eeepc 901 running XP is shocking after a clean install of XP and after XP does it’s windows updates.
Takes around 10 minutes or longer for Windows to load desktop and stop working harddrive – and this is a clean install after windows updates!