Rest In Peace, Ridiculous Dual-Screen OLPC XO-2

It has always been an unspoken fear—or assumption, even—that the dual-touchscreen followup to the original OLPC, the XO-2, would never come to pass. But we let the dream live! Until today: the XO-2 is officially scrapped. More »

Pedal-Powered OLPC Tested in Afghanistan: Free Power (and Killer Calves) For All

OLPC's Give One Get One initiative has delivered around 11,000 XO-1 laptops to Afghanistan schools alone. But power is a problem when you get off the grid, so the team there has had to think outside the box. More »

Microwaved OLPC Gets Molded Into a Scary Sushi Slug

Kenny Irwin is an artist with a strange medium—microwaved plastic. His latest creation started out as an OLPC, but ended up looking like a slug made out of sushi. Did I mention that you could actually own this thing? More »

Sugar On a Stick Turns Any Netbook Into Your Very Own OLPC

While it's probably not very practical for typical day-to-day laptop use, the Sugar Linux desktop environment, designed for the OLPC project, is a novel take on user interfaces. Now, Sugar Labs has released Sugar on a Stick, a version of the OS that is designed to boot, run and save data from and on a USB drive. [Techradar]

Pixel Qi: The Display That Will Make You Want an E-Reader

We've gone through it time and time again: One of the most formidable problems e-readers need to overcome is the expensive and primitive issue of e-ink. But Mary Lou Jepsen, of OLPC fame, has a new display that just might make the e-reader a viable, desirable, and even inexpensive gadget. More »

India Buys 250,000 OLPC Laptops After Own $10 Laptop Project Didn't Quite Work Out

In a bit of an about-face, India has placed a huge order for 250,000 OLPC XO laptops for their schools. This is a huge victory for the OLPC project. More »

Pixel Qi 3Qi Magic E-Paper and High-Res LCD Dual Display Becomes Real Next Month

The display technology Pixel Qi has been promising is revolutionary: A high-res color LCD and low-power, reflective reader mode better than E-ink. For dirt cheap. And it's coming next month. More »

OLPC's XO-1.5 to Boost Specs With Via Processor: You're Welcome, Africa

The hippies philanthropists at OLPC are overhauling the guts of their XO-1 with the aim of keeping the portable's battery life while increasing its capabilities. More »

OLPC to Ditch Old Friend AMD for ARM-Based Processors

Despite being an original sponsor of the OLPC project, AMD processors will not be used in the upcoming XO-2 touchscreen netbook. Instead, in an interesting move, ARM chips will take on the computing load. More »

Negroponte Open Sources OLPC Hardware Design, Invites Copy-Cats

The embattled OLPC program, already reeling from job cuts and salary decreases, is making one final attempt to stay afloat: Open source everything and hope enough companies copy the design to make it profitable. More »

India's $10 'Laptop' Basically a Big, Dumb Joke

After the aggressively lame "unveiling" we were all subjected to yesterday, details have finally emerged about the $10 Sakshat "laptop." It's not a laptop! Or much of anything, really. More »

India's $10 Laptop Is Actually $20, Will Be Unveiled Tomorrow

India's long-gestating $10 dollar laptop (that'll actually be $20) with 2GB of RAM will supposedly be revealed tomorrow. We hear it'll be made of paper, ground fairies and unicorn blood. [Times of India via FastCompany]

Intel Classmate 2 Already For Sale, Priced at $550

Intel's Classmate 2 was never intended for manufacture by Intel; the PC was simply a reference design provided for OEMs. Well, the first one is here: meet the Computer Technology Link 2Go PC. More »

Negroponte Halves OLPC Staff, Phases Out Sugar Linux to Focus on Dual-Screen XO

Today, Ars Technica picked up a blip from Nicholas Negroponte, who informed readers of his intention to cut half the staff and reduce pay of the rest, and emphasizing the shift to hardware. More »

John Lennon Digitally Reanimated for Unsettling OLPC Ad

The OLPC Foundation's last advertising effort was close to perfect, with a strong message and affecting imagery. Their latest? A creepy, boomer-manipulating, possibly effective oddity. More »

Pixel Qi Laptop Could Run for 20-40 Hours on Standard Battery

Mary Lou Jepsen—the XO Laptop's designer and OLPC's CTO before defecting and founding Pixel Qi—has even grander ambitions for new laptop project than hitting a mythical $75 pricetag. Pixel Qi is working on a laptop will be able to run on a standard for 20 to 40 hours, no pixie dust required. More »

OLPC Give 1 Get 1 Returns Nov. 17 at Amazon

One of the OLPC's few successes—besides arguably sparking the whole netbook movement—was its Give 1, Get 1 program. Okay, it had some issues, but overall, the program was a success in getting the laptops out there. No surprise then that it's coming back on Nov. 17, though this time they'll be wisely letting Amazon take care of the logistics. Update: We just heard from OLPC that the deal is the same, $400 ($188 a piece plus shipping and handling), and that the offer will be available in Europe and Asia later on. Windows XP will not be included, as it is only licensed on the platform for use in developing countries. [OLPC - Thanks Jimmie!]

First Windows XP OLPC Pilot Marks the Transition From the Sugar UI

Today the government of Peru, Microsoft and the OLPC announced the first official pilot of XO laptops running Microsoft Windows. This was expected of course, but it marks the beginning of a major shift away from Sugar / Linux—although both will remain as dual boot options for the foreseeable future. It also represents a major step for Microsoft who stand to gain a strong foothold in the developing world. More »

HiVision Shows Off Sub-$100 Linux Mini Laptop

China's HiVision has debuted a Linux-based laptop that makes the OLPC seem ridiculously expensive. For $98, you get a MIPS-based processor, 1GB flash storage, 3 USB ports, Ethernet, an SDHC card reader, WiFi, audio in and out, voice-chat and Firefox browser support on a Linux user interface. No word who this is being marketed towards, but with a price tag that low, maybe this will end up being the device that fulfills Nicholas Negroponte's much criticized mission. The video above is Tech Video Blog's review of Hivision's miniNote (hmm, naming conflict with HP in the near future?) at IFC 2008. [Tech Video Blog via The Earth Times]

Amazon to Sell OLPC in November, Including Dual-Boot XP Model

From November you'll be able to buy the OLPC in its classic "buy one for the price of two" offer from Amazon, which should be a smoother way of distributing the device than when the OLPC was originally on sale from the source. This new Give 1 Get 1 program will also cover the Windows XP version, now that Microsoft have finalized it, as well as the Sugar OS version. One thing remains unknown: pricing. The previous G1G1 program went to US residents for $398, but maybe this time it'll be a little closer to the fabled $100 price tag. [Electronista and BBC]

Mystery Tablet Shown at Intel Event, Either the Classmate 3 or a Quad Core Speak & Spell

At the end of an otherwise tepid presentation at the Intel Developer Forum today, Dadi Perimutter, head of Intel's Mobility Group, dropped a bomb (via PowerPoint) on his audience: a mysterious tablet device, which could well be the next generation of the Classmate OLPC competitor. If that is the case, the OLPC might really have something to worry about. Sugar, the "revolutionary" Linux-based OS originally developed for the OLPC, is already in development for the Classmate project, not to mention that fact that this new picture indicates that Intel may have taken a few of Nick Negroponte's visions for the OLPC XO-2 to heart, and possibly to production. UPDATE: Looks like the OLPC is safe for now - it turns out this is just a forthcoming Panasonic Toughbook tablet for medical professionals. BOOO. More »

Windows XP On OLPC Gets Slowly Tested

We showed you the first footage of an OLPC booting the official Windows XP installation back in June, but now Laptop has given the XP-sporting XO a quick round of testing, and unsurprisingly, things are a bit sluggish. The XO's hardware has gone unchanged for the XP edition, so Windows boots off of an SD card which also packs Office, IE, and other apps. While IE fired up in five seconds, the OS took 1 minute 24 seconds to boot, and no one should be surprised that multitasking on the little guy's 256MB of RAM was not fun. Mesh networking is also not making it to the Windows version, unfortunately, but kids can still dual-boot into the Sugar OS for that. [Laptop]

Intel Classmate OS Will Be as Sugary as the OLPC

Intel's for-profit take on the OLPC concept will soon share a UI with its spiritual predecessor. Walter Bender, the guy who made the original child-friendly Sugar interface with the OLPC project, told PC Magazine that Sugar will be adapted to the Classmate PC. Intel had previously disassociated themselves with the OLPC program because they really wanted to continue developing the Classmate. Because I guess earning money from the emerging world is more satisfying and because, you know, Intel needs more. That and more gas on the OLPC and Classmate flame war. [PC World]

OLPC Founder Negroponte Wanted to Make Multitouch XO-2 Laptop 20 Years Ago

Long before the XO Laptop climbed over $100 and OLPC's name was sullied by infighting (and then redeemed by its dual multi-touchscreen XO2 concept) OLPC founder Nick Negroponte was preaching the gospel of ten-finger multi-touch over the "mouse on Macintosh," which sounds profoundly clunky compared to his vision of interfacing with computers. In this 1984 TED talk, the experience he describes sounds remarkably like the XO-2—over 25 years later, he'll finally build the computer he's always wanted. (And I want too.) The clip is long, but prescient and brilliant—you'll feel smarter afterward. [TED via Mental Floss] More »

OLPC To Become Colombia's Finest Import

OLPC has agreed to supply 65 thousand XO computers to the state of Caldas, Colombia, providing an injection of technology to a rural area of the country. The first 15,000 will be distributed throughout the most remote areas of the state by the end of 2008, while the remaining 50,000 will be offered in the capital, Manizales, and other remaining areas of the state by the end of 2009. More »

OLPC XO-2 Will Love You Back With Haptic Feedback and Multitouch

OLPC's upcoming wonder laptop, the XO-2, will have multi-touch and haptic feedback, according to a Mary Lou Jepsen of Pixel Qi, who designed the original's innovative indoor/outdoor display, and is charged with making the XO-2's dual touchscreens happen. Additionally, the touchscreen capabilities will be integrated directly into the LCD, rather than relying on a secondary display layer to sense inputs, as used on most current touch screen devices (including the iPhone). More »

OLPC XO Laptop's Sugar OS Being Shopped to Four Other Laptop-Makers

Even though the XO Laptop's Sugar-coated OS wasn't exactly the most vaunted aspect of the attempted laptop-for-all, following Windows XP's invasion of the project, former OLPC exec Walter Bender's newly formed Sugar Labs is shopping Sugar around. They're in talks with at least four "ultra low-cost" notebook makers who would use it for kid computers. This is the second OLPC splinter faction to license tech from the OLPC project, the first being Mary Lou Jepsen's Pixel Qi, which is licensing the XO's innovative indoor/outdoor display and aiming for a $75 laptop. I'm waiting for someone to sell me that sweet XO-2 unveiled the other day. [Betanews via Electronista]

Microsoft Offers Mega-Discount on WinXP to Low-Cost Laptop Makers

Ultra low-cost PCs such as OLPC's XO laptop could end up bundled with copies of Windows OS after all, if Microsoft's most recent scheme to grab market share works. The company is giving computer manufacturers Windows XP Home Edition at a steep discount to put on ULPCs, in hopes of luring them away from Linux. More »