Education Law

OLPC releases XO-3 tablet concept

The XO-3 tablet should be coming to the market in 2012.

Do you remember the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project? A U.S.-based, non-profit organization, the project works to create a cheap, low-power, mobile computer for kids in developing countries. Their current XO-1 laptop is still being shipped to countries such as Rwanda and Uruguay, but the folks at OLPC are working on a next generation device?a tablet.

The plan for the next OLPC XO was originally a two-screen foldable device named XO-2, but that model was eventually scrapped. The XO-3 follows in line with the current tablet buzz that has cropped up because of rumors of an Apple tablet. Even the XO-3 is still a concept at this point, but the plan is to have a 8.5 x 11 touchscreen, a built-in camera, induction charger, and a foldable carrying ring on one of its corners. Priced at only $75, the device appears to be a pie-in-the-sky dream, but you have to start somewhere. So why not set a lofty goal?

Half the thickness of an iPhone, this concept is obviously banking heavily on technology advances by 2012 (the projected release date), but it’s not too hard to see somebody making this design a reality by then?maybe even Apple. OLPC’s Nick Negroponte isn’t all hubris, however: “…we’re not a commercial operation. If we only achieve half of what we’re setting out to do, it could have very big consequences.”

BoardBuzz would love to see this device succeed. Any endeavor that aims to bring modern technology into the hands of impoverished children is worthy of success.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on December 30, 2009 (boomark / email).