May 27, 2010

Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child Developing $75 Tablet

By Paula Bernier
Executive Editor, TMC

The iPad recently hit the one million units sold mark, and the tablet device is poised to reach $1 billion in sales by the end of this month, as other vendors push their own devices in this category. Meanwhile, an electronic tablet is being designed for children in the developing world.

 

The latter effort comes from Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT Media Lab and the One Laptop Per Child project.

 

He says OLPC expects to have a working prototype of its $75 tablet, called the XO-3, by December 2010. The organization is planning to display the device, for which the manufacturer was not disclosed, at a future CES (News - Alert) show. (However, Negroponte and his organization have in the past been criticized for missing price points and deadlines.)

 

A report indicates the new device will be about 9 inches diagonally, unbreakable, and have a dual-mode display that can be used indoors as well as in direct sunlight. The first iteration may be based on the Android (News - Alert) OS, but the long-term plan is to base this tablet on Linux, says Negroponte, author of the popular book Being Digital.

 

Although, given it will be $75 and targeted at the developing world, the new XO-3 will be no match for the iPad - nor will it try to be. However, if it can work in direct sunlight, that will be an improvement on Apple's (News - Alert) tablet.

 

As Rich Tehrani, TMC's (News - Alert) CEO and publisher, notes in a recent TMCnet piece: "If you use your iPad in bright sunlight you will likely have to turn the brightness all the way up so you can see the screen. The problem becomes that after a while the unit can overheat, issue an overheating warning and then shut down. SIP Forum (News - Alert) head Marc Robins called me today to share the experience he had with his iPad. And he said it was only 88 degrees outside so if gets really hot out you may not be able to use your iPad at all."

Edited by Marisa Torrieri