OLPC

How excited we were when OLPC unveiled its XO-2 design a few months ago. The thought of a dual touchscreen laptop was mouth-watering, and the pictures of a touch keyboard had us all wondering if it would create a whole new way of computing.

But someone actually beat them to the punch. V12 Design, an Italian industrial design agency, developed a similar concept four years ago. Valerio Cometti, the founder and managing director of the firm, came up with a dual LCD laptop called the Canova.

The first-generation Canova had a dual-touchscreen form and Cometti told us, “it was developed for creative types, such as artists.” The first-generation model, of which we have a whole slew of images below, actually existed and was made of stainless steel and carbon fiber, but it didn’t run an operating system or software. It was envisioned to transform from a sketch pad, to a writing pad with an electronic pen, to a newspaper. Read the rest of this entry »

On my daily walk from the subway to my office in Times Square, I pass a handful of electronic kiosks. The hoards of cell phones in the window usually catch my eye, but not enough to make me venture into the shady stores to check them out.

But one store on 39th Street and 7th Avenue with a neon-orange, marker scribbled sign reading “Laptop Sale from $99.95″ gave me a kick in the butt to open the door to a pushy salesman today. Some will say that my love for cheap laptops has gone too far. I say nonsense.

What will $99.95 buy you at the small electronics store at West 39th Street and 7th Avenue? A used laptop and we aren’t talking a used OLPC XO or Eee PC. The extremely pushy salesman pulled out an eight year old Dell Latitude LM. The laptop, which is as thick as a Harry Potter book, to my surprise actually booted up without an AC adapter.

When we asked what operating system it ran, all we got from our salesman, who we will call Sketch, was “It has Microsoft Office inside!” And he was absolutely right. When the Windows 2000 Professional desktop displayed we found a Microsoft Office suite under Programs. Not too shabby. He wouldn’t let us check the system properties but he told us it had 12GB of space. The CD-ROM drive on the right side of the machine miraculously opened with a splash of dust. We suspect it had less than 1GB of RAM. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, the tech industry was abuzz with questions about OLPC’s next-generation laptop, the XO-2. We heard the news straight from OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte’s mouth: that the system is just a prototype at this point and won’t be available until 2010. But that didn’t stop us and others from picking apart the conceptual system.

On a search for some answers, we reached out to Mary Lou Jepsen, the former chief technology officer of OLPC and a founder of PixelQi, who is working to design the XO-2’s dual-touch display. We caught up with Jepsen to find out some details on the screen-centric XO-2.

How have you converted the dual-mode display in the current XO to one that is touch capable? What makes this screen different from what you might find on a touch-enabled Tablet PC today or the iPhone?
Mary Lou Jepsen: We are integrating multi-touch into the LCD itself, rather than adding an additional touch-sensitive screen over the LCD as is usually done in tablet PCs and iPhone. The cost savings are tremendous, and the image quality is better because nothing is in front of the screen.

Will the XO-2 have pen-input/tablet functionality?
MLJ: Pen-input/tablet is still to be determined, but it’s certainly not that hard to add.

Is the display optimized for any particular OS? The next generation of Sugar? Windows 7?
MLJ: The display can use whatever software OLPC chooses.

Will the screen use haptic technology (i.e., will users feel feedback when pushing a key)?
MLJ: We are working on it.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week our site has been abuzz with comments about OLPC’s next generation laptop, the XO-2. No prototype of the XO-2 has been built yet, and the machines aren’t scheduled to ship until 2010, but that hasn’t stopped readers from expressing strong opinions about the XO-2’s keyboard, or lack thereof.

Replacing a physical keyboard with a touchscreen virtual keypad (à la the iPhone) is a bold move on OLPC’s part, but is it good for everyday use?

RoMania commented:

The fact that the keyboard is missing it’s a big problem. Trust me I prefer to type on a real keyboard rather than on a touch screen. [sic]

Flatus said:

Touchscreens that you press may work for an ATM machine, where you’re only doing a few presses while looking at the screen.

A user named Jason was blunt in comparing the XO-2’s keyboard to one from the late 70s/early 80s:

The future is typing on an Atari 400?

For those not well-versed in disco-era technology, we should say that the Atari 400 (pictured at right) was an early home PC that featured a membrane keyboard. Membrane keyboards were used in a few other early home computers but were quickly relegated to microwave-oven keypads, because typing on a flat surface is so uncomfortable. Or is it?

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I am here this morning in Cambridge, Mass., at OLPC’s Global Country Workshop. Opening the conference this morning was OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte, who announced the second generation of the OLPC XO laptop, which will be called the XO-2.

Negroponte didn’t share many details about the XO-2’s hardware, but the new system has two touch-sensitive displays. As you can see from the video and the pictures, the XO-2 will be much smaller than the original machine (half the size, according to the press release) and will have a foldable e-book form factor. “The next generation laptop should be a book,” Negroponte said.

The XO-2 will employ the dual indoor-and-sunlight displays, which was pioneered by former OLPC CTO Mary Lou Jepsen. The design will provide a right and left page in vertical format, a hinged laptop in horizontal format, and a flat, two-screen continuous surface for use in tablet mode. “Younger children will be able to use simple keyboards to get going, and older children will be able to switch between keyboards customized for applications as well as for multiple languages,” the press release reads. The XO-2 will also reduce power consumption to 1 watt.

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This post is not a preemptive eulogy for One Laptop Per Child (OLPC). Over the past few days—since the announcement that Windows XP will run on OLPC’s XO laptop—we’ve noticed quite a few naysayers.

GigaOm, to pick on one in particular, said in his post that OLPC was a far-fetched idea from the start:“[I]t was being shoved down the throats of emerging economies with more dire needs, such as food, clean water and schools.” To that, I have to go with Nicholas Negroponte’s answer, which I have committed to memory at this point: “It’s not a laptop project; it’s an education project.”

Then Om, as many have said over the past few days, hits at the availability of XP on the system. “The availability of Windows XP is different from what the people behind OLPC had set out to do—build a truly open, low-cost connected computing device for kids around the world.” Isn’t an open platform one that can run any operating system? Couldn’t a truly open system run Sugar and XP side by side, just like Negroponte asserts will happen?

Read the rest of this entry »

As Nicholas Negroponte told us a few months back, One Laptop Per Child’s (OLPC) XO laptop will be getting a Microsoft Windows XP operating system. It will not, however, completely replace the Sugar Linux OS that has been on the systems to date.

A joint press release from Microsoft and One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) revealed that trials of the XO running Windows are planned to begin as soon as in June in select emerging markets. The release also mentioned that the intent is to create a version of the XO laptop that provides the ability to host both Windows and Linux operating systems. Finally, a Sugar/Windows XP Boot Camp?!

Then again, what’s the use of having the Sugar interface if XP will be able to support the laptop’s e-book reading mode, standard Wi-Fi networking, camera, writing pad, and custom keys as well as power-saving and other features of the XO hardware? Will people see the use in using Sugar if they can just get all the applications that were built for the original system in a Microsoft OS? Perhaps a dual boot is the only solution for those that were resistant to the open-Sugar OS. Maybe Sugar is like those force-fed vegetables sitting on your plate; you don’t think you like them, but you don’t know until you try them.

Next week we’re heading up to Cambridge to get some hands-on time with the new system. Stay tuned for our initial impressions.

Update: Those readers that are interested in upgrading their XO, purchased in Give 1, Get 1, to XP will have to be patient. According to OLPC Founder Nicholas Negroponte, ” we are working on the dual boot and until such a time it will not be possible for users to upgrade their XO’s. This is a combination of of the flexibility of changing the firmware and business decisions to be made by Microsoft.”

You’ve just filed your taxes and are now waiting for that $600 check from the government that’s miraculously going to improve the economy. Well, if you haven’t already allocated that money toward paying off your credit card or electric bill, what can you do with it? Some might encourage you to put it in an IRA, others might hide it in a mattress, but we say No! Spend it, and turn that trickle-down economy into a flood! We’re counting on you, Almighty American Consumer!

But what can you get for $600? There are plenty of companies entering the mini-notebook fray, but not all of them get the “low-cost” moniker. So let’s see how far those C-notes take you. Of course, money’s not the only determining factor here, but it’s interesting to see what a dollar gets you, computer-wise, these days.

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The past few weeks have seen an influx of new low-cost laptops aimed at the education market. We compiled a full chart of over 10 systems, but official announcements of Intel’s Classmate or the CTL 2go PC and the HP Mini-Note confirm that the small notebook market is exploding with players.

Of course, there was one lonely system in the market before them all. One Laptop Per Child’s XO notebook was OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte’s vision to create an affordable ($100) laptop for children long before ASUS had its $399 Eee PC or HP considered making a Mini-Note for children in classrooms. Given Negroponte’s long drawn-out feud with Intel and its Classmate we realized this was an opportune time to check in with him and get his thoughts on Intel’s recent system announcement and the newcomers.

What is your take on the second generation Classmate by Intel?
They made many steps forward with the CMPC2, but the display is still really very weak. 480 lines does not work. I am glad they adopted mesh networking.
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When rumors started swilling a few weeks back about an Intel Netbook or the CTL 2go PC we were confident at the time that it was the second iteration of the Classmate PC. And we were right: Today Intel announced its second generation Classmate 2.

In addition, CTL has announced that they will be one of the first manufacturers to bring the Classmate 2 to market in the U.S as the 2go PC. According to CTL, the system will be sold at Amazon.com for $400.

We got an exclusive hands-on with the CTL 2go PC and even had a few days to review it.

Before sending the unit off for review I spent a few hours with the machine. I have spent lots of time with the first Classmate and this iteration is a serious improvement.

Improved Design, Sleeker Style
One can immediately notice the difference from the the machine’s exterior. The 2go PC has a silver and grayish vinyl cover. We are happy to see that it maintains its lunch-box handle, which makes it easier for kids to drag around. Intel says the system is still as rugged as the first. We didn’t attempt any drop tests but it should be able to withstand a 6-foot fall.

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