Marvell And OLPC's XO 3.0 - The $100 Tablet For Rural School Children?

With the CES 2012 around the corner, many manufacturers are announcing that they are showcasing their latest products at CES 2012. The latest team to give such an announcement is Marvell and One Laptop per Child. They have announced that their ambitious XO 3.0 tablet (also known as $100 OLPC tablet) will be launched during the CES 2012 next week. It is the “natural successor” for their current laptops, which have been distributed to more than 2.4 million children in 42 countries under the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) program.

#-Link-Snipped-#
Image source: Engadget

What makes this eight-inch, 1024x768 tablet stand out from the rest is the ruggedized body, built to survive rural schools, and the low power consumption like the other tablets. What is even better is the different ways of charging the battery. It can be recharged using solar power or even by a hand crank (like the one used in its sibling XO 1.75). A minute’s turning can give 10 minutes of power. It is powered by Marvell ARM PXA618 SoC processor with 512 MB of RAM and a Standard or Pixel Qi sunlight-readable display that mimics e-paper. It can be run on Linux-based sugar interface or Android. When a full fledged XO 3.0 can cost much more than $100, a “$100 tablet” (up from the actually planned $75) will lack in many features and will use the traditional LCDs.

The images of the prototype have been released and people are sure that when the product hits the shelves it is sure to look different. Apple has been the leader in tablets for education but not for all. Only the richest have access to them. OLPC aims at reaching out to places where iPads have no chance of getting to (not that they want to), by the use of Android or Sugar. It is also well suited for rural areas where constant electricity supply is a headache. It gives the easiest solution of all, spin the handle for few minutes and there you have enough power to finish your work without any hassles.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

Replies

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

Guess who steals the show at the Delhi Auto Expo 2012? Any reasonable guess would call for a supercar or one of those fancy bikes right? But NO! This year,...
I had no idea they existed but Indian hackers seem to be creating some nuisance for Symantec. The hacker group operating under the title 'The Lords of Dharmaraja' claims to...
Microsoft has decided to do away with its popular feature: Where's My Phone Update?. But the reason for this sudden decision is not clear in Microsoft’s statement yesterday. This announcement...
Just when space agencies all over the world are hunting for traces of life, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Spacecraft is heading towards Mars. To reach its destination 'Gale Crater' on...
A Government official reported that an e-voting machine that is to be used for the presidential election this year failed. It fails to record votes, logs the wrong voting information...