April 22, 2009, 5:15 am
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, which builds low-cost mobile computing devices for students in developing countries, has announced plans to update its XO laptop. The new model, which has been dubbed XO generation 1.5, will include a VIA processor instead of the aging AMD Geode processor that is included in the current XO model.
OLPC has faced many challenges since its inception and was recently forced to make massive cuts due to a decline in sponsorship and the failure of its second G1G1 fundraising effort. The organization largely refocused its efforts on creating a reference design for the XO 2, which will have dual touchscreens, possibly an ARM processor, and a target price of $75 per unit. The XO 1.5 is a less ambitious undertaking and will bring a much-needed incremental improvement to OLPC’s hardware while the XO 2 is under development.
