Intel Joins One Laptop.org

Intel Joins One Laptop.org

Posted by samc on July 13th, 2007

Intel has joined the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative, reports InfoWorld. The nonprofit project is powered by chips from AMD, Intel’s main competitor.

One Laptop expects to finally begin delayed volume shipments of its XO laptop in September, priced at $175. But Intel has been selling its Classmate PC laptop in bulk since March. Classmate currently costs around $225, but Intel hopes to lower that price to $200 by year-end.

According to InfoWorld, Intel has been selling Classmate primarily in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, and Pakistan, while OLPC has beta copies of its laptops in use by schoolchildren in Argentina, Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Thailand, and Uruguay. The governments of those seven nations have pledged to purchase the XO laptops in bulk when volume shipments begin.

Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of OLPC, famously said on CBS’s 60 Minutes that Intel’s Classmate efforts have been adversely affecting his project.

Intel and OLPC had engaged in conversations on and off for a while but nailed down an agreement to work together in the last month, according to Will Swope, vice president and director of corporate affairs at Intel.

Intel has spent more than $1 billion in education initiatives since its founding and over the last five to six years has been investing annually around $100 million on such projects. “How could we make that more impactful and reach more children?” Swope asked. The answer, he said, was to join OLPC.

“Collaboration with Intel means that the maximum number of laptops will reach children,” Negroponte agreed in a statement.

Under the agreement, Intel and OLPC will look into collaborating on both the technology and educational fronts. Intel will also join the OLPC board.

In the short term, Intel will effectively be supporting two different laptop programs — OLPC and Classmate — which will sometimes overlap, according to Swope. Over time, the two lines will become “more complementary” and Intel and OLPC will partner a lot more, he said.

The agreement doesn’t have anything to do with Intel making chips for the XO laptop. If the contract to provide silicon goes up for bid, Intel would naturally be interested, Swope said. AMD, an OLPC board member, is supplying its Geode processors for the machine.

Intel isn’t disclosing all the conditions of its membership in OLPC. Swope noted that a number of other IT vendors are lining up to join the project under the same terms as Intel, and OLPC doesn’t want to disclose those specifics until those other companies have also become members.

Laptop Magazine has a side by side comparison of the OLPC and ClassMate laptops. OLPC News has the latest news.

OLPC’s XO laptop includes:

• Processor: 433 Mhz AMD Geode processor
• RAM: 256 MB dynamic RAM
• FLASH: 1024 MiB SLC NAND flash
• Batteries: nickel-metal hydride battery that allows anywhere between 6 and 20 hours depending on what features are in use. When power sockets aren’t available, users can recharge the battery with a built-in pull-string charger.
• Screen: 7-1/2 inch dual-mode LCD supports a resolution of 1200×900 in monochrome mode and 800×600 in color mode.
• Networking: wireless mesh network technology
• MultiMedia: built-in microphone and an integrated camera can capture video at 30 frames per second with a resolution of 640×480.
• I/O Options: a rubber-membrane keyboard and a touchpad that also supports stylus input.
• Operating System: Linux
• Price: The XO laptop was initially targeting $100 per unit, but the price reached $175 after the addition of several features, including the video camera.

Intel’s Classmate PC features:

• Processor: Intel ULV 900 MHz Mobile Processor, Zero L2 cache, 400 MHz FSB
• RAM: DDR-II 256M SO-DIMM
• FLASH: 1GB/2GB NAND Flash
• Screen: Seven inch LCD that supports a resolution of 800×480,
• Batteries: Six-cell battery that provides approximately four hours of uptime when fully charged
• Networking: built-in Ethernet and 802.11G wireless hardware.
• MultiMedia: Stereo 2 Channel Audio, Built-in Speakers and Microphone, Jack for External Output and Microphone Input
• I/O Options: Users can input notes with an optional wireless pen device
• Operating System: Windows XP Pro*/ Linux*
• Price: Classmate PC was initially targeting $200 per unit, the price has climbed and could be anywhere between $250 and $400 at launch.

source : dailywireless.org