It isn't made from a "single sheet of flexible plastic," though, as the original OLPC tablet spec said. According to The Verge, the tablet has an 8-inch, 1024-by-768-resolution screen. The tablet will be on display at CES Unveiled on Sunday afternoon; we'll get a hands-on, For American Students, Plugs, Not Tablets Teachers can control students' devices through the plug, Kang said. In terms of tablets and phones, Marvell continues to plug along. The company's chip powers the low-cost Vizio Android tablet as well as the new rugged Panasonic Toughpad A1 Android tablet which was announced in November, and which we're going to see at CES. OLPC's mission is to provide one connected laptop or tablet to children who have little or no access to education because of insufficient resources.
The XO 3.0 integrates a 1GHZ Marvell Armada PXA618 system-on-a-chip, delivering low power consumption at low cost.
Other features of the Wi-Fi capable tablet include:
• Circuitry that allows it to be charged directly by solar panels or hand cranks.
• A Pixel Qi sunlight-readable display.
• Android and Linux operating system support.
The tablet comes on the heels of the news that India’s own mass-market tablet, the Aakash, has garnered serious interest, selling thousands and producing interest potentially in the millions of units. One Laptop Per Child's XO-3 tablet is ready to ship after years in the making, and working units will be shown next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, OLPC founder and chairman Nicholas Negroponte said.
The tablet has an 8-inch screen and will be priced at less than US$100 as originally planned, Negroponte said via e-mail. Like OLPC's XO-1 laptop, the XO-3 will be offered as an educational tool for children in developing countries. "[The XO-3] price will be $100 or lower. The tablet provides about eight to 10 hours of battery life, though some audiences may choose a smaller battery capacity to reduce the purchase price, said Ed McNierney, chief technology officer at OLPC. The charging options include solar panels or hand cranks, and a study is under way to see if the battery can be detached and the tablet powered directly through a solar cell.
The tablet is also available with a traditional LCD screen. But the optional Pixel Qi display absorbs ambient light to brighten the screen, reducing power consumption and extending battery life. Microsoft's Windows will not run on the device, only Linux-based OSes, Negroponte said. Negroponte has said the tablet on display at CES will run Google's Android OS. The XO-3 ultimately will replace the XO-1.75 laptops that are currently shipping, Negroponte said.
OLPC is not dependent on a specific manufacturer for the tablet and will work with "whomsoever wants to roll-out the tablet, for whatsoever purpose, at a very large scale," Negroponte said, adding the objective is to see prices plummet. Software on the tablets will record audio and video and adapt a reading platform to the needs of the children without human intervention. The project will study how children interact with the tablet and will aid in the study of tools for self-learning and critical thinking among children.
Post a Comment