OLPC XO-2 Unveiled

XO-2 Gets a new look from its predecessor

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation has drawn quite a bit of attention from the media over the recent months. Their claim to fame, the OLPC XO-1, is a notebook designed to not only be affordable enough($100 per unit or less) to be distributed to schoolchildren in developing countries, many of which electricity is a big luxury, but its ease of use must appease to people who have never even heard of a computer. This bold undertaking has been underway since 2006, and has been gaining in momentum and support ever since, despite all the road bumps they’ve hit.

Recently, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte unveiled the second iteration of the famed notebook, the XO-2. Two major external changes are noticeable from the get-go. First off, it breaks away from its green rubbery shell and cute bunny ear-like antennae for a more streamlined design similar to some modern notebook PC’s. The second of which is the lack of a traditional keyboard. Instead, it uses a touch-sensitive screen displaying a keyboard, giving it the versatility to act as a traditional laptop, or be used on its side, acting like a book. Aside from the more obvious changes, the expected price per unit has dramatically dropped down to $75, half the size of its predecessor, and thus more energy efficient and lighter to carry.

The expected release date of this new gadget is sometime in 2010.

For the full BBC article, click here.