Intel and OLPC make love, not war
It appears that the once frosty relationship between Intel and the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project has now definitely thawed, with Intel designing a microprocessor and motherboard combo that could be used in production versions of the XO laptop.
Back in May, the founder of OLPC Nicholas Negroponte lashed out at Intel for trying to undermine his dream of creating a low-cost computer for poor children. Negroponte accused Intel of approaching the same governments that he’s been approaching and offering it’s own low-cost laptop, the Classmate, at below cost.
“Intel should be ashamed of itself, It’s just – it’s just shameless … Intel has hurt the mission enormously,” Negroponte told 60 Minutes at the time.
Then in July the relationship between OLPC and Intel improved markedly with the two organizations announcing that they while will continue with their respective low-cost computer programs, they will will “explore collaborations” involving technology and educational content. Intel also joined the board of OLPC, and agreed to contribute money and expertise.
Now there’s a real chance we’ll see an Intel processor inside an XO.
“Intel, like a lot of other people, is more than welcome to try to design great silicon for this project and this mission, and we’ve been working with them to help them do exactly that,” Walter Bender, OLPC’s president, told PC World.
At the heart of the OLPC vision, is the XO-1, a low cost Linux-based laptop that is rugged, extremely energy efficient (it can be powered using a built-in wind-up generator), supports mesh wireless networking, and uses open source software.
The current design of the XO-1 features a 433 MHz AMD Geode processor, 256 MB of RAM and 1 GB of Flash memory for long-term storage. OLPC hopes to be able to sell the computers to second and third world governments for US$100 by 2008, though at the moment the price is said to be around US$135 to $175.
Intel has confirmed that it is planning to submit a motherboard and processor design for the XO. Because the existing XO is based on an AMD processor, Intel engineers have had to go back to the drawing board to develop a new design for the low-cost laptop.
According to PC World, the new design will based on either existing mobile chips such as the Celeron M, or the upcoming Silverthorne processor, which is designed for ultramobile notebooks.
Bender said that OLPC still intends to use the AMD Geode processor, and no final decision has been made about using Intel processors. However he hinted that there may be a family of XO laptops, with Intel-powered models being used in more urban areas where better infrastructure exists.
“I can imagine there will be a family of laptops in terms of processor power and maybe there will be a larger form factor for older kids,” he said.
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