One Laptop Per Child to Release 3 New Devices Over the Next 3 Years

OLPC is a non-profit organization whose mission is to supply hundreds of millions of ultra affordable laptops to impoverished children all over the world. While its XO laptop has not made a tremendous impact (many claim that the XO is vaporware), the group has already outlined a roadmap for its upcoming three releases, including two tablets. OLPC claims that “The XO has been distributed to more than 1.4 million children in 35 countries and in 25 languages.”

The original XO laptop is not impressive except for its price. OLPC is keeping up with trends and will be selling three new devices over the course of the next three years:

XO 1.5:

“The XO 1.5 is the same industrial design as the XO 1.0. Based on a VIA processor (replacing AMD), it will provide 2x the speed, 4x DRAM memory and 4x FLASH memory. It will run both the Linux and Windows operating systems. XO 1.5 will be available in January 2010 at about $200 per unit. The actual price floats in accordance with spot markets, particularly for those of DRAM and FLASH.”

XO 1.75:

“The XO 1.75, to be available in early 2011, will be essentially the same industrial design but rubber-bumpered on the outside and in the inside will be an 8.9”, touch-sensitive display. The XO 1.75 will be based on an ARM processor from Marvell that will enable 2x speed at 1/4 the power and is targeted at $150 or less. This ARM-based system will complement the x86-based XO 1.75, which will remain in production, giving deployments a choice of processor platform.”

XO-3: this is just a concept, but if the eventual product bears any resemblance, it will be a looker.

“The XO 3.0 is a totally different approach, to be available in 2012 and at a target price well below $100. It will feature a new design using a single sheet of flexible plastic and will be unbreakable and without holes in it. The XO 3.0 will leapfrog the previously announced (May 2008) XO 2.0, a two-page approach that will not be continued. The inner workings of 3.0 will come from the more modest 1.75.”

I hate to criticize a non-profit organization, but I just do not get it. As prices of netbooks drop, a used netbook falls into the $200 (or less) range. At this rate, would the world not be better off recycling used netbooks for children?

Source: One Laptop Per Child.