One Laptop Per Child and Marvell Technology are joining to launch a tablet computer for under $100. The nonprofit OLPC, which originally targeted a rugged and innovative $100 laptop for children in third-world countries, announced Thursday that it has an agreement with Marvell to launch the XO-3 tablet by early 2011.
Ed McNierney, OLPC’s chief technology officer, told news media that his organization “saw that Marvell was going in the right direction in terms of the capabilities and functions,” including low power requirements.
One Watt of Power
OLPC announced at the end of last year that it would develop a tablet for less than $100, and release it by 2012. The alliance with Marvell allows the organization to move up its timetable.
The tablet route for OLPC offers a number of other advantages as well. The XO-3 will require only one watt of power to operate, compared to about five watts for the current XO laptop. A multilingual soft keyboard with touch feedback will be able to support almost any language.
Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for consumer technology at the NPD Group, noted that a tablet is “a simpler device to manufacture,” and more parts, as in the laptop, “result in higher costs.”
In addition to offering the most inexpensive tablet available, OLPC is intending to expand its educational capabilities. Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC, said current tablets and e-readers are “terrific literary, media and entertainment platforms,” but they don’t yet “meet the needs of an educational model based on making things, versus just consuming them.” He said OLPC will target its tablet toward constructivist learning.
HD, 3-D Graphics, Flash
Although tablets are considered to be less functional for productivity than laptops, Rubin noted that the quality of applications, such as iWork for Apple’s iPad, is “good enough for a…