92% of the XO Laptop to Be Made in Taiwan

Almost 92% of the Quanta Computer-made OLPC notebook's (XO) components are provided by Taiwan, states Mary Lou Jepsen, founding chief technology officer for OLPC (One Laptop Per Child). According to Jepsen, the number of XO computers scheduled for the second half of 2007 could reach almost 1 million units.

The XO laptop, also known as the 100$ laptop, created by the OLPC non-profit association, is designed especially for the children in less developed countries. The computers will use as less power as possible and they will contain flash memory instead of a hard drive and they will be shipped with Linux as operating system. They will be equipped with three USB ports, microphone, stereo audio out, and features a webcam. Also, mobile ad-hoc networking will be used to allow many machines Internet access from a single connection. All the software on the laptops will be open source. The graphical interface, called Sugar, is written in Python and it is designed to be very simple to use, as its concept is different from that of a regular desktop. It is said to present an iconic view of programs and documents and a map-like view of nearby connected users.

The first-generation OLPC laptops were said to come with a novel low-cost LCD. Later generations of the OLPC laptop are expected to use low-cost, low-power and high-resolution electronic paper displays. OLPC announced sourcing the LCD panels from Taiwan-based Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) which is supplying a special dual-mode panel. The default resolution of 1,024x768 can be switched to a gray-scale mode with a resolution of 1,200x900, which also provides power saving features and it is suitable especially for the outdoor use.

According to company president, Michael Wang, Quanta Computer will start shipping the laptops in September and October. Wang also noted that he has signed a contract with The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab to be the only manufacturer for the XO over the next few years when he expects monthly shipments of 10 million units.