14 DAY TRIAL // OLPC stands for One Laptop per Child, and is a foundation whose ultimate goal is to provide all children in the world with a laptop, or an alternative like the XO tablet we're talking about now.
Obviously, providing all the billions of children in the world with electronics of this sort is a tall order, and is a goal that is still far off, if it can be achieved at all.
OLPC is very persistent though. It is even the sort of organization that would drop off boxes/crates of laptops in areas removed from civilizations, leaving it to the recipients to figure out what to do with the things.
The XO Tablet is not a laptop, but it's close enough and has some advantages that OLPC decided were sufficient to warrant its creation.
Long story short, the XO Tablet is a very cheap Android slate. It was supposed to come out back in June, but was delayed.
Sales will start on July 16, 2013, through Walmart, but OLPC will have to handle worldwide distribution to far-off areas itself.
The hardware isn't delved into, so we only know that the slate measures 7 inches in diagonal and, while running Android (unknown version), also uses an educational interface for children.
The price is also a mystery, but it should be lower than the one sported by any others, like Nexus 7.
Thus, parents that need to work and want to have their children do something safe while they're at it might be swayed towards it.
More than that, parents and children could find a new way to interact with each other in the new device.
Then again, some would say that it is unwise to get kids hooked up on electronics from an early age. We'll leave it to parents' discretion to decide what “too young” is.
Walmart won’t be the only retailer selling the XO Tablet of course. Others will join the list at some point in the near future.