Back in March OLPC was pronounced dead, but this might not be the end of the story

Aug 6, 2014 07:40 GMT  ·  By

Launching Chromebooks for the educational sector has become a standard practice for a lot of major players in tech.

Now, industry watcher Craig Tumblison discovered a reference to a new Chromebook manufactured by Quanta Computers, a company that’s very well known in the Taiwanese OEM sector.

Quanta is the largest notebook manufacturer in the world and popular names in the industry like Dell, Compaq, Gateway, Apple, HP, IBM, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba or Fujitsu have all done business with the OEM at some point in their existence.

But a little known aspect is that Quanta is also behind the OLPC project (One Laptop Per Child). The new Chromebook might be just another laptop designed to aid learning and studying activities, but what if it’s not just another fish in the sea?

If we exclude the companies that already have a Chromebook on the market (like Dell, HP, Compaq or Toshiba) or those that don’t really have an interest in Chrome OS altogether (Siemens, Sharp, IBM, Sony and of course Apple), we’re left to consider Fujitsu and OLPC.

Surely, an OLPC Chromebook sounds like an interesting concept, the only problem is that back in March it was announced that the project has officially been pronounced dead.

OLPC was launched back in 2006, supporting the initiative of bringing technology to children living in underdeveloped parts of the world.

But 8 years later, Boston-based OLPC had to call it quits. Their office has reportedly been closed down and their staff and consultants have moved on to greener pastures.

One of the biggest problems the OLPC was facing was that their "flagship" XO-1 laptop did not have support or spare parts that could backup its existence.

But there might be still hope that the OLPC initiative might rise from its ashes and a Chromebook could be exactly what’s being needed here.

Surely, there’s no doubt that OLPC Boston has expired but the overall idea survives. For example, the Miami subsidiary continues to be active and still trying to cater to major deployments in Uruguay, Peru and Rwanda.

Just a few months prior to making the announcement, OLPC introduced a bunch of new products at CES 2014, including the XO 4 laptop produced by Marvell, that could be paired with several third-party accessories like a telescope or microscope and can be connected through the laptop’s USB ports.

Maybe, with the help of Quanta, OLPC might be getting ready to jump back in the saddle and a Chromebook for Education is certainly an apt way of doing so.