14 DAY TRIAL // One Laptop per Child, one of the most persistent humanitarian foundations in the world, has revealed the latest step towards its far-off goal of providing all children in the world with a laptop.
OLPC has made it its goal to provide all children in the world, especially those born in third-world countries, with a means to learn. Cheap but decent portable personal computers with high endurance to unfavorable environments have been its game for years.
The foundation has now revealed that a new product is in the making, one that uses the XO laptops as a basis but also integrates some tablet features.
It is, or will be, called XO-4 Touch and relies/will rely on the Marvell Armada 2128 processor, plus an optical multi-touch capable screen from Neonode.
8GB of storage space, 2 GB of RAM (random access memory) an HDMI output, two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and a resolution of 1,200 x 900 pixels will supposedly be part of the spec sheet as well.
“There is constant debate over laptops versus tablets in educational programs. But the truth is both have their merits,” said OLPC CEO Rodrigo Arboleda.
“While maintaining our XO’s award-winning design from Yves Behar’s FuseProject, we have combined features of both devices to deliver dual benefits. The new XO-4 Touch is more than just a device, it’s a new way of facilitating learning.”
One Laptop per Child has been excelling at building energy-efficient and low-cost PCs since before the economic recession forced everyone to pay closer attention to these aspects of computing products.
OLPC will launch the XO-4 Touch in the first quarter of next year (Q1 2013) but has yet to mention the price or exact launch date. On that note, Sesame Street Workshop, UNESCO and Little Pim haven't made any software for it yet either.