14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this year, the Indian government finally took the wraps off a project that was to provide the Indian education system with a computer specifically designed for educational purposes. One of the most impressive facts about the system was that it would provide the required computing experience at a price of just $10, which would make it the most affordable computer system on the market. Unfortunately, the revealed machine couldn't be built for at a price of just $10 and couldn't exactly be considered a laptop. It now appears that the Indian government finally decided to invest in the OLPC program, and purchase 250,000 XO laptops.
The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation is focused on delivering a low-cost portable computer system that can easily be used for educational purposes. Unlike the Indian government's project, the XO laptop has been a success and has been integrated into various educational programs all over the world. Apparently, the success of the XO laptop and the unsuccessful quest for the development of a $10 system has lead the Indian government to order 250,000 such units.
Since its release, OLPC's laptop has already been updated, replacing the AMD Geode processor with VIA's C7-M CPU. Additionally, the OLPC project has increased the storage of the system to 4GB, while the RAM size has been brought up to 1GB. These new specifications are expected to boost the system's overall performance and potentially lower its street pricing.
Unfortunately, it's unclear if the Indian government will be receiving the newly-configured systems or the previous version of the XO laptop. However, the 250,000 units will be made available in 1500 schools, as early as June this year, according to the program.
OLPC's XO laptop is currently at its second version, dubbed 1.5, but the foundation is said to be working on the development of the next generation of low-cost portable computer systems designed for educational purposes.