Kenya project set to produce cheap PCs
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(InfoWorld) - The Kenyan government is launching a project to start assembling low-cost computers that will be sold to many African countries, according to officials. Lenovo Group, Sahara Computers, and Mecer PC have been appointed by the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) to assemble the first 150 computers in the Madaraka line by Feb. 7, according to Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Bitenge Ndemo. Ndemo spoke last week at a signing event to commemorate the project, which is being launched with initial funding of about $300,000. The first computers are acting as a proof of concept for the project and will be displayed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Conference center in Kenya. The PCs are expected to be priced at $450. The project will adhere to a manufacturing model pioneered in Taiwan, where enterprises will be encouraged to produce machines to guideline specifications with certifications given before export. University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and Strathmore University will act as incubators of the project. Once the first 150 PCs are assembled by the three vendors, students at the universities will be trained to assemble them. "Basically, Sahara Computers will have to supply a full set of components to the three universities, and they will assemble the computers," said Sahara Computers Marketing Supervisor Peter Bremner. The computers will have an Intel Celeron 2.8GHz processor, 256MB of RAM, an 80GBe hard disk, and a 15-inch TFT screen, according to Bremner. The Kenyan government has already removed duties and value-added tax (VAT) on all imported computers and computer parts to encourage more Kenyans to embrace PC technology. The Kenyan Technical Training College (KTTC) will oversee the whole project, Ndemo said. The idea is that the universities will train people who would then be able to assemble the computers on a long-term basis. If all goes as planned, Kenya will become the first country in the eastern and southern Africa to set up a PC assembly plant.
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In a major strategy shift, the Cambridge foundation that plans to provide laptop computers to poor children around the globe is asking wealthy individuals and corporations to help pick up the tab by purchasing hundreds or thousands of the machines.
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The One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC) is toying with a novel source of power for its&#160;low-cost XO laptops: cows.&quot;We plan to drive a dynamo (taken from an old Fiat) through a system of belts and pulleys using cows/cattle,&quot; wrote OLPC&#39;s Arjun Sarwal, in an e-mail dated Oct. 21 and posted to one of the group&#39;s discussion lists.Sarwal and others are now finalizing the design of the cow-powered generator.The goal is to develop a low-cost energy source that can be used in Indian villages. Working in a village close to Mumbai, Sarwal said the group considered using solar energy but sunlight near Mumbai was not &quot;consistently strong.&quot; There was not enough wind or running water nearby to use these as sources of power, and the cost of running a gas-powered motor was too high.&quot;But the village had an abundance of cattle that were being used in the fields. So we decided to design something around that,&quot; Sarwal wrote in a subsequent e-mail.The dynamo used in the system was taken from a Fiat car that is commonly used as taxis in Mumbai and therefore both cheap and readily available.OLPC is close to putting its XO laptop into production, but has been beset by delays and rising costs. Originally intended to cost $100 each, the&#160;cost has since risen to nearly $200. And production is also moving slowly.After a trial production run in August, OLPC had hoped to start mass production in late September or early October. That date has now slipped to Nov. 12, according to a Reuters report that quoted the group&#39;s chief technology officer, Mary Lou Jepsen.
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Beleagured company hopes to add a little game power to its PC lineup with its purchase of high-end computer maker.
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Nonprofit and chipmaker have faced off over low-cost laptops in the past, but they're coming together to bring PCs to kids.
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The debate is centered on whether cheap laptops are the best way to improve education in the developing world.
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Plans to build one of the most powerful computers in the world at Swansea University are announced.
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The new chips are targeted at kiosks and cash registers, as well as larger platforms like set-top boxes and thin-client PCs, and will likely power the $100 system for the One Laptop Per Child project.
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U.S. chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.  has introduced a low-cost Internet access device that could cost just a few hundred dollars, aimed at first-time technology users in the developing world.
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Nicholas Negroponte thinks everyone in the world should have a computer. His nonprofit OLPC wants to build and distribute the world's most-affordable laptop, priced at less than $100 and aimed at youngsters in the developing world.
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Kenya raised its annual expenditure to nearly 30 percent of its Gross Domestic Product in budget proposals Thursday designed to spur development in the east African nation.
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The so-called "$100 laptop" has moved one step closer to reality, with 2,500 units set to ship later this month to eight developing nations. If the small test proves successful, mass production of the units would begin.
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The project that hopes to supply developing-world schoolchildren with $188 laptops will sell the rugged little computers to U.S. residents and Canadians for $400 each, with the profit going toward a machine for a poor country.
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PARIS, October 30  (IPS) - A new project to develop an integrated sugarcane  facility in Kenya could be a boost for biofuels production in  east Africa.
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A low-cost laptop, designed for children in developing countries, will go on sale in North America.
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Intel has confirmed that it is working on a chip that could be used in the One Laptop Per Child project to provide computing devices in developing nations.
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A supposedly earth-friendly PC is being developed in Britain, featuring wood casing for keyboard, screen, and mouse.