Developing nations to test new $150 laptops
292365
From Brazil to Pakistan, some of the  world's poorest children will peer across the digital divide  this month -- reading electronic books, shooting digital video,  creating music and chatting with classmates online.
498385
Greeted with fanfare and kudos when its prototype PC was shown off by Nicholas Negroponte and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan more than two years ago at the World Symposium on the Information Society in Tunis, the One Laptop Per Child project is now beset by waning orders and competition from commercial vendors that threaten to sideline the nonprofit effort.
339021
U.S. chip maker Advanced Micro Devices  has unveiled a low-cost Internet access device that could cost just a few hundred dollars, aimed at first-time technology users in the developing world.
88018
By George Hsu  Nicholas Negroponte's plan to give laptop computers to 100 million poor children is enriching parts makers more than the principal manufacturer.
464143
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.
296103
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.
432493
PC vendors will offer bargains to people living overseas, while U.S. consumers won't feel much of a pinch.
15095
A computer developed for poor children around the world, dubbed 'the $100 laptop,' has reached a milestone: Its price tag is now $200.
21059
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.
333718
First machines being made The One Laptop per Child project has started production, with the first children in the developing world expected to receive their computers in October this year.â¦
417177
Pixel Qi is looking to create a $75 laptop and trying to advance low-cost computers and power-efficient laptops, mobile phones and other consumer electronics that are sunlight readable.
681065
A Chinese PC maker has introduced a low-cost PC designed for users in rural China.
728027
Continuing its effort to provide an alternative to the One Laptop Per Child project, Intel announced plans on Tuesday to team up with Asustek to produce a notebook for developing countries that could cost as little as $200.
557392
That's the research firm's verdict on Microsoft's stripped-down Starter Edition for developing countries.
748249
Company's $185 machine will debut in India, Mexico and Caribbean and feature browser, e-mail and word processor.
285052
Blog: The next billion to come by 2015. Most new PCs will be used by first-time computer users in emerging nations, according to a new report released by Forrester Research.
146545
Plus: '$100 laptop' for sale in North America. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra.