The dual-screen XO-2 design has been killed by One Laptop Per Child, reports Xconomy and OLPC News.
The Generation 2.0 XO laptop was to be a book-like pair of touchscreens, but would likely have been too expensive to build. Version 2.0 has been replaced by two things, according to Negroponte:
- Model 1.75, same industrial design but an ARM inside
- Model 3.0, totally different industrial design, more like a sheet of paper.
The current XO-1 laptop has a AMD Geode LX700 that uses 0.8 Watts at 433 Mhz. The XO version 1.5 would use a Via C7-M Ultra Low Voltage x86-compatible processor with 128KB L2 cache.
An ARM-based XO version 1.75, however, will break the compatibility with Windows that some AMD and Via machines were capable of, since the ARM chip, popular in many smartphones, isn’t capable of running Windows programs.
It remains to be seen when OLPC plans to release the XO-1.75.
The dual-screen XO-2 had never gotten much beyond the concept stage, but it would include two screens, with the lower one doubling as a keyboard.
The new Version 3.0 is apparently a single sheet, completely plastic and unbreakable, waterproof, 1/4″ thick, full color, reflective and transmissive, no bezel, no holes. It would use only 1W of power, cost $75, and be ready in 2012. Handy most anywhere — even on a pedal-powered motor home.
