On Friday Intel announced that it will join Nicholas Negroponte and his One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative to provide inexpensive computers to the children of developing nations. This announcement came as somewhat of a surprise to many since Intel also has a similar, what some might say competing, initiative with its Classmate PC.

The Classmate PC from Intel is priced at $225 and requires external power, while the OLPC machine, originally targeted for $100, is now costing $175 and is powered by cranking a handle on the side.

Intel may have gotten a “can’t beat ‘em – join ‘em” attitude, or it could be that both companies simply realized that they both had the same goal and could possibly achieve a greater good by combining forces. There are speculations that the two products may go well together to the government agencies of these developing countries, offering the Classmate PC for use where power is available and the OLPC XO machine for rural areas where power is more scarce. Obviously this also gives Intel the chance to provide processors for OLPC machines driving AMD out of the picture.

Source: TGDaily