Normally the OLPC XO laptop doesn’t have much power, so why not put some pedal power into it? That’s what OLPC Afghanistan has done with this prototype. It connects a hand crank to a pedal, allowing you to get some exercise and get some work done on the computer at the same time.

It may seem like it would be a nightmare to use, but for those living in that part of the world, it’s an amazingly useful alternative to frequent power outages.

With the success of the XO laptop from OLPC, it makes sense to start working on a second generation device called the XO 2.0. It will be much smaller compared to the first one, and will feature a foldable e-book factor.

It will also be just half the original’s size, with dual indoor-and-sunlight displays that provide both a right and left page when held vertically, a hinged laptop in horizontal format as well as a flat, dual screen continuous interface for tablet mode. Power suckage has been reduced to just an impressive 1 watt. You’ll have a nice long wait though, since it will be released sometime in 2010.

After much speculation and concern Microsoft has put out official word that the OLPC XO laptop will be made available with the Windows XP operation system. Nicholas Negroponte has been trying to work with Bill Gates and Microsoft for years to get the Windows OS for the laptop, but Microsoft had been reluctant due to the rival Linux OS running on the machine.

The writing was on the wall when Microsoft announced that they were going to keep the XP operating system around a little longer for use with Ultra Low Cost PC’s. Microsoft made a custom version of the OS for use with the XO laptop to work with its hardware. The laptop is expected to start shipping in late summer or early fall with the ability to dual boot with both Linux and Windows XP, letting the owner decide.

Microsoft has announced that the plan for the general end of shipping Windows XP has been extended a couple of years, at least for the Windows XP Home edition. The latest plan for the end of most sales of XP was dated on June 30, 2008 but the advent of a new market of ultra low cost PCs (ULCPCs) has made Microsoft change there tune on forcing everyone onto the new Vista system.

Microsoft has just released Windows Vista SP1 which is usually a good milestone for those looking at upgrading to the next version of Windows, and is a point at which Microsoft helps push them along, but in the case of these UPCPCs, the Vista OS is just to big and expensive. The OLPC (supposed $100) XO laptop is one such machine that could still take advantage of the XP OS but would be forced to stick with Linux or look elsewhere if XP were phased out.

The idea of putting notebook computers into the hands of kids around the world to allow them to improve their education is a noble thought. The field was pioneered by the OLPC with its XO Notebook and an early partner with the OLPC was Intel.

Once Intel caught a glimpse of what the market could be for ultra low cost notebooks it entered the fray with its own low cost notebook called the Classmate. Intel announced today that it has the second generation Classmate ready for use around the world.

We’ve finally run across some solid-looking information about that highly-rumored portable notebook coming from Intel. The small education-targeted computer will be named 2go PC and comes with a very decent set of features including an Intel Celeron M processor and 512 MB of memory (upgradable to 1GB).

If you look close you can make out the details in the spec sheet after the jump, but to save you some eye strain some of the notable features include overall dimensions of 8.7″x7.3″x1.5″, a 9″ LCD (840×480), 40GB 4200RPM HDD, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, a SDMMC memory card reader, integrated 30fps camera and it runs Windows XP and has support for Linux.

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has announced they are launching OLPC America and will be offering Nicholas Negroponte’s “$100 laptop” to needy students here in the United States. Negroponte stated the reasoning for launching the laptops, which were originally intended for children in developing nations, in the U.S. is party due to building “critical mass” and getting some more momentum and production volume going. He also said the goal was to proved education for U.S. children, communication with kids in other countries. “To have the United Sates be the only country that’s not in the OLPC agenda would be kind of ridiculous,” Negroponte said.

The OLPC has been in the news quite a bit over this past year. The original goal was to provide a $100 laptop for children in poor, developing countries, helping their education, communication and understanding of current technologies. The program has met a number of “bumps” along the way, mostly with the production numbers. In order to obtain a $100 price tag Negroponte needed to have large orders of the XO laptop, targeting the governments of many developing countries. To date the orders from these countries have been limited and have kept the price well above the $100 mark. The OLPC has also be working with partners such as Microsoft with rumors of a dual-boot system that would be able to run Windows which has not yet come to fruition. They also had partnered with Intel on development of the XO, in which Intel has recently withdrawn.

With only a handful of days left in the OLPC Give One, Get One laptop promotion, Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child, has decided to extend the offer through the end of December. The Give One Get One program was started on November 12 and was intended to run for a limited time of only 2 weeks but according to Negroponte there has been such an large interest in the program that the foundation is extended the offer period.

“In the past 10 days, we’ve experienced an outpouring of support from the public that is truly gratifying and encouraging,” said Negroponte. “Because so many people have asked for more time to participate either individually or in order to organize local and national groups to which they belong, we have decided to extend Give One Get One through the end of this year. During this extended period we will solicit input and transition to a program of giving only at the beginning of 2008. We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to act upon the giving spirit of the holiday season.”

Nicholas Negroponte and the OLPC XO laptop have received a lot of news this past year without much production of any machines. The latest news had come as a promotion scheme for the laptop looking to the generosity of US and Canadian customers offering a “Give 1 Get 1” deal. The promotion looked to the generosity of North American consumers and allowed them to buy the $100 (now $188) laptop for $400, getting one for them and giving one to a poor child in another country.

It appears now that production which was supposed to start in October will be delayed until November 12, which is also the day that pre-ordering the Give 1 Get 1 program would start. According to the OLPC, the delay will not only push back planned deliveries to Peru and Uruguay but will also not support the deliver of the promised 25,000 North American orders before Christmas. According to Mary Lou Jepsen, chief technology officer for the One Laptop per Child Foundation, some consumers will still get the XO before the holidays but it will be on a first-come first-serve basis.

In an effort to spur some sales of Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 XO laptop (now selling for $188 each), the OLPC is offering the low-cost notebooks to consumers in the U.S. and Canada in a “Give One, Get One” program. The program will run for only two weeks from November 12 to November 26 and will offer the XO laptop for $400 each with proceeds of each sale going to provide a XO laptop for the children of a poor country.

According to Negroponte, the donated laptops will help trigger more sales of the laptops to different countries who are now considering a purchase. The first 25,000 people that purchase an XO laptop can expect delivery before Christmas with the rest of the orders likely arriving around January. The limited time offer is partly due to tax reasons but also to create some excitement around the promotion. The hope is that most will be motivated to purchase an XO laptop with intention of giving one more than getting one.

Nicholas Negroponte’s $100 OLPC laptop has found its way into the news again, this time due to another increase in the laptop’s price which now expected to be up to $188, despite the device continuing to carry its “$100 laptop” name.

The expected price for the OLPC XO has been more than $100 for quite some time now, and this announcement tacks on another $13 from the expected price Negroponte unveiled at the end of April.

On Monday the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative gave the “thumbs-up” to go ahead and start mass producing the XO laptop. The laptop being made is based on the Beta-4 (B4) design and is priced at $176 each, which the OLPC hopes to have down to the originally planned $100 by sometime next year.

The production starts on a path to create 3 million of the B4 XO laptops by October of this year which will be distributed to the governments of 15 countries to …

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 …

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project head Nicholas Negroponte has announced the the OLPC laptops have had a price increase and may not start actual production until October.

The OLPC machines were previously touted for the very inexpensive price of $100 each, but now Negroponte is saying that the price of the machines may be as much as $175 each due to increased prices in materials, including nickel in particular.

The actual production of the OLPC laptops may be delayed, as well. In order for production to begin orders of …

The OLCP (One Laptop Per Child) group has announced a confirmed order of one million of its low-price XO notebooks produced through Quanta, who manufactures notebook PC’s for Apple, Dell and HP as well as OLPC.

We had reported last month about the new inexpensive XO laptops from the OLPC initiative which are intended for use in remote villages and run on very little power to connect children to information and to each other. The challenges were to make a device that is low cost, durable and useful enough …