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OLPC in Romania
March 14th, 2007 by dan
The OLPC was presented today to Romanian officials in the Education Ministry by Nicholas Negroponte.
Should the project pass in the Parliament in the next few days, the Romanian Government will purchase $150 million worth of OLPCs (a million units) by fall.
This is awesome news and we’re supporting the bill – both the political and the tax one – as the machine has some neat features that will empower the less financially fortunate children. Aleso, these kids will later benefit from our free WiFi project – c*free wireless.
We’ll try to get our hands on a sample to provide a more coherent understanding of its wireless capabilities in real life usage.
Tech details:
The laptop runs Linux, the display uses LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) in the form of a projector and features a 7.5 inch, 1200×900 pixel, TFT screen and self-refreshing display with higher resolution (200 DPI) than 95% of the laptops on the market today. Two display modes are available: a transmissive, full-color mode; and a reflective, high-resolution mode that is sunlight readable. It also features a Video camera 640×480 resolution, 30FPS, an AMD Geode GX-500@1.0W CPU running @ 366 Mhz X86/X87-compatible and a Marvell Libertas 88W8388+88W8015, 802.11b/g compatible, dual adjustable, rotating coaxial antennas (that support diversity reception), wireless interface!
Posted in All WiFi, All Wireless, Events, Gadgets, Linux | 
4 Comments »
March 14th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
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March 14th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Great news ! Hope this will come true ! It will be nice if they will have a c*free hotspot in every school to access internet. :)
March 15th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
The OLPC project is possibly the most exciting project to happen in IT since the first personal computer thirty-odd years ago! When we look at information technology from the perspective of function and capability – what it is precisely we use all this stuff for – rather than the sheer fun of gadgetry, the OLPC machines represent to me the next level: getting technology to as many humans as possible! The hardware itself is impressive: in addition to the specs Dan mentioned above (notably, the dual-mode display and substantial wireless capability) I’m impressed by the durability and complete lack of moving parts, and also the upgradability – the device has four USB ports, and so will support external storage and so on. All for the price tag of a nice pair of shoes!
Unfortunately, there is not a plan to release these in the more “developed” Western European countries and the USA, so I might not handle one of my own for some time. However, I hear rumors of a funding project called “buy two get one” in which someone could pay $200 for an OLPC, getting one for him- or her-self, and funding one to a child in a poor country. Included in this potential deal; the new email address of the funded child! I’d happily drop $200 for one of these, especially knowing that I’m buying a new computer for a kid in a rural area.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
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