The OLPC XO 2.0 and XO 1.5 laptops will be released in 2010 and 2009, respectively, offering several improvements over the original XO.

One Laptop per Child (OLPC) announced today that work is already underway on a OLPC XO 2.0 laptop computer. Leveraging new advances in technology, the primary goal of the OLPC XO 2.0 will be to advance new concepts of learning as well as to further drive down the cost of the laptop so that it is affordable for volume purchase by developing nations.

Based on feedback from governments, educators and most important, from the children themselves, OLPC is working to lower the cost, power and size of the XO laptop, according to Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of OLPC.

The first generation XO laptop went into production in early November 2007, and there are approximately 600,000 units in deployment in a number of countries including Peru, Uruguay, Mongolia, Haiti, Rwanda, Mexico, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the US and Canada.

Key goals for the OLPC XO 2.0 include an even lower target price of $75 than the original $100 price point, reducing power consumption from 2-4 watts to 1 watt, a new design about half the size of the original XO, and lastly adding a dual-touch sensitive display to enhance the e-book experience. The design provides a right and left page in vertical format, a hinged laptop in horizontal format, and a flat two-screen wide continuous surface that can be used in tablet mode.

Younger children will be able to use simple keyboards to get going, and older children will be able to switch between keyboards customized for applications as well as for multiple languages. The dual-touch display is being designed by Pixel Qi, which was founded in early 2008 by Mary Lou Jepsen, former CTO of OLPC.

Availability of the OLPC XO 2.0 is planned for delivery in 2010. XO 1.5 will be released in the spring of 2009 with the same design as the first generation but with fewer physical parts and at lower cost than XO 1.0.

Acer AOA150-1672 N270 160GB 1GB

Description

AOA150 ATM/1.6 8.9 1GB-160GB WLS CAM WX

Specifications

Memory Size

1.0 GB

Hard Drive Size

160 GB

UPC

884483309429

The Qosmio X305 TOSHIBA

he Toshiba Qosmio X305 was already a high-spec laptop, and at CES 2009 Toshiba announced a new configuration option that takes things a step further. The Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 (better write that down) comes with dual hard disk drives. One is a 64GB SSD, the other is a 320GB 7200RPM SATA drive. Presumably, system software and other programs that would benefit from rapid booting would be stored on the SSD, and this could cut down on load times, launch and startup times and even the power drain to the system. That 320GB drive is no slouch, either, and if that weren't enough, the Qosmio X305 also uses the Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX graphics card, fully loaded with 1GB of dedicated GDDR3 RAM. The 17-inch laptop also includes 4 USB ports, with an eSATA / USB combo, as well as a host of other features already found on the Toshiba Qosmio X305 models. The new configuration is available immediately for $2,700.

Intel Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) CPUs Coming Soon

Intel will release soon its Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processors, desinged for use in ultraportable notebooks, according to announcements.
Laptop Magazine says that MSI will release the x340 ultra-slim laptop with the Intel CULV Core 2 Solo SU3500 CPU in April. The chip is clocked at 1.4GHz and has 3MB of L2 cache.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10e Netbook

Lenono announces the New IdeaPad Netbook with amazing features. This Machines is ideal for internet users for both business and individuals. The screen resolution is great with prominient accessiblity features.....

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Available for Purchase, Starts at $399

The Dell Inspiron Mini 10 10.1-inch netbook is now available for purchase on Dell.com, with a preliminary ship date of 04/02/2009.
According to the product page, the 2.86-pound Mini 10 comes with the Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz or Atom Z530 1.6GHZ processor, Intel’s Poulsbo chipset with the GMA 500 integrated graphics, 1GB of DDR2 memory, a 120GB or 160GB hard drive, 3-cell battery, and Windows XP Home OS. The seamless display has a 16:9 aspect ratio, 1024×576 resolution, LED backlight, and glossy finish.

AMD Launches ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4860, 4830

AMD today unveiled the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4860 and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830, the world’s first graphics processors based on 40nm technology that enables higher energy efficiency.
The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4860 and 4830 feature 3D engines derived from the ATI Radeon HD 4800 desktop GPU series with support for DirectX 10.1. In addition, the Mobility Radeon HD 4860 supports GDDR5 memory with “nearly twice” the memory bandwidth of GDDR3.
The new mobile graphics cards include the second generation AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD) chips for full 1080p HD video playback, and advanced power-saving ATI technologies: PowerPlay, PowerXpress, and Switchable Graphics.
The first notebooks with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4860 and 4830 are expected to hit the market in Q2 2009.