Encased in the same bright green plastic as OLPC’s notebooks, the XO 3.0 tablet is powered by a Marvell PXA618 ARM system-on-a-chip and also uses Marvell Avastar Wi-Fi technology. Its 1024-by-768 display can use either conventional or dual-mode Pixel Qi technology (sunlight-readable when outdoors); the prototype uses as its OS either Android or the same Linux-based Sugar desktop employed on OLPC notebooks.
More importantly, the XO 3.0 tablet requires even less power than the notebooks, making it potentially more feasible as a low-cost educational tool.
Helping to keep the costs low are a trio of charging options. At the CES Unveiled press event Sunday evening, OLPC CTO Edward McNierney showed a green hand-cranked power supply that can be used as an alternative to a or conventional battery. McNierney says operating the crank for six minutes should produce two watts of power, which should be enough to keep the tablet running for an hour.
OLPC has been working on a tablet for some time now (reports have surfaced intermittently over the last year or two), and a previous power crank was withdrawn due to mechanical problems.
Although some reports have pegged the cost of the OLPC tablet at $100 or less, McNierney declined to give a specific figure. As with OLPC notebooks, he said, the tablet won’t be manufactured until a project sponsor steps up.
Meanwhile, Marvell and OLPC also announced that the latest OLPC notebooks (XO 1.75), which are also based on the Marvell PXA618 SOC, will begin shipping in March.
