Green Signal for $100 Laptop production.....XO

When i was a kid people having a Desktop PC's are treated to a prestiges person's in the society any how Desktop pc's gone now Notepad & laptop took there places .Now a cheap Laptop starts around $500 .But couple of days back a green signal is given to organization to develop laptops for $100.For the first time the development of such a cheap laptop came in 2002.Production of a laptop for just $100 is remarkable achievement by the organization & its founder Nicholas Negroponte.You can check it out in this video.

"There's still some software to write, but this is a big step for us," Walter Bender, head of software development at One Laptop per Child (OLPC), told the BBC News website.

This laptop was introduced under OLPC scheme in Nigeria.

Factfile: XO laptop

The One Laptop Per Child project is one step closer to releasing the completed machine to millions of schoolchildren in the developing world. But what makes the computer so unique?

The XO will be produced in Taiwan by Quanta, the world's largest laptop manufacturer.So lets discuss some of the facts it has...

1.Internal Hardware:

• No moving parts i.e
  
• No hard drive,CD or DVD.
• As it has low power processor so cooling fans removed.

2.Storage Capacity:

As there is no hard drive it has given 1GB of internal flash memory similar as we have in digital cameras.Where memory can be extended SD memory slot underneath the screen or by plugging in peripheral devices through the USB ports.

3.Processor:

• The processor is developed by AMD,its much slower compare to today PC's runs at a speed of 433MHz.
• Memory : 256MB SDRAM
• Auto shut down off of the Processor
• In built Graphic Card
• To conserve as much battery power as possible the wi-fi adapter can operate even when the main processor is switched off or asleep. It is able to do this by having its own in-built low power chip. The adapter supports standard wireless protocols used in most homes and offices.

4.OS:

The system has a Linus OS developed by a Open source organization Red Hat.In comparison to standard operating systems (OS), it is very small when compressed, taking up just 130MB of space. By comparison, Windows XP takes up around ten times that amount, requiring 1.5GB of hard drive space.

5.Screen:

• 19cm (7.5 inches) LCD display
• Colour mode: Resolution 800x600 (133dpi); power consumption 1 watt
• Black and white mode: Resolution 1200x900 (200dpi); power consumption 0.2 watt; sunlight readable.

6.Keyboards are child size so that its easily used by children and the keyboard is sealed with green rubber to make it waterproof.

And it come with dual power supply i.e rechargeable batteries and Power slot.This whole setup is placed in a case which is waterproof and dustproof.And you can know further details here.

At last we can conclude the whole cost configuration which make it cheap, in the form of a pie chart shown below;

The XO currently costs $176 (£90) although the eventual aim is to sell the machines to governments for $100 (£50).So let's what they do to bring down that difference.Any how its a great achievement by any organization.

Note :- I gathered most of the information from BBC news.
PS:- Wish to see laptop in each hands of a child.