OLPC XO-3 Tablet Announced; Supports 1080p Video Over Android, Windows Mobile & Ubuntu

OLPC XO-3 Tablet

After the success of it’s basic ‘One Laptop Per Child’ project, OLPC is now heading to the next generation of computers – the tablets!

OLPC is about to release a tablet called OLPC XO-3. The tablet is to be made by Mrvell and has some dream features which are really hard to believe. It is a magical gadget that supports Ubuntu, Windows Mobile as well as Android. I am not sure if the users will be able to make a choice of their operating system at the time of owning the gadget or they would be installing the OS of their choice themselves like we do on our PCs. In either case, it’s pretty impressive. No need to mention that the device is capable of multitasking on any of the supporting systems and can run Flash 10.x.

Even on specs side the OLPC XO-3 would amaze you with a built-in camera capable of video conferencing and simultaneous multiple viewing screens. We don’t know the screen resolution and size yet but it’d most probably be capacitive multitouch one. Also there’s bluetooth, 802.11n wi-fi, FM radio and GPS built-in. Marvell’s OLPC XO-3 tablet is capable of 3D graphics too. Also, it can work as a wi-fi hotspot enabling 8 more devices to connect to the internet through it.

Marvell’s OLPC XO-3 has a 1 GHz, Marvell ARMADA™ 610 application processor that is extremely low power. We don’t know exactly about the battery life but it would be much longer than the OLPC laptop. OLPC laptop consumed 5 watts of power, it had an amazing battery life, now that the OLPC XO-3 would only dissipate 1 watt of power, you can imagine the increase in battery life.

With all these cool features, how much the device should cost? Now hold your breath and please don’t drop your jaw on the floor because it’s hard to get a new one. Well, the OLPC XO-3 would only cost $75 per piece! Ah, I so want one!

Here’s the full press release if you are interested:

Cambridge, Mass. and Santa Clara, Calif. (May 27, 2010) One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a global organization whose mission is to help provide every child in the world access to a modern education, and Marvell, a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, have agreed to jointly develop a family of next-generation OLPC XO tablet computers based on the Marvell® Moby reference design.  This new partnership will provide designs and technologies to enable a range of new educational tablets, delivered by OLPC and other education industry leaders, aimed at schools in both the U.S. and developing markets. Marvell is also announcing today it has launched Mobylize, a campaign aimed at improving technology adoption in America’s classrooms.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100527/SF11807)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070411/SFW034LOGO)

The new family of XO tablets will incorporate elements and new capabilities based on feedback from the nearly 2 million children and families around the world who use the current XO laptop.  The XO tablet, for example, will require approximately one watt of power to operate (compared to about 5 watts necessary for the current XO laptop).  The XO tablet will also feature a multi-lingual soft keyboard with touch feedback, enabling it to serve millions more children who speak virtually any language anywhere in the world.

The device is also decidedly “constructionist” in nature.  By design, it combines hardware and software to deliver a platform that will enable educators, students and families around the world to create their own content, and learn to read, write, and create their own education programs and share all of these experiences via a mesh network model.  The device will also feature an application to directly access more than 2 million free books available across the Internet.

“While devices like eReaders and current tablets are terrific literary, media and entertainment platforms, they don’t meet the needs of an educational model based on making things, versus just consuming them.  Today’s learning environments require robust platforms for computation, content creation and experimentation – and all that at a very low cost,” said Dr. Nicholas Negroponte, Founder and Chairman of One Laptop per Child.  ”Through our partnership with Marvell, OLPC will continue our focus on designing computers that enable children in the developing world to learn through collaboration, as well as providing connectivity to the world’s body of knowledge.”

“Marvell has made a long-term commitment to improving education and inspiring a revolution in the application of technology in the classroom.  The Moby tablet platform – and our partnership with OLPC – represents our joint passion and commitment to give students the power to learn, create, connect and collaborate in entirely new ways,” said Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of the Consumer and Computing Business Unit.  ”Marvell’s cutting edge technology – including live content, high quality video (1080p full-HD encode and decode), high performance 3D graphics, Flash 10 Internet and two-way teleconferencing – will fundamentally improve the way students learn by giving them more efficient, relevant – even fun tools to use.  Education is the most pressing social and economic issue facing America.  I believe the Marvell Moby tablet can ignite a life-long passion for learning in all students everywhere.  I am immensely proud of the capability of our Moby tablet and I am extremely honored to partner with the inventor of the netbook market for education, Dr. Nicholas Negroponte.  I applaud his leadership, vision, passion and together we will make the world a better place.”

About the One Laptop per Child Foundation

The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC at http://www.laptop.org) is a nonprofit organization created byNicholas Negroponte and others from the MIT Media Lab to design, manufacture and distribute laptop computers that are inexpensive enough to provide every child in the world access to knowledge and modern forms of education.

About Marvell Moby Tablet Platform and Mobylize.org

Powered by a high-performance, highly scalable, and low-power Marvell ARMADA™ 610 application processor, the Moby tablet features gigahertz processor speed, 1080p full-HD encode and decode, intelligent power management, power-efficient Marvell 11n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM/GPS connectivity, high performance 3D graphics and support for multiple software standards including full Adobe Flash, Android™, Windows Mobile and Ubuntu.  The Moby platform also features a built–in camera for live video conferencing, multiple simultaneous viewing screens and Marvell’s 11n Mobile Hotspot which allows Wi-Fi access that supports up to eight concurrent users connected to the Internet via a cellular broadband connection. The ultra low power mobile tablet is expressly for long-battery life.  For more information, visit www.mobylize.org.

About Marvell

Marvell (Nasdaq: MRVL) is a world leader in the development of storage, communications, and consumer silicon solutions. Marvell’s diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless, and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure including enterprise, metro, home, and storage networking. As used in this release, the term “Marvell” refers to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit http://www.marvell.com.

[Marvell via ARMDevices]