OLPC announces XO 3 laptop for 2012

The OLPC, or One Laptop Per Child charity organisation is on a mission to do, well, exactly what its name suggests. Provide a laptop for every child in the developing world.

Its XO laptop, which is designed specifically with children and their education in mind, has already been distributed across 35 countries to 1.4 million kids. But the organisation’s plans don’t stop there.

By 2012, it hopes to release the XO 3, which will be available at a price well below the $100 mark.

It will be a durable computer, “unbreakable” in fact, and essentially consists of a sheet of flexible plastic in the form of a 9 inch touchscreen. No keyboard or mouse will be needed.

The XO 3 will run an ARM processor, and the screen will be glare proof so it’s readable in bright sunlight.

It will be preceded by two other models, the XO 1.5 and XO 1.75, which will gradually phase in the changes from the original XO up to the XO 3.

“To fulfill our mission of reaching 500 million children in all remote corners of the planet, OLPC will continue to innovate in design and performance. Because we are a non-profit, we hope that industry will copy us,” commented Nicholas Negroponte, the Chairman of OLPC.

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