The OLPC XO notebook, aimed to help the education of children in developing countries, may be also available commercially by Christmas, the One Laptop Per Child Foundation’s chief technology officer Mary Lou Jepsen said yesterday.
The XO computer could sell initially for about $350, or twice its production cost, although the OLPC is also considering a higher price tag reportedly. This laptop, which was initially planed to cost $100 for developing countries, has reached the non-commercial $175 price tag.
Its entry to the commercial market would be a challenge to traditional PC industry companies, Reuter’s report says. However, Asustek has also announced the low-cost notebook for commercial market. Its Asus EEE PC is expected to cost $200 with much better hardware specifications than of current OLPC XO laptop. On the other side, XO’s advantage may be its dust and water resistant chassis, as well as outdoor viewable display.
Both XO and EEE PC use Linux OS-based user interfaces.
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