CES 2012 | OLPC will unveil the XO-3 Tablet at CES

The OLPC chairman and founder has announced that the XO-3 tablet is now ready for shipping after all these years in the manufacture, and the launching will showcase in the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Like the Xo-1 laptop, the XO-3 tablet promised by One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is being released with an idea of acting as an educational tool for children in developing countries. 

The tablet was earlier brought about in late 2009 with an idea of release in early 2012. Unlike the delayed release of Xo-1 laptops, the XO-3 laptops are well in time and will help erase the bitter memories of the late shipment and double pricing of XO-1.

The XO-3 showcases an 8-inch screen and a price falling below the price tag of $100. Skeptics questioned OLPC’s mission to be losing its focus as an educational tool and serving as a designing hardware available at unachievable price points.

The XO-3 runs on a Marvell chip with an ARM-based CPU running Linux as the Operating system at 1Ghz. The tab will be offered with optional technologies like Solar charger and power-saving pixel Qi screen.

The chief technology officer at OLPC, Ed McNiermey was caught as saying, the tablet will be having a battery life of around 8-10 hours, and people searching for a reduced price on the tab prefer to look for a smaller battery capacity. The internal battery of the tablet could be charged by any source of DC power.

A traditional LCD screen has been added as a feature onto the XO-3. For serving more brightness to the user, an optional feature the Pixel Qi display will absorb ambient light and further reduce power consumption and extend battery life.

McNierney said, “the Eight inches is the right size for the display because a 9.7-inch display is too big for children to handle, and 7 inches "seems too small to be usable. Our ability to accept erratic, variable, noisy power inputs is extremely important to us and something no other tablet has even attempted”.

According to the IDG News details, the tablet shall possess a camera and USB ports. Negroponte, commented that the Xo-3 are meant to replace the XO-1.75 laptops which are currently shipping, adding to it that “OLPC is not dependent on a specific manufacturer for the tablet and will work with whomsoever wants to roll-out the tablet, for whatsoever purpose, at a very large scale”

Data will be collected by researchers from XO-3 as part of a project to study of educational development among the children to record the needs of children from a reading platform. In countries with inadequate teaching, the project demands to study how the children interact and accomplish basic comprehension and reading.

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