If you’re unaware, the One Laptop Per Child project (OLPC) has spent the last few years making inexpensive, well-constructed laptops for children in developing countries. Last year, they announced plans for a tablet device that would bring multi-touch at a super inexpensive (around $75) price point, but it was just a concept. Well it looks like it might actually be happening, albeit with a little more grounded specs. They  include USB support, an integrated camera, HDMI out, 1080p playback, and Flash support, all running on either Android, WinMo, or Linux with a 1GHz CPU. That CPU allows very low power use, so you could even charge the thing manually using either solar power or a hand crank. They’re looking to sell it for around $100 dollars max, which would get a lot of these things out to people who need computers the most. Which is a great thing. Check out the PR after the jump.

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One Laptop per Child and Marvell Join Forces to Redefine the Tablet Computer

New Family of Tablets to Provide Rich Learning Environment at Low Cost

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 signed an agreement to jointly develop the family of next-generation OLPC XO devices. The advanced tablet based on the Marvell® Moby platform will provide educators and children around the world with an affordable, rugged, low-power tool to explore, to create and to collaborate, as well as have access to 1.7 million free books.

In December 2009, OLPC announced plans to develop a student tablet computer called XO 3.0 by the end of 2012. By leveraging the Marvell Moby tablet reference design for the device, shipment of the XO 3.0 will be accelerated by nearly two-years. Marvell announced its Moby reference design for the education and healthcare markets in the last few months. The Company has also launched Mobylize, a global campaign aimed at improving technology adoption in the world’s classrooms.

One of the most compelling practical applications of the Moby-based XO 3.0 is that it will make it possible for children, teachers, parents and communities around the world to access educational content that cannot be presented easily, or occasionally at all, in textbook form. The XO 3.0 will deliver a unique tablet experience that can support rich and engaging computing environments critical to a proper learning opportunity.

“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 One Laptop per Child – 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 code), high performance 3D graphics, Full Flash Internet and two-way teleconferencing-gives every student, regardless of learning style, the tools they need to grow and succeed. 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.”

The new tablet computers from OLPC will feature video input, haptic feedback and multi-touch interfaces, as well as full USB support for traditional and non-traditional peripherals.

About the One Laptop per Child Foundation

The One Laptop per Child Foundation (OLPC at http://www.laptop.org) is a nonprofit organization created by Nicholas 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. OLPC and MIT have at all times been and remain separate institutions.

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. The company’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 terms “company” and “Marvell” refer to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit http://www.marvell.com.

One Laptop Per Child just rolled out a new commercial that is beyond crazy. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it depicts children in what are presumably 3rd World countries learning to use guns or sell their bodies. The whole point is that children are quick learners (i.e. are very impressionable), and if we can all find it in our hearts to donate we’ll some how supplant any possibility of them becoming murderist rebels or prostitutes. So the commercial is definitely an extreme to say the least, but hey, point taken. To donate go here

[Laptopmag]

The OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) XO laptop program relaunched for the second time with Amazon.com taking care of the ordering and distribution. As of now you can order the amazing XO laptop through the Give 1, Get 1 program for $399 or choose to give one for $199.

I must say that the XO laptop is an amazing piece of machinery with its built in Wi-Fi, rugged exterior case, color/black screen readable in direct sunlight, ultra-low 4 watt power consumption, and the ability to charge using solar power.

It’s crammed with fun, educational programs designed to change a kid’s perspective of the world. But why give them a laptop when they have no food? Couldn’t have put it better myself:

Why give a laptop to a child who has no running water? If you replace the word “laptop” with “education” the answer becomes clear. You don’t wait to educate until all other challenges are resolved. You educate at the same time because it’s such an important part of all other solutions.

[Computerworld]