OLPC 2 to use dual touch LCDs, ship in 2010

The One Laptop Per Child project plans a radical revision of its notebook that will make it at least as advanced as other PCs, organization head Nicholas Negroponte has revealed today at the OLPC Global Country Workshop. Superficially resembling Nintendo's DS Lite, version 2.0 of the XO will use two touchscreens that adapt to a given context; the design will change keyboard sizes to accommodated older children and adults, and both screens can combine to form a single display used for games and other activities that involve two users at the same time.

Either screen will also use a new version of the XO's signature panels, which are readable in broad daylight, and are designed to be used as two-page e-book readers, Negroponte adds. In spite of the extra screen area, the future OLPC design will also be much smaller, lighter, and easier for children to carry. New processor improvements should also reduce its power consumption to under one watt, although whether the system will continue to use AMD chips or switch to a new platform is unclear.

The OLPC chief anticipates shipping the XO sequel sometime during 2010; in the interim, he also expects the Give 1 Get 1 program from fall 2007, which sold systems to private buyers, to launch again in August or September of this year.