When you read about the Brazilian implementation plan challenge: OLPC XO vs. Classmate PC, did you wonder what third platform Alan Clendenning (AP) referenced when he said:
The government plans to test the Intel laptop along side the One Laptop Per Child model and a third computer being offered by an Indian company, said Jose Aquino, a special assistant to Silva.What was your first guess as to the Dark Horse candidate? Maybe India's $10 dollar computer vaporware? Or did you think of the Simputer? If the latter, you'd be close. According to Guilherme Felitti, in an exclusive scoop to OLPC News:
"[It] is the Mobilis, from Encore Software. Brasil will receive maybe 50 of them - I confirmed some minutes ago with a governmental source."Well, whaddya know, the third one-to-one computing platform to be evaluated in Brazil, along side the Children's Machine XO and the Classmate PC, will be a second Linux-based system. Linux Devices has a quick background on the Mobilis and Encore Software has a full spec sheet PDF.
Read over the two and check Google, then do us all a favor, give you opinion of this three way race in the comments section below.
Who will it be: OLPC + children, or Intel + teachers, or Mobilis + ?
not again. simputer sucks. sucked the first time. sucks this time. the olpc rocks. classmate is crap. no contest.
An affordable computer requires a certain economy of scale to generate the applications, low cost, and software robustness. The simputer, classmate, mobilis won't achieve that economy of scale. Negroponte is requiring gov'ts to purchase 1 million laptops a pop to achieve that economy of scale. He is no idiot. You guys criticize his demand for 5 million units the first year as megalomania, an you may be right. Still, 5 million units will help OLPC avoid the failures of the simputer, et al
Check out the Mobilis here
http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS8377345968.html
It comes from the same people who made the simputer, according to this article it will $230-$345. It is linux-based as well, but I bet they don't have India's equivalent of geniuses like Chris Blizzard, Marcelo Tosatti, Manu Corbet, etc.
They may have a $100 unit but that would be w/out. All the press clips on the website date back to 2005. Verdict: LOSER
There are more alternatives. Here is a WinCE based project by a professor in Brazil who claims the prototype cost only $250 to build:
http://www.ltia.fc.unesp.br/cowboy/
Here is the second generation of a portable educational computer that was in pilot tests in southern Brazil back in 2002:
http://www.e-duc.com/
Another WinCE machine made in China and being given away in Brazil:
http://asiatotal.net/
I could add to that my own project, the one at the von Braun Research Center in Campinas, the thin clients from Samurai, and so on.
Here is the comparison between OLPC and the Classmate that was in the news (in Portuguese, but some of the images are interesting to see even if you don't understand what is being said):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEm_6W1ZsY4
Here in Brazil the situation is quite unconfortable. Brazil have problems with strong lobby at the government, more than you can imagine. We have moral issues.
The midia is began a witch-hunter to the project trying to compare quality of this machines, ridiculirize the machine as obsolet and pitfull.
I'm worried about to happen like the digital TV, we build at colleges a brazilian standard, compatible with european and japanese standard, but the government, by the lobby of a major tv network, decide to prefer the japanese standard.
The brazilian government will test the equipments this year, I'm cross my finger to aprove the OLPC instead IBM, because the concern of OLPC is education not the best hightech machine ou profit.
Cya all,
Fernando Norte
Bhte - MG - Brazil
I have had a look at the Mobilis and I was impressed. Believe me, the touch input is the future as the icon driven interface is most natural and user friendly. And, its multilingual capabilities is a blessing for universal deployment. I will presume operating keyboards on laptops will require some level of literacy and training in the third world.
Does anyone know where in Brazil (city/state/region) OLPC's pilot program is going to take place? I'm trying to find out for a research project. Thanks!
Michelle,
I would suggest asking Guilherme Felitti, he's the best source for Brazil OLPC info http://felitti.wordpress.com/
Encore Software Limited of Bangalore and Comsat - COMÉRCIO E REPRESENTAÇÃO DE EQUIPAMENTOS ELETRO ELETRÔNICOS LTDA have agreed to form a joint venture, Encore Tecnologia do Brasil Ltda. to produce in Brazil versions of the Mobilis, SofComp and Simputer adapted to conditions in Brazil and Latin America for sale in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America and the Carribean. Expect production by sometime in August 2007.
RESPECTED SIR
I AM INTERESTED FOR SMALL XO-LAPTOP FOR CHILDREN, STUDENT WITH PRICE, AND TECHNICAL DETAILS FOR SELLING PURPOSE IN GUJARAT REGION INDIA EARLIEST
FOR NEW-WAY ELECTRONICS
DHARMENDRA BHATT
Dear ,
im a a president of a non governemental organization , in chad , we are interested to by small quantity of the OLPC , in order to distribute it for development purpose , and we dont know where can we get it from ,, can you tell us ..?
thanks