The One Laptop Per Child group is starting to send out test models of the new XO-1.5 laptop to members of their Contributors Program. The XO-1.5 is an updated version of the original XO laptop. The main difference is that the new model replaces the AMD Geode CPU with a faster VIA C7-M processor.

Unfortunately, it’s still pretty tough for the average Joe to get his hands on an XO-1.5. They’re not available for sale through retail channels, and even if you’re a contributor to the OLPC project, Wayan Vota at OLPC News points out that you still may not actually receive one of the new test models.

OLPC does say that volunteers doing outreach and advocacy work can submit a proposal for a free laptop. But something tells me you’ll have a little competition from other advocates trying to get their hands on an XO-1.5 the same way.

The XO 1.5 laptop from OLPC is basically an incremental update to the original XO Laptop. The new model replaces the AMD Geode processor with a faster VIA C7-M CPU, but that’s the most significant change.

This week the XO 1.5 hit the FCC, confirming that the laptop supports 802.11b/g WiFi. It also has 1GB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage space. The VIA C7-M processor comes with VIA’s Chrome9 graphics.

As far as I know, there are no plans to sell the laptop directly to consumers at retail. The whole idea behind OLPC is to provide low cost laptops to students in the developed and developing world. But it’s possible that the appearance of the XO 1.5 on the FCC web site is an indication that it could be available in the US in one form another.

via Wireless Goodness

Interested in getting your hands on a pre-release OLPC XO 1.5 laptop? These are the next-generation XO Laptops that use a 1GHz VIA C7-M processors instead of hte slower 433MHz AMD Geode CPU found in the original XO Laptop. And the OLPC folks in Cambridge, Massachusets have about 30 of the new models lying around, which they’re willing to send out to developers working on hardware software for the XO.

In order to apply, check out the official OLPC blog post. Suggested projects include developing a voice chat application, media editing, programming activities, or an improved eBook reader.

The next round of pre-production units will be available to educators. It could be a little while longer before the laptops are made available to the general public and/or governments and schools looking to purchase the new VIA-powered models.

via OLPC News

The OLPC XO Laptop 1.5 doesn’t just have a faster new processor. It has an entirely new motherboard. And OLPC volunteer Bernie Innocenti gives us a guided tour of the new mainboard in a video which you can find after the break.

The new board is exactly the same size as the motherboard found in the original XO Laptop, which means that you can take one of the new VIA motherboards and slap it in a laptop built for the original AMD CPU. But the components have been mixed up and moved around. And the power draw of the new motherboard is higher, so you would also need to upgrade the power supply.

The RAM, flash storage, BIOS, embedded controller for power managementand other featues are all soldered to the motherboard, which makes hardware hacking a little trickier than it would be with a commercially available netbook. But if there’s one thing the OLPC community has demonstrated, it’s that nothing’s impossible. You know, except for bringing the priced down to $100.

You can find the video tour of the new motherboard after the break.

thanks Wayan!

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The new OLPC XO 1.5 laptop might not look very different from the first generation XO laptop. But it has a faster VIA processor, and at least one neat software trick: Users can switch between the Sugar OS and a GNOME desktop environment in just about 15 seconds.

Here’s what that means. Sugar was a custom user interface designed to provide children who had little to no computer experience with an easy way to interact with the laptop and its educational software. Sugar doesn’t really look like any other mainstream operating system, even though it’s based on Linux. GNOME is a desktop environment used by a number of popular Linux distributions including Ubuntu and Fedora. And since the new version of Sugar can run on Fedora, users can switch back and forth between Sugar and GNOME.

You can check out a video of the XO 1.5 making the jump from GNOME to Sugar and back again after the break.

via OLPC News

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It’s been a few months since I’ve heard anything about the OLPC Xo laptop 1.5 refresh. but it looks like the new model is close enough to reality to have a working prototype floating around. The folks at the OLPC Learning Club in DC got a little hands-on time with an XO 1.5 prototype last night.

The new model replaces the 433MHz AMD Geode CPU in the original XO Laptop with a 1GHz variable speed VIA C7-M processor. The video below shows a comparison between the new model and an overclocked XO 1 with the AMD processor running at 500MHz.

Both models are pretty zippy considering the slow speeds of their processors. But the VIA C7-M upgrade definitely gives the new model an edge. As you can see in the photo above, there aren’t any major cosmetic differences between the original XO and the new version. We’ll have to wait for the XO 2.0 to get a major visual refresh.

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