1. One Laptop Per Child extends promotion
11/25/2007 | 01:11 AM
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A promotion in which a customer buying a $188 computer in the US and Canada automatically donates a second one to a child in a developing country was extended until year's end, organizers said Thursday.
The "Give One, Get One" program will now run through Dec. 31, instead of ending on Nov. 26, according to the One Laptop Per Child Program, a nonprofit spinoff from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The program said customers in the US and Canada will pay $399 for two laptops, with one going to the buyer and the other to a child in such countries as Rwanda, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti and Mongolia.
"In the past 10 days, we've experienced an outpouring of support from the public that is truly gratifying and encouraging," said Nicholas Negroponte, the program's founder.
Negroponte said they decided to extend the program because "so many people have asked for more time to participate either individually or in order to organize local and national groups to which they belong."
"We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to act upon the giving spirit of the holiday season," he said.
The laptop has a homegrown user interface designed for children, boasts built-in wireless networking, uses very little power and can be recharged by hand with a pulley or a crank. - AP
2. Microsoft Windows XP for the '$100 laptop' nears testing phase
12/07/2007 | 07:58 AM
SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. will begin testing a version of Windows XP in January on the ''$100 laptop'' from One Laptop Per Child.
It has taken nearly a year of engineering to get the bulky operating system to run on the low-cost XO computer, Microsoft said. The XO uses flash memory instead of a hard drive and offers less storage space than most mainstream PCs.
In May, The Associated Press reported Microsoft's concern that the memory issue and other technical hurdles would stymie efforts to port Windows to the XO, which was originally designed to run a free Linux-based operating system.
The software maker has released Windows XP for other flash-based, low-cost computers, such as Intel Corp.'s Classmate PC, which has twice as much storage space. For the XO, Microsoft said it has reworked the operating system so it can start up and run from an extra memory card that plugs into the laptop's guts.
James Utzschneider, a general manager in Microsoft's Unlimited Potential group, said Windows XP for the XO won't be ready for widespread use until at least the second half of 2008. And, he said, technical hurdles were only part of the reason.
''It's been a fast-moving target for us to design towards,'' he said. ''We only had a handful of machines in the hands of our engineers in the last year. That, and fact they were still making hardware changes as recently as August, it slowed us down.'' - AP
3. Online video games meet social networking tools
11/23/2007 | 08:42 AM
DALLAS - Jo Ann Hicks doesn't identify with gamers, but she spends hours online every day playing ''Kaneva.''
The 41-year-old homemaker likes the shopping-and-partying game - where she operates a virtual nightclub and hosts parties - because it helps her interact with people, not provide escape from them as traditional games often do.
Social and gaming networks, once considered polar opposites, are cross-pollinating as online interactions replace prime-time TV and other, more traditional media experiences. Games like ''Kaneva'' are attracting players that games like ''Super Mario Brothers'' never did.
''I run around and act like a 40-year-old person. I have my little clan we hang with. What people will say is more interesting to me,'' Hicks said of her preferred game. ''As opposed to Mario, who's only going to jump.''
Game developers say there's money for both sides in this convergence.
Social networks that incorporate more features of ''massively multi-player online games'' could enhance their already-substantial earning power. And gaming sites would benefit from increased membership and broader acceptance.
