Folks -
Below is the text version of the press release OLPC and Marvell issued this
morning, announcing our agreement to work together on the tablet-based efforts
we've been calling "XO-3.0" and Marvell has been calling "Moby" (both
previously announced). The link takes you to the same document with a few
pictures.
We're just starting this cooperation, so there are things we don't know yet,
but the release pretty well covers what we do know. I think it's important to
recognize that our goal with Marvell is to work with them to make a family of
tablet products possible, not all of which will be "OLPC" products. That's
something new, and potentially confusing, but we think it can really help us
both broaden the community working with us, and help drive our own product
costs down by increasing volumes.
In some of the press interviews around this release, there's discussion of the
goal of introducing something at CES 2011 (in January). That's important to
Marvell, but that device will certainly not be an "XO-3.0" and probably won't
be an OLPC product at all. But it's one of the steps along the way. Remember
that this cooperation is intended to help our goals as well as Marvell's goals,
so some of the things announced from the partnership won't be things directly
pertinent to OLPC's product plans.
As we've previously announced, our XO-1.75 product, bringing a Marvell
ARM-based motherboard to the current XO-1 laptop platform, is the next product
release in our efforts to provide ARM-based, lower-power devices to achieve our
mission.
- Ed
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/one-laptop-per-child-and-marvell-join-forces-to-redefine-tablet-computing-for-students-around-the-world-95007559.html
One Laptop per Child and Marvell Join Students Around the World
Marvell and OLPC Empower Education Industry to Revolutionize the Classroom
Experience through Advanced, Affordably-Priced Tablets
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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 agreed to jointly develop a family
of next-generation OLPC XO tablet computers based on the Marvell® Moby
reference design. This new partnership will provide designs and technologies
to enable a range of new educational tablets, delivered by OLPC and other
education industry leaders, aimed at schools in both the U.S. and developing
markets. Marvell is also announcing today it has launched Mobylize, a campaign
aimed at improving technology adoption in America's classrooms.
The new family of XO tablets will incorporate elements and new capabilities
based on feedback from the nearly 2 million children and families around the
world who use the current XO laptop. The XO tablet, for example, will require
approximately one watt of power to operate (compared to about 5 watts necessary
for the current XO laptop). The XO tablet will also feature a multi-lingual
soft keyboard with touch feedback, enabling it to serve millions more children
who speak virtually any language anywhere in the world.
The device is also decidedly "constructionist" in nature. By design, it
combines hardware and software to deliver a platform that will enable
educators, students and families around the world to create their own content,
and learn to read, write, and create their own education programs and share all
of these experiences via a mesh network model. The device will also feature an
application to directly access more than 2 million free books available across
the Internet.
"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 OLPC – 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 decode), high performance 3D graphics, Flash 10 Internet and
two-way teleconferencing – will fundamentally improve the way students learn by
giving them more efficient, relevant – even fun tools to use. Education is the
most pressing social and economic issue facing America. I believe the Marvell
Moby tablet can ignite a life-long passion for learning in all students
everywhere. 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."
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.
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. Marvell'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 term "Marvell" refers to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its
subsidiaries. For more information, visit http://www.marvell.com.
Media Contacts:
One Laptop per Child
Jackie Lustig, (781) 487-4664
Kyle Austin, (781) 487-4603
[email protected]
Marvell Media Relations
Daniel Yoo, (408) 222-2187
[email protected]
Marvell and the M logo are registered trademarks of Marvell and/or its
affiliates. ARMADA is trademark of Marvell and/or its affiliates. Other names
and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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