OLPC Cancels XO 3 Tablet, Reduces Focus on Designing Hardware

One Laptop Per Child’s plan to expand its scope to manufacturing rugged, low-cost tablets for educational use in third-world countries has been scuttled. The organization’s XO 3 tablet has been shelved, OLPC chairman Nicholas Negroponte recently told the IDG News Service, but the technology OLPC included in the design models — including a solar charger and a display that uses environmental light to brighten the display — could pop up in future projects.  OLPC showed off a prototype of the XO 3 tablet at CES, but the organization reportedly ran into troubles finding manufacturers willing to build the hardware at the desired $100-ish price point. Given that, the now widespread availability of low-cost tablets such as the Google Nexus 7 reduced the need for a dedicated OLPC tablet, representatives said. Negroponte said those mainstream tablets could instead be ruggedized for use in developing regions.