OLPC

• Pics of OLPC's new XO laptop have been spotted in the wild, and it has just been announced that it will be completely open source. — CrunchGear
• Find out what Nintendo's biggest selling Wii games were from April 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2008, with Wii Sports topping the list. — Kotaku
• It's rumored that Dell may be dipping into the smartphone market in the near future. — Wired
• President Barack Obama was caught checking his BlackBerry 8830 today. — Engadget
• Here are some tips to help you extend the life of your LCD monitor. — Switched

• OLPC has just come out with a new ad which sheds light on the importance of getting laptops like the XO to children in developing countries. — Gizmodo
• A new finger scanner, which was developed by two students at a Chinese university, detects high blood-alcohol levels. — Wired
• Good news and bad news. The iPhone 3G will be coming to Wal-Mart, but it won't cost $99 as previously announced. You can expect the 8GB version to cost $197 and the 16GB version to be $297. — CrunchGear
• Steve Jobs's decision to pull out of Macworld was solely based on politics and not his health. — The Boy Genius Report
• Ninety-two-year-old Kirk Douglas is probably the oldest celebrity blogger on the Internet! — Switched
• We're not only giving away one Palm Centro this holiday season — but seven — thanks to our friends over at Palm! Be sure to log in for your chances to win! — geeksugar

Sometimes I get so wrapped up with the latest and greatest gadgets that I tend to lose sight of how truly blessed I am. Today is a day of reflection and introspection where we can set aside our egos and hectic lifestyles and pause to express our gratitude. For those of you who are in the US, I hope you are able to share this festive day with special friends and close family.

In the above photo, you'll find children from the Vasti Vidhalaya School in Khairat, India who were provided with $100 XO laptops from the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization as India's pilot study. With these laptops, the children are able to learn English, to draw, paint, learn math, chat, and play memory games. Before the children start their lessons on their new laptops, they offer prayers.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones.

Source

• Starting this November, the charitable "give one, get one" OLPC program will kick off on Amazon, with one laptop going to a child in a developing country. — CrunchGear
• Check out this video for the insane true story behind the birth of the Internet. — Valleywag
• Do you or know someone who owns a Sony VAIO TZ laptop? Well Sony is recalling all models sold between May 2007 and July 2008 because of overheating issues. — Switched
• A fan of Nintendogs for the DS? Well Ubisoft is coming out with an interactive Dog Whisperer game for the Nintendo DS. — Kotaku
• Dell officially unveils their adorable Mini 9 netbook! — Gadgetell

Source

Just when I hardly hear anything for months about the One Laptop Per Child project, Microsoft decides to team up with OLPC to add Windows XP to the XO laptops. Machines running Windows will be available by August or September, with some machines available as early as next month. XO laptop users will also have the ability to host both Windows and Linux operating systems on their machines. Even with OLPC's director of security architecture Ivan Krstic resigning earlier this year, the company may make a big comeback with this latest addition. To see the XO laptop in action with Windows, check out the video below.

If you're still wondering what the heck the One Laptop Per Child
project is, I highly recommend watching David Pogue's insightful video about the XO laptop. Or you can check out the video below which features a nine-year-old boy giving his enthusiastic review of the bright green and white innovative laptop. Let's just hope that this machine teaches him about more countries other than Nigeria and Peru. Gotta love how his eyes light up when he says, "You can even record yourself!"

With the One Laptop Per Child project underway, people who participated in OLPC's Give One, Get One program are anxiously awaiting their XO laptops. Engadget has just announced that expected shipment dates are now available on the OLPC website. According to the site, those who placed their order by November 12th will receive their machine before Christmas. Purchases made after Nov. 12 have varying delivery dates, although OLPC is trying to ship as many laptops as possible. The site also notes that donated laptops will reach a child in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Haiti, Mongolia or Rwanda in early 2008.Source

Back in March we discussed a new initiative called the One Laptop Per Child project which is aiming to provide low-cost OX laptops to children in developing nations. According to CNN Money, the OLPC already has around 7,000 machines in demonstration projects in about fifteen countries including Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, and Rwanda. We've heard alot about this project in the past few months, but now we actually get to see it in action thanks to New York Times technology columnist David Pogue. In this video below which was featured on Gizmodo, you'll get an eye-opening review of the $100 laptop (actually $188 laptop to be exact) and learn about all its incredible features. A must-watch indeed! I'd love to know your feedback about this video. Leave your comments below!