Video: One Laptop Per Child

The BBC News website visited Nigeria to see Africa's first large scale test of the XO laptop - a portable computer designed for the world's poorest children.

The One Laptop Per Child Project's so-called $100 laptop, also known as the XO, incorporates technology and software specially developed to cope with the inhospitable conditions found in many developing nations.

Created at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, the XO is now being handed out around the world.

1. '$100 laptop' founder 3. Energy-saving innovations 5. Educational software

2. The XO in Nigeria 4. 'Yo-yo' battery charger 6. Lifting the hood

1. '$100 LAPTOP' FOUNDER

The entire ethic of the OLPC Project has come in for criticism from aid agencies and governments.

Some believe its business model is flawed and that money could be better spent on basic necessities or training teachers.

Return to list

2. THE XO IN NIGERIA

Rory Cellan-Jones visited Galadima Primary School on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria where children are testing the XO.

But the government has voiced reservations about whether the project is worth the cost.

Return to list

3. ENERGY-SAVING INNOVATIONS

The XO laptop has unique methods of conserving battery power. Its screen is lit by daylight and it has no electrically powered moving parts.

These technologies mean it can run for about 24 hours without being recharged.

Return to list

4. 'Y0-YO' BATTERY CHARGER

The XO is designed to be used in remote areas where electricity is in short supply.

The designers have developed various methods of recharging the laptop, including a ripcord charger for children to recharge the battery by hand.

Return to list

5. EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

The operating system of the XO laptop is based on Linux open source software.

Educational packages in commonly used languages have been loaded onto each notebook, as Rory Cellan-Jones explains.

Return to list

6. LIFTING THE HOOD

Click's Andrew Webb travelled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to meet the XO's designers and software writers.

He reports on how engineers had to ignore convention when developing the device.

Return to list

RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Microsoft
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites