Nicholas Negroponte’s pet project, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), is offering a nice deal to potential donors this month. If putting a durable, Wi-Fi-enabled, energy-efficient, alternatively powered laptop into the hands of children in developing countries isn’t enough of an enticement to get you to give, T-Mobile USA announced on Friday that it will sweeten the deal. If you make a donation of one laptop ($399, $200 of which is tax-deductible) during this month’s Give One Get One promotion, then T-Mobile will reward you with one free year of access at its Hotspots (a $360 value).
The Give One Get One promotion commences November 12th and ends a few days after Thanksgiving, on November 26th. During this time, people who donate one laptop, will be sent a second identical laptop for free.
The green, plastic laptops, dubbed “XO,” were carefully designed with their intended users—rural children—in mind.
“The XO is a potent learning tool created expressly for the world’s poorest children, living in its most remote environments,” says the OLPC web site.
The XO can be powered by solar, manually, or by standard electricity. On board wireless networking features include an integrated 802.11b/g (2.4GHz) interface, 802.11s (mesh) networking support, and dual adjustable, rotating coaxial antennas. It also supports diversity reception and is capable of mesh operation when the CPU is powered down.
According to Negropante, more than 7,500 XOs have already been distributed. To make a donation, visit www.xogiving.org.
Naomi Graychase is Managing Editor at Wi-FiPlanet.