The Buzz

Talked about for years but now come to fruition in a greatly improved state is the XO laptop, the tool touted as the single best opportunity to bring information to children and families in the developing world, with a major focus on Africa.

While Microsoft and Intel jumped out of famed One Laptop Per Child launched by Nicholas Negroponte at MIT, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has taken over the chip-based role in the project and aggresively moved the concept further.

The devices share a “mesh network” that connects the devices to one another without the need for Wi-Fi. The laptops also address the uniqueness of weather and usage conditions, with  a design that limits dust prevention, holds up under heat and is resistant to water. In locations without power, a crank system that operates similar to emergency radios, can power the PC for infinitely sustainable battery usage.

Better still, the program has launched a fundraising program that allows individuals to not only donate but choose which country you want to the computer to go to.

A CES session on the technology in the developing world is revealing interesting applications of the kinds of technologies that most of us take for granted. In the midst of plenty where most manufacturers are blending several technologies into single devices, it’s a dose of reality to remember that a vast majority of the developing has no access to any single one of those technologies.

And example of innovations in this new market:

Malian company Mandobo has developed an application of SMS messaging to enable farmers to negotiate with middle men to bring small bunches of foodstuffs to market. The cellphones address major issues of transport and fair pricing.