LAS VEGAS--()--One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA), the world-renowned project to provide a modern education to children through a connected computing device, announced today that it will introduce at CES three new products. OLPCA will unveil for the first time the XO Learning System, an Android compatible software suite for child-centric learning, which is available by license to computer manufacturers, governments, NGOs and content providers such as book publishers. Tablets under such a license will be called the XO Tablet, the second product announcement. Third, OLPCA will show the fourth generation of its iconic green and white laptop with both a keyboard and a multi-touch screen using Neonode technology.
“A learning experience designed to unleash children's creativity”
Every child has dreams and XO Learning directs the child's passion, creativity and energy for these dreams into a new user interface that has 12 dreams. Such dreams include “I want to be” an artist, a musician and a scientist. Each dream features a rich learning experience and applications, books, games and videos that allow children ages 3 to 12 to naturally explore their dreams and learn at the same time.
“The challenge in computing and education is to use the technology to develop new ways for children to learn. The rich content of the dreams allows the child's natural passion to be directed into learning experiences,” said Giulia D'Amico, the lead designer of XO Learning. OLPCA teamed with the legendary designer Yves Behar of Fuse Project and his team to create the XO Learning user interface and cover.
The content in XO Learning has been curated and selected for age-appropriateness and learning value by OLPCA, in collaboration with Common Sense Media, the leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping parents and teachers make informed decisions about media. Common Sense Media offers more than 18,000 media ratings and reviews based on both robust educational research and child development guidelines. XO Learning also offers a full range of parental controls and user IDs for up to three children, a dashboard where the child or the parent can review usage, types of content and the skills the child is developing. Press a single icon and XO Learning switches from English to Spanish with all new content depending on the language. Additional languages will be available in future releases.
XO Learning also offers unique learning experiences from leading partners who support OLPCA's program to foster child-centric learning. Many international companies share the vision to create learning experiences that unleash a child’s creativity, D’Amico said. In addition to helping to curate the XO Learning content, Common Sense Media has also provided Digital Passport™, an interactive learning environment designed for students in grades 3-5 to teach them how to safely navigate a technology-enhanced world, to the XO Learning platform. Digital Passport™ is already available in classrooms via OLPCA XO laptops in the U.S. and internationally.
Other XO Learning partners include Sesame Street, MyCityWay and Little Pim among others. OLPCA is currently in negotiations with many other of the world's leading companies to provide unique experiences through XO Learning in time for the product introduction in May 2013.
“OLPCA and Common Sense Media share the same vision of a world in which all kids have access to the limitless learning opportunities that technology provides,” said Amy Guggenheim Shenkan, president and COO, Common Sense Media. “By using ratings and reviews from Common Sense Media to inform XO Learning, OLPCA has created a product that will point kids towards the highest quality digital media products available, and will go a long way to ensure our kids are well-prepared to grow, thrive, and succeed in the 21st century.”
Sakar International, based in Edison, New Jersey, is the first licensee of XO Learning. It will offer XO Learning on a 7" inch Android tablet of its own design. The tablet will be marketed as the “XO Tablet.” Sakar has the exclusive right to sell the XO Tablet to leading U.S. retailers for both in-store and online sales.
OLPCA also continues to develop its own line of iconic green and white laptops. At CES, OLPCA will unveil its fourth-generation system - the XO 4.0 Touch. This touch screen laptop features:
- Marvell® ARMADA® PXA2128 multicore application processor with hybrid-SMP technology running at 1 GHz
- Marvell® Avastar® 88W8787 highly integrated SoC
- Neonode touch screen technology with multi-sensing capabilities
The XO 4.0 Touch preserves the dual mode screen, which allows children to use the laptop in full sunlight as well as in the classroom. The XO 4.0 Touch will also offer the free educational software, Sugar, which has been featured on all previous versions of the laptop. Sugar offers over 300 child-centric learning apps and three programming environments for children.
“We are pleased to be launching XO Learning and the XO Learning Tablet. OLPCA pioneered the inexpensive netbook for learning, and that concept remains viable today, particularly with the new touch screen version,” said Rodrigo Arboleda, chairman and CEO of OLPCA Association. “The XO 4.0 is still the only laptop that is designed for children. It is reparable by a child with only a screwdriver. It now has the latest Marvell hybrid-core processor and Noenode’s latest touch screen technology.”
About One Laptop per Child Association
One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA at http://www.laptop.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression. In partnership with the public and private sectors and non- governmental organizations and supported by comprehensive implementation and pedagogical services, OLPCA seeks to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power connected laptop that empowers individual learning and growth.
About XO Learning
“A learning experience designed to unleash children's creativity” for 3-12 year olds.
XO Learning believes that tablets offer new ways for technology to provide a child-centric learning environment through the convergence of virtual and physical activities. These experiences are made possible, in part, through app-cessories, sensors and other devices particularly suited to the form factor and user interface of a tablet.
About Vivitar
Vivitar is a leading provider of photographic, audio and optic devices and related accessories with a rich heritage of technology innovation dating back to 1938. The company celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2013 with an aggressive expansion of its accessory portfolio, including a line of fashion smartphone and tablet accessories as well as co-branded speakers, docks, headphones and earbuds. Vivitar is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, with additional offices across the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada and Hong Kong, and retail distribution worldwide. For more information, visit www.vivitar.com.
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