XO-2 announced and G1G1 program to resume

[Henry McBride]

Cambridge, Mass., May 20, 2008 - One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-
profit organization focused on providing educational tools to help
children in developing countries "learn learning," announced today
that work is already underway on a second- generation version of its
revolutionary XO laptop computer. Leveraging new advances in
technology, the primary goal of the "XO-2" will be to advance new
concepts of learning as well as to further drive down the cost of the
laptop so that it is affordable for volume purchase by developing
nations.

"Based on feedback from governments, educators and most important,
from the children themselves, we are aggressively working to lower the
cost, power and size of the XO laptop so that it is more affordable
and useable by the world's poorest children," said Nicholas
Negroponte, founder and chairman of One Laptop per Child. "The
delivery of the first generation XO laptop has sparked tremendous
global interest in the project and provided valuable input on how to
make the XO laptop an even better learning tool moving forward."

"One Laptop per Child and the XO laptop are crucial to the fulfillment
of the proposed UN Ninth Millennium Goal: to ensure that every child
between the ages of 6 and 12 has immediate access to a personal laptop
computer by 2015, said, Nirj Deva, Member of the European Parliament.
"It's only through access to education that young people will be able
to develop the skills necessary to compete globally and to develop the
solutions required to break the cycles of poverty, disease and
malnutrition. Learning unites the child with the world, binds the
village into a community, and joins that community to the global
village."

The first generation XO laptop went into production in early November
2007, and there are approximately 600,000 units in deployment in a
number of countries including Peru, Uruguay, Mongolia, Haiti, Rwanda,
Mexico, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the US and
Canada (as a result of the Give One Get One charitable giving campaign
that ran last November 12 - December 31, 2007). Key goals for the XO-2
include:

Cost Reduction - Set in early 2005, the original target price of the
XO laptop was $100. Although that target has not yet been met (it is
now at $188), it is clear that OLPC must aim for an even lower target
price of $75. New developments in display, processor and other
hardware and software technologies will make it possible to achieve
the $75 target in the future.

Lower Power Consumption - While the first generation XO laptop already
requires just one-tenth (2-4 watts versus 20-40 watts) of the
electrical power necessary to run a standard laptop, the XO-2 will
reduce power consumption even further to 1 watt. This is particularly
important for children in remote and rural environments where
electricity is scarce or non-existent. Lowering the power consumption
will reduce the amount of time required for children to generate power
themselves via a hand crank or other manual mechanisms.

Smaller Footprint - The XO-2 laptop will be about half the size of the
first generation device and will approximate the size of a book. The
new design will make the XO laptop lighter and easier for children to
carry with them to and from school or wherever they go. The XO-2 will
continue to be in a green and white case and sport the XO logo in a
multitude of colors that allow children to personalize the laptop as
their own possession.

Enhanced Book Experience - Dual-touch sensitive displays will be used
to enhance the e-book experience, with a dual-mode display similar to
the current XO laptop. The design provides a right and left page in
vertical format, a hinged laptop in horizontal format, and a flat two-
screen wide continuous surface that can be used in tablet mode.
Younger children will be able to use simple keyboards to get going,
and older children will be able to switch between keyboards customized
for applications as well as for multiple languages. The dual-touch
display is being designed by Pixel Qi, which was founded in early 2008
by Mary Lou Jepsen, former chief technology officer of One Laptop per
Children and a leading expert on display technology.