Product News

  This page is monitored by the OLPC team.

Products for Q1 2008

We regret most products below will only be available to developing countries initially -- except where noted (e.g. Weza's foot-powered Portable Energy Source).

Also see Peripherals for info on other products that may be in the works.

Multi-Battery Charger

Multi-Battery (Gang)Charger

• 15 Battery charger; approximately 2-3 hours for full charge
• Input Power source: AC 100V-230V or DC 9V-30V, 30Amp
• Two laptop power connections to keep a laptop powered while swapping batteries
• Cost estimate: $280

For more details see: Multi channel battery charger

Prototypes/Demos available in late February 2008
Allow 2-3 months for production quantities

Hand Powered Clamp Charger

Freeplay® Clamp Charger

• Cranking at 130-140 rpm yields nominal 15VDC at 1500mA
• LED indicates minimum winding speed for charging the laptop
• Cable connects directly to XO laptop
• Cost estimate: $13 each
• Detailed Specification

Prototypes/Demos available now (Dec 2007) from OLPC.
We regret products will only be available to developing countries initially.
Note: Please do NOT email your request to help@laptop.org, as they cannot order products for you.
Manufacturer: Freeplay®

Foot Power, Weza

FreePlay® Weza

• Step treadle power: 25-40 Watts
• Internal rechargeable 12V, 7Ah lead acid battery
• Can recharge from AC or DC sources as well as foot treadle
• Requires olpc specific cable to connect to XO laptop

Allow 2 months for production orders
Individual sales are possible (Portable Energy Source is tentatively $269.99) but check manufacturer web site for details: Freeplay®

Active Antenna

Active Antenna

• 802.11s wireless access point powered via USB
• Use 1-3 Active Antennas with a school server to create mesh channels for XO laptops
• Can be used to extend the range of an XO laptop
• Includes 5 meter cable with USB connector
• Cost estimate: $15

For more details see Peripherals/Active Antenna

Prototypes available in January 2008

School Server Software

Can be loaded on a generic server.

• LiveCD installation
• Provides automatic Laptop backup and restore
• Local Jabber service for school collaborative activities
• Uplink for internet connectivity
• Web caching for easy content retrieval
• Cost: Open-source, freely available

Software available in December 2007

Solar Panels

Solar Panel Blanket

• 5Watt/14Volt panel for single laptop charging
• 7Watt/14Volt panel for single laptop, 40% faster charging time than 5W panel
• 60W/17Volt blanket panel for lead acid 'car' battery; to be used with Multi-Battery Charger DC-DC version
• Cost estimate for 5W panel: $12
• Cost estimate for 60W blanket: $150

These products are available today with a 6-8 week lead time on large orders
For more information or to place an order, please write to bill (at) pvmaster.com

Please see the discussion of this page (top tabs) for more details on getting a hold of bill.