While tablets are so CES 2011, that does not stop that segment of consumer products from having a large showing at CES this year. You might consider them be a year too slate to the party, but that would have too many layers of pun-laden irony. One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA) and OLPC Foundation (OLPCF) are non-profit organizations responsible for the popular One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project. OLPC is responsible for highly affordable laptops aimed at the education of youth with a particular focus on developing countries. OLPC’s XO-3 is the project’s latest announced product and their attempt at an educational tablet.

Just a touch of Sugar…

Photo Credit: The Verge

Joanna Stern from The Verge conducted an interview with Ed McNierney, CTO of OLPC, to examine the product. While the specific system internals is not precisely known apart from their use of an ARM-based processor backed with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of permanent storage, there are two noteworthy comments regarding their ports. Firstly, while the power adapter is apparently a custom design, it is done in such a way that permits voltages between 10 and 25 volts; specifically, the OLPC is very apathetic when it comes to the purity of the inbound power and can even be charged by OLPC’s hand-crank generator. The other point-of-note for the XO-3 regards its audio jack: it is designed to be extensible to various non-auditory input devices such as a thermometer. This is not a tablet that you should be expecting under your tree both because it is not your typical consumer tablet as well as it not having a set release date — and why do you still have gifts under your tree in January anyway? When the tablet does launch, it is expected to come along with a price-tag below $100.

CES 2012: One Laptop per Child - but get a tablet too! - Mobile 2

PC Perspective’s CES 2012 coverage is sponsored by MSI Computer.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at https://pcper.com/ces!