Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile

Hands on with the XO Learning Tablet – Has OLPC sold out?

K. T. Bradford
By

Last year the One Laptop Per Child project showed off a slate tablet dubbed the XO 3.0. Hailed as the next logical step in the OLPC mission to bring inexpensive, easy to maintain computers to children in developing countries, the XO 3.0 landed with a lot of fanfare but ultimately never came to fruition. The project went back to focusing on netbook-like tablet convertibles, but the OLPC slate idea didn’t die. This year, the XO tablet is back, though without the accompanying fanfare. Even more interesting, it’s being sold in retail stores and made by one of the biggest manufacturers of low-cost electronics for kids and teens: Vivitar.

In fact, the XO Learning Tablet looks almost identical to the company’s Camelio Android family tablets. OLPC’s tablet has better specs than the Camelio and will cost a bit more. And it looks almost nothing like the XO 3.0 from last year.

Recommended Videos

The 7-inch XO Learning Tablet has a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, front and rear cameras, HDMI out, and runs on Android 4.0. In other words, a pretty standard low-cost Android slate. It comes with a sleeve that makes it look somewhat like the renders of the original XO 3.0 tablet, and that’s where the similarities end. This tablet isn’t rugged, powered by the sun, or even easily fixable like the XO Tablet PC. So, what’s the point?

Related

Price, most likely. The XO will cost $150, according to Vivitar reps, fulfilling the goal of an inexpensive tablet.

Granted, the XO also features OLPC’s learning platform, another key part of the project’s mission. Kids can choose to explore apps via “I Want To Be…” themes or just switch over to regular Android. Some parental controls are available.

What we find interesting is that OLPC decided to team up with a company like Vivitar, a subsidiary of Sakar. This company is known for creating low-end electronics and coating them with licensed brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Hello Kitty, Nickeloedon, and more. Essentially, the XO tablet is just another branded product in Vivitar’s stable destined for retail stores. There are even branded accessories.

Is this an acknowledgment that a tablet like the XO 3.0 just isn’t possible? Or is it a smart way to build up the OLPC coffers so the project has more money to put into development of their more serious computer?

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
K. T. Bradford
K. T. Bradford
Former Digital Trends Contributor
K. T Bradford is a lover of gadgets and all things geek. Prior to writing for Digital Trends she cut her teeth on tech…
You can pick up the Google Pixel 7 Pro for only $500 today
The Pixel 7 Pro with its display turned on, showing the home screen.

 

If you've been holding out on buying a new phone for a while because prices are still expensive, then you may want to consider going for one of the older flagship phones. For example, while the Pixel 8 Pro is out, the Pixel 7 Pro is still a powerful and viable alternative, and even better, it has quite a few great deals on it. In fact, you can buy a brand new and sealed Pixel 7 Pro from Woot for just $500, rather than the usual $1,100, and that's for the 512GB version of the phone, so you get a lot of storage with it as well.

Read more
A new Google Pixel Tablet is coming, but it’s not what you think
Google Pixel Tablet on its charging dock.

It's been almost a year since the Google Pixel Tablet went up for preorder, leading many Android tablet fans to wonder when the inevitable Pixel Tablet 2 will arrive. A new rumor suggests that Google could release a new Pixel Tablet as early as next month, but it's probably not what you were expecting or hoping for.

According to @MysteryLupin on X (formerly Twitter), Google is planning to "relaunch" the Pixel Tablet without the charging/speaker dock included in the box. As you'll likely recall, the speaker dock is the Pixel Tablet's standout feature. You can use the Pixel Tablet on its own as a traditional Android tablet when you want, and when you're done, you throw it on the dock to transform it into a smart display. The idea of Google selling the Pixel Tablet without its claim to fame is an interesting one.

Read more
Anker sale: up to 40% off portable chargers, cable, and more
The iPhone 15 Pro Max being charged by the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

If you've been looking to pick up a new charging cable, charger, or all-in-one charging station for your Android phone or iPhone, then you'll be happy to know that Anker is having a rather large Earth-Day sale that you can take advantage of. There are a ton of discounts that you can take advantage of, too, with up to 40% off in some cases. I that wasn't enough, you can even snag yourself some free gifts, for example, one of the best accessories for a Galaxy S24 is the Anker Nano Power Bank if you spend more than $90,  or even an Anker 621 Magnetic Battery if you spend over $120. Either way, there are a lot of options, and while we've shared some of our favorite deals below, it's also worth taking a look at everything Anker has to offer by pressing the button below.

What you should buy during Anker's Sale
One of the most basic things you may need for any device is a charging cable, and Anker has a couple of great options for that. If you're on an older iPhone with a lightning cable, you can grab Anker's Anker 641 USB-C to Lightning Cable that's 6 feet long using the coupon WSPEV2KENJP2. On the other hand, if you need a USB-C to connect and charge your devices, you can grab the 6-foot Anker 543 USB-C to USB-C Cable using the code WSPEV2EHDR0C.

Read more