OLPC may run on Intel chips

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project said it welcomes Intel Corp. and other microprocessor companies to design silicon for this low-cost laptop designed for school children, and Intel is already designing a motherboard for the laptop, according to a report Friday in InfoWorld.

The first version of the OLPC laptop is powered by Geode chips from Intel's rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD).

Intel has its own design, the Classmate PC, which is a PC also specially designed for schools. It signed up PC makers in India to assemble and sell the product in July, with plans to introduce the product in Nigeria, and Brazil. At $450 Intel’s Classmate is costlier than the XO from the OLPC project, which costs about $175. Intel however says Classmate comes with a lot of security, collaboration, and control features for teachers in a classroom, which are not found in XO.