OLPC Expands to Peru; Takes in $24M With Promotion - Gearlog

Peru is the up-to-the-minute state to subscribe on for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative.

The country's Ministry of Education on Tuesday signed an understanding to purchase 40,000 O XO laptops, with the option to buy 210,000 more than units of measurement in future. The devices will be distributed to primary school children in distant countries of Republic Of Peru from now until February 2008, according to OLPC.

Peru's authorities have also authorized the engagement of its local regions. The Tumbes part in northwest Peru, for example, will supply XO laptop computers to 22,000 of its primary school children.

Officials in Republic Of Peru have got been experimenting with the laptop computers since May 2007, and decided to house up their committedness after seeing positive results, OLPC said.

In October, the Technology Lab of Uruguay also signed a contract for 100,000 XO laptops, a trade that tin be extended to include 400,000 units.

The OLPC Foundation recently that lets people to buy one laptop computer for themselves and donate another to a kid in need, all for $399. Participants will also have one-year free entree to T-Mobile's HotSpot Broadband Internet service.

A spokeswoman said Thursday that , which started on Nov. 12, have thus far raised $24 million.

The publicity was initially intended to run for two weeks, but have since been extended to Dec. 31.

"Latest figure on the promotion--21 years through last Lord'S Day night--are 112,000 laptops," which works out to $24 million, according to a spokeswoman.

OLPC is funded by corporate spouses like Google, AMD, News Corporation, Red Hat, Brighstart, Quanta, and Marvell. The Give One Get One political campaign runs separately through the OLPC Foundation.

"Prior to the Give One Get One campaign, individual parts were minuscule because OLPC didn't make any large selling pushing to attain people and the contribution page was pretty buried on the Web site," she said.

OLPC last calendar month that allegedly conflicts upon a Nigerian patent. It is not clear, however, if Federal Republic Of Nigeria even have patent of invention laws. At the time, OLPC said it had not yet seen the suit, and said that "to OLPC's knowledge, all of the intellectual place used in the XO Laptop is either owned by OLPC or properly licensed."

When asked for an update, a spokesman said Thursday that they aren't commenting additional on the lawsuit.