Intel to launch low-cost Classmate PC in US, Europe

US computer chipmaker Intel Corp. on Thursday confirmed its plan to launch the low-cost Classmate PC laptops in the United States and Europe. The inexpensive notebook initially designed for school kids in poor countries.

The Santa Clara-based Intel’s Classmate PC is designed to focus on the student and the classroom, and is designed for school children in developing countries.

Intel said it is planning to make its second generation of the cheap laptop computers available throughout Europe and the United States within months. The company said it is talking to computer manufacturers about offering an updated retail version in the United States.

"We're expecting to see Classmate PC in the U.S. by the end of this year," said Agnes Kwan, a spokeswoman with Intel. "In the past 18 months, we've been getting a really good response from customers . . . as well as from consumers asking about the product. We realized there was a big interest out there."

Intel is planning to sell these machines, which will be a fresh version of Intel's Classmate PC design, in these markets for around $250 to $350, however, it would be priced higher for retail sale after it's loaded with various software applications, Kwan said.

Pilot tests have already been conducted on these machines at some schools in United States and Australia and the machines are already being sold in other markets including India, Mexico and Indonesia. India's HCL, Indonesia's Zyrex and a manufacturer in Mexico have already been selling Classmate PC laptops for some time now.

Intel's low-cost notebook competes with an offering by the high-profile One Laptop Per Child non-profit project that aims to provide an innovative portable computer to poor children around the world,

OLPC’s laptop XO is built around chips cranked out by Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices.

Last year in July, the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Association and Intel had agreed to come together to give fruition to their common goal of providing a laptop for every child. But, ending its long-simmering altercation with the non-profit project, the world's largest chipmaker announced in January, 2008, it will quit the One Laptop Per Child project and resign from the project’s board after the board demanded the chipmaker stop supporting other efforts in emerging markets.

In recent times, the companies have visualized their products competing with each other, and have adopted harsh attitudes toward one another in the push for popularity. The OLPC project is aimed at enhancing the child's experience and extending its personal development beyond the classroom, using an open-source technology. On the other hand, Intel’s Classmate PC is designed to focus on the student and the classroom.

While OLPC’s laptop XO aims at enabling the individual child and is directed towards teaching children to use technology in innovative ways, Intel has designed its Classmate PC for students in a classroom environment and is being pitched as a “learning-assistant”.

Intel will significantly boost the production of the Classmate PC in 2008 to meet the likely demand of it in Europe and the U.S. The company reportedly has finished on a second version of the model, and is already working on a third.