One Education, a spinoff of the ambitious One Laptop Per Child program, has announced a new device designed for maximum versatility in the developing world. The XO-Infinity (a reference to the original XO-1 laptop from OLPC) is a completely modular computing system, meaning the screen, battery, camera, wireless and processing cores can be swapped in and out like LEGO blocks. This allows the device to be customized for different needs: Young children can interact with a simple tablet, then gain a keyboard as they learn to write — then put in a Wi-Fi chip when they're ready to access the Internet.
It also means that classrooms can be kept up to date without throwing away old devices. Tablet too slow for new apps? Battery doesn't hold a charge very well? No problem! Pop in a new module or two — why waste a perfectly good screen and keyboard?
One Education hopes to deliver XO Infinity units all over the world, as it has with other models. You can sign up for email updates here, but watch out for news later in 2015 as pricing, specs, and launch dates solidify.
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—Devin Coldewey
