Tag Archives: XO Tablet

PicsArt and OLPC Help Kids Around the World Find Their Inner Artist

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New partnership will deliver robust photo editing capabilities for one laptop per child’s XO tablet users.

Mountain View, CA (PRWEB) August 20, 2013

PicsArt, Inc., the world’s premier, full-featured mobile photo editor, will be working with One Laptop per Child (OLPC) to bring mobile art to children around the world through OLPC’s newly released XO Learning System. OLPC will pre-install the photo-editing app on its XO Tablet developed through a strategic partnership with Vivitar under exclusive license from OLPC. The XO Tablet offers children across the globe access to easy-to-use PicsArt tools such as drawing, color-splash, smart blur and layering for photography capturing, and editing.

PicsArt’s selection as one of the only photo-editing tools for OLPC’s XO Tablet represents a milestone in the app’s growth as one of the world’s most innovative photo editing applications. These tools will not only teach children about the different forms of art through photography, they will also provide them with the opportunity to unleash their creativity by turning their photos into works of art.

“One of PicsArt’s primary goals is to educate people that everyone has the ability to become an artist. This is why we couldn’t be more pleased to team up with an organization like OLPC, which is always making huge strides in educating children through technology on a global scale,” said Artavazd Mehrabyan, PicsArt’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “PicsArt’s easy-to-use photo-editing features combined with OLPC’s XO Tablet will give children the fun tools they need to express their creativity.”

In addition to providing children with a number of photography options, PicsArt’s one-of-a-kind drawing tool will give OLPC kids the ability to express their creativity through their own illustrations. PicsArt’s advanced, yet easy-to-use drawing features will allow children with an appetite to sketch to practice their hobby without ever needing art supplies or leaving their XO Tablet.

“Our XO Learning System was created to direct a child’s passion, creativity and energy to help them work toward their dreams. OLPC is dedicated to offering a variety of top apps that promote inspired education on our XO Tablet, making PicsArt a perfect fit for our mission,” said Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of One Laptop Per Child.

The family-friendly XO Tablet from OLPC is the first and only tablet designed to help kids explore their dreams and spark their imaginations. The only multilingual (English/Spanish) and Google-Certified tablet for kids, the XO Tablet is available now at Walmart stores,http://www.walmart.com and other U.S. retailers through OLPC’s strategic partner Vivitar, a Sakar company. For more information, visit http://www.xotablet.com.

PicsArt features a full art studio in a mobile photo app, making professional-caliber tools easily accessible to the average consumer, allowing them to tap their inner artist and have fun creating their own masterpieces. PicsArt’s clean, simple and user-friendly design empowers consumers to create unique images in real-time, save them wherever they like or share them on nearly every social media platform.

To learn more, please visit picsart.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PicsArtPhotoStudio or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PicsArtStudio.

About XO Tablet, XO Learning and One Laptop per Child Association
The XO Tablet has been fully designed and developed by OLPCA to harness the power of a connected touchscreen device to create new ways for children to learn. Its launch also marks the global debut of the XO Learning System, designed as a child-centric interface to empower kids to build, learn and dream as part of OLPCA’s mission. OLPCA was launched in 2005 at the MIT Media Lab as a project to provide a modern education to every child around the world through access to laptops and connected devices. The organization has since distributed 2.5 million of its specially designed XO laptops to children in 60 countries, and the XO Tablet extends that experience into a modern tablet form factor.

About PicsArt
A division of SocialIn based in Mountain View, CA, PicsArt is a team of passionate developers who shared a sheer frustration that no free photo app seemed to have a robust feature set. When PicsArt launched in November 2011, there were many great one- or two-tool apps, but there wasn’t a single free app putting everything a photographer could ever want in one place. PicsArt remedied this problem. A bootstrapped startup driven to profitability by its fiercely loyal community, today, PicsArt dominates the Android market for photography. PicsArt consistently ranks in the top 50 free apps from Google’s Play store, and with more than 68 million installs and growing at more than 4.5 million installs per month; PicsArt’s development has only just begun.

About Vivitar
Vivitar is a leading provider of photographic, audio and optic devices and related accessories with a rich 75-year heritage of technology innovation and affordability dating back to 1938. Building off the success of its legendary Series-1 lenses and flashes, the company has steadily expanded its product portfolio to include cameras, camcorders, accessories and now tablets tailored to the needs of today’s families. Vivitar is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, with additional offices across the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada and Hong Kong, and global retail distribution spanning more than 100,000 locations in both mass market and specialty channels. For more information, visit http://www.vivitar.com.

Media Contacts

Susan Frechette
PAN Communications for PicsArt
617-502-4300
picsart(at)pancomm(dot)com
Twitter: @picsartstudio

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/8/prweb11039914.htm

 

Government of Uruguay to Distribute One Laptop Per Child Designed XO Tablets to Pre-School Children

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First Country to Adopt OLPC Laptops at Full 1:1 Saturation Will Be First Country to Receive XO Tablets

XO Tablets Will Feature Local Books and Be Customized for Uruguayan School System

MIAMI— One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) will provide the government of Uruguay with 8,000 of its newly released XO Tablets for distribution to pre-school and first grade children in the country. The OLPC/Uruguay pilot program (Plan Ceibal) is the world’s first government program designed to get educational technology into the hands of children ages six and under.

“Plan Ceibal has been one of the early adopters of the OLPC laptop, and Uruguay is the first country to have deployed and reached one-to-one laptop student and teacher saturation. We are very aware of the importance of integrating pedagogy and technology to enrich the educational experience of our children,” said Uruguayan government official, Miguel Brechner. “The engaging and intuitive nature of touch-screen technology, as well as the way OLPC has presented the contents of the tablet, will enable us to connect students and broaden their cognitive opportunities at an even younger age.”

The XO Tablet, designed and developed by OLPC, features OLPC’s XO Learning System and provides children with access to state-of-the-art educational content that has been curated and selected for age-appropriateness and learning value by OLPC. In addition to the XO Learning System content available on every XO Tablet, the 8000 XO Tablets distributed to children in Uruguay will be customized for the region and will be preloaded with local content to meet the requirement of the Uruguayan school system.

“There is early evidence, both empirical and anecdotal, to support the efficacy of tablets and touchscreen technology as learning devices for children as young as ages two to five,” said Rodrigo Arboleda, OLPC Chairman and CEO. “As such, adding a fully functional and educationally focused tablet is a natural extension of the OLPC mission and an excellent complement to our existing and continuing laptop program.”

The XO Tablet, and its XO Learning interface, run on the Android’s latest OS. To ensure compatibility and interoperability with the nearly 2.5 million laptops OLPC has distributed since 2005, OLPC is converting the Sugar software currently used in XO laptops to the Android system. Once the conversion is complete, Sugar will be made available via download free of charge. The porting of Sugar into Android will give XO Tablet users access to OLPC’s previously developed educational content.

The XO Tablet, which is manufactured and distributed by OLPC strategic partner, Vivitar, is currently available for purchase in the U.S. at Amazon.com, Target.com, Walmart.com and Walmart stores. These strategic retail partners have in common a commitment and history of empowering children to learn, and in 2008, Amazon was instrumental in the execution of OLPC’s “Give 1 Get 1” program to sponsor laptops for children in developing countries. OLPC’s proceeds from sales of the XO Tablet will further the organization’s global mission by enabling further development of the XO Learning System, updating existing apps and software to facilitate interoperability between XO Tablets and Laptop and by subsidizing distribution of the tablets to children throughout the world.

About XO Tablet, XO Learning and One Laptop per Child

The XO Tablet has been fully designed and developed by OLPC to harness the power of a connected touchscreen device to create new ways for children to learn-how-to-learn. Its launch also marks the global debut of the XO Learning System, designed as a child-centric interface to empower kids to build, learn and dream as part of OLPC’s mission. OLPC was launched in 2005 at the MIT Media Lab as a project to provide a modern education to every child around the world through access to laptops and connected devices. The organization has since distributed 2.5 million of its specially designed XO laptops to children in 60 countries, and the XO Tablet extends that experience into a modern tablet form factor. All within the philosophy of Learning-by-doing advocated by the Media Lab throughout the years.

About Vivitar

Vivitar is a leading provider of photographic, audio and optic devices and related accessories with a rich 75-year heritage of technology innovation and affordability dating back to 1938. Building off the success of its legendary Series-1 lenses and flashes, the company has steadily expanded its product portfolio to include cameras, camcorders, accessories and now tablets tailored to the needs of today’s families. Vivitar is headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, with additional offices across the United Kingdom, Latin America, Canada and Hong Kong, and global retail distribution spanning more than 100,000 locations in both mass market and specialty channels. For more information, visit www.vivitar.com.

Visit OLPC at www.one.laptop.org

For FAQ’s, where to buy and more information on the XO Tablet, visit www.xotablet.com.

Family Oriented XO Tablet Debuts at Walmart for $149

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Captura de pantalla 2013-07-14 a las 20.32.06The new family-friendly XO Tablet debuts July 16 on Walmart.com and will be in Walmart stores on August 1, and will provide kids with a fun and exciting new way to build, learn and dream at their own pace via a powerful Android tablet packed with free educational games, apps, videos, e-books and more. The flexible tablet also grows with the family offering up to three separate user accounts plus full-fledged Android tablet functionality with parental-controlled access to conventional Android apps and the Google Play store.

“The XO Tablet is the first and only tablet designed specifically to help kids explore their dreams and spark their imaginations,” said Jeff Saka, president of Vivitar. “Not only does it combine active learning with fun, imaginative play, but parents can also feel confident in giving the durable and secure XO Tablet to children of any ageand they can even use it themselves.”

The only multilingual (English/Spanish) and Google-Certified tablet for kids on the market, the XO Tablet and on-board XO Learning System were designed and developed by One Laptop per Child (OLPC) to harness the power of a touchscreen device to create new ways for children to learn. The tablet’s child-friendly interface, cover and packaging were developed by legendary designer Yves Behar and his team at the Fuse Project. Priced affordably at just $149.99 MSRP, the XO Tablet from Vivitar features a 7-inch 1024 x 600 dpi hi-resolution screen and a 1.64GHz dual-core processor running the latest Android Jelly Bean OS with nearly 8 hours of battery life to deliver a high-performance user experience at an exceptional value. The tablet will also be available in Canada and Europe in the French and Italian languages later this year.

“Touchscreens are intuitive for children, making the XO Tablet an optimal platform for educational interaction and creativity and ideal for our US retail debut with Vivitar,” noted Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO, OLPC. “With the XO Learning System at the center of this tablet, OLPC along with our content partners, are able to offer curated, state-of-the-art learning technology to kids and their families across the country.”

XO Learning System content has been curated and selected for age-appropriateness and learning value by OLPC in collaboration with Common Sense Media, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to helping parents and teachers make informed decisions about media. Additional OLPC partners include Oxford University Press, Discovery Kids Puterbugs, TED, Story Emporium, MyCityWay, Pipo Ceibal, Little Pim, WeWantToKnow-DragonBox+, JokerWare, Zeptolab, Brain POP, Kids Yoga Journey, Bankeroo, Sesame Street and others.

Dreams Dashboard and On-Board Apps Provide World-Class Educational Curriculum

The XO’s unique Dreams interface lets kids explore more than 100 free pre-loaded apps, games, books and other content over a $250 value based on subject areas, interests and skill level. Children can choose their own learning adventure depending on what they want to be today, or when they grow up. Options like “I want to be an…” XO Artist, Engineer, Chef, Mathematician, Musician, Teacher, Traveler and more give kids a wide array of activities to choose from with content created by world-class partners.

XO Journal, Parental Controls Provide Insight and Security

The XO Tablet is designed to help parents become actively involved in their child’s tablet use and learning progress. With support for up to three user accounts, parents can set specific permissions for each user to control access to apps, the Internet, games and Google Play. These password-protected privileges can be adjusted anytime as the child matures to offer wider access and more capabilities.

With the innovative XO Journal tool, parents can gain unique insight into how each child is using the device, how much time they spend on each app, and where their interests and strengths lie. Parents can even view each child’s learning progress and how their performance compares to other children of their age.

Each XO Tablet features both a front- and rear- facing camera and comes with a protective bumper case and charger. The The XO Tablet is available now on Walmart.com and is coming soon to other other U.S. Retailers, including Walmart stores. For more information, visit www.xotablet.com or the xo-learning.org blog

Response to Inaccurate Information Recently Posted about OLPC

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One Laptop Per Child Association Inc. (“OLPC”) wishes to respond to a recent post in OLPC News that contained several assertions that are contextually inaccurate and may lead to conclusions that are incorrect.

With the recent development of the XO-4 Touch laptop,the XOTablet and its educational “Dreams” User Interface, necessary adjustments in the composition of the OLPC team were required. First, several of the engineers and programmers who specialized in hardware design departed OLPC as their services were no longer required. John Watlington our CTO, remains in charge of finalizing the XO‐4‐Touch laptop. He is also preparing the ground for the next hardware launch. The OLPC Technical team continues to focus on software development, incorporating Sugar into the Android OS, and developing unique apps for the tablet and laptop environment. This team, under the leadership of Andrew McMillan, includes Samuel Greenfeld and a team of developers at Morphoss Ltd., including Heather Buchanan, Chris Noldus, Alexander Nikitin, Samantha Qiao and Tim Evetts.

The OLPC Learning team is under the direction of Doctor Antonio Battro, a colleague of both Jean Piaget and Seymour Papert. Dr. Battro is in charge of leading the philosophical direction of the learning team. He is a distinguished member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, an emblematic institution with more than 40 Nobel Prize recipients in its roster of 90 scientists around the globe. Claudia Urrea remains involved with specific OLPC projects. Moises Salinas Fleitman has joined the Learning group. Bob Hacker also remains committed to OLPC and its mission. Donna Mackenzie has joined OLPC as CFO.Her extensive experience in social media, crowd sourcing, finance, and M&A is of great importance to OLPC at this moment. OLPC is also blessed with the support and contributions of Michele Borba, Educator, TV commentator and consultant to many institutions in the field.

In addition, the XOTablet will be launched on July 16 exclusively at Walmart and soon afterwards at many of the top retailers in the USA, Europe, and in North and South America. With the continued development of new products and content, OLPC maintains its commitment to providing children with an innovative educational experience. OLPC is at its core a social equality movement and a transformer of the existing educational systems. The recent transitions at OLPC permit it to adapt and grow with the demands of the market while adhering to its basic principles.

OLPC is very excited about its current projects in the USA and abroad. OLPC is delivering the first batch of XO-4 Touch machines to Uruguay, in addition to a large order of XOTablets.OLPC has also begun the production of a large order for the government of Rwanda. The feedback from focus groups and educational institutions with respect to OLPC’s new devices, the XO-4 Touch and the XO Tablet, has been extremely positive.

OLPC is aware of certain animosity from top commercial entities and from some individual bloggers that see OLPC as a threat to their existence. In reality, this is something to feel proud about. It is a testament to the strength of OLPC and its mission that it is somehow seen as a threat to bigger entities around the world.OLPC believes that it is the educational equivalent to the World Food Program in its mission to feed the poor. OLPC continues to search for disruptive and creative ways to challenge old beliefs and clichés. OLPC continues to lead the way in innovation and education around the globe. On behalf of OLPC, I thank you for your continued support of our mission.

Rodrigo Arboleda

Chairman and CEO
One Laptop Per Child Association, Inc.

http://issuu.com/marianaludmilacortes/docs/response_to_olpc_news_july_2013/1?e=0

PDF version here.

New XO Learning Tablet to be Available at Select Walmart Stores and Walmart.com

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Vegas, NV- Jan 8, 2012- One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA), the world
renowned project to provide a modern education to children through a connected
computing device, announced today that it will introduce a new touch screen device, the XO Learning Tablet, at CES. OLPCA will also unveil for the first time the XO Learning System, an Android compatible software package for child-centric learning.

Every child has dreams and XO Learning directs the child’s passion, creativity and energy for these dreams into a new user interface that has 12 dreams. Such dreams include “I want to be” an artist, a musician and a scientist. Each dream features a rich learning experience and applications, books, games and videos that allow children ages 3 to 12 to naturally explore their dreams and learn at the same time. Content within a dream has three levels, so as the child advances in his/her learning, there is no need to pay for additional apps or content. Every dream features a “hero”, a real person who personifies the dream.

“The challenge in computing and education is to use the technology to develop new ways for children to learn. The rich content of the dreams allows the child’s natural
passion to be directed into learning experiences,” said Giulia D’Amico, the lead designer of XO Learning.

OLPCA teamed with the legendary designer Yves Behar of Fuse Project and his team
to create the XO Learning user interface and cover. All of the content in XO Learning
has been curated and selected for appropriateness and educational value by both
OLPCA and Common Sense Media, the leading non-profit reviewer of age appropriate
computer-based content in the U.S. XO Learning also offers a full range of parental
controls and user IDs for up to three children, a dashboard where the child or the parent can review usage, types of content and the skills the child is developing. XO Learning also includes a journal that records all usage including websites visited. Press a single icon and XO Learning switches from English to Spanish with all new content depending on the language. Additional languages will be available in future releases.

XO Learning also offers unique learning experiences from leading partners who support OLPCA’s program to foster child-centric learning. OLPCA partners include Sesame Street, MyCityWay, Common Sense Media, Little Pim and UNESCO, among others. OLPCA is currently in negotiations with many other of the world’s leading companies to provide unique experiences through XO Learning in time for the product introduction in 2013.

XO Learning will be offered through licensing agreements to tablet manufacturers,
governments, book publishers, and international distributors in the U.S., Europe and the traditional OLPCA markets in developing countries.
“With the popularity of tablets, the standards and specifications of the devices are
converging to one worldwide standard”, said D’Amico. “The expectation of the tablet
user in the U.S., India and South Africa is the same.”

Sakar International, based in Edison, New Jersey, is the first licensee under their
Vivitar brand. It will offer XO Learning on a 7″ inch Android tablet of its own design
with specifications as shown in the attached schedule. The tablet will be marketed as
the “XO Tablet”. Sakar has the exclusive right to sell the XO Tablet to leading U.S.
retailers for both in-store and online sales.

The XO Tablet will be available at select Walmart stores and Walmart.com this year.

About One Laptop per Child Association One Laptop per Child Association (OLPCA at http://www.laptop.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression. In partnership with the public and private sectors and non- governmental organizations and supported by comprehensive implementation and pedagogical services, OLPCA seeks to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power connected laptop that empowers individual learning and growth.

About XO Learning
“A learning experience designed to unleash children’s creativity” for 3-12 year olds.
XO Learning believes that tablets offer new ways for technology to provide a child-centric learning environment through the convergence of virtual and physical activities. These experiences are made possible, in part, through app-cessories, sensors and other devices particularly suited to the form factor and user interface of a tablet.
http://www.xo-learning.org

Media Contacts
press@laptop.org
info@xo-learning.org

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