Q. You’ve had some disagreements with Microsoft and Intel during the course of this project. Can you describe the nature of the disagreement and your position?

A. They are very different. Microsoft has a real problem with open source — a problem with which I sympathize. Nonetheless, we are working with them. They have laptops and are determined to put Windows on it. We are helping them do so. It would be nuts for One Laptop Per Child to advocate being “open” and then being closed to Microsoft.

Intel, by contrast, is just being silly. I went to them first (note: Intel founder Bob Noyce funded me to start the MIT Media Lab in 1979). They dismissed the idea. Advanced Micro Devices by contrast leapt at it. AMD CEO Hector Ruiz has been an excellent partner, deeply committed and genuinely devoted to issues of the developing world. After Intel Chairman Craig Barrett called One Laptop Per Child a “gadget,” Intel developed their own gadget and talks of “competing with One Laptop Per Child.” Huh? We welcome them and do not compete with anybody.

One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit humanitarian project partnered with the United Nations and development banks.

For Intel to be criticizing One Laptop Per Child is a bit like Johnson & Johnson picking on the Red Cross because they use Ace bandages.

Source:  MercuryNews.com

Maemo is an open source development platform to create applications for Nokia Internet Tablet products like Nokia N800 and Nokia 770. The platform gives developers a powerful Linux based development environment and optimized end-user interface for handhelds.

Nokia officially launched the N800 internet tablet computer, which available from retailers and www.nokiausa.com for $400 USD, at the CES show in Las Vegas.

The N800 browse the internet via its built in Opera browser and access RSS feeds. , send and receive e-mail and instant messages, download audio and video and get RSS feeds. The N800 also has an integrated Web cam for videoconferencing and a microphone for Internet phone calls.

As a media player, the N800 handles MP3 and Windows Media files and other common audio and video formats, displaying images on a 4.1-inch color screen and playing audio through built-in stereo speakers or a headphone. Content can be loaded from SD or MMC memory cards, streamed from the Web or downloaded through a U.S.B. connection from another computer. The tablet uses Wi-Fi networking, but it can also connect to a compatible Nokia phone via Bluetooth and use it as a wireless modem.

The N800 has an on-screen keyboard, but can also recognize text written with a stylus. For a full list of features visit Nokia’s N800 page.