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Despite some earlier reports that Amazon would begin sales of the next XO laptop Give One Get One program on November 1, it looks like that date was off by a few weeks.  The latest information, along with confirmation from the OLPC foundation is that sales will begin on November 17.  That’s a bit longer to wait than we originally expected, but on the bright side that just gives us a little longer to put some money aside.

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After the recent popularity of the initial news that the ‘Give One Get One’ program would be returning this November with sales being handled through Amazon, the OLPC’s Product Manager Kim Quirk posted a message on wiki.laptop.org further confirming the news, but also added an extra detail that will possibly disappoint some that were a little hopeful.

While the program is still set for “late 2008” Quirk has also made it clear that these XO laptops will be the Sugar Linux based versions and not the dual boot models with Windows XP. In addition he also went on to clarify the reasoning behind the sales through Amazon. Of course most people would have guessed the reason was due to the shipping issues, but according to Quirk; “Selling the laptops on Amazon.com will provide us with the resources to process and ship the laptops globally in a timely fashion.“ Sounds like a winning plan to me, now its time to start putting a few bucks away while waiting for November.

Read [wiki.laptop.org] Via [OLPC News]

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It turns out the earlier reports were indeed accurate, and the ‘Give One Get One’ program will be making a return later this year, and it will be handled by none other than Amazon.com.

This information comes courtesy of Matt Keller who is the director of Europe, Middle East and Africa at OLPC and he has confirmed that Amazon will begin selling the XO laptop in late November with sales running through the end of December. Keller also went on to clarify their reasoning behind Amazon handling the sales, stating that they are just “a small group of people,“ which hopefully will put an end to the shipping issue complaints that we saw last year.

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During the “Give 1 Get 1” sale for the OLPC XO laptop, T-Mobile had been offering a free year of T-Mobile Hotspot access with any G1G1 purchase. Well, it seems that there was a time limit on just when you could activate your account and begin your free year of service and today, June 30 is the last day to take advantage of that offer. So if you were amongst that group and for some reason have not activated your T-Mobile service or were just holding off for some reason, you better act quick or risk loosing that perk.

In addition, it looks like the “Give 1 Get 1” program will be making a come back as expected later in this year. A recent update to the laptop.org wiki states to check the “website for more information after September 1.“ Hopefully the sales will begin on, if not shortly after September 1, that way we can see some holiday time deliveries without much worry of a late delivery. The G1G1 is being worked on for “the US, Canada, and several other countries.“

Via [OLPC News]

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LaptopMagazine recently had a few words with Nicholas Negroponte regarding the OLPC. With just a few questions asked, we were able to learn a few interesting things. Total sales, not including the big sale for 15,000 units from Birmingham, Alabama are estimated at 150,000 to 170,000 units.

There is also a chance at seeing another Give 1 Get 1 program in 2008. Negroponte stated that they “are a charity and not a business. If we continued it, it would become “sales” versus a charitable promotion.“ Which is kind of a sad statement, one would think that any possible way to get more units in the hands of needy children would be good. A few options are being considered, possibly another round for the US next Christmas and also having it in other countries such as Italy and the UK.

I guess if you were looking to grab an XO laptop then you may want to consider eBay or other similar sites, of course then it would just be an individual purchase and not a charity purchase.

Read [LaptopMag.com]

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The ‘Give One Get One’ program will soon be coming to an end. Originally opened up for sales on November 12, it was supposed to run just until November 26, 2007 but it was extended due to high sales. The program was extended until December 31, 2007 and that is drawing close, you now have less than one week to not only get yourself a cool little laptop but also help get a computer in the hands of someone who may not ever get one otherwise, plus its a tax-deduction. 

Via [Gear Live]

• Believe tech can change the world?  Buy one of these this holiday season.
• Colombia orders up Windows XP based XO laptops
• Patriots QB joins forces with OLPC