Intel's Eduwise gives $100 laptop run for the money

In the race to capture the developing world’s market, Intel has unveiled an inexpensive snazzy-looking $400 laptop called the “Eduwise” which will run Microsoft Windows or Linux, reports eSchoolNews.

The Eduwise computer allows students in a classroom to view presentations, take tests, and interact individually with their teachers using a built-in wireless connection.

"What we want to do is accelerate uncompromised technology for everyone in the world," Intel CEO Paul Otellini said during a demonstration at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin, Texas. "No one wants to cross the digital divide with yesterday's technology," says Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini

Over the long term, marketing a $400 laptop in developing countries could have an impact on prices in American schools as well, though there are no current plans to sell the inexpensive PCs in the U.S. Intel’s plan includes a $1 billion investment over the next five years to promote the use of computers in schools, cafes, and other public spots in developing countries, Otellini said. The Eduwise will be available to schools by next year.

Other high-tech companies, Advanced Micro Devices and Microsoft, are also jumping on the potential developing world PC market. Along with Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child, there is an inexpensive, low-powered, seven-inch screen laptop being funded Google Inc. and AMD. Other projects attempting to bridge the digital divide are under way. Intel has reached a deal with the Mexican government to provide new, low-cost PCs to 300,000 teachers in that country by the end of this year.

"The federal government of Mexico has made great progress in bringing computing into the primary and secondary school classrooms of our country," Mexican President Vicente Fox said in a prepared statement delivered via video.