The inventor of the Sugar user interface used in the One Laptop Per Child's XO says his company is developing a version for Intel's own low-cost laptop.
(Credit:
Intel)
Walter Bender said in an interview Thursday with PC World that "a community volunteer is working with Intel on Sugar for the Classmate PC. Sugar Labs helped to expedite the relationship."
Bender is the inventor of the kid-friendly interface, which sits on top of a computer's operating system. His company, Sugar Labs, was spun off from OLPC in May. At the time of the announcement, Bender said Sugar Labs was already talking about sharing the UI with at least four other low-cost laptop makers, including Asus.
He described OLPC as the "primary, but not exclusive, downstream project" for Sugar Labs, and confirmed that the two companies continue to work together on further development of the UI.
That Intel will be working tangentially with OLPC again is notable. The chipmaker left its position as board member of OLPC in January, citing "fundamental differences" between the two companies' visions for low-cost computing. Previous to that, OLPC's founder Nicholas Negroponte had asked Intel to stop selling their Classmate PC platform because it was interfering with sales of the XO. Unsurprisingly, Intel declined his request.
Former One Laptop Per Child President Walter Bender has formed a nonprofit called Sugar Labs, which will advance the Sugar graphical interface he originally created for the low-cost computing project.
Sugar Labs will partner with developers of Sugar-compatible applications and other hardware makers that want to use the user interface on their devices.
"By being independent of any specific hardware platform and by remaining dedicated to the principles of free and open-source software, Sugar Labs ensures that others can develop diverse interfaces and applications from which governments and schools can choose," Bender wrote on the Sugar Labs Web site.
One of the first of the "others" on the list is Asus' popular Eee PC.
Bender moved on from OLPC last month after it was revealed the project's founder was leaning toward abandoning the use of Sugar and Linux in favor of putting Windows XP on his $188 XO laptops.
Microsoft and OLPC made it official yesterday, though there will still be OLPCs offered with Linux. In an interview with CNET News.com, OLPC founder and Chairman Nicholas Negroponte said the company is aiming to port the XO's Sugar interface over to Windows and has been "in discussions" with third parties, which would appear to refer at least in part to Sugar Labs.
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