Nicholas Negroponte has already showed off the prototypes of MIT's fabled $100 laptop, so naturally the next step would be to announce its availability and new price. Yep, you read that right, the $100 laptop will be sold for $130 to $140 (without shipping) to governments starting April 2007. The Linux-based laptop's pricing will depend on the size of the RAM, but the main focus would be on the display, as it has to be sunlight readable. That should be fixed by August or September. Though the slightly more expensive starting price may be a let down, Negroponte expects to reach the $100 price point by the end of 2008, when manufacturing reaches 5 to 6 million units.

The One Laptop Per Child project aims to revolutionize education in developing countries. Currently, seven countries are evaluating the system. The most enthusiastic are Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand and Argentina. Other countries who have expressed interest in the system are China, India, Egypt, Russia, Mexico and Indonesia.