A new school, sponsored by Microsoft, named the 'School of the Future' opened in Philadelphia, USA on Thursday. It's actually a collaboration between Microsoft and two other schools. What has been tagged as "one of the most advanced high schools ever conceived" opened its doors at 8am on 7th September thanks to a collaboration between the School District of Philadelphia, Microsoft and the West Philadelphia community.

The school is designed to show that tomorrow's schools are perfectly achievable even with a typical, and at times meager, budget of today. Each of the 170 new students at the school are given tablet PCs, have smartcard-accessible lockers and get broadband internet at home to name just a few of the perks their entitled to.

The building is also a high-tech wonderland, made up of such features as photovoltaic panels in the glass windows and a roof that convert sunlight into direct current to contribute to the electricity supply. The data is even relayed in real-time so students can see the positive effect.

"The School of the Future shows how public and private partnerships can yield new thinking and sustainable change in educational systems around the world," said Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft.

Is Bill Gates taking his role as the new Mother Teresa seriously? Recently, his company unveiled FonePlus, its prototype mobile platform for developing countries. Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, said FonePlus is an MS Research project at this point and it currently consists of WebTV technology running on a cell phone.

Once completed, FonePlus would be able to access the Internet, e-mails and online video content as well as mobile productivity tools like PocketOffice. MS says the cellphone, which connects to a TV and keyboard, could be an alternative to expensive PCs for people living in poorer nations. FonePlus would also be competing with the $100 laptop which Gates criticized as impractical. Plus that laptop runs on Linux.