The XO DOCK Team Desings a Docking and Charging Station for the XO LAPTOP

Online, September 20, 2010 (Newswire.com) - SAN JOSE, CA -- Developing nations are quickly moving into the digital age through the adoption of low cost notebooks thanks to the work of non-profit organizations such as OLPC San Francisco, Green WiFi, and Engineers without Borders IIT. Working in collaboration with these groups, the XO Dock team aims to aid this technology adoption. Well over 1.4 million XO laptops have been delivered, shipped, or ordered; however, there are many challenges to overcome in the deployment of these laptops. Key challenges, aside from the lack of electricity and Internet connectivity, include the absence of any means to charge and store the laptops. As such, several problems arise including the following: Usage - Inadequate length of laptop use due to charge capabilities, Safety - Haphazard charging endangers users, laptops, and facilities, Storage - Complications in the daily storage and distribution of laptops.

Bruce Baikie, Founder and CEO of Green WiFi, has been actively involved in bringing wireless connectivity to developing nations, such as Haiti, Rwanda, and Uruguay. While pursuing this effort, Bruce has identified the charge and storage problem first-hand and recognized the growing need for a solution. These problems are expected to be reoccurring in all countries deploying XO laptops.

The XO Dock team, consisting of five students at San Jose State University, are working on a docking and charging station for the XO laptop, named XO Dock. The goal of the XO Dock project is to provide an affordable, reliable, and safe docking system solution to meet the needs of educational institutions in developing countries. The solution will be delivered in the form of a functional prototype with an accompanying "open" business plan for local organizations to adopt in manufacturing and deploying the system.

The core mission of the team is to deliver a solution that is affordable as defined by the budgets of the target educational institutions, reliable to survive the life of current and future laptops, and designed with safety in mind to prevent harm to the users and the systems themselves. In addition, the solution is designed for manufacturability in the country of deployment with the locally available resources to ensure economic sustainability. Moreover, an open business plan for funding, manufacturing, and installing the systems allow for local businesses to become involved in the effort.

Find out more information about the experiences and journey of the XO Dock team by visiting their blog at: http://xodock.com/c/blog/
Phone: (408) 5XO-DOCK
Email: [email protected]