Intel buries the hatchet with OLPC, joins board

For two projects whose stated aims are entirely altruistic, there has been a lot of bad blood exchanged between the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project and Intel's Classmate PC initiative. When the OLPC folks decided to go with AMD chips (ostensibly to keep the cost of the unit down), Intel threw a fit and started slinging some mud in the OLPC's direction. The chipmaking giant then responded with a competing initiative of its own: the Classmate PC. However, while the OLPC project got its act together--producing prototypes, designing a custom Linux OS and finally, shipping demo units--the Classmate PC slowly disappeared into the shadows.

Now it appears there is a reason for the Classmate PC's disappearance. Despite years of heated competition, Intel has announced it will join the board of the OLPC project and furthermore, will contribute funding to assist in future technological advancements. This is great news for OLPC: not only has the project's most vocal critic been silenced but it has also found a new ally with deep pockets. And what of the Classmate PC? Taiwan-based Asustek was originally supposed to start cranking them out sometime in September, though I wouldn't be surprised if Intel put the brakes on the program in light of this new arrangement.

For more on the landmark announcement:
- see this article from the AP

For more on the Classmate PC:
- see this Ars Technica article