What would you call a laptop that has no mouse and no keyboard? Did you guess it? It’s the redesigned “$100 laptop.” The XO 2.0, designed for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, is a smaller version of the originally unveiled XO1.0. These laptops look simply awesome! The XO 2.0 is scheduled for a launch in 2010 and definitely looks like it belongs to another era of smooth design and amazing functionality.

The idea of these laptops is to give poorer children across the globe a sturdy, wireless and user-friendly option for downloading educational software and games and for communicating. The XO 2.0 laptops are sure to attract the young ones they have been designed for. But more important than how they look, is their functionality.

• The new version has a hinged dual display, which gives the user four options instead of merely one, as with a conventional laptop.
• Tablet mode: In this mode, the top half and the bottom half can be placed flat (at an angel of 108 degrees). By doing this, the two screens kind of merge to form one image / screen.
• Laptop mode: This is when the device is used in the conventional manner, with one half flat and the other half at a 90 degree angle. The flat / bottom portion acts as a keyboard and touchpad, with the screen in the top half. The difference between the XO2.0 and a conventional laptop is that the former’s keyboard is on-screen and virtual!
• Book mode: This mode allows you to hold up the device like a book and the text and images will also be displayed like a book. You can flip pages virtually.
• Two-person mode: In this mode, the top half and the bottom half can be placed flat (at an angel of 108 degrees). Now, with the press of an on-screen button, each screen becomes oriented to the person sitting at that end. This allows both people using the laptop to sit opposite each other and view their half of the screen.