One Laptop Per child re-invent itself for low cost tablet

The MIT-hatched nonprofit that has tried to produce a $100 laptop for children in the world’s poorest places is throwing in the towel on that idea — and jumping on the tablet bandwagon.

One Laptop Per Child’s next computer will be based on chip maker Marvell Technology Group’s Moby tablet design. Marvell announced a prototype of the device this year and said it costs about $99.

The new tablets will have at least one video camera. They’ll sport Wi-Fi connections to the Internet and “multi-touch’’ screens, and have enough power to play high-definition and 3-D video. Marvel hopes to make the screens 8.5 inches by 11 inches, the size of a standard sheet of paper. Unlike Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet, the device will also work with plug-in peripherals such as mice.

Negroponte said he eventually wants the tablets to run some version of the free Linux operating software. But the first generation of the tablet will probably use Android, the mobile-device operating system from Google Inc., or something similar.